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                                  FAIR GAME


          
                                  Written by
          
                   Jez Butterworth & John-Henry Butterworth
          
          
          
                              Based on the memoir
          Fair Game: My Life as a Spy, My Betrayal by the White House
                                     
                                      by

                                 Valerie Plame



          SFX: SHALLOW, DESPERATE BREATHING.
          
          Extreme close ANGLES ON
          
          a figure kneels in a cell, in tight stress position. Bound.
          Blindfold. Convulsed with intense pain. We move closer --
          It's a woman.
          
                               VOICE V/O (VALERIE)
                     Everything you face in life.
                     Everything you come up against..
          
          CLANK! She is hauled to her feet by unseen hands.
          
                                                               CUT TO:
          
          She's carried head-first fast down a corridor by four men,
          like a battering ram.
          
                               VOICE (VALERIE)
                     Everything that stands in your way.
          
          .. into another cell. A fifth masked man. On the table-- a
          car battery.
          
                                                               CUT TO:
          
          Screams ring out down the empty corridor.
          
                                                               CUT TO:
          
          Blows rain down on her. The blindfold is torn off.
          
                                VOICE (VALERIE)
                     ..your foes, your fears, your
                     terrors....your darkest nights.
          
          THEN---- SPLASH! She is thrust into a bath and held under
          water. CLOSE ON her face, as the bubbles of her desperate
          breath subside, her eyes glaze and a single smoke-swirl of
          crimson blood rises up from her parted lips.
          
                               VOICE (VALERIE)
                     ..are all sent to ask you the same
                     question. The only question..
          
          SUDDENLY -- She looks directly at us. Awake. Alert.
          
                               VOICE (VALERIE)
                     Who are you?
          
          BLACKOUT
          
                                                               CUT TO:
                                                                      2.
          
          
          ESTABLISHING. AERIAL SHOT. DOWNTOWN KUALA LUMPUR. DAY.
          
          Searing heat. Eighty storey star-scrapers reflect half-built
          Death Stars. Shimmering buildings and cranes for miles.
          
          INT. CECAR ANNUAL CONFERENCE. KL CONVENTION CENTER. DAY.
          
          50 acres of climate controlled exhibition space swarming with
          global civil engineers. Tented meeting rooms, stands. The
          bone dry wheels of global commerce, turning.
          
          A striking blonde, 30s, crosses a concourse towards a
          Malaysian Woman in Chanel. VALERIE PLAME extends a hand.
          
                              VALERIE
                    Jessica McDowell. Cognis Chemicals.
                    I hope I'm not late.
          
          INT. GLASS ELEVATOR IN ATRIUM OF WESTIN HOTEL. DAY
          
          VALERIE and the Malaysians rise swiftly above the hordes.
          
                               CHANEL SUIT
                    When do you leave Kuala Lumpur, Ms.
                    Macdowall?
          
                              VALERIE
                    I fly to Taiwan Tuesday then back
                    to Dusseldorf. I really only need
                    five minutes of his time..
          
                              CHANEL SUIT
                    I hope we are lucky. He is very
                    busy man.
          
          INT. PRESIDENTIAL SUITE, WESTIN HOTEL, KL. DAY
          
          VALERIE sits at an ENORMOUS MARBLE CONFERENCE TABLE, before a
          wrap around view of the Petronas Towers. OPPOSITE HER-- two
          neat Maylasian secretaries, with pads in front of them. One
          smiles. She smiles back.
          
                              SECRETARY
                    Mr Tabir very busy this morning.
          
                              VALERIE
                    Oh I can imagine.
          
                              VOICE (HAFIZ O.S)
                    Seeing's we're waiting..
          
          AT THE HEAD OF THE TABLE a puffy 30 year old Sri Lankan,
          HAFIZ, is shelling peanuts on the marble, regarding her.
                                                                   3.
          
          
                                 HAFIZ
                       ..why don't you practice your
                       little pitch on me?
          
          His tones contains an edge of menace. She smiles politely.
          
                                 VALERIE
                       Actually. If it's all the same-
          
                                 HAFIZ
                       I know all my uncle's business. He
                       trusts me. Begin.
          
                                 VALERIE
                       Well. I'm sure you're aware Mr..
                           (No answer)
                       You're aware that recently your
                       subsidiary, Kopa Oleochemicals
                       developed an organic, ester based
                       lubricant derived from Kernel oil,
                       that makes offshore drilling
                       significantly more environmental.
                       My company, Cognis CMBH wants-
          
                                 HAFIZ
                           (Interrupting, flatly)
                       You American?
          
          She stops.
          
                                 VALERIE
                       Canadian. Actually. From Toronto.
          
                                 HAFIZ
                       You a Maple Leafs fan?
          
                                 VALERIE
                       Right. Uh. No. Not really.
          
                                 HAFIZ
                       You must be the only person from
                       Toronto's not a hockey fan.
          
          Valerie holds his dead eyes.
          
                                 VALERIE
                       Oh I'm a fan. Dad's from Vancouver,
                       so I'm a Canuck. Between us, the
                       Maple Leaves suck. They should
                       never have signed Mark Bell. Guy's
                       a liability on an off the ice. So
                       who's your team?
                                                                   4.
          
          
                              HAFIZ
                    I don't like hockey.
          
          He holds her eye impassively. CHANEL SUIT enters.
          
                              CHANEL SUIT
                    Unfortunately Mr Tabir has no
                    window this morning. But tonight he
                    extends invitation to private
                    reception at his residence.
          
                              VALERIE
                    Is that ok? I really don't wish to
                    intrude.
          
          She meets Hafiz's level gaze. He doesn't blink.
          
                              HAFIZ
                    Come to the party.
          
          EXT. MANSION, DAMANSARAN HEIGHTS, ABOVE KL. NIGHT
          
          Mercedes pull up outside a MANSION above the sprawling city.
          
          INT. GROUND FLOOR, MANSION. NIGHT
          
          Not a party. Asian men with name badges swap cards. Valerie
          makes small-talk with some Germans. She spots her quarry at
          the end of the corridor. She excuses herself.
          
                              VALERIE
                    Mr. Tabir? Jessica McDowall, Cognis
                    GMBH. Thank you for allowing me to
                    come to your beautiful Home.
          
                              TABIR
                    How can I help you?
          
                              VALERIE
                    Mr Tabir I wonder if you had time
                    to glance at our proposal which
                    would allow Kopa to access to
                    Cognis' current Petrochemical
                    Service Partners. Essentially its-
          
          A man comes up and whispers to Mr.Tabir. He stops her.
          
                              TABIR
                    Please excuse me, I have to attend
                    to something.. My assistant here
                    will make you comfortable..
                                                                      5.
          
          
          INT. LIBRARY. NIGHT.
          
          Lit by a stock market ticker, Valerie sits in front of a
          large desk. Alone. Waiting. Glances at papers on the desk.
          CLICK! The door opens. It's not TABIR. It's HAFIZ.
          
                              VALERIE
                    Hi. I was waiting for Mr. Tabir.
          
                              HAFIZ
                    My uncle had to leave. He asked me
                    to drive you to his tennis club.
                    You can have your meeting there..
          
          INT/EXT. HAFIZ'S BMW. (MOVING) NIGHT
          
          As they pull away, Valerie looks back. She spots TABIR
          through a window --STILL AT THE PARTY -- She freezes.
          
                                                              CUT TO:
          
          HAFIZ turns off onto a deserted road in the Lake Gardens.
          
                              VALERIE
                    Why are we stopping?
          
          He looks at her. Undoes his seatbelt.
          
                              HAFIZ
                    Ms. Macdowall, my uncle believes
                    that trust is something you earn.
                    And he doesn't trust anyone until
                    he knows them very, very well..
          
          He strokes her hair. She holds his eye. Composed.
          
                              VALERIE
                    But he trusts you, Hafiz..
          
          The temperature in the car drops a hundred degrees.
          
                              HAFIZ
                    How do you know my name?
          
          HAFIZ's brain does 0-60 in 0.06 Seconds. He flips open the
          glove box. Nothing there.
          
                              VALERIE
                    Your car was swept an hour ago.
                        (He goes for the door.)
                    Do not get out. If you get out of
                    this car I can't protect you.
                                                                     6.
          
          
          HAFIZ STOPS DEAD. LOOKS IN THE REARVIEW: A black car, 50
          yards behind. He grabs her arm.
          
                              HAFIZ
                    Who are you?
          
                              VALERIE
                    Let go of my arm Hafiz. NOW.
          
                      HAFIZ                            VALERIE
          Who the fuck are you?           NOW!
          
          He releases her arm. She holds his gaze. Breathing hard.
          
                              VALERIE
                    Listen carefully. Your uncle is in
                    business with Abu Domar Khan-
          
                       HAFIZ                          VALERIE
             (Shaking his head            His company provides Khan
             smiling)                     with shipping, money
          That's bullshit.                laundering and contraband
                                          components.
          
                              VALERIE
                    Khan has made contact with a terror
                    organisation via an aid agency in
                    Pakistan. They are seeking
                    materials to build a weapon.
          
                                 HAFIZ
                    Fuck you.
          
                              VALERIE
                        (She fixes him)
                    Your brother is in Kalutara jail in
                    Colombo facing execution for
                    trafficking. We can help him.
          
          
                      HAFIZ                          VALERIE
          Bullshit. You can't help him.   We can help him. Hafiz.
                                          Listen to me. Listen.
          
                              VALERIE
                    You have to think straight here
                    Hafiz. Because I promise you one
                    thing... Right now, you have no
                    idea what we can and cannot do.
          
          Hafiz looks in the rear view. At the floor. Deep inside
          something stirred. She saw it..
                                                                      7.
          
          
                              VALERIE
                    We need information about your
                    uncle. Contacts. Shipments. If you
                    help us, we help you. If you don't,
                    your brother dies and tomorrow
                    you're sitting next to your uncle
                    in a cell in Thailand and it won't
                    be me asking the questions.
          
          Hafiz closes his eyes, head back. She watches him closely.
          
                              VALERIE
                    You will get a call at 8am. You'll
                    be asked if you need a cleaner. You
                    want her to come three mornings per
                    week. Do you understand? I said DO
                    YOU UNDERSTAND?
          
          INT. GEORGETOWN BAR. NIGHT.
          
          Packed. Behind the bar, FOX NEWS-- Bombing of Afghanistan. At
          the bar, a birthday celebration. Cuervo shots. In back,
          around a table piled high with empty Mexican plates, a group
          of girls catch up. Valerie and some friends.
          
                              SUE
                    So after like six hours, he finally
                    manages to stand up on the
                    snowboard, and the instructor lets
                    go of him and he just plummets..
                        (Laughter)
                    I swear to god, he can't turn, slow
                    down, for like four hundred yards.
          
                              BILL
                    And yet I'm incredible in bed.
          
          AT THE BAR-- JOE WILSON, handsome, 50s, watches the
          explosions on the screen. He picks up a tray.
          
                              JOE
                    Keep the change.
          
                                                           BACK TO:
          
          Valerie is being quizzed by her buddy's boyfriend, Steve.
          
                              STEVE
                    So what do you do Valerie?
          
                              VALERIE
                    I work in Venture Capital. Brewster
                    Jennings, here in Georgetown.
                                                                  8.
          
          
                              STEVE
                    Cool. So like net startups..?
          
                              VALERIE
                    Right. Retail and consumer..
                    Basically we create pooled
                    investment vehicles..
          
                              STEVE
                    Sounds high risk..
          
                              VALERIE
                    I guess. But you know..high risk,
                    high return. Pretty boring
                    actually. So what do you do?
          
          JOE arrives back to the table with a tray of drinks.
          
                       JOE                            DIANA
          They're out of Corona. I got    Me and Steve won't fly on the
          a Rolling Rock.                 same plane. We won't even get
                                          the same train together.
          
                              STEVE
                    We got the same train to your
                    mom's.
          
                       LISA                            JEFF
          It only takes one to fly a      Disneyland. A sarin attack on
          plane into a nuclear power      Disneyland.
          station-
          
                              DIANA
                    Whatever they're telling us we're
                    totally vulnerable. I mean who's
                    protecting us.
          
                              VALERIE
                    It's real scary.
          
                              LISA
                    Joe. Would you risk taking your
                    kids to Disneyland right now?
          
                              JOE
                    Absolutely not. Far from being a
                    playground of the imagination,
                    Disneyland is actually a giant
                    clearing house for crappy
                    merchandise. And Space Mountain is
                    a major disappointment.
          
          Valerie tries not to laugh. Gives him a stern look.
                                                                    9.
          
          
                              VALERIE
                    Joe thinks Disneyland is Vegas for
                    kids.
          
                              STEVE
                    Vegas. A dirty bomb in Vegas.
          
                              JEFF
                    OK. You get on a plane, there's two
                    guys with turbans, seats A1 and 2.
          
