BOND 19 DRAFT
(FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY)
GUN BARREL LOGO OPENS ON
GENEVA SWITZERLAND, an unnaturally clean city that melds old
Europe with new money of both dubious and legitimate source.
INT. HALLWAY OFFICE BUILDING - DAY
An engraved brass plaque announcing the name of the ?private
banking institute? within.
INT. PENTHOUSE BANK OFFICE - GENEVA - DAY
JAMES BOND, dressed impeccably as ever, is being FRISKED by
three THUGS in Armani suits. They remove A GUN from inside
his jacket, a well-concealed knife, a metal case, laying them
on the desk that separates Bond and...
LACHAISE...an extremely well-groomed gentleman. Behind him,
three floor-to-ceiling windows lead out to a rooftop garden.
LACHAISE
Not the usual Swiss procedure, Mr. Bond,
but you understand, a man in my
position..
BOND
Which is neutral, no doubt.
Lachaise takes the joke a little tight-lipped. Gestures for
Bond to sit.
A GIRL ENTERS, a gorgeous Swiss bombshell in a pin-striped
suit. She pushes a cart. On it are a BRIEFCASE and a box of
EXPENSIVE CIGARS, which she offers to Lachaise and Bond.
LACHAISE
It wasn?t easy, but I retrieved the
money. No doubt Sir Robert will be
pleased to see it again.
The efficient Cigar Girl brings the briefcase to Bond,
setting it in his lap and opening it up...inside is a good
deal of CASH in pound sterling.
LACHAISE
In the current exchange rate, minus the
fees, of course, and certain
unforeseeable expenses. Here is the
receipt...
The CIGAR GIRL offers Bond a RECEIPT...
CIGAR GIRL
Would you like to check my figures?
BOND
Perhaps later.
She steps back. Bond reaches for the metal case on the
desk...the THUGS TENSE...
BOND
My glasses.
Lachaise nods. Bond can have his glasses.
He puts them on, gives a cursory look at the receipt...an odd
number in pound sterling, calculated down to the penny:
3,030,303.03.
LACHAISE
It?s all there.
Bond folds the receipt, slips it into his WALLET...then, he
removes the glasses, slowly, deliberately, eyeing Lachaise.
BOND
I didn?t come for the money. The report
you sold him was stolen from an MI-6
agent, who was killed for it.
He takes a photo from his jacket and lays it on the desk.
LACHAISE
I did not get the report from an MI-6
agent.
BOND
Who did you get it from?
LACHAISE
I am just a middle man. I am doing the
honourable thing and returning the money
to its rightful owner...
BOND
And we know how difficult that can be for
the Swiss.
LACHAISE
(controlled fury)
Your last chance. Take the money.
BOND
Your last chance. Give me the name.
LACHAISE
Stripped of all your weaponry, you still
threaten me?
He nods. An Armani thug steps up and takes out a gun...
BOND
Perhaps you failed to take into account
my...hidden assets.
Bond?s mouth edges into a smile. A flicker of doubt on
Lachaise?s face -- as Bond?s finger finds a protrusion on the
tiny arm of his glasses and...
KABOOM! The pistol on the table FLASHES...blinding those
around, they cover their eyes, stagger back...it is a brief
effect, just enough to disorient the thugs and give Bond his
opening...
He KARATE-CHOPS HENCHMAN #1 unconscious, taking his gun.
Kicks HENCHMEN #2 in the face and throws #3 OUT THE WINDOW
just as they?re getting their bearings. Now he nestles the
barrel of his borrowed hand gun into the hollow of Lachaise?s
cheek.
BOND
The name?
LACHAISE
I can?t tell you...
(Bond cocks the gun)
Alright, alright! But you must protect
me!
And he freezes. The handle of a THROWING KNIFE is sticking
out of his neck. Bond looks up, catches sight of the CIGAR
GIRL as she vaults out the broken window and onto THE ROOF.
Bond rushes to the window...
EXT. VERANDAH - ROOFS - GENEVA - DAY
She swings on a WIRE across to another roof, quickly
disappearing into shadows.
Bond can hear sirens approaching. He returns to...
THE OFFICE...he grabs the money and moves fast for the door,
casually slipping that cigar into his pocket...
Except Henchman #1 has recovered, blocks his way, gun in
hand. He starts to squeeze the trigger -- when a RED DOT
appears on his chest...another window SHATTERS as a bullet
zings through and pierces the henchman in the heart.
Bond looks back once at the shattered window, then heads out.
INT. BANK - GENEVA - DAY
Bond appears on the top floor of the grand old building, by
the elevator. Looks over the balcony, sees figures on the
stairs. Hears the elevator cage start from below.
Thinking fast, he wrenches open the steel gate, leans into
the lift shaft, watches the elevator COUNTERWEIGHT as it
comes down. Almost nonchalant, he steps out...
INT. STAIRWELL/ELEVATOR SHAFT - DAY
As the cageful of police rises, Bond is now standing on the
counterweight, DESCENDING.
EXT. STREET - GENEVA
Lunchtime. Faceless business crowds heading for their brief
moment of freedom, among them we spot BOND...one of them,
with a briefcase and a suit and tie...HOLD on his face,
troubled.
INT. HOTEL - GENEVA - DAY
The Cigar Girl enters a huge, high-ceilinged room. Edgy, she
approaches a BIG MAN standing on a balcony overlooking the
city. Propped against the doorframe, an assassin?s RIFLE
with LASER-SIGHT attached. BINOCULARS are on a tripod,
trained on the rooftop below where we can see cops examining
the shattered office windows.
The man turns. Powerful, deadly, with a military haircut.
There is a raised, red scar of an ENTRY WOUND at his temple.
It throbs and shifts with the slightest facial expression,
like an insect living just beneath his skin. One EYE seems
slightly drooping, deadened. The other eye is sharp and black
as anthracite. It is a frightening face. This is RENARD.
RENARD
What?s his name? Our friend from MI-6?
CIGAR GIRL
James Bond.
RENARD
One of M?s more accomplished tin
soldiers.
CIGAR GIRL
He could identify me.
RENARD
If it concerns you...kill him.
He touches her cheek and moves into the room, pouring two
glasses of wine.
RENARD
Let?s toast this James Bond. We?re in
his hands now...
CUT TO:
EXT. RIVER THAMES - LONDON - DAY
A SEAPLANE swoops over the Millennium Dome, banks along the
snaking river.
EXT. MI-6 - LONDON - DAY
Tate Gallery in background, the seaplane moors beneath the
vast stepped cake that is MI-6. Bond exits with the
suitcase.
INT. SECURITY, MI-6 - DAY
CAMERA MOVES with Bond as he enters this secret, hi-tech
world. He passes through countless security procedures,
watched by an attentive staff.
Bond scoops the money out of the suitcase. Three million
sterling in tightly bundled hundreds makes quite a sight. He
flicks his finger through the last wad, tosses it down
wistfully. A blue light scans it on three axis.
The money is bundled into a clear plastic bag, put on a tray
and wheeled through a series of barred enclosures into the
SECURE ROOM. Bond hands the suitcase to a STAFF MEMBER.
BOND
Have this checked, see what you can get
off it.
INT. MONEYPENNY?S OFFICE, MI-6 - DAY
Bond appears, hiding something behind his back. Moneypenny
brightens.
MONEYPENNY
James. Brought me a souvenir from
Geneva?
He produces the cigar, now in a large phallic TUBE. Stands
it end up on the desk.
BOND
Thought you might want one of these.
MONEYPENNY
(beat, deadpan)
I gave up a long time ago.
(nods to M?s door)
She?s in with Sir Robert.
INT. M?S OFFICE, MI-6 - DAY
Bond enters. SIR ROBERT KING is perched on the edge of M?s
desk. Two glasses, a bottle of scotch open.
M
Sir Robert King, James Bond.
King moves toward Bond with an easy, patrician smile. Bond
notes a TINY BADGE in his lapel -- like the glass eye of a
stuffed snake.
SIR ROBERT
Thanks for getting my money back --never
expected to see it again. You?re the
kind of man I could use. Though I won?t
offend certain parties by asking you to
join King Industries.
King looks to M, smiling.
BOND
Construction?s not exactly my line.
M
Quite the opposite, in fact.
She couldn?t resist. King smiles at Bond. As he goes, he
gives M a respectful kiss on the cheek. The door closes. M
turns.
BOND
Old friend?
M
Since Oxford. I knew him when he had
nothing but a brilliant mind and enough
guts to conquer the world. He?s a man of
great integrity.
BOND
Who buys classified reports for three
million pounds.
M picks up the report from her desk. Bond notices it is in
Russian, with a SEAL from a Russian military agency in the
corner: MIRATOM.
M
It?s a report on weapons security in the
former Soviet Union, which, as you know,
is shaky at best. He?s had several
instances of sabotage at the pipeline,
and he?s understandably concerned. He
called me the moment he realized its
sensitive nature.
She pours a scotch for Bond. He drops some ice in,
thoughtful.
BOND
Someone was watching over me in Geneva.
A guardian angel with a laser sight.
He stops, rubs his thumb and forefinger together -- a strange
SIZZLING where he touched the ice. Realization sinks in.
BOND
King.
M sees the seriousness in his eyes -- stabs at the intercom:
INT. MONEYPENNY?S OFFICE, MI-6 - CONTINUOUS
Moneypenny?s eyes shoot to the intercom console:
M
(filtered)
Moneypenny, stop King leaving.
MONEYPENNY
(flicking switch)
Security --
INT. CORRIDORS, MI-6 - CONTINUOUS
Sir Robert King and an MI-6 AIDE walk toward SECURITY.
INT. Q DIVISION, MI-6 - CONTINUOUS
Q and his men are working on a strange half-built BOAT
suspended over a water tank.
Q
..the hydro boat can operate in three
inches of water...
He looks up as Bond runs through...
INT. SECURITY, MI-6 - CONTINUOUS
THE MONEY lies on the tray, wrapped in plastic.
Sir Robert approaches, two rows of security bars between him
and the cash. An official produces a bag and moves toward
it:
SIR ROBERT
Thanks, but I?ll count it myself.
(apologetic, smiles)
Lifetime habit. I?m Scottish.
INT. LOWER CORRIDORS/SECURITY AREA, MI-6 - CONTINUOUS
Bond shoots around the corner just in time to see Sir Robert
disappearing past the THICK STEEL DOOR of the secure room.
BOND
Stop! King!
INT. SECURITY, MI-6 - CONTINUOUS
The shout is muffled, Sir Robert?s more interested in the
money.
He continues toward camera, that PIN on his lapel emits a
serene HUM and we
CUT TO:
CLOSE ON THE METAL STRIP IN ONE NOTE AS IT CRACKLES AND --
KABOOM! A MASSIVE EXPLOSION.
INT. LOWER CORRIDORS/SECURITY AREA, MI-6 - CONTINUOUS
MAYHEM. FIRE blasts out of the open doorway just as Bond
reaches it. The STEEL DOOR flies toward him. He dives --
EXT. MI-6/RIVER - CONTINUOUS
The building rocks. SMOKE is pouring from a HOLE that?s
appeared in a lower tier. A wall and a section of roof gone.
EXT. MI-6/RIVER - CONTINUOUS
A figure staggers out, shaken. Catching his breath. BOND.
CUT TO:
ECU CIGAR GIRL
Lining up Bond with her infra-red telescopic sight.
ANGLE ON BOND
In the swirling dust and smoke, he suddenly sees a wand of
red light, pointing at his chest.
All instinct, he dives for cover. Powerful, high velocity
bullet hits blanket the area. Bond prepares to return fire,
scanning around for the source. Through the debris he spots
an unusual, hi-tech BOAT on the river -- long and narrow and
low. A figure on board. THE CIGAR GIRL.
ANGLE ON CIGAR GIRL
She FIRES OFF A ROUND OF SHOTS, forcing Bond back into cover.
Then she guns the engines and SPEEDS OFF down the Thames.
EXT. MI-6 - CONTINUOUS
Determined, Bond races back into the wreckage...
INT. MI-6 - CONTINUOUS
Bond races through the chaos that is MI-6 and into...
Q DIVISION
Where he leaps into the prototype BOAT. Q protests...
Q
It?s not finished!
