Dreamsongs 2-Book Bundle
Page 91
TOM
I used to have a water pistol that looked like this.
TRAGER
Close. Try a beebee gun.
MATSUMOTO
An air gun, more precisely. Quite sophisticated. I doubt we could duplicate it. It uses a high-velocity jet of pressurized air to spit out …
Matsumoto lifts a thin black needle with tweezers.
MATSUMOTO
… these.
TOM
Needles?
MATSUMOTO
Needles with the explosive power of a bazooka round.
TRAGER
This beebee gun has teeth.
Matsumoto picks up a cylinder: black, long as a finger.
MATSUMOTO
The police found three of these magazines in her pockets. Each one holds one hundred forty-four needles, and …
He pulls a cap off the back. Inside, built-in, is a POWER CELL; it pulses with RED LIGHT.
MATSUMOTO
(continuous)
… its own power cell. So you recharge every time you reload. If Detroit had battery technology this good, we’d all be driving electric cars.
Tom is still hefting the weapon.
TOM
Awkward grip. I can barely reach the trigger.
TRAGER
The girl had to use both hands to fire it.
TOM
Bad design …
MATSUMOTO
Unless the gun was designed for someone with bigger hands.
TOM
You’d need fingers like a squid.
Tom puts down the weapon, picks up the bracelet.
TOM
She was wearing this when the paramedics brought her in.
TRAGER
It seems to be very important to her.
TOM
What is it?
MATSUMOTO
The metal is a superconductive alloy. I’ve never seen anything like it. Inside it’s solid microcircuitry. Very odd microcircuitry. Parts of it seem almost organic.
TOM
But what does it do?
MATSUMOTO
At a guess … it detects certain unusual subatomic particles.
Tom looks blankly over at Trager. He’s lost.
TOM
I don’t understand any of this.
TRAGER
Neither do we. That’s why you’re here. We need answers, Doctor. And the girl won’t talk to anyone but you.
OFF Tom’s silent, reluctant agreement, we
CUT TO
INT.—CORRIDOR—NIGHT
A uniformed MATRON is seated outside a locked door, beside a window of one-way glass. Cat is visible inside, curled up on a bed, listless, in prison grays. The matron fans herself with a small HAND FAN, its accordion folds alternately red and black.
TRAGER
How’s our guest?
MATRON
Quiet. She just lays there, staring off. I don’t blame her, in this heat.
TRAGER
Let him in.
He gives the bracelet over to Tom.
TRAGER
Your conversation will be monitored and recorded.
The matron unlocks the door. Tom enters.
INT.—CAT’S CELL—CONTINUOUS
Cat looks up slowly.
CAT
Toe Mas.
Cat gets up. She sees the bracelet. Her eyes WIDEN. She moves across the room, reaching for it.
CAT
Mine! Give it, Toe Mas.
TOM
First we need to talk.
Cat doesn’t take no for an answer. She reaches for the bracelet. Tom holds it out of her reach.
CAT
Give it now. Needing it now. Coming soon. Coming after.
TOM
Who is coming after?
CAT
Darklords! Manhounds! Give!
TOM
Tell me what it is and you can have it back.
Cat almost spits the word at him.
CAT
Geon. Give it now!
Tom TOSSES it to her. Cat snatches it out of the air, slides it back onto her arm. It seems to calm her.
TOM
What does it do, Cat? What’s it for?
CAT
Finding doors. Doors between. Doors away.
Backing away from Tom, Cat extends her arm, hand tight in a fist. She turns in a slow circle, sweeping the room.
TOM
What kind of doors? Cat, what are you doing?
She ignores him, concentrating. The device can’t find a reading in this enclosed place. It stays dark.
CAT
No good, no good, no good.
TOM
Cat, where did you get that? And the gun, the air gun …
(off her blank look)
The weapon, the …
Frustrated, Tom does a pantomime of lifting the gun with both hands, firing, with appropriate sound effects.
TOM
You know … phut … BOOM!
He shapes an EXPLOSION with his hands. Cat giggles.
CAT
Phut BOOM?
TOM
Right. The phut boom. Where did you get the phut boom?
She looks at him as though he were a moron.
CAT
Hand cannon, Toe Mas. Stealing it. Not-for-men, hand cannon.
(beat)
Needing it, taking it.
TOM
What did you need the hand cannon for?
CAT
Shooting. Killing.
(off his reaction)
Getting away, Toe Mas.
Cat is getting more and more agitated. She looks around the sealed room desperately, searching for a way out.
CAT
Lights out! Darklords coming soon.
TOM
The … darklords. Is that a gang?
CAT
Darklords masters. Darklords owners.
TOM
And the … manhounds?
CAT
(whisper)
Thane …
Tom can see the fear on her face now. This conversation is getting to her. She tries the door to the room. It’s locked, of course. Cat spins away in frustration.
TOM
Hey, take it easy. I don’t know who these people are, but they can’t get to you here. You’re safe.
Instead of calming her, that just drives her WILD. Grabbing up a CHAIR, she swings at the mirrored window with all her strength. It bounces off the glass. Cat swings it again and again. The mirror begins to BREAK. A spiderweb of CRACKS fissures out.
CAT
(screaming)
Not safe! Not safe! Not safe!
The mirror SHATTERS, showering the hall outside with pieces of one-way glass. Cat is about to leap through the broken window when Tom grabs her, restrains her.
TOM
Cat, stop. Don’t …
He holds her tight, trying to comfort her, as the door opens and Cameron and the Matron come running in.
DISSOLVE TO
EXT.—CANYONS—NIGHT
A densely wooded canyon outside Los Angeles. Thane stands on a precipice, looking down at the city lights. His face is a mask. A woman comes up beside him: DYANA. He senses her presence.