          Joe closes his eyes. Valerie kicks him under the table.
          
                              JEFF
                    They look nervous. They're
                    sweating, saying prayers..
          
                              JOE
                        (To himself)
                    Ye Gods..
          
                              JEFF
                    Steve you have a two year old.
                    You're off that plane. You're
                    calling the cops. I think if we're
                    honest we all are.
                        (To Joe)
                    Joe. Two guys. On a plane. Turbans.
                    Praying. Sweating. What's the call?
          
          Joe opens his eyes. Catches Valeries'. Everybody listens. He
          takes off his glasses. And looks at Jeff.
          
                              JOE
                    Well Jeff..
          
                                                            CUT TO:
          
          INT. CAR. NIGHT.
          
          Valerie is driving home. Joe in the passenger seat.
          
                              VALERIE
                    Every time. Every time we go out.
          
                              JOE
                    He started it-
          
                              VALERIE
                    He's drunk Joe. Everybody's had a
                    hard day. They're just trying to
                    let off steam-
                                                                    10.
          
          
                              JOE
                    By invoking quasi-racist connundra?
                    The guy's a parent.
          
                       JOE                           VALERIE
          Is he telling his four year     It's Diana's birthday. Jeff's
          old to fear all men in          her best friend.
          turbans?
          
                              JOE
                    So?
          
                              VALERIE
                    So you can't call him a racist
                    pussy.
          
                              JOE
                    If not sitting there while someone
                    spouts obnoxious crap makes you an
                    asshole. Then I'm an asshole. And
                    you knew that when you married me.
                        (Silence. She drives.)
                    By the way. How was your trip?
          
                                                             CUT TO:
          
          FLASHBACK. INT. TURKISH AMBASSADORS RESIDENCE. 1997. NIGHT.
          
          A reception. Two hundred people in the main banquet hall. Joe
          walks through the crowd. Working the room.
          
          Valerie accepts an hors d'oeuvre. Catches sight of Joe
          through the crowd. They catch eyes. She leans to her friend.
          
                              VALERIE
                    Who's that?
          
                                                             CUT TO:
          
          Later. Joe excuses himself and turns. Valerie stands there.
          
                              VALERIE
                    Hello.
          
                              JOE
                    Hi. Forgive me. I was staring. It's
                    just I'm sure we've met before.
          
                              VALERIE
                    So who am I?
          
          She smiles. He flounders a little. She offers her hand.
                                                                     11.
          
          
                              VALERIE
                    Valerie Plame.
          
                              JOE
                    Joe. Joe Wilson.
          
                              VALERIE
                    Former Ambassador to Gabon.
                    Ambassador in Iraq during the Gulf
                    War. Married twice.. Has a
                    reputation for trouble.
          
                              JOE
                    You've been misinformed. I was only
                    acting Ambassador in Iraq.
          
          Valerie smiles. He does too. It's electric.
          
                              JOE
                    So what do you do, Ms. Plame?
          
                                                            CUT TO:
          
          PRESENT DAY -- VALERIE ASLEEP in bed. She suddenly shakes.
          Cries out. Joe wakes to see his wife, lost in a nightmare.
          
          FLASHBACK -- THE RECEPTION. 1997.
          
                              VALERIE
                    I'm an energy consultant for a firm
                    in Brussels.
          
                              JOE
                    And do you enjoy your work?
          
          PRESENT DAY -- THE BEDROOM -- She doesn't wake. He strokes
          her arm. On her wrist -- A DARK BRUISE. THREE FINGERPRINTS.
          
          FLASHBACK -- THE RECEPTION. Valerie looks into Joe's eyes.
          
                                 VALERIE
                    I love it.
          
          INT. KITCHEN. DAY.
          
          Joe carries the 3 year old twins, SAMANTHA and TREVOR in
          pyjamas, downstairs..
          
                              JOE
                    Val. Where's the babysitter?
          
          .. into the kitchen. Valerie, coat on, bolting coffee.
                                                                  12.
          
          
                              VALERIE
                    Didn't I say? She can't get here
                    til after lunch.
          
                              JOE
                        (Sighs)
                    OK. I'll work from home this
                    morning.
          
                              VALERIE
                    Are you sure-
          
                              JOE
                    Relax. Me `n Spongebob are on it.
          
          The kids start fighting. She picks up her bag.
          
                       JOE                            VALERIE
          Break it up. Trevor don't hit    We're having supper with the
          your sister.                     Mitchells Tuesday. But if you
                                           want to skip it they know
                                           you're busy-
          
                              JOE
                    I promise to behave.
          
          She stops. Melts. Kisses him.
          
                              SAMANTHA
                    I promise to behave.
          
                              JOE
                    See. We're all gonna be on our best
                    behavior.
          
          She closes the front door. Joe looks momentarily marooned. He
          begins picking up soft toys off the floor.
          
          ESTABLISHING. CIA HEADQUARTERS AT LANGLEY. DAY.
          
                              CPD AGENT (O.S)
                    Counter Proliferation tracks and
                    thwarts nuclear and WMD acquisition
                    by rogue nations and non-state
                    actors.
          
          INT. COUNTER PROLIFERATION DIVISION. BASEMENT. DAY
          
          An agent walks six analysts through a crowded open plan
          office. People squeezed in cubbyholes. Papers everywhere.
                                                                     13.
          
          
                              CPD AGENT (CONT'D)
                    We're the fastest growing division
                    in the Agency, which sounds cool
                    but means you may have to share a
                    desk. Work like hell for years you
                    may get your own cubbyhole. And if
                    you're a workaholic, they make you
                    boss, and you get-
          
          He knocks on a door. Opens it. Valerie comes bursting out.
          
                                CPD AGENT
                    Bad time?
          
          We follow Valerie into THE NEXT OFFICE-- where her colleague,
          Ali, 30s, Indian, is on the phone.
          
                              VALERIE
                    Hafiz hired a cleaner.
          
                              ALI
                        (Into phone)
                    Gotta go. Kuala Lumpur just went
                    live.
          
          Ali hangs up and follows her OUT INTO THE CORRIDOR. She scans
          the page she's holding.
          
                              VALERIE
                    What time did he call this in?
          
                              CPD AGENT
                    11 hundred hours PST.
          
          FLASHBACK. INT. KOPA OLEOCHEMICALS - KUALA LUMPUR. NIGHT
          
          Hafiz, in a corridor in his Uncle's offices, late at night.
          Light from a photocopier flashes across his sweating face.
          
                              CPD AGENT V/O (CONT'D)
                    The asset passed the intel to the
                    cleaner at approximately eight
                    fifteen local time, this morning.
          
          FLASHBACK. INT. HAFIZ'S APARTMENT - KUALA LUMPUR.DAY
          
          Hafiz hands a folded piece of paper to his elderly CLEANING
          WOMAN. She puts it in her apron pocket.
          
                              CPD AGENT (O.S.)
                    She made the drop fifty minutes
                    later... just outside Ko Yonh
                    Subway station..
                                                                   14.
          
          
          FLASHBACK. INT. KUALA LUMPUR SUBWAY TRAIN.
          
          THE CLEANER alights, leaving her New Straits Times on the
          seat. A BALD ASIAN COMMUTER next to her along picks it up.
          
          -- SLAP! --
          
          The paper is opened to a centre page feature of George Bush.
          There is Hafiz's photocopy.
          
                              CPD AGENT
                    ..a field team picked it up and D
                    and D'd it at the safe house..
          
          In a cheap hotel room, under a broken ceiling fan another
          Asian man scans the image into a laptop, behind him the BALD
          COMMUTER strikes a match and burns the original.
          
          INT. VALERIE'S OFFICE, CPD LANGLEY. DAY
          
          Valerie, in her cramped office with half a dozen field
          agents, briefs from a diagram on a white board.
          
                              VALERIE
                    We have a shipment. A holding
                    company in Pakistan asks Tabir to
                    purchase 200 un-identified units,
                    trackable by part numbers, from..
          
                              ALI
                    Teludyne Electronics of Lowell
                    Massachusetts..
          
          EXT. TELUDYNE INDUSTRIES. LOWELL, MASSACHUSETTS. DAY
          
          Two men (from the briefing) in a WHIPPED CHEVY watch a red
          truck leave an industrial unit in the suburbs of Lowell.
          
                              VALERIE (V.O.)
                    The shipment is delivered to Goza
                    Tech in Secaucus, New Jersey...
          
          EXT. GOZA TECHNOLOGIES, 600 MEADOWLANDS PKWY NJ. NIGHT
          
          The red truck turns into a low grey set of prefab buildings
          in a business park. The CHEVY watches a forklift truck lift a
          single pallet out and deliver it into the warehouse.
          
                              VALERIE (V.O)
                    There it's bundled in with a second
                    shipment of legitimate electronic
                    parts, and documentation attached
                    that masks its point of origin.
                                                                   15.
          
          
          INT. BONDED CUSTOMS WAREHOUSE. PORT NEWARK. NIGHT
          
          Valerie, Ali, and the rest of the team walk through the neon
          lit maze of packing cases and pallets towards a concerned
          looking superintendent.
          
                              VALERIE V/O
                    Its then dispatched as medical
                    electronics en route to a company
                    in Johannesburg South Africa. First
                    it spends the night at a bonded
                    customs warehouse in the Port of
                    Jersey. That's the intercept.
          
                              SUPERINTENDENT
                    Can I help you?
          
          VALERIE shows ID to the owner.
          
                              VALERIE
                    Sir, we're from U.S customs. Can I
                    take a moment of your time?
          
          He takes off his cap and looks sick. An agent cracks the
          packing case with a crowbar: white cardboard boxes. Valerie
          draws a Buck knife and slices it open, rumaging in
          polystyrene chips and comes out with a Coke sized white
          plastic cylinder with two contacts at one end.
          
                              ALI
                    What the hell is that?
          
          Valerie looks at the object.
          
                                                              CUT TO:
          
          A BLINDING FLASH OF PURE WHITE LIGHT becomes A GIANT BULBOUS
          CLOUD of rolling hellfire. It mushrooms twenty thousand feet
          over the New Mexico Desert. An awesome sight.
          
                              DR FORSTER (O.S.)
                    A spark gap is a high energy
                    voltage-controlled switching
                    device.
          
          INT. LOS ALAMOS NATIONAL LABORATORY. EXHIBITION CENTER. DAY
          
          As a gaggle of schoolkids watch the sixty year old footage of
          the Manhattan Project on a plasma screen, Valerie passes
          through the compound with DR FORSTER, a geeky scientist in
          his 30s. He holds the intercepted component.
                                                           16.
          
          
                              DR FORSTER
                    To detonate a nuclear bomb you need
                    to be able to switch high voltage,
                    high current electrical circuits at
                    very high speeds to the nearest
                    hundredth of a nanosecond.
          
          They pass through a security door to the labs.
          
                              DR FORSTER
                    The extremely short rise times are
                    achieved by discharging a low-
                    induct, high-voltage capacitor
                    through the spark gap into the
                    bridge wire inside the warhead. The
                    ballpark is 5 kilovolt and 1 mf for
                    the capacitor, with a peak current
                    between 500 and 1000 amperes...
          
                              VALERIE
                    Does it have other uses?
          
                               DR FORSTER
                    High speed photography, industrial
                    photo-chemistry. Zapping kidney
                    stones.Is someone out there
                    building the fire train for a
                    nuclear device component by
                    component?
                        (Shakes his head)
                    You're talking one helluva
                    complicated process. This guy is
                    just one tiny piece in the jigsaw.
          
          She hands him a piece of paper.
          
                              VALERIE
                    This is a list of other components
                    exported through the same network
                    over the last 3 years. Tilt tables.
                    timing equipment. High speed
                    monitioring devices.
          
                              DR FORSTER
                        (Reading)
                    Quartz rate sensors. Calibration
                    units...
                        (Takes off his glasses.)
                    It's not kidney stones. Thank god
                    you stopped this.
          
                              VALERIE
                    I'm not stopping it.
                                                                  17.
          
          
                              DR FORSTER
                        (Confused)
                    I don't understand..
          
          INT. COUNTER PROLIFERATION DIVISION. LANGLEY. DAY.
          
          Valerie's team are in a briefing room.
          
                              VALERIE
                    We keep the transaction live. Trace
                    it all the way to the end user.
          
          She takes them through a full whiteboard.
          
                              VALERIE
                    The shipment arrives in Joburg on
                    the 21st. It's put in an unmarked
                    container and shipped to the free
                    trade zone in Dubai. Our asset
                    meets there with the buyer on the
                    23rd.
          
          She tosses a spark gap to one of her team.
          
                              VALERIE
                    Dr Forster and his team at Los
                    Alamos have altered the impedence
                    timings of the spark gaps by a
                    fraction of a nanosecond.
                    Basically, they won't know it
                    doesn't work til it doesn't work.
          
