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CHANGE
OF COURSE - S.9
<<<<
SCENE
8 - STEALTH MODE
HIGH
SPEED NORTH ATLANTIC CHASE TO WARN EXTREMISTS OF DANGER
INT.
ELIZABETH
SWANN - BRIDGE - NIGHT
The ELIZABETH SWANN tears across the North Atlantic like a blade unsheathed. Her foils HUM at the edge of physics, sponsons retracted, deck plates GROAN against the velocity. She’s at 35 knots and rising, tailwinds above 40, a subtle assist from coastal currents. Chasing shadows.
JOHN STORM (40s) stands at the helm, eyes fixed on the sonar.
HAL (V.O.)
Skipper, we exceeded safe hull velocity five kilometers ago. I feel obliged to suggest... restraint.
JOHN
Thanks, Hal. But restraint gets people killed. We’re not chasing a submarine—we’re chasing a meltdown.
INT. HMS NEPTUNE - COMMAND DECK - SUBMERGED - CONTINUOUS
Far ahead, HMS NEPTUNE maintains a deceptively modest 20 knots, her sleek Astute-class hull slipping deeper along the African shelf.
REDAN SIMDO (30s) stares at the nav panel, brow furrowed.
REDAN
Still no sign of warships?
BO DALLAS (20s)
Nothing on sonar. But the Swann’s still behind us. Holding course.
Redan nods slowly. He doesn't quite buy the radiation lie. Storm’s reputation is carved in fossil and flame; he protects oceans, doesn't manipulate them. But suspicion dies hard.
ZERA MASKEN (20s) catches his eye.
ZERA
If Storm says we’re leaking, I believe him. Why else would he risk chasing a sub he can’t catch?
Redan doesn’t answer. He has no answer.
INT. COBRA SUITE - WHITEHALL, LONDON - 02:00 AM
The emergency COBRA SUITE is lit by harsh overhead lights. No one is sleeping.
PRIME MINISTER EDWARD THOMAS (50s, tie loosened, brow slick) paces the war room floor.
PM THOMAS
Status of HMS Neptune?
ADMIRAL LAURENCE (60s) leans forward.
ADMIRAL LAURENCE
Still in motion, sir. Closest vessel is the Elizabeth Swann. Commander Storm
has full clearance to intercept. Quietly reinstated as Royal Navy
liaison. Temporary, but… reliable.
Thomas blows out a slow breath.
PM THOMAS
And Wallace?
ADMIRAL LAURENCE
Safe and secured. His evidence is logged. We believe it’s solid.
The PM nods, then turns to a dim corner where two men sit in silence.
PM THOMAS
Keep eyes on Everington. If he so much as coughs in Morse code, I want a transcript.
One AIDE (30s) taps his earpiece.
AIDE
MI5 confirms he’s still in Belgravia. But agitated.
INT. EVERINGTON’S DRAWING ROOM - BELGRAVIA - 02:00 AM
LORD EVERINGTON (60s, enraged) slams a tumbler of whisky against the desk, sloshing amber across antique leather.
EVERINGTON
This is slipping through our fingers! Sink the bloody Neptune! Wipe the logs, scuttle the tech—hell, torch the bloody seabed!
SIR RODNEY DUNBAR (50s, pale as parchment) exchanges a glance with
PADGETT FRANCIS (50s, unreadable).
SIR RODNEY
You want us to nuke our own vessel?
EVERINGTON
(Snarling)
I want plausible deniability. That sub surfaces with one data stick intact, and we’re not just out—we’re prosecuted.
HAROLD HOLLAND (50s, usually smug, now drawn and grey) hisses.
HAROLD HOLLAND
Storm’s the problem. If we take him out, the sub’s just noise.
NICK JOHNSON (40s, arms folded, panicked behind bravado)
That ‘noise’ is radioactive. And funded by our own contracts.
Everington’s voice drops to a venomous murmur.
EVERINGTON
Then we drown them both. Sub and Storm. Any way we can.
INT. ELIZABETH SWANN - BRIDGE - CONTINUOUS
DAN
(Calling from the console)
Skip, they’re adjusting heading again—southwest dive angle. No doubt about it now—they’re aiming for the
Mediterranean.
Strait of
Gibraltar.
