"Tiger Hunt" Screenplay written by Peter Layton

FADE IN

EXT. NUCLEAR WASTE PLANT - DAY
Black thunder clouds hang over a large industrial complex by a river. "HANFORD NUCLEAR
WASTE FACILITY, RICHLAND, WASHINGTON STATE" fades in and out as lightning flashe
s on the horizon.

INT. WASTE PLANT CONTROL ROOM - DAY
WALTER JOHNSON, a paunchy, middle-aged black man, raises his voice towards the
half dozen chatting technicians seated before computer terminal banks.

WALTER
We're getting big pay increases!

Heads turn, the room falls silent.

WALTER
Now that I have your attention...

Adjusting his glasses, Walter looks at a Dept. of Energy memo in his hand.

WALTER
Our new head of DEO wants nuclear
glasnost. So, for this new openness,
special tour groups will soon be
allowed up there.

Walter points up to a darkened overhead observation deck window.

WALTER (Cont'd)
Our first visitors will be--

NEARBY TECHNICIANS
Terrorists! North Koreans!

Patiently, Walter waits for the snickers to die down.

WALTER
Japanese nuclear power officials
and an environmental group.

TECHNICIAN
They going to hug the plutonium?

WALTER
Just show them how well we baby-sit
nuclear garbage. Be alert.

Walter glares over at BARRY MADISON, a good-looking young man concealing a
yawn, eyes heavy with fatigue.

WALTER
Like our new man Barry here.

Eyes snapping wide, Barry sits up quickly. Holding up a photo ID with his picture
and "WALTER JOHNSON, CONTROL SUPERVISOR" on it, Walter moves towards
Barry.

WALTER
Security has asked again that we
wear these at all times, please.

Barry busies himself doing nothing as Walter looms over him.

WALTER
Not exciting enough for you here?

BARRY
Sorry sir, SSD.

WALTER
SSD?

BARRY
Severe sperm depletion.

Barry's cocky grin fades faster than a summer tan when Walter scowls down at him.

BARRY
Uh, I met this girl last night...

WALTER
Barry, I'm more interested in your careful
monitoring of our safety systems than your
personal life. That understood?

BARRY
Yes sir.

Nodding, Walter strides away. Barry grumbles quietly.

BARRY
Get a sense of humor, you old fart.

A red warning light flashes briefly on Barry's console.

BARRY
(to Walter)
Sir? Just got a pressure increase in
a containment tank.

WALTER
Yeah, a burper. A hydrogen build up stirring
the pot a bit. You've been here, what, two
weeks now? First time you've seen this?

A second red warning light snaps on as a radiation gauge rises.

BARRY
Uh oh. Radiation warning.
Frowning, Walter comes over, putting on his glasses to study the video terminal.

WALTER
Which holding tank? What section?

BARRY
Not sure yet. Rads are increasing.
Could be a chemical build-up.

WALTER
Don't do this to me, Barry. I'm in
no mood for an event.

Barry smiles weakly as he rapidly punches up schematic
maps on his screen.

BARRY
Yeah, one radio-active death cloud
would ruin your whole--

A pre-recorded emergency warning voice sounds on an overhead loudspeaker.

WARNING VOICE
Containment tank build-up.

WALTER
Find it, Barry. Bleed it off.
Barry stares at his computer screen anxiously.
BARRY
I found the section, but not the tank.

WALTER
Then open up a water pipe, cool the whole section.

The second Barry pushes a button, an entire row of red warning lights on his console
snap on.

BARRY
Shit! A water pipe burst! Primary
coolant system has breached.

WALTER
Switch to secondary. Now.

Barry slaps down several controls. The temperature and radiation gauges continue rising.

BARRY
No response. Going to manual
override.

WARNING VOICE
Critical temperature warning.

Barry's hands race across the control panel, flipping switches, stabbing buttons.

BARRY
Nothing. The water's not running!

VOICE WARNING
Maximum containment tank build-up.

Flipping up two plastic protective covers over a pair of bright red buttons, Barry
looks up at Walter.

BARRY
Should I blow it? It's raining, the
wind's low. The leak won't go far.

WARNING VOICE
Containment tank build-up critical.

WALTER
Damn it! Okay, do it.