                              ALI
                    Can we put a wire on the asset?
          
          The door at the back opens. The Deputy of CPD enters with the
          Chief. Everybody sits up. Valerie continues..
          
                               VALERIE
                    Too dangerous. This network has
                    avoided detection for years. Expect
                    meticulous operational security and
                    counter surveillance. Any
                    questions?
          
          They disperse. The deputy director of CDP buttonholes her..
          
                              DEPUTY CPD
                    Val. The chief wants to see you.
          
          INT. CORRIDOR. LANGLEY. DAY.
          
          Valerie walks with MIKE and BILL, their chief.
                                                                  18.
          
          
                              BILL
                    Val, seventh floor have issued a
                    directive for a Joint Task Force on
                    Iraq. We want you to head it up.
          
          Valerie doesn't blink.
          
                               VALERIE
                    Yes Sir.
          
                              BILL
                    You can pick your team. This is top
                    priority. Down the line D.F.U.
          
                              VALERIE
                    What about the Dubai op?
          
                              BILL
                    Mike says you got a hunch on the
                    buyer.
          
                              VALERIE
                    Manucher Vaziri. Syrian National.
                    Based out of Karachi. On a wire
                    picked up in Cairo he talks about
                    componentry from a known source in
                    Pakistan he's moving to an unnamed
                    Gulf state..
          
                               BILL
                    Iraq?
          
                              VALERIE
                    Vaziri's devoutly Shia. Iraq's
                    controlled by the Sunni. Saddam's
                    Sunni. There's no way this is Iraq.
          
                              BILL
                    They're all good Muslims right?
          
                              VALERIE
                    And Martin Luther King and the KKK
                    are both Christian.
          
                              BILL
                    Great job. From Monday, I need you
                    both eyes on Iraq.
          
                                                            CUT TO:
          
          At the door, they shake hands. Mike and Valerie walk off.
          
                               MIKE
                    D.F.U?
                                                                     19.
          
          
                              VALERIE
                    Don't fuck up.
          
                                                             CUT TO:
          
          A framed photograph, of Joe walking in the Rose Garden with
          the forty first President, George HW Bush. "To Joe Wilson,
          with respect and Best Wishes, George Bush..
          
                              PRESIDENT V/O
                    States like these, and their
                    terrorist allies, constitute an
                    axis of evil, arming to threaten
                    the peace of the world...
          
          INT. JOE WILSON'S DEN. CHARLESTON TERRACE. WASHINGTION. DAY.
          
          CNN is on in the background, low. State of the Union Address,
          2002. Joe, working on something, recording voice notes, half-
          watching the President over his papers.
          
                              PRESIDENT V/O (ON CNN)
                    They could provide these arms to
                    terrorists, giving them the means
                    to match their hatred..
          
          ACROSS THE ROOM -- beneath a wall of well-thumbed tomes, two
          year old twins, TREVOR and SAMANTHA are lost in play. Trevor
          hauls in the flex of a globe lamp on a top shelf.
          
                              PRESIDENT
                    They could attack our allies or
                    attempt to blackmail the United
                    States. In any of these cases, the
                    price of indifference would be
                    catastrophic.
          
          CRASH! -- Joe turns as the shelf GIVES WAY, and an avalanche
          of books and keepsakes buries his kids. Hollers. Tears.
          
                              JOE
                        (Rushes over)
                    Hey hey hey. Everybody OK? Let's
                    take a look at you. Four arms. Four
                    legs. No broken bones.
          
          He lugs them out. The front door opens. It's Heather the
          babysitter.
          
                              HEATHER
                    Hey kids! Joe I'm sorry I'm late.
                                                                    20.
          
          
                              JOE
                    That's fine. Look guys. Heather's
                    here.
          
                                                               CUT TO:
          
          On TV, Live. The President crossing the White House Lawn,
          towards Marine One.
          
          As the kids play with Heather in the lounge, Joe makes a
          coffee in the kitchen, watching the President on TV as he
          mounts the ramp. The cabin door shuts tight. A wash of rotor
          blades. The chopper lifts off.
          
          Joe takes the coffee and walks out onto the deck. He looks up
          into the sky. A THRUMMING BUILDS. The deck shakes, the sky
          turns black as Marine One thunders over low. Deafening.
          
                                                               CUT TO:
          
          CLOSEUP: SATELLITE IMAGES OF INSTALLATIONS IN A DESERT.
          
          Val takes her eye from a magnifying stand.
          
          INT. OPEN PLAN OFFICE, LANGLEY. LATE AT NIGHT
          
          No-one around. Alone, VALERIE, surrounded by piles of files
          and folders, scans pictures of military hardware, checks it
          against its corresponding aerial signature.
          
                              VOICE (O.S.)
                    How do you think she got the job?
          
          She cocks an ear. PUTTING ON THEIR COATS, two male analysts:
          
                              ANALYST 1
                    Memo comes out saying we got two
                    percent women in executive roles.
                    It's quotas by another name.
                    There's ten guys I could name could
                    do the job better..
          
                              ANALYST 2
                    I wonder who's she's fucking.
          
          She freezes. -- SUDDENLY--
          
                              VOICE (MIKE, O.S)
                    Don't you have a home to go to?
          
          She turns. MIKE, her director is there. He smiles.
          
                                                               CUT TO:
                                                                  21.
          
          
          TWO MINUTES LATER.
          
          In MIKE's office. She reading the document.
          
                              MIKE
                    DIA released the report Tuesday.
                    WINPAC aren't buying and State
                    kicked it back, but it's making
                    waves in the Vice President's
                    Office.
                        (He looks at her)
                    What do you think?
          
                              VALERIE
                    He's qualified. He's been there
                    hundreds of times. Knows the arena
                    inside out.
          
                              MIKE
                    You don't look overjoyed.
          
                              VALERIE
                    He's been working hard to build his
                    business. Then there's the twins.
                    Money's kinda tight right now.
          
                              MIKE
                        (He looks at her)
                    We're at full stretch here. You
                    know that better than anyone. He's
                    helped us before. Could you ask him
                    to come in?
          
          INT. MARBLE LOBBY, CIA HEADQUARTERS, LANGLEY. DAY.
          
          The vast lobby at Langley. Operatives, analysts, come and go
          in the hushed marble atrium. Joe in a dark suit, attache
          case, stares at the wall. Reads the inscription.
          
          "In Honor of Those Members of the Central Intelligence Agency
          Who Gave Their Lives in The Service of Their Country"
          
          FLASHBACK. INT. BEDROOM. 1997. DAY.
          
          Joe and Valerie lie in bed. Face to face.
          
                              VALERIE
                    You want to go out for breakfast.
                    Or stay here?
          
                              JOE
                    I want to live with you.
          
          She looks into his eyes. A tear rolls out of her eye.
                                                                     22.
          
          
                              VALERIE
                    There's something I have to tell
                    you.
          
          PRESENT DAY -- The memorial on the North Wall. No names. Just
          rows and rows of anonymous black stars. Dead Covert Officers.
          
          FLASHBACK -- THE BEDROOM.
          
                              VALERIE
                    What are you thinking?
          
                              JOE
                    Is your name really Valerie?
          
          She smiles.
          
                                 VALERIE (O.S.)
                    Joe?
          
          PRESENT DAY. LOBBY. LANGLEY.
          
          Joe turns. His wife is standing there.
          
                                 JOE
                           (Brightly)
                    Hey.
          
          He moves away from the memorial. In this unfamiliar context,
          this is slightly awkward.
          
                              JOE
                    Nice place you got here. Cosy.
          
                              VALERIE
                        (Smiles)
                    I need to get you cleared.
          
          INT. ELEVATOR, CIA HEADQUARTERS, LANGLEY. DAY.
          
          A big VISITORS badge on Joe. Side by side. They go down.
          
                              JOE
                    You work in the basement?
          
                              VALERIE
                        (Deadpan)
                    Actually. I work in Georgetown for
                    Brewster Jennings. We're a small
                    firm of Venture Capitalists.
          
                              JOE
                    That must be interesting work.
                                                                  23.
          
          
                              VALERIE
                    It pays the rent.
          
          INT. BASEMENT, LANGLEY. DAY.
          
          Valerie leads Joe into a windowless room. MIKE. Five or six
          analysts. Agents from CIA and State Department.
          
                              VALERIE
                    This is Joe Wilson. Joe, this is
                    Mike, the Deputy Chief of CPD.
                        (They shake)
                    I'll leave you guys to it.
          
          Businesslike, Valerie leaves. Joe sits. Silence.
          
                              MIKE
                    Mr Wilson, what can you tell us
                    about Yellowcake?
          
          Joe looks around the room. Clears his throat.
          
                              JOE
                    I believe it's a concentrate
                    obtained from uranium ore used to
                    create fissile material for weapons
                    programs. But I'm not a scientist.
          
                              MIKE
                    What about Niger?
          
                              JOE
                    The UN Human Development Index
                    ranks Niger the number one Least
                    Liveable country in the world. I
                    started my Foreign Service there.
                    As Ambassador to Gabon, I travelled
                    back many times. Then as director
                    of Africa policy for the NSC under
                    President Clinton, I frequently
                    visited, often met with Prime
                    Minister Mayaki. I know the former
                    foreign minister. I know the
                    Minister of Mines.
          
                              MIKE
                    The Office of the Vice President
                    has received a report concerning a
                    memorandum of sale between the
                    governments of Niger and Iraq for
                    the purchase of five hundred tons
                    of Yellowcake Uranium ore..
                        (He fixes Joe)
                              (MORE)
                                                                     24.
          
                              MIKE (cont'd)
                    I don't have to tell you how
                    serious this allegation is.
          
                              JOE WILSON
                    No Sir, you don't.
          
          He leans forward.
          
                              MIKE
                    This is a request from the Vice
                    President. Can you help us?
          
          ESTABLISHING: A LONE DC-8 FLIES ACROSS A CORAL PINK SKY.
          
          A DC-8 judders in low over hills surrounding Niamey airport.
          
          INSIDE --Joe, two days growth, blinks out the window. Below,
          a rusty burned out DC-8 which didn't make it.
          
          EXT. TAXI, NIGERIEN ROAD. DAY
          
          Joe, in the back of a hot, rickety Renault, rattling along
          the highway into town. Low earthen dwellings. Camel trains.
          
          INT. HOTEL ROOM, NAIMEY. DAY
          
          A tiny, hot cell. A sign on the bathroom door. "RED HOT
          SHOVER". Turns the ceiling fan on. Loud grinding.
          
          INT. BATHROOM. DAY.
          
          Joe lathers up his face to shave. He turns on the tap. No
          water. He looks at himself in the mirror.
          
                              MINISTER (O.S)
                    Bien revenue a Niger M. Wilson.
          
          EXT. OUTSIDE DUSTY BODEGA. DAY.
          
          Joe, unshaven, shakes hands with a 60 year old Nigerien.
          
                              JOE
                    Par la grace D'Allah. Comment allez
                    vous, M. Bonzala ?
          
          INSIDE - We subtitle the mixture of French dialect and Hausa.
          
                              MINISTER
                    Last time we met I was Minister,
                    you Ambassador. Now, thanks to
                    Allah, we are free men. You're
                    growing a beard, no?
                                                                    25.
          
          
                              JOE
                    So it would seem.
          
                              MINISTER
                    So tell me. How can Niger help its
                    old friend, America?
          
          INT. CONFERENCE ROOM, DIRECTORATE OF INTELLIGENCE. DAY.
          
          Several analysts sit around a table, including the LEAD
          ANALYST, PAUL. Two of them are the guys who were bad-mouthing
          Valerie. Another is JOE TURNER, a dough-faced offical from
          WINPAC (Weapons Intelligence Non Proliferaton and Control).
          
                               TURNER
                        (Reads)
                    "In summer 2001 Iraq sought to
                    purchase 60,000 high alloy 7075-T4
                    aluminum tubes manufactured in
                    China. The high spec of these tubes
                    led us to conclude they were
                    intended for the enrichment of
                    uranium. In August 2001 J.
                    Turner.." That's me.. "flew to
                    Vienna, to meet with IAEA
                    scientists. Mr. Turner produced
                    this report, aspects of which
                    represents the CIA's present
                    position." I'm happy to take
                    questions.
          
                              ANALYST
                    The INR concluded late last year
                    that these tubes were probably for
                    artillery use, and the DOE agreed
                    they exactly matched those used by
                    Iraq for artillery rockets.
          
                              PAUL
                    Where are the tubes?
          
                              TURNER
                    WINPAC has them. We've examined
                    them. This is my point. None of you
                    guys has even seen the tubes.
          
                              VALERIE
                    I've seen them.
          
          Everyone looks at her.
          
                              TURNER
                    And when was that?
                                                                  26.
          
          
          Valerie looks up. Slightly surprised by his tone.
          