John leans in, jaw set.
JOHN
That’ll funnel them into a bottle they won’t be able to back out of.
DAN
Think they believe the radiation warning’s a bluff?
JOHN
They think we’re the enemy, not the cleanup crew.
Hal’s voice crackles, a chill in its precision.
HAL
Radiation levels are climbing again. Hotter tail than before. Whatever’s leaking—it's widening.
JOHN
(Muttering, frustrated)
Damn it. We’re running out of ocean.
CLEOPATRA (Ageless 20s) enters the bridge, her coat swirling like storm clouds.
CLEOPATRA
If they breach the Pillars, you lose open water. You lose angles.
John meets her gaze, grim.
JOHN
No. We lose lives.
SCENE
10 - U-BOAT 986 >>>>
PROPOSED
SCRIPT ORDER (90-110 pages) - V1.0 DRAFT
SCREENPLAY
ACT
1.
SCENE
1. PROTESTS - Peaceful
North Sea oil pollution protestors are framed and imprisoned,
by a corrupt judicial system.
SCENE
2. PREDATOR - On release the
Terramentals
& smuggler Jorges
Dicaprio, complete a
mini-sub capable of sinking submarines.
SCENE
3. PHOENIX - Terramentals
locate & hijack HMS Neptune in Irish
Sea, Cumbria, using the Predator mini-sub -
knocking out the crew.
SCENE
4. BRITISH PETROLEUM -
Terramentals warn North Sea rig operators to stop. Claymore
rig is torpedoed, Royal
Navy respond.
SCENE
5. BBC WORLD SERVICE - Jill Bird
reports Terramentals rig attacks, world shocked at pollution
cover up. Charley Temple investigates.
SCENE
6. UNEP SOS - The
UNEP ask John Storm to survey North Sea for oil pollution.
Elizabeth Swann detects HMS Neptune radiation leaks.
SCENE
7. RADIATION ALERT - John
& Dan twig radiation from
HMS Neptune possible serious reactor damage. Must warn Terramentals.
ACT 2.
SCENE
8. STEALTH MODE - Storm spots Astute sub, Swann
in stealth
mode, detected as John warns extremists of sub
radiation leakage.
SCENE
9. CHANGE OF COURSE -
Terramentals change course, heading for the
Straits of Gibraltar. Not believing radiation warning.
SCENE
10. U-BOAT 986 - Evading Swann, HMS Neptune navigates
off transport lanes. Swann picks up magnetic signature of U-Boat
986.
SCENE
11. SENATE, UK & EU DEBATE -
Sub
hijacking & rig destruction, alarm bells around world. Deepwater
Horizon shivers down
spines.
SCENE
12. REACTOR LEAK - Terramentals realise John
telling truth, as radiation rector damage detection system HMS Neptune triggers.
SCENE
13. RESCUE TOW - John rescues
Terramentals. MI6 order Neptune
sinking. MOD knew reactor dangerous, want evidence gone.
SCENE
14. LISBON PORT -
Terramentals & Storm, shut Neptune's reactor. Tow, stricken submarine
to Lisbon, prevent MI6 sinking evidence.
ACT
3.
SCENE
15. ROV ATLANTIS - Swann returns U-Boat stealth mode at night,
to avoid tracking. Surveys site,
discovers Atlantis & Nazi gold.
SCENE
16. TREASURE TROVE - John reveals gold find &
threatened. US Linc Truman support. PM, Ed
Thomas, &
Sealord, royal
support.
SCENE
17. BLUE SHIELD - Cleopatra
alerts Blue Shield, Newcastle
University, potential Atlantis find, suggests UNESCO
world heritage site.
SCENE
18. GOLDEN OFFER - Claimants
reward John U-Boat gold find. Agrees 1% cover costs 9% to Blue Shield surveys.
UNESCO grateful.
SCENE
19. GREEN MOBILITY - Galvanized
to action UK hit green H2 button, John gets grants low
income families, Jill
Bird, news item.
SCENE
20. IMO IS GO - The International Maritime
Org green
H2 & methanol,
certification. USA in. China India stay with coal,
gas
& oil.
SCENE
21. AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL - John & George
amnesty, pirate
caselaw & video proof set up. Harry & Johnson
charged treason.
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