BARRY
It won't vent!

Barry pounds frantically on the red buttons.

BARRY
The hatches are stuck! Somebody get
a suit on, smash a pipe!

Barry's eyes bulge at the red-lining temperature gauge.

BARRY
Oh God! We don't have time!
Behind Barry, a grinning man hands Walter a blown up brown paper bag. When Walter
loudly pops it with his fist, Barry jumps right out of his chair.

BARRY
Holy shit!

The room explodes with laughter. Smiling down at the stunned Barry, Walter extends
his hand.

WALTER
Welcome to master control, Barry.

Numbly shaking Walter's hand, Barry looks around at the cat-calling, applauding
console operators.

VARIOUS TECHNICIANS
We got fresh underwear in the can!
You were just running out to get
help, right? Go piss on it, Barry!

A slow smile of realization crosses Barry's face.

BARRY
You sons of bitches.

WALTER
Okay guys, fun's over, back to work.

Seating himself beside Barry, Walter types in "Y" at the computer prompt of
"Cancel Simpson Program? Y/N". The warning lights shut off.

BARRY
Simpson program?

WALTER
Yeah, Homer Simpson, that TV cartoon
guy in the nuke plant. Pretty good
simulation, huh?

BARRY
Yeah...almost fooled me.

WALTER
You should see the whole program. Lights flash,
sirens go off, a tank blows, it's pretty wild.

BARRY
And I couldn't do a damn thing.

WALTER
Well, here's the lesson part of
your initiation. Look up.
Walter indicates the dozen overhead video screens showing the interiors of sludge filled
containment tanks and underwater shots of metal rods.

WALTER
Uranium cooking nicely, plutonium
peacefully baking in the pools, no
leaks, no bursting pipes...just
another happy day at Hanford.

BARRY
Damn, I should've seen that.

Rising to leave, Walter clamps a big, fatherly hand on Barry's shoulder.

WALTER
No, you did good work under heavy
pressure. Sorry about the paper bag.
Walking away, Walter smiles slyly.

WALTER
It's just this old fart's sense of humor.

Red-faced, Barry turns quickly back to his screen.
EXT. RUGGED MOUNTAINSIDE - AFTERNOON
A young fit woman, CHRYSTAL, leads a blindfolded TERRAN, pale and thin,
up a steep mountain.

CHRYSTAL
Wait here.
As Chrystal disappears into a small cave, a sudden, silent hand from behind puts a
knife to Terran's throat. With his free hand, SHADOW, a gaunt native American
wearing dark sunglasses, frisks Terran.

SHADOW
Welcome, professor Terran, the
so-called radical environmentalist.

Terran cringes as Shadow's hand roughly searches his groin area.

TERRAN
This isn't necessary. You know I
agree with your goals.

SHADOW
But not our methods.

Satisfied with his body search, Shadow withdraws his knife, but holds the blindfold
tight to Terran's face.

SHADOW
There are no reporters up here, no
talk shows. Why are you here?

TERRAN
To join you.

SHADOW
We don't do Greenpeace media stunts, professor.
Go back to your lectures at the university.

TERRAN
I can get us into the Hanford nuclear
waste dump. Can you smuggle in
weapons? Explosives?
Shadow stares thoughtfully through his dark glasses at Terran.

TERRAN
You have comrades in prison. Think
a ton of plutonium held hostage
would free them?

SHADOW
Take off the blindfold.
Doing so, Terran stares at Shadow, nods in respect.

TERRAN
Shadow. The dark side, the negative image...
Greenwar, not Greenpeace.
With a grunt, Shadow beckons Terran to follow him into the cave, then stops and stares
into its black entrance with a tight smile.

SHADOW
Don't shoot him, Chrystal.

Stepping out the darkness, Chrystal lowers her M-16 weapon. Terran gapes at Shadow.
TERRAN
How could you see her?

Turning to Terran, Shadow snaps up his dark glasses for an instant. His eyes are distended,
pupils dilated.

SHADOW
Carrots.

INT. HOUSE KITCHEN - AFTERNOON

In a spacious kitchen, BEVERLY JOHNSON, chops carrots into a salad bowl. Tentatively,
Walter pokes his head in.