                              VALERIE
                    When I seized them last year in
                    Jordan. When I headed the covert
                    team that intercepted them, bought
                    back samples and delivered them to
                    you guys at WINPAC.
          
          A couple of the analysts try not to smile.
          
                              TURNER
                    So I take it you're not a nuclear
                    expert. These tubes are an EXACT
                    match for those developed by German
                    scientist Gernot Zippe in the 50s.
          
          Valerie turns to her notes from her reading.
          
                              VALERIE
                    You're right. I'm no nuclear
                    expert. But Dr. Houston Wood, at
                    Virginia U atomic facility is. He
                    also knows Dr Zippe, who's 89 and
                    lives in Austria, and he told him
                    that the wall thickness of the
                    Iraqi tubes was three or four times
                    the thickness of his design.
          
                              PAUL
                    And the tubes are twice as long as
                    Zippe's design. In fact the only
                    similarity between his tubes and
                    the alumumium tubes is that they're
                    made of aluminium.
          
                              VALERIE
                    A metal that hasn't been used in
                    gas centrifuges since 1952.
          
          The chauvanist analysts share a look of respect for Valerie.
          Still Turner doesn't give up.
          
                              TURNER
                    I went to Vienna. Canada. I've
                    worked on this for months. They're
                    centrifuges. Fact.
          
                              PAUL
                    So basically, they're your tubes
                    and if we don't let you win you're
                    going home.
                                                                    27.
          
          
                              TURNER
                    That's pathetic.
          
                              VALERIE
                    Joe. No one is saying you're wrong
                    here. But if you're right, it's
                    huge. So we ask the question.
                    Right? We have to ask the question.
          
          EXT. DESERT ROAD. DAY.
          
          Joe rides shotgun, in a 4X4, driven deep into the Sahara.
          
                              JOE V/O
                    Niger has two Uranium mines in the
                    Sahara desert. One's flooded. The
                    other's run by COGEMA, a French
                    subsidiary, jointly controlled by
                    the Japanese and Germans.
          
          A collossal earthworks defacing the flat, hot moonscape. Joe
          is escorted around the mines by a small team.
          
                              JOE
                    500 tons of Yellowcake is not an
                    off the books size transaction, it
                    represents a 40% production
                    increase in the nation's annual
                    output of uranium. A sale that size
                    would leave a huge paper trail.
          
          INT. HOTEL. DAY.
          
          Joe sits on his bed, under the noisy fan, making notes.
          
                              JOE (V.O.)
                    Any documentation would by law have
                    to be signed by the Prime Minister,
                    Foreign minister, and the Minister
                    of the mines... But say it was an
                    off the books deal..
          
          EXT. ROADSIDE VILLAGE. DAY.
          
          The long road back from the mines the previous day, Joe's
          Land Rover pulls over. Everyone comes out to see them.
          
                              JOE (V.O.)
                    How do you hide the transportation
                    of 500 tons of anything, let alone
                    lightly refined uranium?
                              (MORE)
                                                                  28.
          
                              JOE (V.O.) (cont'd)
                    You're talking fifty semi tractor
                    trucks on one road through villages
                    where nothing passed for months
                    except maybe one bush taxi. It
                    would be the biggest event for
                    months. To say they forgot, it's
                    like kids forgetting Christmas.
          
          ESTABLISHING-- JOE AND VALERIE'S HOUSE. NIGHT.
          
          INSIDE -- Joe sits at the dining room table, debriefed by two
          CIA agents, over Chinese take out.
          
                              JOE
                    The droughts of the 80s and 90s
                    were met by millions of dollars of
                    U.S Aid, which continues to this
                    day. It just doesn't make sense
                    Niger would compromise this
                    lifeline. For that reason, and the
                    others I've given, it's my opinion
                    that the sale couldn't happen.
          
                                                            CUT TO:
          
          Joe shows them out. Shuts the door. Valerie appears.
          
                              JOE
                    What happens next?
          
                              VALERIE
                    They write a report. Give it to the
                    analysts. It'll be re-written, then
                    kicked upstairs where it'll be
                    thrown in with whoever else's
                    report they got-
          
          Joe snorts derisively.
          
                              JOE
                    You guys are hysterical. I can't
                    believe you're actually gonna send
                    someone else all the way out there
                    to ask exactly the same questions.
          
                              VALERIE
                    You can't compile Intelligence from
                    a single source? That's not
                    Intelligence. That's an opinion.
          
                              JOE
                    I can save the CIA some air fare
                    here. There isn't a snowflakes
                    chance in hell this thing happened.
                                                                  29.
          
          
                               VALERIE
                    Say who?
          
                               JOE
                    Says me.
          
                              VALERIE
                    What if you're wrong? One guy says
                    it's true. It's not true. Lots of
                    guys say it's true, it's still not
                    true. It's intelligence. It's slow.
                    Painstaking. But it works. Checks
                    and balances.
          
                              JOE
                    What am I, a check or a balance?
          
                              VALERIE
                    Probably neither. You're a teeny
                    tiny weeny cog in a giant machine.
                    But you did your job. You should
                    feel good. They count on that.
                    That's why they don't pay you.
          
                              JOE
                    I'm not feeling that 007 right now.
          
          She puts her arms around his neck. Kisses him sexily.
          
                              VALERIE
                    I can get the kids to make you a
                    medal, if it'll help.
          
                              JOE
                    Us double oh's are more about the
                    gratuitous sex.
          
                              VALERIE
                    I'll see what I can do.
          
          They start making out.
          
                                                            CUT TO:
          
          TELEVISION FOOTAGE OF A PRESS CONFERENCE.
          
                              JOURNALIST
                    Mr. President, in your speeches now
                    you rarely talk or mention Osama
                    bin Laden. Why is that?
                                                                     30.
          
          
          INT. CHIEF'S OFFICE. DAY
          
          VALERIE leans over an analyst's desk as together they study
          photographs of a Syrian man in his sixties on the analysts
          screen.. The TV is on in the corner of the computer screen..
          
                              PRESIDENT ON TV
                    The idea of focusing on one person
                    indicates people don't understand
                    the scope of the mission. Terror is
                    bigger than one person. So I just
                    don't spend that much time on him,
                    Kelly, to be honest with you...
          
          Valerie looks up and stops. ACROSS THE FLOOR SCOOTER LIBBY,
          his assistant and TWO AIDES, walk past. Heads turn.
          
                              VALERIE
                    Why is the OVP here?
          
          INT. MIKE'S OFFICE. DAY.
          
          The Deputy director hears a knock. It's Valerie.
          
                              VALERIE
                    Mike. The Vice President's men are
                    here.
          
                              MIKE
                    What the fuck?
          
          INT. BRIEFING ROOM. DAY.
          
          No windows. A lone analyst sits sweating bullets. LIBBY,
          spectacles on, thick folder open on his knee..
          
                              LIBBY
                    My name is I. Lewis Libby. I'm the
                    Chief of Staff to The Vice
                    President. You are?
          
                              ANALYST
                    Dave. I'm an analyst. In non-
                    proliferation.
          
                              LIBBY
                    What can you tell the Vice
                    President about aluminium tubes?
          
          INT. CIA MESS HALL, 2ND FLOOR, LANGLEY. DAY
          
          Valerie and Mike queue up in the mess with JIM PAVITT, 52 the
          Deputy Director of the CIA.
                                                31.
          
          
                    PAVITT
          Relax Mike. The Veep's just
          dotting the i's.
          
                    MIKE
          Bullshit Jim. The only time a Vice
          President comes to Langley is to
          cut a fucking ribbon.
          
                    PAVITT
          Look. Cheney doesn't trust us. This
          shit with Dick goes back thirty
          years. It'll blow over.
              (He turns to Valerie)
          Where are we on Iraq?
          
                    VALERIE
          Behind the curve Sir. Most of the
          intel is outdated. We don't have a
          single operative or asset in the
          country.
          
                    PAVITT
          What about geo-satellite imaging?
          
                    VALERIE
          With respect sir, you can't look at
          this problem from space and make a
          call.
          
                    PAVITT
          So talk to the defectors.
          
                    VALERIE
          The defectors are unreliable. Most
          are supplied through a former asset
          the agency's had on a burn notice
          since `95. It's a racket. They walk
          in and get paid to say whatever the
          Pentagon wants to hear.
          
                    PAVITT
          So we're blind.
          
                    VALERIE
          We need sources we can rely on. We
          need to get in close.
          
                       PAVITT
          How close?
          
                       VALERIE
          Inside.
                                                                     32.
          
          
                              BILL
                    Jim. Val thinks she can get us
                    inside the weapons program.
          
          Pavitt looks at her.
          
                                 PAVITT
                    How?
          
                                                             CUT TO:
          
          Rows and rows of stationary. Shelves filled pads, pens.
          Pencils. Photocopy paper. Shelves twenty feet high.
          
          INT. PAPER SUPPLIES AND STATIONERY SHOP. DAY
          
          Valerie selects a pad and a pencil and approaches the counter
          where a lugubrious woman in a pink Sari is doing Su Doku.
          Valerie pays for her notebook and steps out into ---
          
          EXT. BUSY STREET. CAIRO, EGYPT. DAY
          
          The streets throng with traffic. Somalian taxi drivers.
          Central Africans ferrying exotic produce. Egyptians smoking
          apple tobacco. Colors. Bustle. A different world.
          
          Valerie, head shrouded in a scarf, puts the notebook in her
          bag and pushes her way along the crowded street, buzzing with
          scooters and pedestrians. She steps through an archway into --
          
          EXT. SULTANATE COURTYARD, CAIRO UNIVERSITY. DAY
          
          An ancient cloister filled with an excited clamor. Fresh
          faced students pile into a lecture theater. She follows.
          
                              PROFESSOR AZIZ(V.O.)
                    The warping of the extra dimension
                    is analogous to the warping of
                    spacetime in the vicinity of a
                    massive object eg: a black hole.
          
          INT. WOOD PANELLED LECTURE HALL. CAIRO UNIVERSITY. DAY
          
          Wrapt Silence. Valerie sits at the back. She opens her new
          notebook and listens.
          
          ON STAGE -- An old Middle-Eastern professor is giving a
          lecture with the help of an over-head projector. Giant shadow
          hands deftly trace algebraic formulae onto projector.
                                                                    33.
          
          
                              PROFESSOR AZIZ
                    Red-shifting, generates a large
                    ratio of energy scales so that the
                    natural scale at one end of the
                    extra dimension is much larger.
          
          Valerie watches.
          
                              PROFESSOR AZIZ (V.O.)
                    It's an honor to meet you at last
                    Dr. Harper.
          
          EXT. CLOISTERS OF CAIRO UNIVERSITY. DAY
          
          The prof walks with Valerie talking excitedly.
          
                              PROFESSOR AZIZ
                    I was unable to attend your String-
                    Gravity seminar at MIT but I read a
                    transcript. Truly groundbreaking
                    work.
          
                                 VALERIE
                    Thank you.
          
                              PROFESSOR AZIZ
                    The Faculty have just moved me, so
                    you must excuse the mess.
          
          He shows Valerie up a stone staircase and through a door.
          
          INT. BOOKLINED STUDY. CAIRO UNIVERSITY. DAY
          
          Books everywhere. Lots still in boxes.
          
                              PROFESSOR AZIZ
                    My old rooms were on the other side
                    of the courtyard. They were smaller
                    but I got the morning sunlight.
                    Will you settle for Peppermint tea.
                    It's fresh.
          
                                 VALERIE
                    Thank you.
          
          The professor hands Valerie a cup of mint tea and sits.
          
                              PROFESSOR AZIZ
                    Tell me Dr. Harper, did you read my
                    latest paper on quarks. I cite your
                    1995 essay more than once. I would
                    be very intrigued to know what you
                    made of my findings..
                                                                  34.
          
          
          She sits forward.
          
                              VALERIE
                    Sir, Dr Harper is in Cambridge,
                    Massachusetts. She received a call
                    yesterday requesting she stay home
                    for 48 hours.
          
          The professor blinks. Taken aback.
          
                              PROFESSOR AZIZ
                    I don't understand. Who are you?
          
                              VALERIE
                    I'm sorry for misleading you. But
                    I'm here to ask you the same
                    question.
                        (He stops)
                    Because you are not Professor Aziz.
          
          He stands there. Thrown.
          
                              VALERIE
                    I'm sorry to surprise you like this
                    Sir. Your name is Doctor Harif Al
                    Fallari. You were born in Basra.
          
          The old man looks perplexed. Even a little amused. He sits.
          
                              PROFESSOR AZIZ
                    Well. This is indeed a strange
                    morning. Madam, there seems to have
                    been a mistake. My name is Said
                    Uhmah Aziz. I am a theoretical
                    physicist. I model space. I've
                    never been to Basra. I'm a teacher.
                    I'd like to be of assistance. But
                    I'm afraid I can't help you.
          