Bond looks at the mystifying number of buttons and gadgets
...presses something red and...THE BOAT LEAPS OUT, ENGINE
ROARING...
EXT. SLIPWAY - RIVER - DAY
THE 007 THEME KICKS IN AS:
JAMES BOND, in the Q boat, SHOOTS OUT of the MI-6 rubble and
onto the Thames.
EXT. RIVER THAMES - DAY
Bond can see the Cigar Girl up ahead...he is closing the
distance. She catches sight of him in pursuit...
EXT. CIGAR GIRL - BOAT - DAY
She pushes the boat to its limit, it roars to a new level of
speed...the chase is on.
EXT. THAMES - DAY
Police speedboats, alerted by the commotion, trail Bond.
ON THE EMBANKMENT
Police cars scream alongside, sirens wailing.
ON THE THAMES
Bond is losing ground as he and the Cigar Girl weave through
traffic on the Thames. In a gutsy bid to keep pace, he
corrals the Q boat into a hair-raising SHORT-CUT, shooting
off...
UNDERNEATH A PIER
He maneuvers the boat under the low pier and emerges EVEN
CLOSER to his prey...
EXT. CIGAR GIRL - BOAT - DAY
The Cigar Girl stops her boat, moving to the back, manning
her large, rear-mountain MACHINE GUN and taking aim at
Bond...
EXT. RIVER THAMES - DAY
Bond continues at full speed, fearless in the hail of bullets
ricocheting off the vessel.
THE CIGAR GIRL Remains calm and cool, shooting with
precision.
BOND closes in...
CIGAR GIRL?S eyes widen as...
BOND STEERS HIS BOAT RIGHT OVER THE MACHINE GUN AND TURRET...
Cigar Girl dives out of the way, as her boat becomes a RAMP,
LAUNCHING the Q boat INTO THE AIR before it dives, nose-
first, into the Thames.
EXT. - CIGAR GIRL BOAT - CONTINUOUS
CIGAR GIRL gets up from the deck and sees BOND, turning his
boat to close in for the kill...
She scrambles to the helm and SPEEDS OFF, seeing ahead of
her...
TOWER BRIDGE
Just beginning to open, to allow for passage of a small
tanker.
EXT. CIGAR GIRL BOAT
She streaks toward the bridge, Bond lagging behind...
ON BOND
As he looses her boat in the distance, he makes a DESPERATE
MOVE...he cranks the wheel of his boat and veers off, UP A
SLIPWAY and into...
EXT. FISH MARKET
Where the boat hydroplanes on masses of surface water and
propels him into
EXT. LONDON STREET
The hurtling boat causes mayhem and panic as he wrestles with
the controls, jetting off the street and straight toward...
EXT. RIVERSIDE RESTAURANT
Bond?s boat crashes right through it, sending diners LEAPING
in every direction. The Q boat SHOOTS OUT over the balcony
and splashes down once more into...
EXT. THAMES - DAY
Cigar Girl is now clearly in his sights. She is amazed to
see that Bond has managed to overtake her.
The racing boats dice through an armada of lazy, over-loaded
BARGES, nearly crashing into the much larger vessels.
AT EVEN PACE NOW...Cigar Girl attempts to force her way past
him, but Bond, punching buttons on the console of the Q-boat,
releases a set of catapulting FLAME CANNISTERS which create a
massive WALL OF FIRE ahead of them...
CIGAR GIRL is forced toward the very edge of the river...the
jig is almost up, and then...
HER P.O.V. She spots the launching of a HOT AIR BALLOON from
the base of the massive MILLENNIUM DOME.
She skids her vessel to a stop at a nearby pier and quickly
scrambles out of her boat.
EXT. MILLENNIUM DOME - DAY
...A crowd around a RICHARD BRANSON-like figure about to
climb into his HOT AIR BALLOON.
The Cigar Girl, brandishing her gun, forces her way through
the crowd and LEAPS INTO THE BALLOON CARRIAGE, just ready to
lift off. She cranks open the gas nozzles and the balloon
rises with surprising speed.
EXT. BOND?S BOAT - DAY
Bond steers his craft toward a slipway adjacent to the pier
and SHOOTS UP INTO THE AIR...
EXT. MILLENNIUM DOME
An amazing sight...Bond?s boat sailing through the air just
beneath the balloon. With split second precision he reaches
up and GRABS ONE OF THE ROPES dangling down from the balloon.
Bond finds himself being CARRIED THROUGH THE AIR as his boat
falls away from him, hitting the ground and ERUPTING into a
ball of flame.
EXT. HOT AIR BALLOON - CONTINUOUS
As Bond is carried higher and higher, the Cigar Girl begins
FIRING AT HIM over the edge of the carriage.
Bond, with ONE HAND, returns fire.
CIGAR GIRL then leans over the edge of the carriage and
begins to SLICE THE ROPE that Bond is hanging from.
The fibers split and fray away from each other as...
BOND FALLS, heading straight toward...
THE MILLENNIUM DOME, which the balloon has drifted over.
AS HE PLUMMETS DOWNWARD...Bond, never surrendering, still
FIRES HIS WEAPON up at the balloon. A bullet hits the gas
tank...
EXT. BALLOON - DAY
The BALLOON EXPLODES IN A MASSIVE FIREBALL taking the Cigar
Girl with it...
EXT. MILLENNIUM DOME - DAY
Bond lands with a spectacular thudding bounce, the roof of
the Millennium Dome breaking his fall.
EXT. MILLENNIUM DOME ROOF - DAY
He slides uncontrollably down the slope of the Dome as scraps
of burning balloon rain down all around, before he FALLS OFF
THE EDGE of the Dome and lands with a THUD ON...
THE GROUND BELOW
He struggles up, wincing in SEARING PAIN as his hand goes to
his INJURED SHOULDER. He hold it, and looks up, into the sky
as we zero in on the iris of...
HIS EYE
reflecting the massive smoke cloud from the explosion as the
screen transforms into...
THE MAIN TITLES
CUT TO:
EXT. COUNTRY ESTATE, LOCH LOMOND - DAY
BAGPIPES. A chapel atop a green slope overlooking the waters
of Loch Lomond.
A long line of mourners files out at the end of a memorial
service. They mill about on the lawn, among them, M, grim-
faced, BILL TANNER, CHIEF OF STAFF and JAMES BOND, his arm in
a black sling.
Bond, ever vigilant, scans the crowd...
HIS P.O.V. It?s like a state funeral. Rich and powerful
people, government ministers, chief executives from around
the world...and then...
FAR OFF, on a DISTANT RISE, he sees a BIG MAN, not one of the
mourners but an isolated observer, standing alone, wearing
sunglasses and a military haircut.
The man seems to see Bond looking at him...
M
Bond, we?ll meet you inside.
Bond looks at her for a brief second...when he turns back,
the man is gone, like an APPARITION.
Bond walks off, up the grassy slope, toward the rise.
CUT TO:
THE VIEW ACROSS THE VALLEY
Bond stands on the hill, looking below. He sees nothing but
a green carpet, not a tree to hide behind.
He hears a crunch of leaves...turns...
HIS P.O.V. A WOMAN, in mourning black, coming up the hill.
Her china doll face is both fragile and proud.
WOMAN
Beautiful, isn?t it?
BOND
Yes.
She steps up to the ridge with him. A breeze blows her hair.
They stare out. The sun?s rays have broken the clouds and
strafe the valley.
WOMAN
Today, of all days, the sun decides to
shine.
BOND
Perhaps Sir Robert had a word with the
Man Upstairs.
WOMAN
A word? I?m sure by now he?s engineered a
hostile takeover.
BOND
You knew him well?
The sun glints off her bejewelled earlobe.
WOMAN
He was my father.
BOND
I?m sorry.
WOMAN
He died before he could complete his
lifelong dream.
(beat)
I intend to finish it for him.
A voice interrupts them, calling from the estate...
OLDER MAN
Elektra!
ELEKTRA
Excuse me.
She walks away, the wind pressing her dress against her
delicate figure. She looks brave and vulnerable as she walks
back toward her father?s grand house.
CUT TO:
INT. LIMOUSINE - TRAVELING - DAY
M, Bond and Tanner in the rear of a limousine. The vehicle
swoops through the epic countryside of the Scottish
Highlands.
M
Elektra? Running King Industries?
(she broods)
I?ve known that girl all her life. I?m
not sure she knows what she?s walking
into.
BOND
She?s not a girl anymore.
M looks at Bond. Eyes his sling.
M
I?ve scheduled a medical for you.
BOND
It?s barely a scratch. The Dome broke my
fall.
M
Well, at least it turned out to have some
purpose.
Bond gives her a look.
M
No-one goes into the field on this unless
they?re 100%. Dr. Greatrex is waiting.
EXT. CASTLE THANE - HIGHLANDS - DAY
The limousine swoops under the portcullis, into a courtyard.
ADJUST ANGLE to reveal huge antennae and satellite dishes
within.
SUPER: MI-6 REMOTE OPERATIONS CENTRE, SCOTLAND
EXT. CORRIDOR - CASTLE THANE - CONTINUOUS
Bond walks through the corridors. Just before he enters the
medical room, he removes his sling and casually drapes it on
a suit of armor.
INT. MEDICAL ROOM - CASTLE THANE - DAY
Bond sits on the couch, shirt off, awaits the results of his
medical.
The very attractive DOCTOR GREATREX looks at her notes.
DOCTOR GREATREX
Dislocated collar bone. If any more
tendons snap...
(looks up)
It won?t just be two weeks out of action.
BOND
I need you to pass me fit now, Molly.
She moves to him, touches the scarred and bruised bone.
BOND
It?s just a scratch.
DOCTOR GREATREX
James. It wouldn?t really be...
His hand comes up, rests on her waist.
BOND
Ethical? Can?t we just skirt the issue?
And he pulls down the zip on her skirt. Flicks the clasp and
it drops to the floor. She shakes her head -- as he starts
undoing the buttons on her shirt. She?s very business-like,
despite what?s happening.
DOCTOR GREATREX
...if you showed sufficient...willpower.
Promised to slow down. Cut out running,
jumping...shooting. All kinds of...
And he pulls her toward him, they kiss.
BOND
Strenuous activity?
Her shirt drops to the floor. She pushes him back, lies on
him. Just wearing knickers now. Between kisses:
DOCTOR GREATREX
Then maybe I?d be... open to that.
BOND
(smiles)
Perhaps after this ... test?
DOCTOR GREATREX
...yes?...
BOND
I could come for a second opinion?
INT. BRIEFING ROOM, CASTLE THANE (MI-6 HQ)- LATER
A huge chandelier dominates the vast stone room. SEVERAL
AGENTS listen to the debriefing. ROBINSON and M watch TANNER
explain things; he holds a FIFTY POUND NOTE and KING?S LAPEL
PIN (now blackened, fused, melted to expose electronics
beneath).
TANNER
...The money was dipped in urea, dried,
and packed tight. In one note the metal
strip had been replaced with a
combustible magnesium circuit -- in
effect a tiny detonator. King always wore
a pin in his lapel, an heirloom called
?the Eye of the Glens?; but someone
switched it for a copy, a ceramic micro-
circuit emitting an electronic signature.
ANGLE
on BOND as he enters the room. He hangs back in the shadows,
watches Tanner mime the pin moving to the note:
TANNER
When he came within range of the money --
boom. Ingenious.
M steps forward. Her fury controlled.
M
We?ve been pawns in someone?s game. They
tricked us into bringing the money to
King. Not just elaborate. Cock-sure.
TANNER
And expensive. Cost three million plus.
Suddenly the chandelier darkens, the floor brightens into a
VAST SCREEN, showing a satellite image of Central Asia and
the Mediterranean. M and Robinson walk onto the screen.
M
Cheap, if it achieves your aim of de-
stabilizing the Western World.
She causes the desired stir. Bond steps forward from the
shadows to get a better view. M sees the sling has gone.
M
007. What do you know of the Caspian Sea?
BOND
Caviar capital of the world. Matchless
beluga. Firm, yet subtle.
(M looks askance)
Largest landlocked body of water on
Earth. Oil-rich. Hitler wanted it.
Stalin beat him to it.
M
And now it?s up for grabs, a goldrush.
Far more oil than anyone thought.
ROBINSON
Latest estimates, six trillion dollars.
It?ll make the Gulf look like a puddle,
see us right through the new century.