WALTER
Uh, Beverly?

BEVERLY
Oh God! They're not here already!

WALTER
No, no! Just wondering how it's going.

BEVERLY
Walter, inviting a foreign VIP for
dinner with just one day's warning...

Holding the sharp knife, Beverly glances at Walter's pelvic area.

BEVERLY
...causes temporary insanity.

INT. LIVING ROOM - AFTERNOON
Walter walks into the living room. His teen-age daughter REBECCA, half brat, half woman,
watches TV in baggy clothes and a baseball cap.

WALTER
Rebecca, I asked you to get dressed
for dinner.

REBECCA
And I did.

WALTER
No, something nice, that blue dress
Granny got you.

Rebecca makes a hideous God-awful face.

WALTER
The Japanese are formal people. I'd
like to make a good impression.

Sulking, Rebecca gets up from the couch.

REBECCA
They eat raw fish, you know. Totally
the grossest.

Glancing down at Walter's open briefcase, Rebecca stops and scoops out a security ID from a pile inside.

REBECCA
Hey, he's fresh.

Rebecca studies Barry's smiling photo.
REBECCA
What's Barry Madison like?

Snatching the ID away, Walter snaps shut his briefcase.

WALTER
Never mind. Just get ready.

INT. CAVERN - AFTERNOON
Flashlights play off the walls of a large rock cavern as Shadow leads Terran and
Chrystal down a rope ladder.

SHADOW
Welcome to life under your world.
There are soft rustling sounds overhead, then beating wings in the cavern. In the
dazzling flashlight beam, birds swoop and dive.

INT. FRONT DOOR HALLWAY - EVENING

Walter opens his front door to see a Japanese man and little girl standing before him. TERATOSHI
KURIHARA speaks carefully, with a heavy accent.

TERATOSHI
Mr. Johnson? I am Mr. Kurihara of
Monju nuclear power plant, Japan.

Walter extends his hand out just as Teratoshi bows. Both men instantly reverse,
Walter bowing as Teratoshi shoots out his hand. The little girl, MARI, giggles until
quickly catching herself.

TERATOSHI (Cont'd)
This is daughter Mari, twelve years.
Her first time to United States.

Walter stoops down to Mari, who shyly takes his offered massive black hand.

MARI
Wo! Nanto oo kina tenandesho.

WALTER
What did she say?

TERATOSHI
Silly, stupid thing.
(hesitating)
Your hands are so big, so dark color.
Sorry. You are first foreign person
for her, Mr. Johnson.

WALTER
Oh no problem, don't worry about it.
And call me Walter.

Walter ushers them down the hallway.

TERATOSHI
Then please call me Teratoshi.
INT. CAVERN - EVENING
Chrystal tosses seeds to the birds, as Terran spreads out a blueprint of Hanford beside a
lantern near Shadow.

TERRAN
One grain of plutonium can kill you,
and Hanford has eleven tons of it.

Terran taps the three swimming pools on the paper.

TERRAN
They cool the hot stuff in these
pools. An explosion here and...

SHADOW
...nothing lives in Washington and
Oregon for a thousand years.

CHRYSTAL
What? Really?

TERRAN
Back in the fifties, a Russian nuclear dump blew up.
Every town near it disappeared from Soviet maps.
To this day, the whole area is simply shown as a
blank waste land.

SHADOW
And will be for centuries.

Terran traces his finger to a room over the pools.

TERRAN
I can get us here, to master control.
From there, we can hold Hanford
hostage with their own nukes.

INT. WALTER'S DINING ROOM - DAY
With a contented sigh, Walter leans back in his dinner chair and hooks his thumbs
under a belt over his ample stomach.

WALTER
I have Dunlaps disease. My belly dun laps
over my belt.
An outside lightning bolt lights up the dining room.

BEVERLY
Oh, now listen to the thunder.
It's five seconds for each mile away.

The startlingly loud thunder rattles the windows.

MARI
Gan ne tora!

REBECCA
What did she say?

TERATOSHI
Guns and tigers. To children, this
is time of guns and tigers.

Teratoshi makes a rumbling sound, imitating thunder.

TERATOSHI
Is big gun.

His hands describe jagged lightning dropping down.

