TRACKING DOWN the line of empty, open capsules. Frozen twilight. The final four capsules are sealed, lids in place.
ANGLE - INSIDE CAPSULE
NEWT, then RIPLEY. HICKS next, his head and chest bandaged. Then BISHOP in his caul of plastic. But the lid of Bishops capsule is misted with hothouse condensation.
CLOSER
A tear of fluid streaks the condensation.
An alarm SOUNDS.
A monitor begins to scroll da
portrait, of a mountain; the north
face of Chomolungma - a peak also known as Mount Everest -
twenty-nine thousand feet high.
We hear a very young boy speak.
BOY (VO)
Mama, my story.
A woman speaks:
WOMAN (VO)
Again?
BOY (VO)
Tell me.
Portrait of a mountain - Khangbochen - craggy peaks covered
with snow, twenty-four thousand feet high.
WOMAN (VO)
Your father had been very ill,
We thought he would
scroll across it. And we get occasional
glimpses of what looks like --
JIM (O.S.)(CONTD)
...oh -- that was a tit, tits...
As most high-school guys know (but few will admit), it is
possible to watch the pay channels while theyre
scrambled. You just need a decent imagination to fill in
the rest of the picture. We PULL BACK to see JIM -- 17,
short, horny.
PORNO-CHANNEL CHICK (V.O.)
Give it to me! Ye
scroll across it. And we get occasional
glimpses of what looks like --
JIM (O.S.)(CONTD)
...oh -- that was a tit, tits...
As most high-school guys know (but few will admit), it is
possible to watch the pay channels while theyre
scrambled. You just need a decent imagination to fill in
the rest of the picture. We PULL BACK to see JIM -- 17,
short, horny.
PORNO-CHANNEL CHICK (V.O.)
Give it to me! Ye
portrait. Bozo the Clown.
WITH the Thief now, moving fast, into a panelled library. There is
a CHUTE built into the wall, a brass lid with the words U.S. MAIL.
The Thief pops the labeled tube DOWN the chute. Gone. Steps...
...onto a bookshelf, reaches up to punch out an overhead grating,
and...
Disappears into the vent. Reaching back to refit the grating
seamlessly into place.
INT. VENT
Halogen f