The problem is getting the oil out of
there.
M
There are four pipelines in the works.
Three to the Black Sea, shipping out
through the Bosphorus. All vulnerable to
unstable governments or Russian blockade.
BOND
So Sir Robert?s goes through Turkey,
direct to the Med...?
ROBINSON
A huge project. The most expensive of the
pipelines, but the one supported by every
Western leader. None of the American oil
companies were willing to take it on.
But King has connections to the region.
He married into the Vavra family, rich
local industrialists. He used those
connections to hold it all together.
BOND
Kill the man, kill the pipeline.
M
Not necessarily. Not with Elektra taking
over.
Tanner notices a RED LIGHT start pulsing. He moves to M:
TANNER
Your call to the PM.
M nods grimly. As Robinson distributes sealed envelopes:
M
Our credibility has been hit hard. We
have to hit back harder. Your
assignments.
They open their envelopes, but Bond received nothing.
M
(to Bond)
I?m waiting for the report on your
medical.
She leaves. Bond is brooding.
CUT TO:
INT. RESEARCH ROOM, CASTLE THANE (MI-6 HQ) - NIGHT
An ancient nook chock full of hi-tech equipment. Bond
concentrates on a screen displaying PHOTOGRAPHS, NEWSPAPER
AND TELEVISION CLIPS -- all to do with King?s life and times.
Bond touches the screen on a photo of...ELEKTRA.
INT. SCREEN
One story dominates -- the KIDNAPPING OF ELEKTRA KING. A
Polaroid of Elektra savagely beaten, ear bandaged, holding a
newspaper: beneath the photo is scrawled ?$5,000,000.?
NEWSCASTER
...somehow managed to shoot two of her
captors and escape...
POLICE VIDEO: Elektra interviewed; bruised, emotional.
VOICE
... the leader, the one who escaped. Can
you describe him?
ELEKTRA
He shouted. He shouted all the time --
Bond touches Elektra?s face, freezing her tears.
His eyes wander to the photo with the ransom demand:
$5,000,000. A thought forms. He takes out his wallet,
opening it and removing:
THE RECEIPT FROM LACHAISE.
E.C.U. The strange figure, in pounds: 3,030,303.03.
Bond taps some keys. The words EXCHANGE RATE appear on the
screen...pounds to dollars.
He enters ?3,030,303.03 POUNDS STERLING? and through
multiplication by the exchange rate this becomes:
?5,000,000 US DOLLARS.? He stares at it.
CUT TO:
INT. PASSAGEWAY - CASTLE THANE (MI-6 HQ) - DUSK
Bond paces the flagstones, FOOTSTEPS ECHOING.
INT. BRIEFING ROOM - CASTLE THANE (MI-6 HQ) - CONTINUOUS
Bond opens the door on M who stands alone by the window,
looking out at the long shadows on the moors.
BOND
Tell me about the kidnapping of Elektra
King.
She turns, her brow furrowing.
M
Who told you to look at Elektra?s files?
BOND
I took the initiative.
M
You haven?t been given an assignment in
this case.
BOND
I was the one who brought that money
in...
M
I?m well aware of your stake in this,
007.
If you have a point, get to it.
BOND
The amount of money that killed Robert
King is the same amount as the ransom
demand for Elektra.
He hands her a slip of paper.
BOND
Whoever kidnapped Elektra is the same man
who killed her father.
M looks at the paper, a long time.
M
It?s a message. He wants us to know he?s
back.
BOND
Who?
M
Claude Serrault. A.K.A...
BOND
(this is serious)
Renard.
CUT TO:
INT. BRIEFING ROOM, CASTLE THANE (MI-6 HQ)- NIGHT
A HUGE, TRANSPARENT 3-D IMAGE OF RENARD?S SKULL floats in the
centre of the room. Other images of him on wall screens.
M
Sir Robert tried to deal with the
kidnapping with his own...resources, at
first. When Elektra?s ear was delivered
to him in the post, he came to me.
(measured)
I advised against paying the ransom. I
knew it was Renard. I played it out as
long as possible to get a fix on him.
BOND
Sacrifice the girl to take out the
terrorist?
M
How many deaths is he responsible for?
How many innocent people? You may only
get one shot at a man like Renard. Same
circumstances, I?d do the same again.
She turns to the hologram.
M
We sent 009 down to kill him. Before he
could, Elektra escaped. A week later our
man caught up with the target. Put a
bullet in his head.
(beat)
That bullet is still there.
Bond moves toward the ghostly Renard. We now see THE BULLET
INSIDE HIS SKULL.
BOND
He survived?
M
The doctor who saved him couldn?t get it
out, so Renard killed him. When Interpol
found the x-rays, there was mild
jubilation. Effectively, he?s a dead man.
She presses a button, the hologram turns...
M
The bullet is moving through the medulla
oblongata, killing off his sense of
touch. He feels no pain. He can push
himself harder, longer than any normal
man.
BOND
?That which does not kill me makes me
stronger.?
M
Now Robert is dead. He got his revenge.
BOND
He?s not through yet. Renard doesn?t blow
up five million dollars unless he knows
there?s more coming in. He?s working for
someone. Someone who wants to stop the
pipeline. And they hired the perfect
killer. One with a vendetta against
King...and you.
MONEYPENNY ENTERS with a file, which she hands to M.
M looks over the file: his medical report.
M
I see the good doctor gave you glowing
testimonials. ?Exceptional stamina?...
MONEYPENNY
He?s always been good at oral exams.
Moneypenny disappears out the door. M is all business.
M
Get out to the pipeline. Find the insider
who switched the pin. If your instincts
are right, Renard will be back. He hasn?t
completed the job. The pipeline is still
going forward, and we have Elektra to
thank for that.
BOND
The worm on the hook again.
They exchange a look. A look of recognition between two
professionals, who know the terrible price of what they do.
INT. Q?S LAB - NIGHT
A Scot in a kilt plays the bagpipes -- badly. He spins
round, drops the pipe from his mouth, simultaneously fires
bullets from one pipe and a jet of flame from another. The
target is a realistic dummy -- now a molten, bullet-ridden
mess.
We?re in Q?s laboratory. He?s walking Bond through.
BOND
Scottish heavy metal, Q?
Q
Oh pipe down, 007.
(irritated, hands over a WATCH)
Your 29th. Try not to lose this one. It
has dual lasers and a miniature grappling
hook with fifty feet of high-tensile
micro-filament, able to support 800
pounds.
In the background, we see a man in a sleek black jacket. The
man PULLS A STRING...the jacket becomes AN AIRBAG...it
envelopes him, he gets impossibly tangled in it.
Q ignores it, handing Bond a new pair of GLASSES.
Q
New refinement. Sort of X-ray vision.
For checking concealed weapons.
BOND
And other uses, no doubt.
Q
Abuses in your case. You destroyed my
hydro-boat in less than seven minutes, as
no doubt will be the case with this...
He presses a button and a section of ceiling lowers to reveal
a BMW Z7.
A MAN in a white coat is loading A MISSILE into one of the
headlamps, then steps off the platform. Q gestures to him.
Q
007, my Deputy Assistant. I?m grooming
him to follow me.
BOND
(to Man)
That would make you...?R??
R
Ahh, the rampant 007 wit. I, of course,
am laughing inside. But I dare say
you?ve met your match in this machine.
(touring the car)
The absolute latest in intercepts,
surveillance and countermeasures.
Titanium plating and armor, a multi-
tasking heads-up display. Completely
indestructible. All in all, rather
stocked.
Q
?Fully loaded? I think is the term.
?R? pats the fender, he?s pretty damned fond of his machine.
R
Do take good care of her.
CUT TO:
EXT. CONSTRUCTION SITE, NEAR CAUCASUS MOUNTAINS - DAY
A hot day. CAMERA soars over tall trees. We can just make out
the sleek muscular car, beetle-black and far below, bouncing
over rough terrain. Bond ?taking care? of his new BMW Z7.
INT. BOND?S CAR - NR CAUCASUS MOUNTAINS - DAY
We join Bond at the wheel, driving hard, loving it, pushing
up extreme inclines, smashing through overhanging limbs.
EXT. PERIMETER FENCE, CONSTRUCTION SITE, NEAR CAUCASUS
MOUNTAINS - DAY
Bond reaches a PERIMETER FENCE, manned by a GUARD. The guard
examines Bond?s PASS and waves him through.
EXT. AIRSTRIP AREA NEAR CONSTRUCTION SITE, NEAR CAUCASUS
MOUNTAINS - DAY (OLD SC. 69)
As Bond drives on he passes an area where HELICOPTERS
trailing GIANT SAWS are trimming back trees. Felled trees
are being dragged away, being replaced by huge metal sheets.
An incredibly fast and well-oiled operation -- but why?
EXT. CONSTRUCTION SITE, NEAR CAUCASUS MOUNTAINS - DAY
Bond pulls up at the CONSTRUCTION SITE, teeming with ultra-
modern robotic construction machines and vehicles.
He gets out, and is immediately surrounded by men with guns.
A man in a suit steps forward. DAVIDOV is tall, blonde, with
a dangerous charm Bond instantly recognizes as ex-KGB.
He turns Bond around, hands on the car. Pats him down.
Pulls out an ID, checks it:
DAVIDOV
(excellent English)
Bond. A government man. I?m afraid since
you English got the boss killed we?ve
been a little...jumpy.
Bond stares ahead, watches a PRIVATE JET swoops past...
OMITTED
EXT. AIRSTRIP AREA NEAR CONSTRUCTION SITE, NEAR CAUCASUS
MOUNTAINS - DAY
The jet lands on a runway of the metal sheets Bond saw being
laid as he passed...
EXT. CONSTRUCTION SITE, NEAR CAUCASUS MOUNTAINS - DAY
Davidov pulls out Bond?s gun.
BOND
(re: gun)
I?d rather you didn?t play with that.
Davidov ignores him, looking the gun over.
DAVIDOV
Nice.
BOND
Quite stunning.
Bond turns to watch a LIFTING HELICOPTER swoop in and drop
down an air-conditioned office. Military precision.
Davidov?s radio crackles out a message and he tosses the gun
back to Bond. They start walking:
DAVIDOV
(pleasant)
Sorry about all that, comrade. Old habits
die hard. I am Head of Security.
Davidov.
Bond eyes him, but is distracted by a jet coming to a halt
ahead of them.
Stairs swing down and out steps ELEKTRA KING. Beautiful,
elegant. So out of place in this world of men. She surveys
the worksite.
Impressed, Bond takes his ID back from Davidov.
INT. OFFICE, CONSTRUCTION SITE - CONTINUOUS
Bond and Davidov step into a fully functioning office.
Everything Elektra requires is here. Computer, phones, drinks
cabinet. She is in the middle of a group of workmen and
secretaries, looking at plans, talking, pouring herself a cup
of coffee.
ELEKTRA
(to Foreman)
...they should have been in place two
days ago. That is the target my father
set.
FOREMAN
We?ve had some trouble with the villagers
at Ruan. Some sacred burial plot...
DAVIDOV
Miss King...James Bond here to see you.
She looks up...a brief moment of RECOGNITION...then back to
business.
ELEKTRA
Find me the research on the limestone
deposits, go ahead and place these
orders, and get the jeep ready. I will go
to Ruan myself...
DAVIDOV
Miss King, I wouldn?t recommend...
ELEKTRA
I said, I will go.
She signs some documents and the men file out. She gets up,
turning her back to Bond, hands on her hips.
ELEKTRA
Would you excuse us, Davidov?
Davidov nods and leaves. Elektra still keeps her back turned,
but he can see her physically change, her shoulders sag, her
arms cross in front of her. When she finds her voice, it has
a gravelly sound of emotion.
ELEKTRA
I met you at my father?s funeral.
BOND
Yes.
ELEKTRA
I haven?t been able to recall a single
moment of that day...until now.
BOND
Funerals aren?t exactly memorable.
ELEKTRA
God no. All those horrible loved ones and
relatives. I don?t want to talk to those
people. I just want to...talk to my
father.
(beat)
I loved him. I?m not sure he knew that.
BOND
Is that why you want to finish the
pipeline?
ELEKTRA
Partially, yes.
Her muscleman BODY GUARD appears, says briefly:
GABOR
The jeep is ready, Ma?am. Will I be
driving with you?