TERATOSHI (Cont'd)
Is wounded tiger falling to ground.
Come out of rain, or tiger will fall
on you. Watch out, we say, tigers
hunt bad children.

INT. CAVERN - EVENING
Abruptly, Terran clutches his stomach in pain.

SHADOW
Indigestion?

TERRAN
Oh yeah, thanks to nuclear power.
I don't smoke, drink, or eat meat, but
I have pancreatic cancer. Six months,
maybe a year left.

Terran sighs bitterly.

TERRAN
I'm a downwinder. Born and raised
down wind from Hanford. Our cancer rates
go off the scale. The bastards poisoned us.

In the short silence, a bird lands in Shadow's hand, pecking out the seeds in his palm.

SHADOW
It's the best thing for Earth.

TERRAN
Yes. Nuclear waste is killing us.

SHADOW
I mean your dying.

In the stunned silence, Shadow looks down at the bird in his hand.

SHADOW
There's too many of us for too few
resources...like these birds.

Shadow suddenly closes his hand on the bird.

SHADOW
I find their starved corpses down
here every day.

The struggling bird pecks frantically.

SHADOW
Sometimes, to save what you love...

A powerful squeeze snaps the bird's neck. It flops over, dead.

SHADOW
...you must destroy it.

INT. REBECCA'S ROOM - EVENING
Rap singer posters decorate the walls of Rebecca's bedroom. She and Mari read
together a small English/ Japanese book opened to "Making Friends".

REBECCA
I like music. Korry wah...musica...

Putting down the book, Rebecca slips in a CD disk.

REBECCA
I can't say it, but I can play it.

INT. JOHNSON LIVING ROOM - EVENING
In comfortable couches, Walter and Beverly sip coffee with Teratoshi. A sudden rap music blast
from above vibrates the ceiling above them.

WALTER
REBECCA!

INT. REBECCA'S BEDROOM - EVENING
Energetically hip hop dancing to the pounding music, Rebecca beckons to Mari.

REBECCA
Come on, girl! Kick it!

Giggling, Mari tries a few steps, then takes out a film cartridge camera from her bicycle
pouch purse. The bright flash has Rebecca still blinking when Mari holds out a small
black address book.

MARI
Please? You?

REBECCA
Sure, when I get my eyes back.

INT. CAVERN - EVENING
Shadow snaps on a tape recorder. Wistful flute and slow drums sound in the dim cave.

SHADOW
This is a love song from my people
to Mother Earth.

With a grim sigh, Shadow listens to the haunting melody echoing in the cavern.

SHADOW
Even here, deep in her belly, I feel
her dying.

From out of the deep black of the cave steps ROCK, a middle-aged man, breathing through an
oxygen mask connected to an air tank backpack.

SHADOW
This is Rock. In another life, he
poisoned the jungle for the military.

ROCK
DDT, Agent Orange, major defoliants. Ended up...

Rock coughs horribly, gut wrenchingly.
ROCK
...in my lungs.
STONE, a burly, bearded man comes into the light.

SHADOW
Stone, once a logger, then a spiker.

Terran nods in recognition at Stone.

TERRAN
A fatal tree spiking.

STONE
We told them not to log there. We
warned them what could happen.

CHRYSTAL
They were rapists, Stone. It was
self-defence.

Face tight, Stone just nods.

SHADOW
Stone is recently first-blooded.
A difficult passage.

CHRYSTAL
If you join us, professor, it's forever.

TERRAN
I don't have that long. But I will
die fighting.

SHADOW
Hanford's hard target, maximum
security. How can you get us in?

Smiling, Terran reaches into his coat pocket and pulls out a handful of plastic ID cards.

TERRAN
We're invited.

The lantern light shines on the "HANFORD WASTE PLANT TOUR GROUP" tags.

EXT. HANFORD WASTE PLANT - DAY
A heavy West Coast rain pelts down on a yellow bus pulling up to the security entrance.
INT. SECURITY OFFICE - DAY.
A male and female security guard watch Teratoshi, Mari, and three dark-suited Japanese men
go through a metal detector archway. They turn to Stone, in a wheeled walker, wearing heavy
leg braces, a cane tapping Shadow, a pregnant Chrystal with baby carriage, and Rock with his
tank and mask.