                              VALERIE
                    So you're not Doctor Fallari.
          
                              PROFESSOR AZIZ
                    Madam. I've never even heard of
                    this man.
          
                              VALERIE
                    You were not lead engineer at the
                    Osirak nuclear installation outside
                    Tikrit. You were never captured by
                    the Mukhbarat escaping to Syria.
                    You didn't spend three years in the
                    Abu Dhan jail.
                                                                    35.
          
          
                              PROFESSOR AZIZ
                    This is absurd.
          
                              VALERIE
                    You weren't tortured. Broken. You
                    didn't finally escape and arrive
                    here in Cairo with nothing.
          
                              PROFESSOR AZIZ
                    No.
          
                              VALERIE
                    Dr. Al Fallari had two daughters.
                    They were taken by Uday Hussein's
                    private guard. He never saw them
                    again.
          
          He stares at the floor.
          
                              VALERIE
                    That didn't happen. They never
                    existed.
          
          He remains motionless. Valerie watches him closely.
          
                              VALERIE
                    I need names. Of your colleagues in
                    the weapons programmes. The lives
                    of hundreds of thousands of your
                    people may depend upon it.
          
          He looks up at Valerie tears in his eyes
          
                              VALERIE
                    I know Tarif. I know what happened.
          
          He walks over to the window. SLOWLY he takes off his jacket.
          His shirt, pulls it off over his head and turns his back to
          her. He's been mutilated and burned all up his back. Slowly
          he turns. Deep scars. Burns.
          
                              PROFESSOR
                    You know nothing.
          
          EXT. CAIRO STREET. DUSK.
          
          Sunset. Traders are packing up. Valerie hurries into --
          
          INT. SAFE HOUSE. CAIRO. DUSK.
          
          ..up some rickety stairs and unlocks a graffiti covered door.
          Inside she takes out the notepad, her heart beating fast. On
          the page, A LIST OF NAMES.
                                                                    36.
          
          
          She pulls a ruggedized laptop from under the bed and pushes
          the plug into a bare wires socket. It fizzes. She starts to
          type the names into the computer.
          
                                                            CUT TO:
          
          ESTABLISHING. RAINY LANGLEY. DAY.
          
          INT. CHIEF OF CPD'S OFFICE. DAY.
          
          MIKE at his desk. His secretary pops her head round the door.
          
                               SECRETARY
                     They're back.
          
          INT. BRIEFING ROOM. DAY.
          
          An analyst sits opposite Scooter Libby. He's so nervous he
          can barely open his eyes.
          
                               ANALYST 1
                     The Iraqis were trying to buy the
                     tubes off the internet. They spent
                     three million dollars weather-
                     proofing the tubes. Plus the tubes
                     are roughly twice too long. Now you
                     could argue that that's to disguise
                     them, you could saw them in half.
                     That's sixty thousand tubes.
                         (Mimes sawing)
                     I mean whew. Saddam's gonna get the
                     mother of all blisters..
          
          Laughs. Libby stares, unsmiling. Keeps sawing. Wishing to God
          he'd never started.
          
          OUTSIDE.
          
          The door opens and the analyst, white as a sheet, comes out.
          A couple of colleagues are waiting outside.
          
                               ANALYST 2
                     How was it?
          
                               ANALYST 1
                     Don't make jokes.
          
          ANALYST 1 drifts his way back to his desk. ANALYST 2
          swallows, and disappears into the `interrogation' room.
          
          INT. BATHROOM. DAY.
          
          PAUL, the chief analyst, comes out of the stall. ANALYST 2 is
          there, throwing up in the sink.
                                                                  37.
          
          
                              ANALYST 2
                    He thinks I don't know how serious
                    it is.. weeks and weeks of fifteen
                    hour days, we've gone back over and
                    over it.
          
                              PAUL
                    OK. I'll handle this.
          
                                                            CUT TO:
          
          Scooter listens patiently to PAUL, the chief analyst.
          
                              PAUL
                    And so apart from all the
                    scepticism surrounding the
                    specification, the analysis from
                    the IAEA which I believe is
                    numbered in the report..
                        (Stops. Changes tack)
                    Mr Libby. Energy department nuclear
                    scientists are among the most
                    boring people on the planet. They
                    can talk about gas centrifuges
                    until you want to jump out of a
                    window. And maybe once every ten
                    years someone comes along and says
                    "so, tell me about gas
                    centrifuges". That's literally the
                    only time you should listen to
                    these guys. If they say an
                    aluminium tube is not for a gas
                    centrifuge it's like a fish talking
                    about water. We've been over this
                    data with you now five, six times.
                    And... We don't really know how you
                    want us to play this..
          
          Libby listens. He nods. Waits.
          
                              LIBBY
                    Let me level with you here Paul. I
                    don't know what these tubes are
                    for. From everything you're saying,
                    there could be something to this,
                    but very likely not, right?
          
                               PAUL
                    Exactly.
          
                              LIBBY
                    May I ask a question? When you say
                    we don't really know how to play
                    this, what do you mean?
                                                          38.
          
          
                              PAUL
                        (Stops. Turns white)
                    I'm just saying I don't know how to
                    say it any other way than that-
          
                              LIBBY
                    Except you didn't say `I' you said
                    `we'. So you and the others have
                    discussed how to "play" these
                    briefings. Why does the CIA feel
                    the need to play these briefings?
          
                              PAUL
                    No. I mean that.. Ok. I didn't mean
                    what I just said.
          
                              LIBBY
                    Which part. The last part. Or other
                    things too.
          
                              PAUL
                    I'm a getting a little confused-
          
                              LIBBY
                    You want me to come back?
          
                              PAUL
                    No. GOD no.
          
          The temperature drops five degrees.
          
                              LIBBY
                    You don't know why I'm here do you?
                    In 1991 the United States invaded
                    Iraq, and afterwards weapons
                    inspectors discovered Saddam was
                    six months off enriching uranium to
                    sufficiently high specification to
                    make a nuclear bomb. He had fissile
                    material. And not a single person
                    at the CIA, from the DCI down to
                    the janitor had the slightest clue
                    that such a program even existed.
                    So now, one decade on, are you
                    telling me that you're 100% sure
                    these tubes are not intended to
                    create nuclear weapons?
          
                              PAUL
                    I..Sir..OK. With intelligence,
                    nothing's 100 percent.
                                                          39.
          
          
                              LIBBY
                    So. What? Are you.. Ninety nine
                    percent sure? Ninety eight?
          
                              PAUL
                    You can't put an exact figure. You
                    can't be that precise.
          
                              LIBBY
                    But if you had to say, could you
                    say you're ninety seven percent
                    sure? Is there a three percent
                    chance you've got this wrong? Or
                    four? Or five? Still pretty good
                    odds. You like those odds Paul? You
                    willing to put your name to that.
                    Are you ready to make that call?
          
                              PAUL
                    I don't make the call, Sir-.
          
                              LIBBY
                        (Fixing him)
                    Yes you do Paul. Each time you
                    interpret a piece of data. Each
                    time you choose a "maybe" over a
                    "perhaps" you make a call. A
                    decision. And right now you're
                    making lots of little decisions
                    adding up to a big decision and out
                    there's a real world where millions
                    of people depend upon you being
                    right. But what if there's a one
                    percent chance you're wrong. Can
                    you say for sure you'll take that
                    chance and state, as a fact, that
                    this equipment is not intended for
                    a nuclear weapons programme?
          
          The analyst sits frozen.
          
                              LIBBY
                    Do you know what one percent of the
                    population of this country is? It's
                    three million, two hundred and
                    forty thousand souls.
          
                              PAUL
                    Sir. We're not machines. We.. It..
                    We look at the evidence, we game it
                    out. Not everyone agrees all the
                    time. It's a process.
                                                                     40.
          
          
                              LIBBY
                    It's a process.
          
                               PAUL
                    Yes.
          
                              LIBBY
                    And not everyone agrees.
          
                               PAUL
                    Exactly.
          
                              LIBBY
                    Who doesn't agree?
          
          SFX: A VOLLEY OF GUNFIRE. FOLLOWED BY ANOTHER. AND ANOTHER.
          
          EXT. ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETARY. DAY
          
          Full military funeral, in the rain. A hundred mourners from
          Langley. Some uniformed. A coffin draped in the flag
          
                                                             CUT TO:
          
          A hymn is sung. In the bleechers, the analyst from the
          meeting earlier, pauses in the break between verses and
          squints through the rain at the bank of seats across the
          grave.
          
          OVER THERE is THE LANGLEY TOP BRASS. JIM PAVITT. Next to him,
          GEORGE TENET, DCI. Next to him...... of all people.... JOE
          TURNER, (the analyst from WINPAC).
          
                              ANALYST
                    What the fuck is Joe Turner doing
                    next to the DCI?
          
                              ANALYST 2
                    Didn't you hear? Friday the DCI
                    took him to the White House. He
                    briefed the President on Aluminum
                    tubes.
          
                              ANALYST
                    You're fucking kidding me.
          
          Turner is over there, singing the hymn, rubbing shoulders
          with the good and the great.
          
          AT THE BACK -- Valerie stands with a number of other agents,
          MIKE and BILL, her Chief. A lone bugler and marine drummer
          beat out a last post. A widow weeps.
                                                                   41.
          
          
                              BILL (V.O.)
                    Its a dead end.
          
                                                              CUT TO:
          
          Valerie walks with the Chief and other senior agents away
          from the graveside.
          
                              BILL
                    So we've got a list of names. The
                    Mukhbarat watch the scientists
                    night and day. Their houses are
                    bugged. Their friends are followed.
          
                              TACTICAL COMMANDER
                    Say we drop in a light weight tac
                    team outside the city.
          
                              BILL
                    You get through the checkpoints and
                    roadblocks. You show up in my
                    bedroom in the dead of the night
                    with an armed tac team ask me to
                    help out Uncle Sam? I'm going to
                    react unpredictably.
          
                              TACTICAL COMMANDER
                    What about forcible extraction of
                    two or three of the main targets?
          
                              VALERIE
                    No. We've got 29 names. I want to
                    get to them all.
          
                              TACTICAL     COMMANDER
                    How? You can't use     the inspectors.
                    You can't use tac.     The wall's too
                    high Val. What are     you going to do.
                    Train a mouse?
          
                                 VALERIE
                    Maybe.
          
          INT. BEDROOM. NIGHT.
          
          Joe opens his eyes. Rolls across. He's alone.
          
          INT. KITCHEN, THE WILSON HOME. NIGHT
          
          Joe comes downstairs...Valerie is by the front door, dressed,
          cinched black mack, suitcase.
          
                              VALERIE
                    Hey, did I wake you up?
                                                          42.
          
          
                              JOE
                    It's three forty five..
          
                              VALERIE
                    I gotta go. I have to be at the
                    airport in forty five minutes.
          
          Joe, still half-asleep, catches up.
          
                              JOE
                    Well...how long this time? I
                    mean... Do we need childcare for
                    tomorrow-
          
                              VALERIE
                    I left a post-it by the lamp. Its
                    all on the post-it.
          
                              JOE
                    Right. Its on the post-it.
          
                              VALERIE
                    I didn't want to wake you.
                        (Senses something)
                    Are you OK?
          
                              JOE
                    We've been leaving post-its for
                    each other for months now.. we talk
                    via Post-It. That fridge is like a
                    dead letter drop.
                        (Stops. Laughs)
                    Jesus. Listen to me!. I sound like
                    an old... Some-
                        (He bangs the door)
                    I don't know where you go. Who you
                    meet. If you're in some jail, or
                    lying in some ditch in Jordan,
                    Beirut. And if you go missing, I
                    can't tell anyone because you were
                    never there. I'd never know what
                    happened. I don't know where you
                    go.
          
                              VALERIE
                    I'm going to Cleveland.
          
          He stops. Thunder-robbed.
          
                               VALERIE
                    I'll be home tonight.
                        (Then)
                    It's on the Post-It.
                                                                    43.
          
          
          She kisses him. They look at one another.
          
                              JOE
                    Have a nice day.
          
          She shuts the door, leaving Joe alone. He walks through to
          the kitchen, looks at the fridge, one by one he takes all the
          notes off, then, deliberately, drops them in the bin.
          
          INT. EMERGENCY ROOM, EUCLID CLINIC, CLEVELAND. DAY
          
          A busy ER. A female doctor shakes hands with grateful
          parents. She bends down to talk to a boy, cast on his arm.
          
          VALERIE watches from a distance.
          
          EXT. SUBURBAN HOME, MORELAND HILLS, CLEVELAND. DAY
          
          A car park. The female doctor gets out of her car, with
          grocery bags, and goes toward her house.
          
          ACROSS THE STREET -- VALERIE watches from a parked rental.
          
