JANUARY 20TH
A
screenplay by Hugh Holub
Copyright 1985, 2007
FADE IN:
EXT. DAY
Wide angle shot of city in northern
Pakistan. Sound of the Call to Prayer.
CUT TO:
INT. AL QAIDA ROOM. Meeting room is ornate,
with Persian rugs on floor. Six elderly
mullahs are seated around a large conference table. A seventh, younger
mullah, is standing at the head of the table, lecturing. There are large
flip charts behind him, and a large television monitor on the table. The lecturer, the Ayatollah of QUM, an
angular hard looking man, continues
The
American government is run by non‑military individuals. Their chain
of command starts with the President, then works downward to the Vice President,
the Speaker of their House of Representatives, and through the executive
cabinet in descending order of importance starting with the Secretary of State.
The Ayatollah of QUM flips a chart and shows an organizational chart of
the U.S. government's key individuals. The Ayatollah of TEHRAN interrupts. He
is a grandfatherly sort, except for the anger in his eyes.
How many layers of succession do they have?
Sixteen.
If their President dies or is assassinated, the leadership automatically passes
to the Vice President. If he dies, then to the Speaker of the House and
down through the sixteen layers.
Osama
bin Laden, impatiently pounds on the table.
BIN
LADEN
Why are we sitting here getting a schoolboy's lesson in the
American government?
We
would all agree that there would be great glory in blackening the American eye
before the whole world even worse than 9/11. And to do so in such a way as to
leave no question among our Islamic brethren as to where the leadership of the
Islamic World lies.
BIN
LADEN
Continue.
What
would be the result if all 16 of the American civilians in their chain of
command were simultaneously killed? And on world-wide television?
Certainly that cannot possibly be done.
We have reason to question that fact.
(derisively) On what basis?
Qum reaches to a pile of papers in front of
him and pulls out a newspaper clipping from the Washington Post.
According
to this newspaper account, which our people verify is accurate, the Americans
ran a war game last year in which they assumed all their civilian chain of
command had been killed in the first few minutes of World War III. One of
their generals then attempted to assume command. And I quote, "the other
general said, "who says?'"
The
American are pretty stupid if they would allow something like that to be
published unless they've corrected their problem.
BIN
LADEN
Who
would've believed Nixon would've allowed his newspapers to hound him out of
office. A free press is dangerous.
Laughter.
BIN
LADEN
What are you proposing?
That
we proceed with a plan we have prepared called HEADSMAN in which we
simultaneously assassinate all 16 civilians in the American chain of command.
This is madness. There
is no possible way to kill them all at the same time.
Qum turns out the lights.
First about the potential to achieve the simultaneous untimely
death of all sixteen...
The television monitor comes
alive. The scene on the screen is
the most recent State of the Union speech.
If
you would indulge me for a moment and watch the video tape of an event called
the State of the Union speech in which the President of the United States
speaks to the assembled U.S. government about the condition of their
country.
CUT TO: CLOSEUP ON TV SCREEN.
Scene is in the House of Representatives,
with people milling around, sitting down. ANNOUNCER is identifying key
members of Congress and the Cabinet.
Fifteen of the 16 people in the chain of succession are identified.
Qum turns up the lights and the screen goes
blank.
Every
year, around January 20th, the entire American government gathers in one room.
You said there were sixteen. Only 15 of them were at the speech.
To
ensure the survivability of their civilian government in the event of an
attack, one member of their cabinet in the line of succession is spirited away
to some secret location outside of Washington during the speech.
BIN
LADEN
So
you blow up the room during the speech and kill virtually their entire
government, but still there is one who can launch a retaliation against us.
Qum flips a page on his chart showing the
floor plan of the Capitol Building.
What
we propose is this. We smuggle into the U.S. Capitol Building a low
yield nuclear warhead and detonate it as soon as the speech begins.
BIN
LADEN
And where do we get this nuclear weapon?
We
have purchased one from our Russian friends who also have an interest in
decapitating the American government.
Beginning
a few weeks before the speech we put hunter/killer teams on each of the cabinet
members, and as soon as the one to be hidden away makes his run for cover, we
use one of the American Stinger missiles they so generaously
sold us and blow up his car.
Before
the news of his death reaches the speech, the American government will be
leaderless. Chaos will reign. They will not be able to strike back.