MALE GUARD
Don't worry, it's just like at the
airport. It won't hurt you.

TERRAN'S VOICE
But I could short it out.
The group parts to reveal a wheelchair bound Terran, hooked up to a portable respirator.

MALE GUARD
You're Professor Terran? Of the...
the Special Persons Environmental
Group?

TERRAN
Yes. There are no handicaps when
it comes protecting the environment.

Sizing up the group's vacant, blank faces, the guard just shrugs. Approaching the wary
Chrystal, the female guard looks at her many metal bracelets, rings, and ornaments.

FEMALE GUARD
Nice jewelry. Real funky.

The guard suddenly leans down to look into Chrystal's baby carriage.

CHRYSTAL
No! Get away from my baby!

TERRAN
It's all right. It's okay.
(to female guard)
She's nervous with strangers around
her child. Please, allow me.
Flipping up the blankets to reveal a doll, Terran motions both puzzled guards down.

TERRAN
She recently lost her first child.
This is how she deals with it.
Please respect her.

Both guards glance at Chrystal's swollen belly.
TERRAN
That's unfortunately real.

The male guard tugs at Terran's wheelchair steel undercarriage, then runs an electrical
device over him. It squeals loudly.

MALE GUARD
Sir, this is detecting explosive compounds.
The guard stares at the blanket covering Terran's lap.

MALE GUARD
May I look under there, please?

TERRAN
(hesitantly, embarrassed)
I should warn you. My colostomy bag
is almost full. It's not pretty.
Terran lifts the blanket, revealing a thick plastic bag full of liquids and solids sloshing inside.
The guards face tightens at the sight and he stands up quickly, frowning at his squealing detector.

TERRAN
This happened once at the airport.
They said that the compressed gases
in my respirator had been sensed as explosive.

MALE GUARD
Yeah, maybe...

TERRAN
Oh, I'm carrying medication for my
group, including nitroglycerin for
heart ailments. I can show you...

Terran starts to lift the blanket again.

MALE GUARD
No, no, that's fine. Go ahead.

Tour guide NANCY DONNELY briskly enters the room with a professional smile and two
armed security men.

DONNELY
Hello, I'm Ms. Donnely. If you'll
follow me, please...

As Donnely leads the Japanese and the handicapped environmentalists off, the female guard
looks over at the male guard.

FEMALE GUARD
We're supposed to check everything.

MALE GUARD
They don't pay me enough to search
shit bags. Jesus, I'd rather face terrorists
than deal with those people.

INT. LONG HALLWAY - DAY
Terran wheels through the group up to Donnely.

TERRAN
(quietly)
I have a minor request, Ms. Donnely.
They're a bit intimidating.
Terran nods back to the two armed escorts just a few steps behind the tour group.

TERRAN
Some of us here are just out of
institutions where they were badly
mistreated by authorities.

Terran nods back to the pregnant Chrystal.

TERRAN
Including rape. Could your guards be
maybe just a little less obvious, please?
Hesitating, Donnely glances back at the lame, blind environmentalists.

DONNELY
I'll see what I can do.
Donnely hangs back for a brief, quiet discussion with the security men. They drop
behind a fair distance.

INT. OBSERVATION DECK ABOVE CONTROL ROOM - DAY
Donnely stops the group on a deck overlooking the control room. Walter stands waiting for them.

DONNELY
This is Mr. Johnson, supervisor of
the master control room down there.

Nodding, smiling down at Mari, Walter holds his hands out, wriggling his fingers.

WALTER
Mr. Big black hands, right?

Mari covers her nose in embarrassment. Donnely motions the group closer to the window.

DONNELY
Mr. Johnson and his men monitor the
contained nuclear waste.

Stone and Shadow move together in front of Terran to conceal him. Chrystal eases the baby carriage
up between Rock and the guards off to the side.

ROCK
Stone, back a bit.

Stone gently moves his metal shielded walker back, further blocking the guards' view. Snapping off
her necklace, Chrystal slips it to Rock, who kneels down behind Terran.

DONNELY
Most of the waste is stored in huge
underground storage tanks.

Rock slips off a weirdly constructed wrench from Chrystal's necklace, then fits
together a screwdriver.