                                                               CUT TO:
          
          As the doctor finds the right key, she suddenly turns to see--
          
                              VALERIE
                    Dr. Al Haddad? Is there somewhere
                    we can speak?
          
          INT. STARBUCKS, SHOPPING MALL, SUBURBS OF CLEVELAND. NIGHT
          
          In the foreground some goth kids play with their ipods. In
          the window, Valerie and Dr. Sawsan Al Haddad sip coffee.
          
                              VALERIE
                    How long is it since you saw your
                    brother?
          
                              SAWSAN
                    1989. I attended a medical
                    convention over there. Before that,
                    in `83, he came here for an
                    engineering conference. Twice in
                    twenty five years. We try to stay
                    in contact. It's difficult.
          
                              VALERIE
                    Would you like to go back and see
                    him?
          
          SAWSAN holds her gaze.
                                                                  44.
          
          
                              SAWSAN
                    You want me to become a spy.
          
                              VALERIE
                    We need to ask Sa'ad some
                    questions. Do you think he would
                    answer them?
          
                              SAWSAN
                    I'm a doctor. I work hard. I'm also
                    a mother. I have a small girl and
                    I'm all she has.
          
                              VALERIE
                    We can help your brother. Right now
                    he is extremely valuable to us.
          
                              SAWSAN
                    And to Saddam. The Mukbarat watch
                    him night and day.
          
                              VALERIE
                    He could come here Sawsan. He's an
                    expert physicist. He'd have a job,
                    his children, his family would be
                    safe. You, your daughter could see
                    him whever you want. Sawsan. Can
                    you help us?
          
                              SAWSAN
                    I won't do anything to help you. I
                    don't know you. I would only do
                    this for Sa'ad.
          
                              VALERIE
                    Then do it for Sa'ad.
          
          Valerie watches her.
          
                              SAWSAN
                    What would I have to do?
          
          ESTABLISHING. SHIMMERING CITYSCAPE OF AMMAN. JORDAN. NIGHT.
          
          INT. HOTEL LOBBY. NIGHT.
          
          Westerners mix with Mid-Easterners. A tea trolley crosses the
          floor and disappears into a service elevator.
          
          INT. TWELVE FLOOR CORRIDOR./HOTEL SUITE. NIGHT.
          
          The elevator opens and a tea trolley stops outside room 1201.
          The door is opened by Valerie's colleague. Ali. It is wheeled
          inside. As Ali signs, cups of tea are poured.
                                                                  45.
          
          
          He carries one into THE BEDROOM and hands it to Sawsan, who
          sits on the edge of a bed wearing a long black traditional
          Abaya. There are two other agents there, with Valerie. One of
          them is holding a notebook..
          
                              AGENT 1
                    The pages of this notebook are fast
                    burning. You write on them like
                    normal, but if you need to destroy
                    them in an emergency..
          
          He whips out a zippo. Sets fire to one. It's gone in a flash.
          
                              AGENT 1
                    You have two of these in your
                    luggage. Now this is the only pen
                    we want you to use..
          
          The other agent shows her a pen.
          
                              AGENT 2
                    The ink in this pen is visible for
                    10 seconds. Only when given the the
                    correct chemical fixative can it be
                    read.
          
                              SAWSAN
                    - I am not taking any of this. If
                    the Mukhbarat find any of this they
                    will do things to me you cannot
                    imagine. Tell me what you need to
                    know. I will memorise it.
          
                               AGENT 2
                    Ma'am, we have 50 very specific
                    questions, some extremely
                    technical.
          
                              SAWSAN
                    You have 206 different bones in
                    your body. Do you want their names
                    in english, latin or arabic?
          
          They look to Val for a decision. She can't help but smile.
          
                                                            CUT TO:
          
          Later. The agents have gone. Just Sawsan and Valerie.
          
                              VALERIE
                    How do you feel?
          
          She's trying to drink her tea, but she's shaking. Val takes
          her hand and silently grips it.
                                                                     46.
          
          
                              VALERIE
                    Just remember, if anyone asks you
                    anything, if anyone stops you stay
                    calm and tell the truth. You're
                    just visiting your brother. Keep it
                    simple and keep to the truth.
          
                              SAWSAN
                    Except it's not the truth.
                    How do you do it?
          
          She searches Valerie's face.
          
                              SAWSAN
                    How do you be someone you're not?
                    How do you lie to someone? To their
                    face. How do you do it?
          
          Valerie looks at her. Before she can answer we --
          
                                                              CUT TO:
          
          OUTSIDE -- Ali checks his watch. Knocks on the door. Opens
          it. Valerie and Sawsan look up from the edge of bed.
          
                                 ALI
                    It's time.
          
          EXT. QUEEN ALIA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT. AMMAN. JORDAN.
          
          A taxi cab stops and SAWSAN is helped out by the driver.
          
          From a car across the street -- Valerie watches:
          
          Sawsan rolls her suitcase into the terminal. At the door she
          glances behind her...and disappears inside.
          
          Ali and Valerie get out the car looking every bit like
          tourists, suitcases, sunglasses, guidebook etc.
          
          INT. QUEEN ALIA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT. AMMAN. JORDAN.
          
          Valerie and Ali enter the revolving doors and follow her at a
          distance across the shiny beige and gold marble floors.
          
          By the the check in desk for the Gulf Air flight to Baghdad
          stand TWO MOUSTACHIOED MEN in dark suits.
          
          Valerie and Ali have stopped in a electronic goods store.
          
                              ALI
                    Mukhbarat. Watching the flight desk
                    on this side.
                                                                    47.
          
          
          Valerie aims her zoom lens camera and as if appraising it as
          a purchase, firing off some shots of the Iraqi agents.
          
          Sawsan reaches the desk and is stopped by the two men.
          
          They watch her talking to the men, handing over her passport.
          
                                                              CUT TO:
          
          The Iraqi agent stares at her. He asks a question in arabic
          No subtitles. Sawsan responds. She remains cool, almost
          disinterested. The men exchange sentences of arabic.
          
                                                            BACK TO:
          
          Valerie watches from a distance. Heart beating. At last they
          allow Sawsan through, she checks onto the flight.
          
                                                              CUT TO:
          
          Sawsan walks through to board the plane. Valerie watches her
          finally disappear beneath a huge advertising image.
          
                                                              CUT TO:
          
          INT. ALI'S HOTEL ROOM, GRAND HYATT. NIGHT.
          
          Ali kneels on the floor and begins his prayer to Allah.
          
                                                              CUT TO:
          
          CU: SNEAKERS RUNNING ON A TREADMILL. A LITHE BODY PUSHING IT.
          
          INT. GYMNASIUM, GRAND HYATT AMMAN. NIGHT
          
          VALERIE runs.. She looks at her reflection in the window, and
          the lights beyond.
          
          CLOSE ON HER FACE --
          
          FLASHBACK. THE HOTEL ROOM EARLIER: VALERIE sitting on the
          edge of the bed with SAWSAN. The answer to her question:
          
                              VALERIE
                    You have to know. Know why you're
                    lying. And never forget the truth..
          
                                                            BACK TO:
          
          Valerie running. She pushes hard on the treadmill. Pouring
          the stress out of her. CNN is on the TV above her.
          CONDOLEEZZA RICE on WOLF BLITZER.
                                                                   48.
          
          
          TELEVISION (REAL FOOTAGE)
          
                                BLITZER
                    We read   in the New York Times today
                    a story   that says that Saddam
                    Hussein   is closer to acquiring
                    nuclear   weapons.
          
          Slowly she stops running. Turns the volume up..
          
                               RICE
                    We do know that he is actively
                    pursuing a nuclear weapon. That
                    there have been shipments into Iraq
                    of high-quality aluminum tubes that
                    are only really suited for nuclear
                    weapons programs, centrifuge
                    programs..
          
          VALERIE freezes.
          
                                                             CUT TO:
          
          TELEVISION (REAL FOOTAGE) -- FOX NEWS SUNDAY WITH BRIT HUME
          
                              COLIN POWELL
                    And as we saw in reporting just
                    this morning, he is still trying to
                    acquire some of the specialized
                    aluminum tubing one needs to
                    develop centrifuges that would give
                    you an enrichment capability.
          
                                                             CUT TO:
          
          TELEVISION (REAL FOOTAGE) -- MEET THE PRESS.
          
                              RUSSERT
                    Aluminium tubes?
          
                              CHENEY
                    Specifically aluminum tubes.
                    There's a story in The New York
                    Times this morning. I want to
                    attribute The Times. I don't want
                    to talk about specific intelligence
                    sources but it's now public that he
                    has been seeking to acquire the
                    kinds of tubes that are necessary
                    to build a centrifuge.
          
                              MIKE (O.S.)
                    It's a coordinated leak..
                                                                  49.
          
          
          INT. VALERIE'S ROOM.
          
          Valerie on the phone, soaked in sweat, watches Meet the Press
          on cable. She's on the phone to --
          
          -- MIKE IN HIS OFFICE IN LANGLEY on the phone to VALERIE:
          
                                MIKE
                      Someone in the OVP leaked to the
                      New York Times and now they're
                      across the networks quoting the
                      leak. "Smoking gun". "Mushroom
                      cloud". They're using the same
                      words. It's co-ordinated.
          
                                VALERIE
                      I'm coming home.
          
                                                            CUT TO:
          
          TELEVISION (REAL FOOTAGE)
          
                                BLITZER (ON TV)
                      Is Iraq's regime of Saddam Hussein
                      right now a clear and present
                      danger to the United States?
          
                                CONDOLEEZZA (ON CNN)
                      There is no doubt that Saddam
                      Hussein's regime is a danger to the
                      United States and to its allies, to
                      our interests. The problem here is
                      that there will always be some
                      uncertainty about how quickly he
                      can acquire nuclear weapons. But we
                      don't want the smoking gun to be a
                      mushroom cloud.
          
          BLACKOUT.
          
          ESTABLISHING. CHARLSTON TERRACE. NIGHT.
          
          From the Wilsons, a homely glow emanates.
          
          INT. JOE AND VAL'S HOUSE. NIGHT.
          
          A dinner party. Dirty plates, red wine, late night. Joe, Val
          and their friends. Joe is preparing to light a cigar.
          
                                JOE WILSON
                      OK. Number one I always open the
                      window and close the door..
                                                                 50.
          
          
                              VALERIE
                    You can still smell it.
          
                              JOE
                    You want me to roll up a wet towel?
                    Like a teenager smoking in his
                    bedroom. Maybe sandbag my study?
          
                     VALERIE                           JOE
          What's wrong with the deck?     You used to smoke like crazy
                                          when I met you.
          
                              JOE
                    Oh right. Middle of winter. It's
                    minus ten degrees. The whole point-
          
                              VALERIE
                    Put on a coat.
          
                              JOE
                    Valerie. Steve. Help me out. Val.
                    The whole point of a cigar you
                    gotta get a little Winston
                    Churchill vibe goin'. Slippers. A
                    crackling fire.
          
                              STEVE
                    Musty books, slippers. Maybe a
                    faithful hound.
          
                              JOE WILSON
                    Exactly. You can't be freezing your
                    balls off in a GOOSEDOWN alone in
                    the dark.
          
                              VALERIE
                    Don't think Churchill. Think Scott
                    of the Antarctic.
          
                              JOE
                    That's it. I quit.
          
          He tosses the cigar down. She kisses his nose.
          
                     VALERIE                           JEFF
          Honey Joe that's terrific       It's about personal choice.
          news. I'm so proud of you.      It's Joe's personal choice to
                                          gas his kids..
          
                              JOE WILSON
                    My father smoked cigars at the
                    dinner table for forty years. And
                    look at me.
                                                                   51.
          
          
          Joe feigns a cough. Laughter. Joe slaps his sides manfully.
          
                                                              CUT TO:
          
          LATER -- The conversation has turned to politics.
          
                      DIANA                           STEVE
          It was on Blitzer and Meet      It came from the Times. Judy
          the Press. All over the news.   Miller.
          The New York Times. Exactly.
          
                              SUE
                    Can I ask a dumb question. What is
                    an aluminum tube?
          
                       JEFF                           STEVE
          They have the tubes Saddam      They're for centifuges. For
          was using to make a bomb.       enriching uranium.
          
                              FRED
                    How? Who knows what they are?
          
                      DIANA                           STEVE
          Everybody knows they are.       The question is what else
                                          does he have?
          
                              JEFF
                    Did you read about this Valerie?
          
                              VALERIE
                    I was in Europe on business last
                    week. I missed it.
          
                              JEFF
                    Basically Saddam bought all these
                    tubes. And we've nailed him. We got
                    them. They're packed with uranium.
          
                              STEVE
                    They're not packed with uranium.
          
                              JEFF
                    Right. They're for purifying it.
                    The bomb comes later. It's how you
                    boil it up it to make the big one.
          
