a silent, stone-face wisp of a child,
watches her father. Margaret races in.
MARGARET
Father! A post rider!
Martin pointedly continues his work without looking up.
MARTIN
Very well.
Margaret waits, then, seeing that her father isnt going
to come, she turns and races out.
EXT. FRESH WATER PLANTATION - DAY
The post rider rides up to the house. ABIGALE AND ABNER,
a middle-aged African couple, ste
plantation,
just south of New Orleans.
I had lost my wife in childbirth.
She and the infant had been
buried less than half a year.
I wouldve been happy to join them.
I couldnt bear the pain of their loss.
I longed to be released from it.
I wanted to lose it all:
My wealth...
... my estate...
... my sanity.
How many aces are in a deck?
Are you calling me a cheat?
No, Im calling you a piece of stin
block the door.
This way nobody comes in...
and it stays between me and you, OK?
Could you take the gun out of your mouth, please?
Look, its just as effective if you put it to your temple.
Just makes it easier to talk.
What sort of policeman are you?
Im a forensic psychologist.
Its a fancy way of saying...
Im a guy who walks into a room like that...
and determines the hows and whys.
Then you dont
plantation.
- Youre the bosss son?
- You could say so.
- Stand by, fiirst watch.
- Excuse me.
Can I get by?
Permission to go on watch, Captain.
A new breed, our Mexican recruit.
A young machine.
He follows orders without question.
Hes so uptight he could
crack nuts with his butt cheeks.
- Permission to come up?
- Yes, Lieutenant.
Stand by main vents.
- Shut out main engines!
- All hands forward!
It is very early in the dawn - blue light filters through the jungle and across a foul swamp. A mist clings to the trees. This could be the jungle of a million years ago.
Our VIEW MOVES CLOSER, through the mist, TILTING DOWN to the tepid water. A small bubble rises to the surface; then another. Suddenly, but quietly, a form begins to emerge; a helmet. Water and mud pour off revealing a set of bea