Bin Laden rises. The rest stand. He has a pained
expression.
FADE:
CUT TO:
INT. CRYSTAL ROOM. NORAD
(CHEYENNE MOUNTAIN)
AUGUST 9TH.
Large room filled with TV screen consoles
(like NASA Mission Center), large electronic maps on walls. All personnel in uniform. In back
is a glass walled room ‑ The "Eagle's
Nest" ‑ the office of the Commanding General on Duty. The
current duty shift CO is MAJOR GENERAL BRUCE CASTLEBERRY. He is talking to COLONEL WILDER, the Shift
Intelligence Analyst. Castleberry
is a handsome man is his early 50's who looks like he
could star in recruitment commercials. Wilder is dark and brooding.
It
is hard to get used to the quiet. We're buying former Soviet missiles instead
of worrying about tracking them.
WILDER
But there are a thousand tactical warheads running around in
the backs of trucks.
CASTLEBERRY
Who would've thought we'd be trying to track trucks with our
satellites?
WILDER
Knocking them all out is the problem.
CASTLEBERRY
We go from Star Wars to this.
Wilder gestures to the
Crystal Room.
.
CASTLEBERRY
According
to the monitors. We start believing what we see on those screens in
reality. In reality we really don't know what the hell is going on some
times. Nukes in trucks.
WILDER
The
Army always did want us to just shoot at stuff on the ground, like tanks and
trucks.
How's
Linda?
CASTLEBERRY
She went over to Washington to see Kimberly and Joe.
WILDER
They're still at Fort Meade?
CASTLEBERRY
.
CUT TO:
INT. TEHRAN'S OFFICE
Tehran's office is large, furnished with
antiques, has an oriental rug on the floor.
Tehran is talking to Qum.
You don't think much of our proposal?
That
depends on whether it will work or not. We think it is a long shot to kill
all 16. Too many things can go wrong.
But
he who seeks glory must take some risk. There is nothing to lose. Even if we
fail to kill them all, we will kill many. Right in their capitol. Before the
eyes of their people. The world will know they are not invincible.
Indeed.
Then you support my proposal?
Let us say we mutually support each other's proposal.
I think we are two of a kind.
CUT TO:
INT. CASTLEBERRY'S HOME.
Castleberry is wearing a polo shirt and slacks
and is being interviewed by a nationally
prominent television newscaster, BRANDON. His living room is dominated by a fireplace,
and covers the image of a rustic ranch house with Indian rugs on the floor, a
deer head and hunting rifles on the walls, and leather covered furniture.
Brandon, who looks like a young Walter Cronkite, is interviewing Castleberry
for a special on American military preparedness.
BRANDON
What
the American public wants to know is if the threat of a nuclear war is over now
that the Soviet union is gone?
CASTLEBERRY
There
are still thousands of nuclear weapons. Ironically, we were probably safer with
the Soviet union because they had a very tight command and control structure.
All their nukes were under lock and key and it took orders from Moscow to
launch.
But
now there are other scenarios of limited nuclear attacks, terrorist attacks,
using nuclear weapons the Russians cannot account for.
BRANDON
You mean the Russians have lost nuclear weapons?
CASTLEBERRY
They
deny it. But when you start off with 30,000 of them, and they end up in a half
dozen new countries that can't form a stable government, and some are trading
nukes for wheat, anything is possible.
Certainly we’re not afraid of the Ukraine?
CASTLEBERRY
It is harder than you know.
BRANDON
But what would anyone have to gain by attacking us?
CASTLEBERRY
Remember 9/11.
The cameraman taping the session moves in
closer.
BRANDON
That’s why we went after Saddam.
CASTLEBERRY
People
who want nuclear weapons generally have someone they'd like to use them on. And
there are a lot of countries trying to get their hands on the missing Soviet
weapons. Libya. Korea, Iran, Al Qaeda. And the irony is every time we buy a
gallon of gas made from oil from the Middle East, we are handing over money to
people who want to destroy us. We’re paying for our eventual destruction. No
question they could buy a bomb. And they’re trying to make their own.
BRANDON
But they don't have intercontinental missiles. The best they
could do is attack Israel.
CASTLEBERRY
That's
why Israel has its own nuclear arsenal. If my enemy has a gun, I must have ten
guns. If he has ten tanks, I must have 20.