                      DIANA                            FRED
          Look out Israel.                Says who? It's a bunch of
                                          tubes.
          
                              JEFF
                    Joe you know about this stuff, what
                    do you think they're for. These
                    tubes. What's your hunch?
                                                                   52.
          
          
          All eyes on Joe. He tales off his glasses. Makes them wait.
          
                              JOE WILSON
                    Well Jeff. I don't know anything
                    about these tubes. I'm not
                    qualified. But I suppose the real
                    question here is-
          
          BILL interrupts, stealing Joe's limelight.
          
                              FRED
                    It's a pretext! 50% of Americans
                    think Saddam blew up the Towers-
          
          The table erupts in discussion, leaving Joe marooned. Valerie
          spots it instantly, as he broods.
          
                              DIANA
                    He's a threat. You can't tell me
                    he's not a threat.
          
                              LISA
                    He's mad. Like Hitler. If we'd
                    stopped Hitler in the thirties-
          
          Joe sits there. Fuming.
          
                              FRED
                    He's not Hitler. He's Saddam. We
                    put him there. Why? It suited us.
                    He's our fault. Always was.
          
          Right on cue, Joe rounds on the hapless FRED.
          
                              JOE WILSON
                    Have you met him? Fred. Have you
                    met Saddam? Have you looked him in
                    the eye? Did he threaten you? Did
                    he threaten to kill you? You don't
                    know Saddam. You don't know what
                    you're talking about.
          
          Joe gets up. Joe walks out.
          
                      DIANA                            JEFF
          So. What's for dessert?            (To himself)
                                          "I may be some time"..
          
                     VALERIE                           FRED
          I'm sorry Fred.                 I thought we were just
                                          talking.
          
                              JEFF
                    What is this? Meet the Press?
                                                                     53.
          
          
                              LISA
                    Val's made a Lemon Meringue.
          
                        DIANA                            FRED
          Yes please.                       Try and stop me.
          
                                                                CUT TO:
          
          Valerie comes into the kitchen. Sue follows her.
          
                              SUE
                    Mmm...That smells good. Shall I get
                    some bowls.
          
                              VALERIE
                    Thank Sue. Bottom cupboard.
          
                              SUE
                    We have a rule at home. No politics
                    at the table. It always ends in a
                    squabble. I mean, nobody knows
                    what's going on over there. At the
                    end of the day, who really knows?
          
                              VALERIE
                    You're right Sue. Who knows?
          
                                                                CUT TO:
          
          INT. ARRIVALS SADDAM INTERNATIONAL. DAY
          
          Alone, Sawsan rolls her small suitcase across the polished
          floor past a group of Iraqi soldiers. A Saddam-a-like in a
          dark suit takes her passport. His eyes bore into her.
          
                              PASSPORT CONTROL
                        (in arabic)
                    Its her.
          
                                 MUKHBARAT OFFICER
                    Al Haddad?
          
          He takes her suitcase from her. HEART THUMPING. He leads her
          out of the queue, down a strip lit corridor and into a
          windowless room in bowels of the airport.
          
                                 MUKHBARAT OFFICER
                    Wait here.
          
          He shuts the door. Sawsan tries to control her breathing.
          
                                                                CUT TO:
                                                                  54.
          
          
          Hands search through her luggage. They unwrap a framed
          photograph of SAWSAN and her daughter, smiling. The officer
          turns it over in his hands.
          
                                                             CUT TO:
          
          The officer returns with her bags. Drops them on the floor.
          
                                 OFFICER
                    Wait here.
          
                                                             CUT TO:
          
          A door opens. Sawsan appears. On the other side, there stands
          a tall Iraqi man. Her relief is enormous. They embrace.
          
                              SA'AD
                    How is my little sister?
          
                              SAWSAN
                    Sa'ad! I am so happy to see you.
          
          INT/EXT. MOVING CAR - BAGHDAD STREETS. DAY
          
          Sa'ad drives a battered dusty mercedes through the streets.
          
                              SA'AD
                    I've a friend in security services.
                    I've been a government employee for
                    25 years, there has to be some
                    advantage. You can wait all day.
          
          Sawsan smiles at her brother.
          
          EXT. LARGE DILAPIDATED FAMILY HOUSE, MANSOUR, BAGHDAD.DAY
          
          An extended family of great uncles and aunts, grand children
          and cousins greet Sawsan's arrival. Getting out of the car
          she is surrounded by hugs and tears and laughter.
          
          Sawsan removes the framed photograph of her and her daughter.
          It is cooed over then given pride of place on the mantel.
          
          INT. KITCHEN, AL TAWFIQ HOUSE. LATE AT NIGHT
          
          Sawsan and her brother are alone in the kitchen washing up
          after the big welcome home meal. His five year old daughter
          watches from the stairs, fascinated by her american aunt.
          
                              SAWSAN
                    The house looks very different.
                                                                     55.
          
          
                              SA'AD
                    It's falling down. In `93 they
                    bombed government buildings here.
                    The foundations are shattered.
          
                              SAWSAN
                    Sa'ad I need to speak-
          
          He holds up his hand and shakes his head.
          
                              SA'AD
                        (speaking normally)
                    ..I have been meaning to repaint
                    the exterior..
          
          Saad keeps a finger to his lips. Fear in his eyes.
          
                              SA'AD
                    ..but it is difficult to find the
                    time when I am so busy at work..but
                    the gardens are still the same as
                    when we were children.
          
                              SAWSAN
                    The gardens yes of course, I would
                    like to see them.
          
          EXT. BROKEN SUMMER HOUSE, GARDEN MANSOUR. NIGHT
          
          Sawsan and her brother speak low. He seems very nervous.
          
                              SAWSAN
                    They can help you if you get out to
                    the Kurdish zone.
          
                              SA'AD
                        (exasperated)
                    I am watched Sawsan. If I drive
                    even twenty minutes north of
                    Baghdad they will stop me.
          
                              SAWSAN
                    They've given me questions for you.
          
                              SA'AD
                    What questions?
          
                              SAWSAN
                        (Closes eyes)
                    How close is your program to a
                    warhead? When and where is the
                    first test scheduled? How much 235-
                    grade uranium do you have? Identify
                    other scientists in the program.
                              (MORE)
                                                                    56.
          
                              SAWSAN (cont'd)
                    Who in the military controls the
                    program? Which of the-
                        (opens her eyes)
                    What is it?
          
          Sa'ad stares at her in disbelief.
          
                              SA'AD
                    They do not know?
          
                              SAWSAN
                    What Sa'ad?
          
                              SA'AD
                    The program was destroyed in 1991.
                    The Americans destroyed it, they
                    know that. My god..what else?
          
                              SAWSAN
                    How advanced is the centrifuge
                    facility? Which method are you
                    using to separate fissile isotopes?
          
                              SA'AD
                    This is insane. We don't have spare
                    parts to keep a tank on the road. I
                    have to work at a plant which
                    develops fertilizer. They know. The
                    inspectors are back. They know
                    this. They must know.
          
          INT. DULLES AIRPORT SECURITY. DAY
          
          Travellers throng. All nationalities. Coming and going.
          
          Joe queues at security, holding his shoes in one hand and a
          briefcase in the other. A TV screen nearby burbles over:
          
                              PRESIDENT (ON SCREEN)
                    Knowing these realities, America
                    must not ignore the threat
                    gathering against us. Facing clear
                    evidence of peril, we cannot wait
                    for the final proof -- the smoking
                    gun -- that could come in the form
                    of a mushroom cloud..
          
          INT. LANGLEY BASEMENT. NIGHT.
          
          Ali comes in to Valerie. Puts a file on her desk.
          
                              ALI
                    You need to see this..
                                                                     57.
          
          
          INT. LOGAN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT. DAY
          
          It's snowing heavily. Joe is met by a man in his 20s.
          
                                STUDENT
                      Mr Wilson. Jason Neal. How was your
                      flight?
          
                                                               CUT TO:
          
          INT. CORRIDOR. NIGHT.
          
          Ali follows VALERIE down the corridor. She has the file.
          
                                VALERIE
                      We need Mike to see this. And Bill.
          
                                                               CUT TO:
          
          INT. UNIVERSITY OF BOSTON FRANKLIN THEATER. NIGHT.
          
          APPLAUSE. Joe sits on stage with three academic types. In the
          hundred seater auditorium, just a couple dozen or so
          students.
          
                                PROFESSOR
                      Ambassador Wilson is the last
                      American diplomat to meet with
                      Saddam Hussein. In 1990, when
                      Saddam threatened to execute anyone
                      sheltering foreigners, Wilson
                      appeared at a press conference
                      wearing a noose around his neck,
                      declaring, "If the choice is to
                      allow Americans to be taken hostage
                      or be executed, I will bring my own
                      fucking rope." Saddam backed down
                      and Wilson evacuated several
                      thousand. He came home and was
                      taken to the Oval Office where the
                      President introduced him to the War
                      Cabinet as an American hero.
          
                                JOE
                      That's not quite true. It wasn't
                      the Oval Office it was the
                      Roosevelt Room.
          
          Laughter.
          
          INT. CORRIDOR. CPD. LANGLEY. DAY
          
          Valerie walks with MIKE and ALI, briefing him.
                                                                     58.
          
          
                              VALERIE
                    Sawsan's brother worked with five
                    hundred scientists at the Safa
                    factory. In `91 it was blanket
                    bombed by B52s. Hussein Kamel,
                    Saddam's son in law, kept the
                    scientists together, threatening to
                    kill them if they tried to leave.
                    But sanctions destroyed the
                    economy, and when Kamel was
                    executed in `95, the team just
                    drifted apart. They're all say the
                    same thing Mike. Everyone.
          
                                                              BACK TO:
          
          THE AUDITORIUM.
          
          A nervous history major stands.
          
                              STUDENT
                    Does Saddam pose an imminent threat
                    to National Security?
          
                              JOE
                    I haven't seen the intelligence.
                    I'm not qualified to comment. We
                    have intelligence services working
                    hard to assess just this. But I
                    have met Saddam. I've looked him in
                    the eye, so I can tell you what I
                    saw. During a particularly vicious
                    period of bloodletting in the late
                    eighties, Saddam was asked by his
                    foreign minister why he had
                    executed a certain official who had
                    been a loyal supporter. He said he
                    would rather kill a friend in error
                    than allow an enemy to live. For
                    me, that is the mark of a monster.
          
                               VOICE - SERGEANT AT ARMS
                    Mr Speaker, the President of the United
                    States!
          INT. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. NIGHT.
          
          Through a scrum of pumped-up Representatives, an exalted
          George Walker Bush makes his way to the podium.
                                                                     59.
          
          
                                  PRESIDENT
                    Mr. Speaker, Vice President Cheney,
                    Members of Congress, distinguished
                    guests, fellow citizens: Every year, by law
                    and by custom, we meet here to consider
                    the state of the union. This year, we gather
                    in this chamber deeply aware of decisive
                    days that lie ahead.
          INT. LOGAN AIRPORT. NIGHT.
          
                              STUDENT
                    We'd like you to have this coffee
                    mug. And some Pennants. For your
                    kids. Thank you so much for coming
                    and speaking to us.
          
          Joe shakes the kid's hand and walks towards Departures.
          
          INT. LOGAN AIRPORT. NIGHT.
          
          Joe walks underneath a TV screen playing:
          
                                 PRESIDENT (ON TV)
                    We know that Iraq and the al Qaeda
                    terrorist network share a common enemy --
                    the United States of America...
          Joe looks up at DEPARTURES: "AA22 DULLES. CANCELLED."
          Resigned, he looks at his watch.
          
          INT. PAVITT'S OFFICE. NIGHT.
          
          VALERIE, MIKE, ALI, BILL all sit in JIM PAVITT's OFFICE.
          
                              PAVITT
                    So you got thirty nuclear
                    scientists interrogated by Iraqis,
                    inside Iraq, who are all saying the
                    same thing.
          
                              BILL
                    Jim, these people took a great risk-
          
                              PAVITT
                    To bring us what? I could have
                    saved us the air-fare-
          
                              BILL
                    The White House is getting
                    STOVEPIPED.
                              (MORE)
                                                                       60.
          
                              BILL (cont'd)
                    Someone is cherry picking raw data
                    and serving it up to the press as
                    fact. And then they look to us to
                    confirm it. It's bullshit.
          
                              JIM PAVITT
                        (With intent)
                    You know we can bark about this all
                    night. But that's all we're doing.
                    Barking. You, me, all of us.. We're
                    guard dogs. We can bark and bark,
                    but at the end of the day,
                    someone's gotta listen. Because
                    it's not our house. Even if it is
                    on fire.
          
                                                                  CUT TO:
          
          A TV in the corner of the Starbucks concession plays:
          
                                 PRESIDENT (ON TV)
                    Today the gravest danger facing America
                    and the world is outlaw regimes that seek
                    and possess nuclear, chemical and
                    biological weapons.
                              JOE WILSON
                    Can I get an American please. Just
                    a regular American?
          
