A Separate War and Other Stories (32 page)
Read A Separate War and Other Stories Online
Authors: Joe Haldeman
MEDIUM GROUP SHOT as FIRST MAN falls to floor, begins jerking around. SECOND MAN moves to help him, stops. Looks up at GEORGE, who is watching the whole thing with quiet interest.
SECOND MAN (TO GEORGE)
Did you do that?
GEORGE
INNOCENT SMILE
Yes. Nerve poison.
TIGHT ON FIRST MAN as he expires noisily, messily on floor. SMELL: Vomit; SUBLIMINAL: Taste of vomit, extreme nausea, SOMATIC: White-out.
THIRD MAN
God.
SECOND MAN
SWALLOWS, TRYING TO STAY CALM
How did you do it?
GEORGE
I told you. Nerve poison.
THIRD MAN
Let's fasten him down and loosen him up.
SECOND MAN
So do it. The manacles.
THIRD MAN gives SECOND MAN a hard glance, goes cautiously to GEORGE. He stands just out of arm reach.
THIRD MAN
Put your arms up on the arms of the chair.
GEORGE obeys without hesitation, but moving slowly. ADRENALINE: 0.15.
THIRD MAN
All right. Stay that way.
ADRENALINE: 0.25. GEORGE'S hands are lying palm up on the chair arms. BIG CLOSE-UP as THIRD MAN turns right hand over and latches manacle (SOUND: Loud click and SUBLIMINAL: Metal tightness around wrist) over wrist. He reaches for left hand and GEORGE closes hand over his. MICRO CLOSE-UP shows fingernail slitting flesh.
TIGHT TWO SHOT of GEORGE and THIRD MAN as THIRD MAN jerks his hand away.
THIRD MAN
Ouch! (TOUCHES CUT TO MOUTH) Some fingernails this guyâ¦(SHARP INTAKE OF BREATH) Heâ¦
BIG CLOSE-UP on THIRD MAN'S face. ADRENALINE: 0.35.
SECOND MAN (OFF)
Sit down. Don't moveâI'll get some atropine.
LONG GROUP SHOT: GEORGE watches passively as SECOND MAN runs from room. THIRD MAN sits down cautiously. ADRENALINE: 0.40.
THIRD MAN
Will atropine work?
GEORGE
If he gets back in time.
ADRENALINE: 0.50 and OUT.
CUT TO: TIGHT GROUP SHOT of MORENO, HAZLIK, and others sitting at crystal table playing dice. SECOND MAN hurries up to MORENO, whispers.
MORENO
TO HAZLIK, ACROSS
Do you have any atropine in the place?
INTERCUT CLOSE-UPS, HAZLIK and MORENO.
HAZLIK (COUNTING MONEY)
ANNOYED
What?
MORENO
Atropine
! Uhâ¦a drug overdose.
HAZLIK (TO SECOND MAN)
There might be some. Ask the butler.
HAZLIK (TO MORENO)
One of your men popping on duty?
MORENO
Not reallyâ¦it's more, uh, concerned with what we discussed earlier.
HAZLIK
The woman?
MORENO
Her man, actually.
HAZLIK
STANDS CASUALLY
Let's go take a look.
CUT TO: LONG SHOT past MORENO and HAZLIK standing in door of conference room. THIRD MAN is sitting with his arms wrapped around himself, deathly pale. GEORGE is exactly as we left him: one wrist manacled, monumentally unconcerned with everything. Corpse of FIRST MAN has skin like marble, has gone into
rigor mortis
. (Note: ask State Correction Board whether we can get two young Terminals to play the parts of FIRST and THIRD MEN.)
ADRENALINE: 0.50, somatic SUBLIMINAL: Nausea and angina. SMELL: Vomit and feces.
THIRD MAN
Atrââ¦atropine?
HAZLIK
BRUSQUE
Maybe. Coming.
MORENO
What did he do? Protter said something about his hand.
THIRD MAN
I don't think it's a hand. It's a p-pross. Nerve, ah, nerve p-poison under the fingerâ¦nailsâ¦sharpâ¦oh Godâ
THIRD MAN flops down on floor, rigid, and begins beating arm on floor. He jerks several times, vomits explosively, and dies. SMELL: As before, UP and DOWN. Stinger of ADRENALINE: 0.80 and OUT. SUBLIMINAL: Drowning in filth.
MEDIUM TWO SHOT of HAZLIK and MORENO standing in door, staring. PROTTER (SECOND MAN) runs up to them from behind.
PROTTER
OUT OF BREATH
I've got theâ¦oh.
SMELL: Down to strong SUBLIMINAL.
HAZLIK
Let me have that. (SPEAKS INTO BRACELET) Sandler. This is the boss. Got some garbage to be taken out, in Conference A. (LISTENS) That's right. (TURNS A MICRODIAL on the bracelet) Johns, this is the boss. Get an interrogation team down to Conference A, sooner. (LISTENS) Doesn't make too much difference. Right.
TO NOBODY IN PARTICULAR
It had to come to this, sooner or later.
HAZLIK (TO MORENO)
You were right. We've allowed Fredrika too much.
MORENO
Yes. (TO PROTTER) You can go.
PROTTER shuffles, lost, down the hall and HAZLIK and MORENO stand outside door and smoke. SOMATIC: Dope 0.25, SUBLIMINAL FADE to OUT.
Four men hustle up, with stretchers and a sanitizer. They go straight through the door without saying a word to either man. High-pitched humming, sanitizer SOUND. HAZLIK shouts over:
HAZLIK
Stay away from the man in the chair.