ELEKTRA
No, Gabor. We have a guest.
Gabor glares at Bond before he leaves.
BOND
Who is he?
ELEKTRA
My bodyguard. He follows me everywhere.
He?s decisive, vigilant. And he makes an
excellent omelette.
BOND
How long has he been with you?
ELEKTRA
Since the kidnapping. Why do you ask?
Bond takes something out of his pocket, he opens his palm,
shows it to her.
BOND
Does this look familiar to you?
ELEKTRA
It?s my father?s pin. He wore it everyday
of his life.
She swallows back emotion. Looks in his eyes, with a sad half-
smile that unsettles him.
ELEKTRA
Are you trying to break my heart? Or is
it just your way with women?
BOND
It?s not the pin your father wore. It?s
an exact duplicate. Inside is a tiny
electrical detonator. We have reason to
believe the assassin had an inside
accomplice, someone who worked at this
company.
ELEKTRA
If you?ve come here to look after me, Mr.
Bond, thank you, but no thank you. I
have two bodyguards, I don?t need a
third...
She starts to walk out. He follows her...
EXT. CONSTRUCTION SITE - CONTINUOUS
BOND
The killer doesn?t want to see this
pipeline continue, doesn?t want to see
you take over...
ELEKTRA
That?s every man within a five mile
radius. Including you.
(off his look)
That?s why you?re here, isn?t it? You
think I can?t do it. You think I?m going
to screw up. Or get myself killed.
BOND
I think running this pipeline would be a
difficult job for anyone. Especially
King?s daughter.
ELEKTRA
You are wrong, Mr. Bond. In fact, I am
the only person who can do it.
CUT TO:
EXT. JEEP, TRAVELING - OILFIELDS - DAY
Elektra drives the all-terrain jeep with casual assurance.
Bond is beside her, cold-weather gear in the back. They?re
following a huge pipeline, passing a blighted petrified
forest of twisted iron: derelict oil derricks.
Elektra gestures at the oil fields they?re now leaving
behind. Receding into the distance, a DELTA OF ROADWAYS
perched on rusting stilts juts out into the sea.
ELEKTRA
My mother?s people discovered oil here
ninety years ago. The Bolsheviks
slaughtered them for it.
(beat)
Some say oil is in my family?s blood. I
say our blood is in the oil. This is the
very heart of the planet. Up here in the
hills was Eden, literally. Look what the
Russians did to it. Now we have a second
chance and this time we?ll do it right.
When the other wells have all dried up,
she?ll still be pumping her lifeblood to
the world. And this
(proudly, of pipeline)
Will be one of the main arteries...
OMITTED 75-
EXT. POV FROM HELICOPTER - DAY
Bond and Elektra travel beside the vast pipe through
dramatic, beautiful, scenery...
INT. HELICOPTER - DAY
Davidov and Gabor, in the helicopter, watch the jeep below.
EXT. CONSTRUCTION CAMP, FOOTHILLS OF THE CAUCASUS MOUNTAINS
(CAPPADOCIA, THE VILLAGE OF ZELVE) - DAY
The jeep reaches a break in the pipe: a SURVEY CAMP, flags,
strings. The SURVEY CREW cower behind a 4WD, local tribesman
are stoning them from a village carved into the rock. A lot
of SHOUTING.
Before Bond can stop her, Elektra gets out, moves toward the
tribesmen. The stoning ceases. They know who she is. She
begins to speak quietly -- in their own tongue.
INT. CHAPEL, ZELVE - DAY
A stunning pre-Byzantine chapel hewn from the rock. Flames
illuminate beautiful mosaics and paintings on the cavern
wall. A COPTIC PRIEST proudly shows Elektra about, jabbering
in his mother tongue. She answers in his language.
Bond watches her, impressed.
EXT. CONSTRUCTION CAMP - DISTORTED ELECTRONIC POV, FROM
ABOVE:
We hear the click of high-powered electronic binoculars,
zeroing in on Bond and Elektra as they return to the survey
team. This can?t be Davidov?s view, as the helicopter has
settled down below.
EXT. CONSTRUCTION CAMP, FOOTHILLS OF MOUNTAINS - DAY
Bond is edgy. Someone is out there. He?s sure of it. He
sees Davidov and Gabor scanning the area as well. Elektra
speaks to the foreman.
ELEKTRA
Send the pipe around.
FOREMAN
It will take weeks, cost millions.
Your father approved this route.
ELEKTRA
Then my father was wrong.
The first time Elektra has asserted her own authority. The
foreman is surprised, angry. But he doesn?t question her.
She moves toward the helicopter, says to Bond:
ELEKTRA
I have to check the upper lines. Gabor
will drive you back.
BOND
Always wanted to see the upper lines.
ELEKTRA
You don?t take no for an answer, do you?
BOND
No.
She shrugs, mischief in her eyes.
ELEKTRA
Alright then. Do you ski?
Bond just smiles.
BOND
I?ve been known to.
INT/EXT. HELICOPTER - DAY
The chopper swoops over SNOWY WASTES. It reaches a mountain
peak, hovers. The wind is strong, buffeting.
Elektra and Bond are both now in ski suits, Bond wearing a
sleek black jacket.
PILOT
Can?t land. Wind?s too strong!
ELEKTRA
Just hold her steady.
(to Bond)
You wanted to see it.
She steps into her skis, opens the door. Wind rushes in.
EXT. MOUNTAIN TOP - DAY
Without a moment?s hesitation, Elektra leaps out of the
chopper and falls fifteen feet, landing on the move.
INT/EXT. HELICOPTER - DAY
Unbelieving, Bond quickly dons skis and leaps after her.
EXT. MOUNTAINS - DAY
Below him on the mountain, she is already a way ahead. Her
skiing is fearless. Bond likes a challenge...
They wind down the slope, competitive, testing one another,
enjoying it.
EXT. MOUNTAINSIDE - DAY
After an exhilarating run, she stops on the edge of a huge
drop. Bond joins her. They look down at the snowy valley
below. A line of survey FLAGS visible through the middle.
ELEKTRA
We?re building from both ends. This is
where they?ll meet. Fifteen hundred
miles from the Caspian to the
Mediterranean.
Bond and Elektra stand on the mountainside, feeling like the
only two people in the world, when they hear: THE DISTANT HUM
OF A PLANE.
EXT. SKY - DAY
They see FOUR OBJECTS falling out the back of the aircraft.
As the objects plummet silently toward the earth, they POP
PARACHUTES, their fall slows and then, as Bond and Elektra
watch in disbelief...
GUNFIRE echoes out from the black shapes, now visible as
PARASKIS, low-flying, sleek, deadly snow vehicles.
EXT. MOUNTAIN TOP - DAY
Bond turns to Elektra, he has to yell over the sound of the
approaching machines.
BOND
Head for that gully, I?ll lure them into
the trees!
He points her off to one side, where a shallow gully offers
cover...she skis off to shelter and he skis OUT...INTO THE
OPEN...where the paraskis trail after him...
He streaks toward the trees as the vehicles gain on him,
firing...
EXT. FOREST
He makes it to the woods, finding cover in the trees,
whipping in and out of sight as PARASKI #1 tries to follow,
sinking lower and lower until...
HIS SKIDS catch on some over hanging branches...the Paraski
is CATAPULTED into a tree and EXPLODES...
EXT. WOODS - CONTINUOUS
Coming in to pick up the pursuit of Bond is Paraski #2,
firing down at Bond, dropping bombs which explode just behind
him in the snow. The other two paraskis LAND and eject their
chutes, now RACING THROUGH THE WOODS on the ground.
Bond looks behind him, sees them gaining...he zigzags through
the trees and suckers Paraski #3 to glance off one tree, hit
another and wipe out behind.
But the remaining predator on the ground, Paraski #4, is
gaining on him...Bond bursts out of the trees and finds
himself heading toward...
THE EDGE OF A PRECIPICE...
He cranks himself right, narrowly avoiding a tumble over the
edge. Paraski #4 isn?t so lucky and SAILS OFF THE CLIFF to a
hundred and fifty foot drop.
BOND
(smiling)
Should have stuck to snowboarding.
But the smile is wiped off his face as...AN EMERGENCY
PARACHUTE deploys from the back...
The Paraski does a climbing turn and heads straight back for
him...
Bond skis for his life, away from Paraski #4 when PARASKI #2
appears in front of him...guns blazing...
One ahead and one behind, Bond turns back...he has nowhere to
go but...
OVER THE EDGE
He sails through the air and lands on the Paraski #4,
slashing the parachute with his ski pole before bouncing off
and doing an amazing tumbling hundred foot fall to the snow,
where he lands on his skis... Paraski four, the chute
tangling in the rotors of its propeller, struggles to
maintain control, his vehicle inexorably hurtling toward
PARASKI #2: both of them having set their course for Bond,
they are now on a collision course with EACH OTHER...
IN THE GULLY BELOW
Bond meets up with Elektra as above them...
The two Paraskis collide, crashing into the snowy hill above
and tumbling down, end over end.
Bond and Elektra huddle together as shards and debris rain
down on them.
Then...silence. An eerie silence.
ELEKTRA
Are they gone? All of them?
Bond nods, ripping from his pole a PIECE OF THE PARACHUTE he
slashed and wiping his face with it...he looks at the piece
of fabric in his hand. He sees:
CYRILLIC LETTERS...undecipherable to us...but there is a look
on his face, a look of recognition as...
AN EARTH RATTLING RUMBLE grows above them.
Bond stuffs the parachute fragment in his ski-suit as he
turns...
The exploding Paraskis have triggered AN AVALANCHE on the
slope above.
EXT. MOUNTAINSIDE/AVALANCHE AREA - DAY
They try to outrun it -- riding the sliding hill -- but they
haven?t a hope... the rest of the snow is catching them,
they?re going to get swallowed.
EXT. MOUNTAINSIDE/AVALANCHE AREA - DAY
The ground shudders, the THUNDER CLOSING... Their ankles are
soon covered, Elektra falls. Bond stops, pulls her up.
They?re about to die. He pulls her to him.
BOND
Hold on to me.
She?s confused and frightened but does as she?s told.
They hold one another tight as -- here it comes -- the white
fury hurtles over them, burying them... At the last moment,
just as their heads vanish from view...
CLOSE ON BOND PULLING THE Q GADGET ON THE JACKET.
The AIRBAG slams open. The snow covers it and them. More
and more snow slides over...
CUT TO:
INT. SNOW HOLE - MOMENTS LATER
Darkness. The RUMBLING CEASES...
Light emanates from Bond?s watch. In the shadows he pulls a
knife, punctures the air bag. It deflates, leaving them
cocooned in an icy tomb. Elektra looks around, staring,
unbelieving.
ELEKTRA
Oh my God...we?re buried alive...
BOND
We?re alright.
But her breath is coming in short, irregular bursts.
ELEKTRA
I can?t stay here.
BOND
You?re not going to.
Bond takes a knife from a sheath around his ankle. Flicks
open the small blade. He starts to cut a hole in the snow
above their heads. She stops him.
ELEKTRA
No! It will cave in!
BOND
It?s the only way out...
The snow CREAKS eerily, she gasps, terror mounting.
ELEKTRA
I can?t breathe, I can?t breathe...
Bond grabs her, holds her tight. She resists, bucks.
BOND
Elektra, look at me, look in my eyes!
(she does)
You?re alright. Everything will be
alright. Trust me.
Finally, arrested by the strength in his eyes, she calms...
EXT. MOUNTAINS - MOMENTS LATER
A beautiful expanse of smooth virgin snow. All is quiet.
CLOSER
Bond?s fist PUNCHES through the white. He pulls the snow
away, climbs out. Leans in, lifts Elektra out.
Bond and Elektra stand, lone figures in the perfect white.
They hear a sound...HELICOPTER ROTORS. Rescue on its way.
CUT TO:
EXT. ELEKTRA?S VILLA - DAY
An establishing shot of Bond?s BMW parked outside the ornate
villa on the shore of the golden Caspian.
INT. ENTRANCE HALL, ELEKTRA?S VILLA - DAY
Palatial. Hallway dominated by a LARGE PAINTING of a bearded
man in traditional Turkish garb, sitting proudly on a horse.
Davidov, Gabor, waiting, pacing.