That was the history of the Cold War. We may be at peace with Russia,
but there are many countries who do not know what the word peace means. They
don’t want peace. They want jihad.
BRANDON
Aren't
you military types just trying to justify keeping all your toys and eating up
the American taxpayer even though it is time to use our wealth for schools and
medical care?
Castleberry pauses, and watches the
cameraman move back to behind Brandon for an "over the shoulder"
camera angle.
CASTLEBERRY
What do you know about world history?
BRANDON
I'm the one supposed to ask the questions.
CASTLEBERRY
Since
the days of the caveman someone has always coveted some else's lands, their
wealth, their rivers, their homes. Their enemies are not human in their minds,
and they will use whatever force they have to exterminate their enemies.
The
only thing that has changed in 10,000 years is we've gotten much more efficient
in killing our enemies.
So
you are saying that there is always going to be someone out there who could
threaten the United States with nuclear attack?
The cameraman moves to a position
immediately in front of Castleberry.
CASTLEBERRY
If
they thought for one second they could destroy us, and get away with it without
our being able to fully retaliate, they'd do it.
BRANDON
But surely millions of people would die and their cities would
be destroyed.
CASTLEBERRY
If
we even knew who to retaliate against. It was convenient to have just one or
two very large enemies. Now they are smaller, but they are more numerous.
BRANDON
Aren't nuclear weapons obsolete?
CASTLEBERRY
Not if you have one.
Off
the record, what did you think about that Post story about what happens to our
chain of command in a if all of civilian leaders get snuffed?
CASTLEBERRY
Off the record. I was the one who said "who
says?".
They both laugh.
CUT TO:
Castleberry is on the phone when GENERAL
ARTHUR enters. Arthur is Castleberry's opposite in appearance‑‑short,
pudgy, bookish. He sits down and waits
for Castleberry to complete his call. Castleberry looks up to the clock
before speaking.
CASTLEBERRY
Early as usual..
ARTHUR
Time flies when you're having fun. Anything important?
CASTLEBERRY
Notta.
ARTHUR
Only on your shift. Excitement I don't need.
CASTLEBERRY
Any word yet on your retirement?
ARTHUR
Next
February for sure. I'm just about burnt out. And it looks like I've
got a nice job with NRM as soon as I hang up my stars.
CASTLEBERRY
This
isn't exactly the most stress‑filled command we have. Twelve hours
in rotation watch on watch sitting in the hot seat if the Syrians attack Israel
again. I hear they’re going to shut this facility down.
ARTHUR
Back
when I was at the Academy I just couldn't wait to go to war. I missed
out. Now I can't wait to get out. They don't make wars like they
used to.
CASTLEBERRY
I
know the feeling. We give our lives to be prepared to fight, and spend
our lives avoiding the fight or
walking away before
we've got a chance to
win. Goddamned politicians.
ARTHUR
The
damned bomb..
CASTLEBERRY
How so?
ARTHUR
Ever
since we used them on Japan, we've had to do our damndest
to not use'em again. We could've won Korea and saved Nam if we'd
been willing to nuke the enemy. But the politicians couldn't do that.
CASTLEBERRY
I
remember one of my first courses at the
Academy. How to drop a hydrogen
bomb. Then three years of why we
could never do this. We even had to practice flight maneuvers to unload
the goods and get the hell out of there before we got caught in the blast wave.
ARTHUR
The bomb ruined the art of war..
CASTLEBERRY
It
took us long enough to figure out having the bomb was no protection and no
alternative to good old fashioned war.
ARTHUR
This far down the road I'm glad I never had to make the
decision to use it.
CASTLEBERRY
I've
still got a few years left on these wings. I hope I don't ever have to
make that decision either. The command is yours. The code for tonight is "Once in a Blue
Moon".
They both stand. Arthur walks around
the desk and sits in Castleberry's chair.
Castleberry puts on his coat and starts towards the door.
ARTHUR
The Command is accepted. Christ where do they think up
the codes.
CASTLEBERRY
The next blue moon is in January so I've been told.
Castleberry leaves. Arthur swivels on his chair and looks out through the glass wall over
the Crystal Room. He is humming "Blue Moon".
CUT TO:
Bin Laden's room is
surprisingly small, with a fireplace, a small writing table, and hard wooden chairs. Tehran and Bin Laden are sitting in the chairs
in front of a roaring fire.