THANE
So many men, Dyana. Their lights go on forever.
DYANA
This is but a shadow of the trueworld, the master says.
THANE
Perhaps the masters of this world say the same thing of our own.
Thane turns his head very slowly toward the east, as if he is listening to something no one else can hear.
DYANA
What is it? Do you have a reading? Is she using the geosyn cronator?
When Thane speaks, it is not to Dyana.
THANE
I hear you, Cat. Even now, you call to me.
He turns sharply back to Dyana, all business.
THANE
East, northeast, three hundred hexes.
CUT TO
; INT. TRAGER’S OFFICE—NIGHT
Trager behind a desk. Tom is pacing. Cameron sits in the visitor’s chair, snapping a rubber band.
CAMERON
Pentathol.
TOM
No. She’s my patient. I won’t allow you to drug her.
TRAGER
We gave you a chance to do it your way, Doctor.
Tom leans over Trager’s desk.
TOM
Give me one more shot at it. Let me hypnotize her.
Trager steeples his fingers, thinks, NODS.
CUT TO
INT.—TRAGER’S OFFICE—LATER
The lights have been turned down low. Cat sits in the visitor’s chair, Tom close to her side. Trager is behind his desk, watching, Cameron stands.
TOM
… deeper. You hear nothing but my voice now. There are no other sounds, no other voices. Only me. You are relaxed. So relaxed. Floating. All the fear has gone away.
Cat is deep in a trance.
TOM
Tell us your name. Your whole name.
CAT
Cat.
Tom frowns. Trager and Cameron exchange glances.
TOM
All right. Cat, tell us about the place you come from.
CAT
All dark. Lights out.
TOM
Does it have a name?
CAT
Angels.
TOM
Where is it?
CAT
Behind. Other side.
TOM
The other side of … the door?
Cat NODS agreement. Tom continues, his voice gentle.
TOM
I am going to ask you something else now. You will not be afraid. All the fear is gone.
(beat)
Cat, who are the darklords?
CAT
Owners. Masters.
TOM
What do they own?
CAT
Earths.
Behind him, Cameron ROLLS HIS EYES in scorn. Trager’s face is impassive, a mask. Only Tom picks up on the plural.
TOM
Earths … more than one Earth?
CAT
Not all. Some. Many.
TOM
And your world, from …
CAT
Darklords came. Long ago. Lights out. Mommy saying. No cars, no guns, no air-o-planes. Ashes, ashes. All fall down.
TOM
All fall down …
CAT
Cities. Soldier men. All fall down. Lights out. Long ago.
TOM
How long ago? How many years?
CAT
Before Cat.
TOM
Cat, where did the darklords come from?
(nothing)
From another country?
(no reply)
Another planet? Did they come in ships? Where?
CAT
The doors.
Silence. Trager leans forward.
TRAGER
Ask her about the weapon.
TOM
Cat, the hand cannon … you took that from your owner.
CAT
(vehement)
His owner. Owning Thane.
TOM
Thane. Thane was a … a manhound?
CAT
(echoing)
Let her live, saying. Give to me, saying. Served you well, saying. Little animal, wanting her, saying.
TOM
You were given to Thane …
CAT
(vehement denial)
Not his. Never his. Pretending. Watching. Listening. Knowing.
TOM
Learning …
CAT
Waiting. Long waiting. Then taking, running, killing.
TOM
Cat, who did you kill?
CAT
Darklord. Master.
TOM
You learned their secrets, stole the weapon, and escaped through a door, didn’t you?
Cat NODS slowly. Cameron looks at Trager.
CAMERON
What the hell is he talking about?
Trager does not reply. He’s listening, intent.
TOM
One last question, Cat.
(beat)
How many fingers do the darklords have?
Cat does not respond. Tom holds up a hand in front of her face, his fingers spread wide.
TOM
If this was a darklord’s hand, how many fingers would you count?
TIGHT ON CAT—ANGLE THROUGH TOM’S FINGERS
Long hesitation. Finally Cat raises her hand, touching each of Tom’s fingers as she counts, SLOWLY.
CAT
One. Two. Three. Four.
(beat)
Five.
“Five” is the thumb. There’s a long beat. Cat is still staring at the hand, seeing something else, remembering. Just when we think she’s done, her finger moves over PAST Tom’s thumb, counting a “finger” that is not there.
CAT
Six.
Now she is done. Tom closes his fingers into a FIST. In the strained silence that follows that moment, we
FADE OUT
END OF ACT II
ACT III
FADE IN
INT.—TRAGER’S OFFICE—NEAR DAWN
Trager leans forward, presses his intercom.
TRAGER
Griggs, summon the matron, and tell Matsumoto to prepare an injection of pentathol.
(to Tom)
Bring her out of it.
Trager heads for the door. Tom bolts after him.
TOM
You can’t.
Trager EXITS, followed by Tom. Cameron remains with Cat.
CUT TO
INT.—CORRIDOR—CONTINUOUS
Tom catches Trager by the shoulder, spins him around.
TOM
What do you want from her?
TRAGER
A story that makes sense.
Matsumoto comes up to them in the hall. He’s carrying an instrument case. Tom is still intent on Trager.
TOM
You refuse to see the truth when it’s right in front of your face. How many fingers, Trager?
Tom holds up both hands, fingers spread.
TRAGER
What is it with you and fingers?
TOM
I learned to count on my fingers. So did you. It’s universal. We have ten fingers, so we count in units of ten. One hundred is ten times ten. One thousand is ten times ten times ten.
TRAGER
What’s your point?
TOM
That gun you took from Cat. Matsumoto said the magazines hold one hundred forty-four rounds. Didn’t that strike you as an odd number?
In b.g., the matron approaches down the hall, FANNING herself.