Bond is sits in a chair, ON EDGE, writing something over and
over on a small pad of paper...THE CYRILLIC LETTERS on the
parachute fragment.
A DOCTOR comes down the grand staircase. The men stand.
DOCTOR
She?s fine. Contusions. A slight strain
to her ankle, but otherwise, fine.
(to Bond)
She wants to see you.
INT. ELEKTRA?S BEDROOM - SUNSET
Bond enters. Elektra is standing by the window watching the
golden ball of the sun sink into the sea. She wears nothing
but a silk embroidered robe; the sun shows through it,
outlining her naked body in soft, shadowy curves.
ELEKTRA
Are you alright?
He nods. He is wound tight, she senses it.
BOND
I can?t stay.
ELEKTRA
I know.
A moment.
ELEKTRA
I need to ask you something. And I need
you to tell me the truth.
He waits.
ELEKTRA
Who is it? Who is trying to kill me?
Bond looks at her; vulnerable, fragile, trying to be strong.
He cannot tell her the truth.
BOND
I don?t know. But I will find him.
She stares at him, sensing he is withholding something. She
turns back to the window.
He approaches behind her.
ELEKTRA
After the kidnapping...I was afraid to go
outside, to be alone, to be in a crowd,
to do anything at all, until I
realized...
(pause)
There?s no point in living if you
can?t...feel alive.
She looks out at the fading sun.
ELEKTRA
I can?t huddle in the shadows. I can?t
let fear run my life. I won?t.
She turns to him.
ELEKTRA
The way I acted, in the snow...you must
think I?m a coward.
BOND
I think you?re one of the bravest people
I?ve ever met.
She looks up at him, into his eyes; they are so close. All
she has to do is tilt her mouth upward...she kisses him. His
hands come up across her back, pressing her toward him, her
body melting into his, and then...
He pulls back. Has to physically step away from her.
ELEKTRA
What is it?
BOND
...you should rest.
That was exactly the wrong thing to say. He sees the
rebellion flair in her eyes.
ELEKTRA
James...
BOND
I have to go.
ELEKTRA
Then take me with you.
BOND
No. You?ll be safe here.
ELEKTRA
I don?t want to be safe!
BOND
I have to go to work.
He starts toward the door.
ELEKTRA
Now who?s the coward?
He stops, his back up...then heads out the door.
IN THE HALLWAY
He passes Gabor, standing faithfully outside.
CUT TO:
EST. SHOT - EXT. CASINO NOIR D?OR, BAKU - NIGHT
Elegant, mysterious. A modern day Casablanca.
INT. CASINO NOIR D?OR, BAKU - NIGHT
Bond in evening dress in the sumptuous casino. He takes out
the Q glasses, slips them on, surveys the room --
HIS X-RAY POV
He can see all the WEAPONS carried by the players. All sizes
of pistol, even the odd grenade. The obvious side-effect of
this view -- he can see through clothes.
His eyes alight on two girls walking away from him. One of
them turns to look back, unaware that she is on display. She
returns Bond?s smile. Her friend turns to look. Bond?s
smile grows: she has a small pistol concealed over one
breast.
INT. CASINO NOIR D?OR, BAKU - NIGHT
He looks over the lenses -- and spies someone on the fringes.
His old adversary, ex-KGB, VALENTIN ZUKOVSKY, talking to some
suspicious types. Zukovsky looks across. Bond walks toward
him.
BOND
Valentin Zukovsky.
ZUKOVSKY
BondJamesBond. What brings you here?
BOND
You, of course. I need some information.
ZUKOVSKY
Bond, I?m a civilian. This is my place.
Used to be the royal family?s, now it?s
mine. I run my little business, I stay
out of trouble...
BOND
(looking about)
Mafia warlords, Diplomats and spies,
consortiums from every country in the
world. A nice little rat?s nest.
ZUKOVSKY
(offering hors d?ouevres)
Have some of the rat?s nest caviar. From
my own fishery. They buy my caviar,
drink my champagne, lose to my House.
He turns to a suspicious-looking Heavy.
ZUKOVSKY
Let me introduce you to a former
colleague of mine at the KGB. Dmitri
Palov, you may know him as...the Boa.
The Boa is completely bald, muscular; huge, deadly hands.
BOA
The great 007. For years I have dreamed
of closing my hands around your neck.
BOND
Boa. Have you had any therapy since
Perestroika?
ZUKOVSKY
Why am I suddenly worried I?m not
carrying enough insurance?
The Boa leaves, glaring all the while.
ZUKOVSKY
See? You?re upsetting my customers.
What do you want?
BOND
How does a terrorist like Renard supply
his men with state-of-the-art Russian
Army weapons?
ZUKOVSKY
What? This is not possible.
Bond takes from his pocket the fragment of the PARACHUTE.
Zukovsky examines the letters.
BOND
If I remember my Cyrillic that says 101st
airborne division.
ZUKOVSKY
Where did you get this?
BOND
Off a high-powered Paraski that was
trying to kill me.
Zukovsky shakes his head. Sighs.
ZUKOVSKY
The Russian Army, they spend millions on
flying skis, but they cannot afford to
pay the soldiers. The men, they do what
they have to do to feed their families.
In this country, for the right price and
a pack of cigarettes, you can get
anything you want.
He notices Bond watching THE HOSTESS BAR...a dark alcove of
the casino, where slinky HOOKERS flatter the guests.
ZUKOVSKY
That too. Everyone does what they can to
survive.
BOND
How high up does this...arms dealing go?
ZUKOVSKY
Bond. If someone wants you dead, it is
Renard. Our government has nothing to
gain by killing you.
BOND
But you would have something to gain by
killing Robert King. And stopping his
pipeline.
This hits Zukovsky. He closes down. A chill between them.
ZUKOVSKY
Poor Bond. The cold war is over. What
have you got left? Economic espionage.
Murder in the boardroom. So dull.
Bond?s eyes catch something, someone entering the casino.
HIS POV: ELEKTRA...more vibrant than we have ever seen her,
living up to her name. She is impossibly glamorous in a
sparkling dress that fits like second skin. Her hair is full
and tumbling, her eyes are fiery and wild.
BOND
Oh, you?d be surprised.
Bond starts toward her, but she tosses her head, defiant, and
turns away, making her way to the Roulette tables.
Bond follows her across the casino. They are like two cats,
moving through this neon jungle, their energy dangerous and
sexy, all eyes on them. He takes note as she passes...MINIMUM
$100, then $500, $1000...
She finally stops at the ?No limit? table. Crowded with the
nastiest and richest of the high rollers, Armenians, Turks,
South Americans, a computer nerd American and a Russian
industrialist?s wife, heavy with jewelry and drink.
ZUKOVSKY is suddenly there, pulling out a seat for her in the
center.
ZUKOVSKY
We?ve kept your father?s chair free.
ELEKTRA
And his account?
ZUKOVSKY
You have a credit line of a million and a
half.
He gestures to the Dealer, who pushes ten towering stacks of
CHIPS toward her. A WAITRESS is right there to take her
order.
ELEKTRA
Vodka martini.
BOND
Two. Shaken not stirred.
He leans in, smiling his charming smile as he says:
BOND
What the hell are you doing here?
ELEKTRA
(smiling right back)
Someone wants to kill me, I?d rather die
looking him straight in the eye.
(lightly)
What are you doing here? Looking for a
woman a little more your type? How about
that one?
She points to a SHOW GIRL in a feather headdress and pasties.
BOND
If this little show is for my benefit,
I?ll take you home right now.
ELEKTRA
You had your chance, James. Now I?m
looking for a bigger thrill.
She pushes half her chips back onto the table, letting them
stand on her bet. The whole table exhales. Then, it starts:
bets are placed, gamblers energized by her arrival.
Bond scans the room, vigilant, nervous...
HIS P.O.V. He zeroes in on Davidov, sidling off, away from
the table, trying to look nonchalant, his eyes shifting this
way and that...he looks suspicious as hell.
Bond watches, his blood running, and then...
Davidov slips into the HOSTESS BAR. A HOOKER is soon
wrapping herself around him. After a few words, she leads him
off toward the back.
Bond returns to the game, shaking his head. He watches as
THE DEALER DEALS FROM THE SHOE.
CUT TO:
INT. SALON PRIV?- NIGHT
A small room. Lit by sconces that sport LIVE FLAMES. Tacky-
luxurious, a refracted Eastern reflection on an old west
whore house.
Davidov undresses in the little bathroom alcove. He faces a
small ornate mirror over the sink, in which he can see THE
HOOKER behind him, on the bed.
HOOKER
You want to be...on top, or not on top?
DAVIDOV
On top.
She slowly pulls a pair of SILK ROPES out from her bra and
DANGLES THEM.
HOOKER
Tied up, or not tied up?
Davidov smiles, struggling with his belt. He looks down,
gets it, looks up...his heart stops...it is not the hooker in
the mirror but...
RENARD?S FRIGHTENING FACE.
Davidov spins.
HIS P.O.V. Renard?s henchman stands by the door, an
automatic rifle cocked at Davidov.
RENARD
Dead, or not dead?
CUT TO:
INT. CASINO - THE BLACK JACK TABLE
Elektra with black king showing. A seven beneath.
BOND
I understand it?s normally good practice
to get the feel of the cards before going
off the deep end.
ELEKTRA
Really?
And with a smile she scratches her cards on the table for a
hit. The Dealer gives her an eight. She reveals her cards.
DEALER
Bust.
He rakes in her chips. But Elektra is undeterred. She pushes
another pile forward as the next deal commences.
ELEKTRA
I like the deep end, James.
CUT TO:
INT. SALON PRIVE
The HENCHMAN holds Davidov against the wall with his huge
fist around his neck. Near his head, the live flame of a
SCONCE hisses, burning blue and yellow, drawing their fuel
from the glass basin of hot oil attached beneath it.
The HOOKER, obviously one of Renard?s gang, has finished
donning her khaki pants and combat boots and straps a gun
onto her shoulder.
Renard looks distastefully at the room.
RENARD
Is this how you spend the money I pay
you? And with the rest you hire fools who
shoot like blind men?
DAVIDOV
(croaks out)
Bond...
RENARD
Should be dead as well. Your failure
today is astonishing. It is a disgrace.
He approaches close to him, stopping at the flaming SCONCE
near his head.
RENARD
Do you know why the color is blue at the
wick?
Davidov starts to sweat.
RENARD
Because that is where the flame is the
hottest.
Renard touches the glass well of oil.
RENARD
The temperature is close to five hundred
degrees.
Renard uses his knife and POPS the seal from the lamp,
removing the well of oil...a DROP of the hot oil FALLS ON HIS
HAND and SINGES IT BLACK in an instant...
Renard does not even flinch. Davidov starts talking, trying
to placate...
DAVIDOV
The plane...it?s all been arranged...
RENARD
Then you are completely unnecessary...
Renard raises the container of oil over Davidov?s head:
DAVIDOV
I have the documents, the landing
authorizations, the security passes...
Renard stops, the oil tilted, just ready to pour...
His dead eye...has it drooped further since we last saw
him?...seems to glitter in the light...
RENARD
Bond is suspicious. We are moving sooner,
tonight. We understand each other?
DAVIDOV
Yes...yes...
Renard lets a TRICKLE OF OIL drop onto Davidov?s head...
HE SCREAMS as his hair smokes and singes...
Renard makes a motion, the THUG releases Davidov, who falls
to the floor, clutching his head.
CUT TO:
INT. CASINO - THE BLACK JACK TABLE
Another deal. ZUKOVSKY and others watch, as Elektra stakes
even more. People move closer for a view. The Dealer shows
a five. Elektra shows Bond her cards.
Elektra is holding two eights. Dealer?s up-card is a six.
BOND
Stand or split them.
She smiles. He holds her gaze.
ELEKTRA
Surely you believe in living dangerously.
BOND
Not at that price. Time to surrender.
They eye one another a long while -- sex firmly in the air.
She smiles. She moves ALL HER CHIPS forward.
Bond catches a look between the Dealer and Zukovsky:
DEALER
The House has no limit.
General kerfuffle. Bond looks back toward THE HOSTESS
BAR...no sign of Davidov?s return...
ELEKTRA
(to Dealer)
Hit me.
The Dealer scoops a card from the shoe. Tension. Everyone
holds their breath...as he turns over... -- a six. Bust.