BIN LADEN
We'll see how the rest vote. If there is any
disagreement I will kill the project
Tehran steeples his fingers and stares at
the fire and does not respond.
EXT. OPEN OCEAN. THE FOLLOWING JANUARY 10TH.
A fishing boat meets a small dory. A
small object about the size of a hot water heater is transferred from the
fishing boat to the dory.
EXT. NEAR THE COAST.
There is an oblong object beneath a tarp in
the middle of the dory. The men dressed as FISHERMEN are rowing towards
shore.
1ST
FISHERMAN
This is how drugs are smuggled, no?
2ND
FISHERMAN
Who knows.
EXT. IN A DENSELY VEGETATED CHANNEL.
The dory docks at a broken down pier.
Three men dressed as plumbers meet the boat, and lift the object onto the pier,
then load it into a panel truck marked as CAPITOL PLUMBING. The two fisherman change clothes quickly,
into plumber jumpsuits.
1ST
FISHERMAN
So many plumbers. Won't anyone suspect?
PLUMBER
We just tell anyone we are union.
Laughter.
EXT U.S. CAPITOL
BUILDING.
NEXT DAY.
Capitol Plumbing truck is parked by service
entrance. Plumber is having papers checked by armed CAPITOL POLICEMAN.
POLICEMAN
Where's the hot water heater supposed to go?
PLUMBER
The basement. Next to the cafeteria.
POLICEMAN
I've
been here years and this is the first time I ever heard of a hot water heater
needing replacement.
PLUMBER
Maybe
the only good thing the House does is buy quality hot water heaters.
POLICEMAN
(laughs)
You're probably right. The papers are in order. Take the first
elevator on the left. You need any
help?
PLUMBER
Nope.
The other plumbers get out and unload the hot
water heater.
POLICEMAN
If figures.
PLUMBER
What?
POLICEMAN
Send five men to do the job of two. The government way.
INT. CAPITOL BASEMENT.
The plumbers are installing the hot water
heater in a very out‑of‑the way place.
EXT.
GEORGETOWN RESIDENTIAL STREET.
A new sedan is parked in front of an
expensive townhouse. TV NEWS is painted on the sides of the sedan.
A distinguished looking man exits the townhouse. A cameraman and a
newsman jump out of the sedan and rush up to the distinguished man before he
can get into his car.
The cameraman positions himself to shoot
the scene. The newsman shoves a mike in front of the distinguished
looking man‑‑who is the SECRETARY OF STATE.
NEWSMAN
Mr. Secretary, is it true secret negotiations are under
way for US airbases in Russia?
SECRETARY
OF STATE
No comment. It's seven in the morning. Don't you
ever sleep?
Newsman puts down mike.
NEWSMAN
You know how cutthroat this business is.
SECRETARY
OF STATE
And that's why you camp out all night in front of my house.
The DRIVER of the Secretary's car gets out
and comes over.
DRIVER
I
think the Secretary would appreciate it if you news hounds would go home and
get some sleep.
The Secretary gets into his car, and it
drives off.
INT. SECRETARY'S CAR.
The Secretary leans forward to talk to the
driver, a Secret Service Agent doubling as chauffeur, BOB.
SECRETARY
They're getting more determined.
BOB
Too much so.
SECRETARY
I agree. It seems like all of us have a shadow these
days.
BOB
So
we've noticed. It's a new outfit.
Independent. They hang around trying to shoot some footage and
sell it to the cable news people.
SECRETARY
Freelancers.
BOB
They're legit. And not much we can do about them.
If
the lights are on late at the White House they figure something important is
happening.
BOB
Usually that's right.
Check on the backside. They're following us.
SECRETARY
Lose them.
BOB
Not that easy in a big black Cadillac.
SECRETARY
Starting
tomorrow get something less conspicuous.
And change it daily. There's nothing in the Constitution that says
we have to make their job easy.
BOB
Good idea.
Probably should do it for the whole cabinet.
SECRETARY
Suggest it.
INT. CABINET ROOM. JANUARY 19TH.
The formal cabinet meeting has just ended,
and everyone is sitting or standing around, small‑talking. The
SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR asks the President about tomorrow's
events. Interior looks like a
ranch hand in a suit.
INTERIOR