CLOSES DOOR SOUND OUT abruptly.
HAZLIK sits down on floor; then MORENO does also. Soon the four men come back out, bearing the stretchers. Again, they show no sign of seeing the two.
HAZLIK
Just when everything was going so well. (PAUSE)
UNSENTIMENTALLY
Moreno, do you consider yourself a happy man?
MORENO
UNCOMFORTABLE
Wellâ¦I suppose so. I have all that I needâ¦and I keep busy.
HAZLIK
LOOKING AT ATROPINE SYRETTE, FIDDLING WITH IT
Until a few weeks ago, I would never have called myselfâ¦happyâ¦there was a strangeâ
WITH SUDDEN VEHEMENCE (ADRENALINE: 0.25)
âa
weight
on my soul, Moreno! An actual weight of, I don't know; sorrow, guiltâ¦questioning whether I might not have beenâ¦different. (PAUSE) But one day; three weeks, a month ago, I woke up one morning and it was all gone, I was free. That's when I decided to throw a party. (PAUSE) But now I feel it coming back.
SOUND of footsteps approaching; HAZLIK looks up.
HAZLIK
GETTING UP
Ah, Johns. We have a little problem.
MEDIUM GROUP SHOT past HAZLIK and MORENO to the interrogation team: JOHNS and his two assistants, FRIEDMAN (male) and O'HARA (female).
JOHNS
We'll do what we can, sir. Have you met O'Hara and Friedman?
HAZLIK
No, I haven't.
JOHNS
They're very good.
HAZLIK
WITH A WAVE OF HIS HAND
I trust your judgment in these things. Follow me.
All five enter the “conference” room. HAZLIK walks over to stand (not too near) by GEORGE.
HAZLIK
This man works for Fredrika Oblimovâ¦George.
GEORGE
Yes?
HAZLIK
What sort of work do you do for Fredrika?
GEORGE
SMALL SMILE
I am her husband.
HAZLIK (TO MORENO)
What did they drug him with?
MORENO
If they followed my instructions, it was come-along gas.
HAZLIK
Makes sense. He doesn't really have to tell the truth, then. Not even to a direct order.
JOHNS
We can fix that, sir.
HAZLIK
IMPATIENTLY
Of course you can. But nothing so crude as dissolvers or triple-scop. I want to be able to return him to Fredrika no worse for wear, except for a lack of memoryâ¦of these proceedings. Can you do that?
JOHNS
DOUBTFUL
How soon would he have to be returned?
HAZLIK
No more than an hour.
JOHNS
I don't knowâ¦that lets out most of our drugs. We can keep him on come-along, of course, and he won't rememberâ¦but it won't make him talk.
O'HARA
Let me work on him.
JOHNS
All right.
O'HARA approaches GEORGE without caution.
HAZLIK
Watch out! His left hand's a pross. Nerve poison under the fingernails.
O'HARA (TO GEORGE)
SULTRY
Now, George. Is that right?
GEORGE
LITTLE-BOY SMILE
Uh-huh.
O'HARA
Now, George, turn your hand over, palm down, and don't touch me while I fasten your arm to the chair.
GEORGE
All right.
O'HARA binds him without any trouble.
O'HARA (TO HAZLIK)
Exactly what do you want to know?
HAZLIK
He's here to kill somebody. You know about Fredrika's contracts? (SHE NODS) I want to find out who the victim is supposed to beâand who contracted for it, if
he
knows.
O'HARA
SOFTLY
George, who did you come here to kill?
GEORGE
SINGSONG
I'm notâ¦sup-posedâ¦to tell.
O'HARA
You can tell
me
, George. I'll keep it a secret.
GEORGE
PETULANT
Huh-uh!
O'HARA
LOOKS UP
Friedman. Bring the kit over.
HAZLIK
No marks!
JOHNS
Don't worry, sir. They're too good for that.
FRIEDMAN
CROSSING OVER
That's right, sir. Direct stimulation of the pain centers in the brain, the newest thing. Doesn't leave a sign.
O'HARA
Now this man is going to hurt you, George. I can't stop him from hurting you unless you tell me whom you came here to kill, and why.
GEORGE
GIGGLES
He can't hurt me. Fredrika told me, nobody can hurt me if I don't want.
FRIEDMAN
Probably a simple hypnotic injunction.
SQUEEZES GEORGE'S EARLOBE BETWEEN FINGER AND THUMBNAIL
No reaction. Wellâ¦
FRIEDMAN opens up black case, brings out a small limp net of wire mesh. He shakes it out.
I think this will bypass it.
FRIENDMAN lays net over GEORGE'S head and secures it with a chin strap. He takes out a little box with a dial on it.
FRIEDMAN (TO O'HARA)
Ready?
O'HARA
LICKS LIPS, STARING AT GEORGE INTENTLY
Yesâ¦
BIG CLOSE-UP of little box. FRIEDMAN turns dial to first setting. BIG CLOSE-UP on GEORGE'S face. Beads of sweat break out on his forehead. SOMATIC SUBLIMINAL: Steel band tightening around chest.
DOLLY BACK to TIGHT TWO SHOT, faces of GEORGE and O'HARA. SOMATIC: Female sexual tension 0.20.
O'HARA
It hurts, doesn't it, George.
GEORGE
SMALL VOICE
Yes, it hurts.
O'HARA
Whom are you going to kill?