The audience inhale as one AS THE DEALER TAKES ALL HER CHIPS
AWAY.
Elektra stands. She has dignity in defeat. She turns to
Bond, holding out a hand.
ELEKTRA
Time to surrender.
EXT. CASINO - NIGHT
Bond, Elektra, Gabor outside, Davidov soon joining them,
trying to look like he hasn?t been through hell. Bond
notices the burn on his head. Davidov touches it self-
consciously.
DAVIDOV
A little accident.
BOND
A night of burning passion?
Davidov scowls at him. Bond leads Elektra away...
CUT TO:
A DISTANT P.O.V. FROM HIGH ABOVE.
Someone watches Bond and Elektra move toward his BMW.
HENCHMAN (V.O.)
What about Bond?
EXT. CASINO ROOF
RENARD and his henchmen, watching. Renard seems mesmerized by
the sight of Bond?s HAND on the small of Elektra?s back,
their easy sensuality as they both get into the car.
HENCHMAN
Sir? Sir?
RENARD
(seething)
I will take care of Mister Bond.
CUT TO:
EXT. ELEKTRA?S VILLA - NIGHT
Bond and Elektra emerge from the BMW. Behind them, Gabor and
Davidov get out of her car. Bond watches as Davidov slams his
door and marches off, angry, toward the SECURITY QUARTERS at
the side of the house.
Bond and Elektra walk to the front door, anticipation thick
in the air. Gabor opens the door. Elektra sweeps through...
INT. ENTRANCE HALL, ELEKTRA?S VILLA - NIGHT
Bond pauses just inside the open doorway.
HIS P.O.V. Two figures in the cavernous entrance hall,
Elektra having a brief word with Gabor, before he turns and
exits, leaving only...
ELEKTRA AND BOND.
She starts upstairs, Bond?s eyes locked on her body, and
then:
SHE LOOKS BACK...just once. But it says everything. She
continues upward.
Bond taps the front door closed with his foot.
INT. BEDROOM, ELEKTRA?S VILLA - NIGHT
Half-light. They?re entwined between the sheets. This is
something slow, languorous, not to be rushed. We can?t make
out the mechanics, but they?re beaded with sweat.
Her fingers trace the contours of his torso. Linger on his
bruised collar-bone.
ELEKTRA
You knew when you first saw me. You knew
it would be like this.
BOND
Shush.
Her hand dips in an ice bucket beside the bed. She rubs a
slither of ice down her chest, shudders with pleasure. It?s
a move Bond hasn?t seen before.
Now she brings the ice to his shoulder.
ELEKTRA
Poor shoulder. Looks painful...
She kisses his purple flesh. Licks.
BOND
...needs constant attention...
She slides her tongue back and fore along the groove above
the tendon. And he pulls the ice from her hand:
BOND
Enough ice for one day.
Tosses it across the room as passion takes over...
INT. BEDROOM, ELEKTRA?S VILLA - LATER
A puddle of water where the ice fell.
Post-sex on the bed. He traces a hand down her naked back.
The sweat glistens off the curve of her spine. She turns.
The light glints off her jewelled earlobe...he touches it.
BOND
You never take this off?
Elektra looks at him.
ELEKTRA
Why do men always want to undress the one
part of a woman?s body she doesn?t want
to reveal?
She reaches to the large, diamond-encrusted earring and
gently plucks it away. Pulls her lush hair back...
The lower half of her ear is gone, reduced to a misshapen
clump of scar tissue. It is the only mark on her perfect
body. A physical reminder of her ordeal. It breaks his heart.
BOND
How did you survive?
ELEKTRA
I used my body on the guards. It gave me
control. I got to a gun and I took my
chance.
(beat)
I?ve never told anyone that.
They are looking at each other, both suddenly feeling
something dangerously close to real connection. It is not
what Bond expected.
ELEKTRA
Do you ever stop, James? Do you ever
think about...another kind of life?
He holds her gaze for a long time before he looks away.
BOND
I can?t afford to.
She frowns, slightly. Settles into his chest.
ELEKTRA
Don?t worry. I know who you are.
He holds her, eyes full of conflict, staring into the dark.
EXT. VILLA - NIGHT - LATER
The lights of a car pulling up at the security office by the
perimeter wall of the property.
EXT. SECURITY QUARTERS - SAME
Bond?s car, several of Elektra?s vehicles, all parked around
the security office. They have been joined by:
A WHITE ECONOMY CAR, a Russian make, with a familiar SEAL
painted on the door...we?ve seen it before, the seal on top
of the stolen report at the beginning...Miratom.
Out of the driver?s seat steps...DAVIDOV. He carries a
briefcase from the car to the front door of the security
office. He looks around furtively before he disappears
inside.
The parking area is dark and silent and then:
JAMES BOND sits up in the driver?s seat of his BMW.
INT. BMW - SAME
Bond sticks his key in the ignition and activates the car?s
various systems.
HIS P.O.V. Davidov is a shadow in the office window.
Bond flicks a switch. A NEEDLE-THIN BEAM is directed from
the BMW to the window of the office. He can HEAR a synthesis
of Davidov?s voice...
DAVIDOV (V.O.)
I?m running late...no, no, I?ll make
it...how will they know I?m your
man?...romashka...romashka...alright.
Bond hears the click of a phone hanging up. He flicks
another switch in his car, an infra-red tracking system
activates in his WINDSCREEN...
He can now see Davidov perfectly as he comes out of the
security quarters, carrying a briefcase and a large DUFFLE
BAG which he carries to the car and loads into the TRUNK.
He goes back inside.
BOND gets out of the BMW. He moves stealthily to the Russian
vehicle and, using the laser beam on his watch, opens the
lock on the trunk. It pops open.
Bond sees the briefcase, and the dufflebag, and...SOMETHING
ELSE...something beneath them...he moves the objects aside:
A MAN is folded into the back of the trunk, his head slumped
forward, dark hair on the back of his head slightly wet
...blood? Bond tips the head back, revealing GLASSY DEAD
EYES.
Bond leans in and plucks a BADGE from his white shirt pocket.
It has a photo of the dead man and reads, in English and
Cyrillic: LEONID TASHKA - FIELD INSPECTOR. On the corner of
the badge...THE RUSSIAN SEAL...Miratom. The one from the
report. Bond touches it with his thumb, recognizing it.
AT THE OFFICE
Davidov is coming out...
Bond LOWERS THE TRUNK DOOR and crouches behind the car.
AT THE OFFICE ENTRANCE
Davidov pauses to lock the door. He walks toward the Russian
car...he is actually WHISTLING a happy tune and then...
HE STOPS. He has heard something. He draws his gun. He walks
AROUND the entire car. When he gets to the rear...
THE TRUNK IS CLOSED. Bond is not there. No evidence he ever
was.
Davidov gets in the driver?s seat and starts the car.
CUT TO:
EXT. AIR STRIP - NIGHT
The Russian car drives onto the grounds of a small, deserted
AIRPORT consisting of one outbuilding and a crudely cleared
airstrip.
INT. CAR
Davidov pulls off the road and parks his car in a wooded
area.
EXT. CAR
Davidov?s feet crunch in the dirt as he walks to the back and
opens the trunk.
He removes the briefcase. Then the duffle bag. He looks
down at the dead body, head slumped forward, as before...but
something is different, the clothes not quite right and then:
THE DEAD BODY MOVES, the head turns, Davidov gasps...
It IS JAMES BOND.
BOND
Problem, comrade?
Davidov pulls his HAND GUN from inside his coat, but Bond is
quicker. With a silenced pistol he shoots Davidov in the
head. One little red hole forms in his forehead as his eyes
go wide and he crumbles, dead.
Bond climbs out of the trunk. Crouches to examine Davidov.
BOND
Old habits die hard.
He straightens. Picks up the briefcase. It is locked. He
searches Davidov and finds a set of keys in his pocket. He
opens the lock.
INSIDE THE BRIEFCASE: FOUR STACKS OF MONEY. Documents
headed with the official crest of Miratom. A new security
tag, it looks just like the dead guy?s, but has Davidov?s
name and picture...some hologrammed (blank) security tags --
and a polaroid-type camera.
He picks up a blank security tag and inserts it in the
camera. Points at himself, takes a shot. Punches in
?Davidov? on the KEYPAD. Out comes a brand new pass.
Bond goes to look in the dufflebag but...
A PLANE is approaching...HE LOOKS UP.
HIS P.O.V. A Russian military jet appears over the trees,
flying low, its red landing lights blinking.
EXT. AIRSTRIP - NIGHT
A door opens on the sinister-looking plane. A hydraulic step
unit folds out of it. A BIG SOLDIER with a machine gun waits
in the doorway.
BOND, standing at the edge of the runway, clips on his badge
and picks up the briefcase. He has NO IDEA what he?s walking
into.
BOND
Here goes nothing.
He hoists the dufflebag over his shoulder and walks out to
the plane. He starts up the steps:
THE SOLDIER POINTS HIS GUN DOWN AT HIM. Says something to him
IN RUSSIAN.
Bond pauses. And then, thinking, says:
BOND
Romashka.
The soldier looks at him, then lowers his weapon.
INT. PLANE
Four soldiers. The first guy and a moustachioed PILOT and two
young men, a nasty-looking private, cadaverously thin, and a
big, thick-necked tough.
They all look at Bond, expectantly, waiting for him to say or
do...what? He decides to take the lead. He opens the
briefcase and hands over the STACKS OF MONEY.
The Pilot passes it out. But that isn?t the end. They still
stare at him. The Pilot says something IN RUSSIAN that
sounds like...?where?s the rest??
Bond swallows. Thinks, without showing it. He decides to
OPEN THE DUFFLE BAG. He looks inside. Pauses, then reaches
in and takes out...A BOX OF NIKE SHOES.
The thin soldier smiles. That?s the ticket. Bond hands out
shoes to the rest of the guys.
CUT TO:
EXT. TEST FACILITY - KAZAKHSTAN - DAWN
A red dawn. Dominating the landscape, a valley of weirdly-
shaped rocks. To one side, an airstrip. The plane
approaching.
INT. PLANE - LANDING
The three soldiers wear their new shoes and smoke and chat
amongst themselves.
Bond sits in the rear of the plane, which is dominated by
heavily buffered receptacles, clearly awaiting some deadly
cargo. There is Russian writing everywhere, and one symbol he
clearly recognizes: DANGER - RADIOACTIVE.
Bond looks out of the window. Beneath a huge MESA, a huddle
of low buildings.
They come to a stop near the end of the runway. A SMALL JEEP
is driving out to them.
One of the soldiers throws something to Bond. An ORANGE
JUMPSUIT that says Miratom on the breast. He catches it.
PILOT
(subtitles)
You have fifteen minutes.
EXT. AIRSTRIP/VALLEY/TEST FACILITY - KAZAKHSTAN - DAWN
Bond, in the orange overalls and wearing his ID tag, is
driving with a Russian soldier through the weird rock valley -
-
KABOOM!
A cloud of dust from a detonation rises up on the other side
of the hill.
EXT. TEST FACILITY - KAZAKHSTAN - DAY
They turn the corner and see trucks marked IDA, several
Kazakhstan army personal carriers, soldiers dotted around,
IDA (International Decommissioning Agency) scientists and
personnel quietly going about their business. A vast
protective ?bubble? is inflated at the front of the building.
INT. ?BUBBLE? - TEST FACILITY - KAZAKHSTAN - DAY
(CHRISTMAS JONES?) POV:
The sound of breathing LOUD, we?re looking from inside the
visor of a protective suit. It?s hard to tell what?s going
on, but our hands are removing a sphere of cobalt blue
plutonium from inside a corroding WARHEAD...
EXT. FACILITY - SAME
An officer eyes Bond?s pass.
COLONEL AKAKIEVICH
(subtitles)
You are late. The transport documents?
Bond shows him the case. Akakievich examines the documents.
COLONEL AKAKIEVICH
(subtitles)
They are waiting for you below. It
should be ready. Check with the IDA
physicist.
He points toward the ?bubble.?
Inside the transparent bubble, a protective-suited FIGURE
finishes placing a blue PLUTONIUM CORE into a box.
As Bond and the Colonel walks toward the bubble, the FIGURE
steps out, still enveloped in the white protective suit.
