BASEMENT OF THE OTHER GUARD HOUSE
Rance ushers the Gateses in behind the Slidells. They gather around a giant metal tread wheel situated in the center of the room.
MORGAN
What’s this? A giant hamster wheel?
BEN
Check to see if there’s a belt attached.
SOLDIER THREE
Negative.
Ben slips around to the back of the wheel.
BEN
Here it is, on the floor unhooked.
He picks it up and loops it around the wheel’s axle. Morgan climbs up into the wheel.
MORGAN
Which way does it turn?
BEN
Hold on while I throw the clutch.
Ben grabs the rail yard like switch and depresses it forward, then hops around to the front and joins Morgan. Nothing happens.
BEN (CONT’D)
(to Horatio)
Are the portals still open into this area?
HORATIO
One of them. What of it?
BEN
We need to shut it. Lon designed it so the outer doors couldn’t be open at the same time as the vault.
HORATIO
(to Rance and soldier three)
See to it.
MRS. SLIDELL
You’ll have to move the Hummer.
MONTAGE OF THE SOLDIERS
Ordered by Rance out through the portal.
They mount the Hummer and drive it off of the pressure plate and the portal slides shut.
Rance viewing it from the front gate tower calls down to the third soldier:
RANCE
Tell them all’s clear.
BASEMENT OF THE OTHER GUARD HOUSE
SOLDIER THREE
(to Horatio)
Portal secure, sir.
BEN
(to Morgan)
This way.
Ben and Morgan begin to walk and soon their walk becomes an all out run. From deep below them the GROAN of machinery answers the WHIR of the cage. Then, the sound of RUSHING WATER lights a smile on Ben’s sweaty face. He winks at Abigail, and sees behind her:
BEN’S P.O.V.
Through the cellar window, a cylindrical column rises from the central area, like the plug in a bathroom sink.
VAULT ENTRANCE
The Slidells, Gateses, and Rance ring the darkened entrance, staring into its gaping maw, none daring move.
BEN
Well, what are we standing here for?
He grabs Abigail’s hand and moves to step in, but Morgan and Rance quickly squeeze in ahead of them with the Slidells following.
MORGAN
Hug the outside. It’s a spiral staircase.
HORATIO
What kind of mechanism is it?
BEN
Lon Turner was somewhat of a hydraulic genius. A stream is diverted into a chamber below and raises a flotation device attached to the entrance.
MORGAN (O.S.)
Hey, there’s no access to the silos down here!
The rest arrive at the bottom of the stair and spread out onto the deck of ironclad warship, encased on all sides by iron armor.
HORATIO
What? There’s got to be! Keep looking!
Rance props open one of the portholes.
RANCE
There they are. About sixty feet below.
ABIGAIL
Maybe all of this is just an elevator or escalator or something.
Mrs. Slidell muscles Rance out of the way to get a look.
MRS. SLIDELL
They’re huge! I make out four here.
HORATIO
(from the other side)
And six more over here.
MRS. SLIDELL
And just think, this amounts to just one third of all the caches.
RANCE
But we’ll need the contents of the archive to lead us to the others.
PASSAGEWAY
Sadusky and Agent Dawes help the last of their party out of the tube tunnel.
SADUSKY
Which way?
Riley shines his light on the passage wall, revealing a group of stick figures carved into the stone, shown “walking” back down the way he came.
RILEY
Walk, don’t run to the nearest exit.
SADUSKY
(holds up an empty forearm)
What time is it?
RILEY
(checking his watch)
We’re pressing one PM.
SADUSKY
We had better run. We need to get to your buddy and hope his wife is already with him and get out of here.
Riley’s look questions his sanity.
SADUSKY (CONT’D)
In fifteen minutes we’ll be overdue and this place will be the target of six bunker buster bombs.
Watch This Space 