Moving fast, off comes the helmet to reveal a BEAUTIFUL
AMERICAN GIRL. CHRISTMAS JONES is mid-twenties, shortish
hair, hot right now. In one movement she unzips and steps
out of the suit, revealing a khaki sports bra, cut-off
shorts, heavy duty boots. A nasty-looking hunting knife
strapped around her hips. She has a deep tan and an
incredible figure.
She grabs a bottle of water, guzzles.
Bond tosses an arched brow to Akakievich, who nods bitterly,
also unable to take his eyes off her. He spits on the floor
and speaks in ENGLISH, so Christmas can hear.
COLONEL AKAKIEVICH
Not interested in men. Take my word for
it.
Akakievich isn?t exactly what you?d call a looker. Bond
offers a disappointed tut as Akakievich walks away.
Christmas approaches. He notices her IDA tag -- and an
incongruous PEACE TATTOO just above her hip. She?s checking
him out as well.
CHRISTMAS
You new?
BOND
(Russian accent)
Yes. Viktor Davidov, Miss...?
CHRISTMAS
Doctor. Jones. Christmas Jones.
No jokes, I?ve heard them all.
BOND
Don?t know any doctor jokes.
She is wary. It?s been a long time since a man this
attractive stepped onto her beat. They walk toward the
building.
CHRISTMAS
What happened to Len Tashka?
BOND
Couldn?t make it. Splitting headache.
CHRISTMAS
The soldiers may give you a hard time.
Whatever. If we weren?t around, they?d
have their whole nuclear arsenal lying by
the roadsides, rotting in the sun.
Bond looks at the ominous radiation WARNING SIGNS.
BOND
Will I need protection?
She squints at him, taken aback.
CHRISTMAS
There?s no radiation danger down there.
Bond turns to go, knowing he misstepped. Christmas then
speaks to him, asking a question, IN RUSSIAN.
CHRISTMAS
(subtitles)
Where is this stockpile going?
Bond turns, answers IN PERFECT RUSSIAN.
BOND
(subtitles)
To the nuclear facility at Penza 19.
She nods. Watches him disappear into the building.
INT. TEST CHAMBER MAIN ELEVATOR - MOMENTS LATER
Bond descends, going down deep.
INT. TEST CHAMBER ELEVATOR/CORRIDOR - LATER
The elevator creaks to a halt. He slides the elevator doors
OPEN revealing...
TWO SOLDIERS waiting for the elevator. Bond shows them his
ID.
SOLDIER
(subtitles)
See the corporal, at the end of the
chamber.
The soldiers get into the elevator and disappear, leaving
Bond completely ALONE.
Dead silence in the shadows. Bond?s in his element, that
alert glint in his eye as he takes in his surroundings.
HIS P.O.V. A long, dark corridor...leading off to a more
open circle in the distance, lights and an ominous humming
there.
Bond starts down the passageway.
INT. TEST CHAMBER - CONTINUOUS
Ahead of Bond, like a deadly spider at the centre of a web, a
NUCLEAR BOMB suspended over a pit.
Blast openings range around to channel its fury to measuring
equipment.
Bond is alone with the bomb. An eerie moment. Then, he comes
to notice a figure, across the expanse of the pit, on the
opposite side of the catwalk, a man, with his back to him, in
Russian Army fatigues.
BOND
Corporal?
The man turns...
IT IS RENARD.
He smiles.
RENARD
I see my friend Davidov ran into some
difficulty.
BOND
Indeed.
Renard starts toward him. Bond draws his gun.
BOND
Don?t come any closer.
MAN
You can?t kill me. I?m already dead.
He and Bond face off, the malevolent bomb between them, a
ROBOT DEVICE beginning to lower it into the pit.
RENARD
Go ahead. Shoot. My men will still
steal the bomb, and the shot will bring
them directly to you.
Renard gestures into the pit.
BOND?S P.O.V. TWO OF RENARD?S MEN in the pit, unaware of
what is happening above, working directly with the bomb. One
of them is using a manual...IT IS JUST LIKE THE STOLEN
REPORT, the Miratom seal in the corner.
Bond aims his gun at Renard?s head.
BOND
Who?s paying you to destroy the pipeline?
Renard resumes walking, around the catwalk at the edge of the
pit, toward Bond, slowly, surely, totally fearless.
RENARD
To die by a man who can?t even grasp what
he?s caught up in...
Bond, out of the corner of his eye, sees Renard?s man remove
a SMALL DEVICE from inside the bomb. It is the size and
shape of a credit card, black, with shiny transistors on
it...the man slips it into his pocket.
BOND
Revenge isn?t so hard to fathom. What?s
clever is getting someone else to pay for
it.
RENARD
Not many people in this world have that
kind of fortune.
Bond cocks the pistol.
BOND
Who is it?
RENARD
You think I fear death? I welcome it. I
get on my knees and pray for it. You, on
the other hand, you have something to
live for, no?
(closer now)
She?s beautiful isn?t she? You should
have seen her before. Flawless, and still
so innocent, not such a whore in bed...
Bond?s eyes flare in fury. He shoves Renard into the wall
and presses the gun to his temple.
BOND
You will never touch her. You will never
get near her.
RENARD
Have you forgotten who saved your life in
Geneva?
BOND
Consider me ungrateful.
RENARD
It?s I who should thank you -- for taking
that money back to MI-6. So distressing
for M. An explosion inside her lair.
BOND
She?ll get over it.
RENARD
You even brought the plane for us. We
really couldn?t have done it without you.
Bond strikes him across the temple with his pistol. Renard
drops to his knees. He touches his temple, looks at the
blood curiously, feeling no pain.
RENARD
A man tires of being executed.
As Bond screws a silencer onto the muzzle of his gun:
RENARD
But then again...There is no point in
living if you can?t...feel alive.
Bond knows that, he?s heard it somewhere before...IT FREEZES
HIM, just a beat, but it is enough...
SUDDENLY, the noise of footsteps -- CHRISTMAS JONES, with
COLONEL AKAKIEVICH and two armed soldiers.
We?re with them as they turn the corner of the passageway and
see Bond with silenced pistol aimed at the kneeling Renard --
classic execution stance:
COLONEL AKAKIEVICH
(to Bond)
Drop your gun.
BOND
Keep away, Colonel.
The soldiers? guns are trained on Bond.
CHRISTMAS
He is an impostor.
(clutching a printout)
There?s no Davidov at Miratom.
BOND
Here?s your imposter. He?s paid off the
men on the plane outside. They?re not
taking the bomb to any Russian facility,
they?re flying it wherever he tells them.
Christmas is listening, but Akakievich cocks his rifle.
COLONEL AKAKIEVICH
(to Bond)
I said drop it.
And he means business. Bond delays ... but has no choice.
He pulls the clip from his gun, tosses it down.
RENARD
(to Christmas)
Well done -- he would have killed us all.
I suppose you
(to Akakievich)
were you the one who allowed him down?
Colonel Akakievich looks suitably stung. But Renard is
looking past him now, as with a quiet WHIRR, the BOMB raises
into view on a trolley. Renard?s team is ready to move.
RENARD
(to Akakievich)
Take him away, I don?t want him around as
we move the bomb.
(whispered, to Bond)
You had me. I knew you couldn?t shoulder
the responsibility...
And Renard jams his hand onto Bond?s shoulder, squeezing his
collar-bone hard... Pain jolts through Bond, he drops to his
knees in agony. He shoves Bond down. Bond?s hand goes to his
shoulder, his mind now racing -- how did he know to hurt him
there?
Renard?s men start to maneuver the bomb toward the curving
passageway. It?s all too much for Colonel Akakievich:
COLONEL AKAKIEVICH
No -- the bomb does not go anywhere until
I am satisfied. All of you to the
surface, now...
Renard stops and turns. Bond sees him nod to two of his men:
one quietly slopes off down the tunnel. The other innocently
opens a container...
INT. CONTAINER
Camera shows the INSIDE of the container?s lid; the man
releases a false lining to reveal several MACHINE GUNS...
INT. TEST CHAMBER - DAY
RENARD
(urgent now)
Very well, Colonel. We will all go up.
One of Colonel Akakievich?s men gestures with his gun that
Bond should get up. Knowing it?s now or never, Bond PUSHES
him away, yanks a PISTOL from his holster, GRABS Christmas,
LEAPS down into the bomb PIT just as
RENARD?S MEN open fire... Akakievich dies straight away. So
do two of his men. The gunfire RICOCHETS around the chamber
and ceases.
Renard hangs back. His radio crackles a message:
RENARD
(nods, into radio)
Shut them.
THE GUY ON THE OTHER END OF THE RADIO
Right next to the ELEVATOR. He turns a switch that activates
two sets of red buttons and two sets of green.
He punches one green button...
INSIDE TEST CHAMBER
Heavy doors close all exits but that to the tunnel.
INT. THE PIT
Bond and Christmas know they are being sealed in.
CHRISTMAS
Melt-down doors. If he gets them closed,
they won?t be opened again for forty-
eight years.
Bond peers over the edge -- sees Renard and his men working
the nuclear device into THE PASSAGEWAY.
INT. THE PIT
If Bond doesn?t get through now, they?re trapped forever. He
points his wrist watch toward the cat walk above and presses
a button...THE TINY GRAPPLING HOOK shoots out, Q?s super
filament wire that can hold up to 800 pounds is
attached...Bond uses the rope to RAPPEL UP THE SIDES OF THE
PIT and into
INT. TEST CHAMBER
Where he LEAPS ON TOP OF Renard?s last man. They fall
THROUGH THE IRIS, it SHUTS behind them. The man swings his
machine gun at Bond -- it hits the wall next to him, breaks
apart. Bond grabs a broken section and kills him with one
strike.
He pauses at his dead body and reaches into his jacket,
retrieving...THE CARD-LIKE DEVICE.
INT. PIT
Christmas looks around, desperate to help. Using Bond?s
wire, she climbs up to the CLOSED IRIS DOOR. She pries open
a panel next to it and reveals complex WIRING...
INT. PASSAGEWAY
Up ahead of Bond, the bomb disappears down the passageway. He
can see it is attached to A PULLEY above, helping the men to
move quickly, Renard, pulling, the two men pushing
Renard signals one of them to drop back to cut off Bond...
Machine-gun fire turns the wall next to Bond to dust -- Bond
dives to a recess. An overhead LIGHT SHATTERS. His section
of the tunnel darkens.
INT. PASSAGEWAY - BOND?S END
Bond looks up at the broken LIGHT. Takes careful aim at the
next one along. BLAM. It disintegrates. Again...
INT. PASSAGEWAY - RENARD?S END
The other guy answers with another spray of bullets. Watches
uneasily as Bond takes out light after light. A funnel of
darkness coming to swallow him -- concealing Bond?s approach.
Nervous, he fires, muzzle flash and sparks illuminating the
void. To keep it lit, he keeps firing...
INT. PASSAGEWAY
WITH BOND as the bullets cease with a loud CLICK... What
Bond was waiting for. He moves. The gunman frozen in the
light, grappling to fit another clip --
BLAM! He goes down. Bond not wasting bullets.
INT. OTHER END OF PASSAGEWAY
Renard is loading the bomb it into the ELEVATOR. He flicks a
switch on the panel by the elevator. The IRIS starts closing
on Bond...
INT. PASSAGEWAY
Bond rushes for the door -- but he?s shocked as the man he
shot lunges. Clings to him.
Bond hits him away, he LEAPS for the cart blocking his way
and SHOVES IT INTO THE IRIS DOOR just as it almost closes...
Bond squeezes through...
INT. OTHER SIDE OF IRIS
Renard is getting in the ELEVATOR. Sees Bond made it, fires.
Bond rolls into a corner.
RENARD
We have our fireworks. Now you can have
yours.
And he machine-guns some barrels. Rocket fuel spills out.
He digs a finger into one of the holes, effortlessly rips the
metal so more fuel cascades out.
CUT TO:
INT. CATWALK ABOVE PIT
Christmas cuts some wires together and with a hum, her IRIS
DOOR OPENS...
AT THE ELEVATOR
Bond fires at Renard, hitting his shin...
WITH RENARD
looking down at his shin, noticing the blood. Inconvenienced
but not in pain. He shuts the cage doors. Pauses only to
fire off half a clip at the SWITCH PANEL. Shreds it.
Bond leaps to his feet, racing forward, firing -- gets to the
elevator as Renard disappears upwards with a smile. He POINTS
DOWN...underneath him...
Bond looks down.
HIS P.O.V. BENEATH THE ELEVATOR...A makeshift explosive
device...sticks of dynamite wrapped around a detonator, set
to explode
Eyes wide, Bond looks back to the doors -- then to the switch
panel -- now just a chaos of sparking wires.
INT. LIFT SHAFT
The pipe bomb ticking...
INT. PASSAGEWAY BY ELEVATOR
Bond is trapped. He looks up...
THE PULLEY HOOK HANGS DOWN...
He jumps up, grabbing it, just as...
KABOOM!
The bomb ignites the spilled oil, A FIREBALL shoots along,
scorching after Bond, who is SAILING THROUGH THE PASSAGE WAY,
the force of the blast sending him hurling down the
passageway ON THE PULLEY...heading straight for:
A CLOSED IRIS DOOR which miraculously begins to OPEN as he
SHOOTS THROUGH...
Ahead, the next door is OPEN as well. He sees CHRISTMAS on
the other side...
HER P.O.V. Bond hurtling toward her, ahead of a MASSIVE
FIREBALL...
BOND
Close the door! Close the door!
But before she can, two of the FUEL BARRELS HURTLE through
the closing iris, clattering into the pit, starting a fire
below.
Flames licking up the sides of the pit toward them.
Bond looks up, sees the ARM OF THE ROBOT LIFTER, stretching
upward toward an old SHAFT t the top of the ceiling...
He and Christmas scramble up the robot arm, walk along the
spider-like web that supported the bomb and find...
AN OLD ELEVATOR...powered by a hydraulic system...
They get in...hear the rumbling of the fire below...the old
elevator moves slowly...the rumbling grows louder...
BOND
Shame you had to spot I wasn?t the real
thing.
CHRISTMAS
So who are you?
BOND
Bond --
Bond FIRES HIS GUN at the hissing hydraulic pulleys and...
THE ELEVATOR shoots through the shaft at breakneck speed as
BELOW THEM...THE PIT EXPLODES...
INT. ELEVATOR
Fire shoots up. Bond lunges to cover Christmas. As the smoke
clears:
BOND
(finishing)
James Bond.
CUT TO:
EXT. MESA - TEST FACILITY - KAZAKHSTAN - CONTINUOUS
Christmas and Bond climb out of the duct. Through a cloud of
dust he can see people running about, panicked. There?s been
some shooting -- fresh corpses litter the ground.
Bond looks past them to a plane coming this way. The plane.
It roars past, level with them. He follows it with his eyes,
helpless as it gets smaller and smaller...
CHRISTMAS
They won?t get far. Every warhead has a
locator card. A Miratom device. Emits a
high-pitched signal on Russian emergency
frequencies. We can track the bomb.
BOND
With this?
Bond removes the locator card from his jacket and shows it to
her. It flashes in the sun.
Christmas shakes her head, disgusted.
OMITTED 170 - 172
DISSOLVE:
INT. BRIEFING ROOM, CASTLE THANE (MI-6 HQ) - DAY
Busy. Analysts huddle over monitors showing satellite
images, trying to track the plane.
M
Do we have the range of Renard?s plane?
TANNER
Anywhere in this circle. Iran, Iraq,
Pakistan, Syria, Afghanistan...
M
Marvellous.
Moneypenny enters...
MONEYPENNY
Elektra King is calling from Baku.
M is surprised.
MONEYPENNY
It?s a video line.
M
Put her on the wide screen.
The face of ELEKTRA materializes on a large WALL MONITOR.
ELEKTRA
I?m sorry. I would never call you
except...Bond?s disappeared. He...he left
my villa, some time in the middle of the
night and...
M exchanges a look with Tanner.
ELEKTRA
My head of security has been found near a
local airstrip, murdered...
M leans on the console in front of her.
M
I?ll send someone out.
ELEKTRA
Could...could you come?
M looks up.
ELEKTRA, on the monitor, looks about as lost as she ever has.
ELEKTRA
I just can?t help thinking...I?m next.
M stares at the girl?s face, her whole sordid history written
there. M turns away from the screen and says to Tanner...
M
Get me out there.
OMITTED:174 - 201
EXT. ELEKTRA?S VILLA, BAKU - STORM APPROACHING
Elektra?s villa against blue-black storm clouds, the Caspian
choppy, wind blowing.
INT. ELEKTRA?S VILLA - BAKU - DAY
Elektra works in her father?s STUDY, illuminated by a halo of
light from a single desk lamp. Pictures of her grandfather
and father stare down at her from the walls. The wind BLOWS A
WINDOW open.
She gets up, crosses the room, shutting the window. She
stands there, listening to the silence and then...
SHE HEARS A THUD. A strange, unsettling thud.
She listens, a long time, to the silence.
ELEKTRA
Gabor...?
She goes to the door, opens it...it whines on its hinges.
She steps into...
INT. LIBRARY
A big room lined with books. Three french doors lead out to a
balcony. She walks a few paces in...
THE DOOR SHUTS BEHIND HER, she whirls...
GABOR, propped up behind the door, stares, wide-eyed, before
he FALLS TO THE FLOOR.
Elektra gasps, she turns again...
A DARK FIGURE LOOMS, a shadow against the windows. He moves
forward, his face becoming visible...IT?S BOND.
ELEKTRA
James!
She stares at him, shocked, hesitant.
BOND
You look surprised.
She moves to Gabor, gets down to help him. He stirs, he is
alive, but unconscious. Elektra looks up at Bond.
ELEKTRA
What?s wrong with you? Are you crazy?
BOND
A little. Does it matter? After all,
what?s the point of living if you can?t
feel alive? Isn?t that right, Elektra?
Isn?t that your motto?
ELEKTRA
What are you talking about?
BOND
Or did you steal it from your old friend
Renard?
ELEKTRA
...what?
BOND
We had a run-in, he and I. He knew about
us, he knew about my shoulder, he knew
exactly where to hurt me...
Elektra stands...she begins to tremble.
ELEKTRA
Are you saying...Renard is the man who?s
trying to kill me?
BOND
You can drop the act, it?s over.
ELEKTRA
I don?t know what you?re talking about!
BOND
I think you do.
He walks toward her, threatening...
BOND
At MI-6 we call it Stockholm Syndrome.
It?s common in kidnappings. A young
impressionable victim. Sheltered,
sexually inexperienced. A powerful
kidnapper skilled in torture, in
manipulation. Something snaps in the
victim?s mind. The captive falls in love
with her captor.
At the word ?love,? Elektra explodes. She SLAPS an
unsuspecting Bond hard across the face.
ELEKTRA
How dare you! How dare you! That
animal!? That monster!? He disgusts me!
You disgust me! So he knew where to hurt
you, is that it? You had a sling on your
arm at the funeral! I didn?t have to
sleep with you to find that out.
BOND
He used your exact words.
ELEKTRA
You knew. You knew all the time, that he
was out there, that he was coming for me,
and you lied. You used me, you used me as
bait. You made love to me -- what, to
pass the time as you waited for him to
strike?
He has no answer. He can?t deny what she says.
The phone rings, cuts through the tension. Bond and Elektra
staring at one another. She lets it ring... Then picks up.
Listens, looks to Bond.
ELEKTRA
He?s struck again.
(beat)
Five men are dead at the pipeline.
He moves toward her.
BOND
I?m coming with you.
ELEKTRA
You do what you have to do, but I?ve
called in M. She?s en route from London
even now.
CUT TO:
EXT. PIPELINE CONTROL CENTER, TURKEY - DAY
The MI-6 chopper lands. We can see M through the window.
Face set hard.
EXT. PIPELINE CONTROL CENTER, TURKEY - MOMENTS LATER
SCIENTIFIC, MILITARY and TURKISH POLICE VEHICLES parked
around a medium-sized industrial plant.
Bond accompanies M and Tanner toward a clutch of offices.
All around, SOLDIERS, IDA personnel, POLICE scour the area.
M
(to Bond)
Glad to see you?ve turned up.
He is moving fast, talking fast -- a sense of urgency.
BOND
They hit about 90 minutes ago. There?s a
scientist here from the International
Decommissioning Agency, Dr. Jones. She
has ten crews combing the area.
They step out of the bright sunlight and into
EXT.\INT. CONTROL CENTRE - CONTINUOUS
FIVE BODY BAGS are being carried out by soldiers. M surveys
the scene; in an unlit corridor CHRISTMAS JONES and several
men sweep the area with CLICKING Geiger counters.
ELEKTRA is a distance away, listening to a Turkish policeman
explain what?s happening. She nods acknowledgement to M.
Tanner senses that Bond wants to talk to M alone:
TANNER
I?ll see how they?re coming with the
power...
They watch him go. M turns to Bond:
M
You had your hand on the bomb and you let
Renard get away with it.
He draws her away, to a small alcove. Takes something out of
his jacket...THE LOCATOR CARD.
BOND
The report King bought. It?s a manual.
Renard?s men used it to remove this radio
tracking device from the warhead.
M
Then Robert was right about a Russian
connection.
BOND
They?re getting their weapons from the
Russians, but where are they getting the
money to buy the weapons? I can?t help
thinking...the person close to King, the
one who switched that pin...
M
The inside man?
BOND
Is maybe...the inside woman.
NOW THE LIGHTS POWER UP, disrupt the intimacy and intensity
of their exchange. The room is lined with MONITORS and a
huge SATELLITE MAP of the pipeline?s meandering path.
M
A woman?
But before he can speak, ELEKTRA calls out, gesturing to A
DIM LIGHT flashing on a console in front of her.
ELEKTRA
That?s not right.
A Technician comes over. Tanner too, followed by Bond and M.
TANNER
What is it?
ELEKTRA
It?s an observation and repair rig.
Travels along the pipe, checks for broken
seals. But it?s not supposed to be
there.
BOND
(thinks)
Stop it.
The Technician flicks two switches. The light continues to
flash. Confused, he tries others. No change.
TECHNICIAN
I don?t understand...
M
Where is the rig?
Harried, the Technician activates the wall schematic of the
pipeline. A pulse of light travels along the line. And with
it, a sense of horror descends...
M
The parcel?s in the post.
TANNER
It?s heading for the oil terminal.
M
Where it can do the most damage.
ELEKTRA
My God.
(to one of her men)
Have the terminal evacuated.
The man gets on the phone...
BOND
(to Tech)
Speed?
TECHNICIAN
Full on. Seventy miles an hour.
He punches buttons. Christmas has come, stands next to Bond.
TECHNICIAN
One hundred and six miles from the
terminal.
BOND
(quick)
It?ll reach the other end in seventy-
eight minutes.
(to Tech)
Any more of these rigs?
The Technician checks his records, looks up, nods.
TECHNICIAN
There?s one parked in the passageway
ahead of it.
Decisive, Christmas heads for the door, turns to her team:
CHRISTMAS
I?ll need some help...
Her IDA colleagues look sheepish. Bond moves to her.
BOND
Come on.
For just a moment, Christmas looks wary:
BOND
Unless you?d like to see my ID first.
She almost smiles.
M nods to Tanner to follow them. Bond doesn?t look at
Elektra. But she watches him go...
CUT TO:
EXT. HELICOPTER - DAY
The MI-6 helicopter swoops along the pipeline...
Tanner is beside the pilot. Bond and Christmas in the back.
They look at one another, the danger ahead melting the frost
between them.
INT. PIPELINE - LATER
Bond and Christmas climb through an access hatch down onto
the electric RIG. Its lights blaze fifty yards into the
tunnel. Then darkness.
Christmas takes the driver?s spot, Bond the rear, nearest to
the approaching BOMB. Tanner leans in:
TANNER
(sealing them in)
Good luck.
Bonds nods, checks his watch. Christmas looks nervously down
the pipe.
BOND
Be one along any minute.
And she starts the machine off...
INT. ELECTRIC RIG - PIPELINE (TRAVELLING)
It quickly picks up speed, its lights flooding the seemingly
endless pipe before them.
Christmas looks behind, apprehensive. Waiting for the lights
of the explosive rig.
It?s tense. They travel along, expectant...
BOND
When this is over we should bury the
hatchet. Celebrate. A champagne dinner?
CHRIS |