                                  PRESIDENT (ON TV)
                    U.S. intelligence indicates that Saddam
                    Hussein had upwards of 30,000 munitions
                    capable of delivering chemical agents.
          Joe glances at the TV as he pays.
          
                                 JOE WILSON
                    Thank you.
          
                                  PRESIDENT (ON TV)
                    From three Iraqi defectors we know that
                    Iraq, in the late 1990s, had several mobile
                    biological weapons labs.
                                                                  CUT TO:
          
          Joe sits amongst stranded passengers, most asleep. ON TV: the
          President. Joe sips his coffee. Grimaces. He looks tired.
                                                                           61.
          
          
                                  PRESIDENT (ON TV)
                    The International Atomic Energy Agency
                    confirmed in the 1990s that Saddam
                    Hussein had an advanced nuclear weapons
                    development program, and was working
                    on five different methods of enriching
                    uranium for a bomb. The British
                    government has learned that Saddam
                    Hussein recently sought significant
                    quantities of uranium from Africa.
          JOE stares, motionless, at the screen. The only one awake.
          
                                 PRESIDENT (ON TV)
                    Our intelligence sources tell us that he has
                    attempted to purchase high-strength
                    aluminum tubes suitable for nuclear
                    weapons production.
          Joe doesn't blink.
          
                                 PRESIDENT (ON TV)
                    This nation fights reluctantly, because we
                    know the cost, and we dread the days of
                    mourning that always come. We seek
                    peace. We strive for peace. And sometimes
                    peace must be defended.
                              PUBLIC ADDRESS
                    Ladies and Gentlemen Flight 22 to
                    Dulles is boarding immediately at
                    Gate 20. We apologize for the delay
                    due to adverse weather conditions-
          
          Everybody wakes up. Starts to move. Joe stays seated.
          
                                 PRESIDENT
                    We Americans have faith in ourselves, but
                    not in ourselves alone. We do not claim to
                    know all the ways of Providence, yet we
                    can trust in them, placing our confidence
                    in the loving god behind all of life and all of
                    history. May he guide us now, and may God
                    continue to bless the United States of
                    America. Thank you.
          JOE is motionless. ALONE. Staring at the screen.
          
                                                                      CUT TO:
                                                                  62.
          
          
          INT. LANGLEY MESS. DAY.
          
          With some colleagues, Valerie in the mess watching --
          
          COLIN POWELL'S PERFORMANCE in New York at the U.N.
          
          Aluminium tubes. Yellowcake. The Nuclear program.
          
          She watches motionless. She looks at Mike.
          
          INT. SA'AD'S HOUSE. BAGHDAD. NIGHT.
          
          Sa'ad sits in his kitchen while his wife plays with the
          children next door. HE IS WATCHING THE SAME THING: Colin
          Powell in the U.N. He catches his wife's eye through the open
          door. Slowly he shakes his head.
          
          Our eye moves off - across the TV - past the photo of SAWSAN
          and daughter - out of the window to the street outside.
          
          Cars. Buses. Stalls. Children playing. The end of a long day.
          
          SLOWLY THE SHOT DECAYS IN A TIME DISSOLVE to
          
          NIGHT -- THREE MONTHS LATER --
          
          In the full force of an air-raid. Many of the same buildings
          are gone. The whole world shakes and trembles as a PAVEWAY
          GE101 laser guided bomb streaks in and impacts..
          
          Dust. Shrapnel. Cars on fire. A vision of utter hell.
          
          A FIGURE -- DARTS BETWEEN BURNING CARS, clutching a bag of
          food, amid the firestorm. He disappears into our building.
          Our eye leaves the street - back inside: Sa'ad bursts in as -
          
          Another missile lands nearby. The building shakes. The
          picture of Sawsan shifts. Dust falls like fine rain over the
          small kitchen. Sa'ad unpacks food on the rickety table. Under
          it, his wife, children cower. He passes down bread. Cheese.
          The baby is crying.
          
          There is a KNOCK AT THE DOOR. On the other side are two men.
          
                              SA'AD
                    What you doing? They're watching-
          
                              SCIENTIST
                    No one's watching. Not anymore.
                    I think the Secret Police have
                    their hands full.
                                                                  63.
          
          
                              SCIENTIST 2
                    We're free. Free to be blown to
                    smithereens.
          
                              SA'AD
                    Least no Mukbarat gets to watch it.
          
          They all laugh at the gallows humor. And hug
          
                              SA'AD
                    It's good to see you, my dear
                    fellow doctors...
          
                                                            CUT TO:
          
          SA'AD children, sleeping in bunks.
          
                                                            CUT TO:
          
          Next door. The three nuclear scientists are drinking tea at
          the same table.
          
                              SA'AD
                    My sister said the Americans could
                    get us over the border.
          
                              SCIENTIST
                    And you trust them? Open your eyes.
          
                              SCIENTIST 2
                    And your ears. Your American
                    friends are calling you right now.
          
          The rumble of the now distant bombs. Small arms fire.
          
                              SA'AD
                    It's our only hope.
          
                                                            CUT TO:
          
          INT. PARKING LOT. LANGLEY. NIGHT.
          
          BILL, Valerie's chief walks to his car. Valerie shouts after-
          
                              VALERIE
                    Bill. Wait up.
          
                                                            CUT TO:
          
          They talk by his car. Valerie is agitated.
                                                                   64.
          
          
                              BILL
                    Val, every Mobile Exploration Team
                    is combing the desert looking for
                    WMD. I can't-
          
                     VALERIE                            BILL
          All I need's a couple units      We're at full stretch Val.
          to bring these men and their     Listen to me..
          families into Camp Lima and
          on an air transport into
          Annandale.
          
                              BILL
                    Say we extract these guys. Bring
                    `em home. Put `em on CNN. What are
                    they going to tell us that the
                    White House wants to hear? "Thank
                    you oh and by the way there was no
                    nuclear programme. There's no WMD.
                    PS you all knew that." You want me
                    to go to the DCI, ask him to sign
                    off on his own funeral?
          
                              VALERIE
                    I gave my word Bill.
          
                              BILL
                    That's not my problem. I got bigger
                    problems.
          
          They stare at each other. Valerie shakes her head.
          
                              BILL
                    Why do you do this job? The
                    paycheck? The holiday package. No.
                    To make a difference. To act. To
                    protect people. Then one day you
                    realize you're not Superman.
                    Sometimes you fail.
          
          He gets in the car, reverses, and drives away.
          
          INT. LANGLEY. NIGHT.
          
          Valerie hurries through the building.
          
                              VALERIE
                    Hold the elevator please.
          
          INT. MIKE'S OFFICE, COUNTER PROLIFERATION DEPT. NIGHT.
          
          Valerie is pacing. Mike is sitting.
                                                                   65.
          
          
                              VALERIE
                    What the fuck is going on Mike.
                    It's like, if there was a baby on
                    the ledge up on seventh, no-one
                    would get up and save it in case
                    the White House wanted it there.
          
                              MIKE
                    Bill's right. This is just one
                    snafu in a thousand we got right
                    now. The scientists are-
          
                              VALERIE
                    These scientists are the WMD. If we
                    can't protect them, they'll run to
                    the first country who can. And
                    they'll put them to work.
          
           Mike looks at her.
          
                               MIKE
                    I never said this. If anyone asks,
                    I deny any knowledge.
                        (Then)
                    How quietly can you do this?
          
                                                            CUT TO:
          
          A 40 something heavy set woman walks past her down the
          corridor. Valerie jogs after her.
          
                              VALERIE
                    Beth! Who do you have in Baghdad? I
                    need to get an RG-17 to an asset in
                    Mansour.
          
                              BETH
                    Why don't your guys to do it?
          
                              VALERIE
                    I'm asking you.
          
          EXT. RUINED STREETS, MANSOUR. BAGHDAD. NIGHT
          
          SA'AD, runs pressing himself against a shrapnel pocked wall
          as a US ARMY HUMVEE blasting hiphop music passes. He runs low
          across the street and over a wall into a garden.
          
                              SA'AD
                    I need to know my family will be
                    safe.
                                                                      66.
          
          
          INT. BOARDED UP CIA SAFE-HOUSE, MANSOUR. BAGHDAD. NIGHT
          
          Sa'ad sits at a table, speaking into an RG-17 secure satphone
          with two liaison officers.
          
                              SA'AD
                    My wife, my children. They are all
                    I care about.
          
          INT. THE CTC COUNTER TERRORISM CONTROL ROOM. LANGLEY. DAY
          
          Valerie sits in the communications room with Beth.
          
                               VALERIE
                    Sa'ad, I know that. We will take
                    care of your family. But we have to
                    move fast.
          
                              SA'AD
                    How do I know I can trust you?
          
                              VALERIE
                    Sa'ad. Do exactly as I say, we
                    won't let you down.
          
          INT. STATE DEPT OFFICES IN OLD EXECUTIVE BUILDING - NIGHT.
          
          A man sits feet up on his desk talking on the phone.
          
                              PETE
                    So how's Val? Is she there? Put her
                    on..
          
                                                               CUT TO:
          
          JOE SITS IN HIS STUDY, ON THE PHONE.
          
                              JOE
                    She's fine. She's working late.
          
                              PETE
                    Val's working late. I'm working
                    late. You don't see a pattern here?
                    You know she finds me devastatingly
                    attractive-
          
                              JOE
                    Yeah. Well if you see her say hi.
                        (He stops)
                    Listen Pete. I have a question. And
                    it's real important.
          
                                                            BACK TO:
                                                                   67.
          
          
          THE STATE DEPARTMENT. PEOPLE COME AND GO. AT HIS DESK, PETE
          LISTENS.
          
                              JOE WILSON (O.S.)
                    Is the President be referring to
                    another African country?
          
                              PETE
                    I've seen the INR. It's Niger. He's
                    referring specifically to
                    Yellowcake from Niger. Why?
          
          Joe listens. It sinks in.
          
                                                              CUT TO:
          
          Pete listens nodding. His expression grows darker and darker.
          
                              PETE
                    Uh huh.. I see..I see.
                        (He listens)
                    What exactly are you proposing to
                    do Joe?
          
          JOE'S STUDY
          
                              JOE WILSON
                    I don't know. I don't know what to
                    do.
          
                              PETE
                        (He takes off his glasses)
                    You want my advice? Do nothing. You
                    already did your job. You did your
                    best. You came home. End of story.
          
                              JOE WILSON
                    Niger Pete. Yellowcake from Niger.
          
          Pete looks around. Speaks low.
          
                              PETE
                    Look. I don't have to go all the
                    way to Africa to know something's
                    fucked up here. Three months and
                    what have we found? No centrifuges.
                    No yellowcake. No bio. No WMD. You
                    think something's up here. Join the
                    queue. Join the line stretches all
                    the way from State to the Pentagon
                    and back.
          
                              JOE WILSON
                    So why has no one's come forward?
                                                                   68.
          
          
                              PETE
                    Why you think Joe? We went to war.
                        (He pulls back)
                    Listen. You're a smart guy. As your
                    friend, now. Just. Be smart here. I
                    mean..you have a wife and a family.
          
                              JOE WILSON
                    It's the White House Pete. It's the
                    President of the United States.
          
                              PETE
                    Yes it is Joe. Now go take a long
                    look in the mirror and say that
                    again.
          
          Joe puts the phone down. Upstairs he can hear a child crying.
          
                                                              CUT TO:
          
          THUNDER. RAIN STREAMING DOWN A BEDROOM WINDOW. One of the
          twins is asleep. The other standing in her cot. Joe scoops her
          up. Jiggles her and comforts her. Lays her back down.
          
                                                              CUT TO:
          
          Joe comes down the stairs. In the hall -- coat on, soaking,
          Valerie. She looks beat.
          
                              JOE
                    Hey. Are you OK?
          
          Valerie doesn't move. She stands there. Then --
          
                              JOE
                    What's wrong Val?
          
                              VALERIE
                    Nothing. I'm just tired..
          
                              JOE
                    Whats the matter..what happened?
          
          Valerie shakes her head slowly.
          
                              VALERIE
                    I'm fine. Are the kids asleep.
          
                              JOE
                    Yeah. They're asleep.
          
                              VALERIE
                    OK. I'm going to bed.
                                                                               69.
          
          
          Joe watches her slowly walk up the stairs. Then stares at the
          space where she was just standing.
          
                                   BUSH (ON TV)
                      Let me finish..No. Let me finish.
          Joe looks at the TV. He sets his jaw.
          
                                  BUSH (ON TV)
                      There are some who feel like that, the
                      conditions are such that they can attack us
                      there. My answer is bring 'em on. .
                                                                        CUT TO:
          
          Computerized letter appearing on a screen. Pixellated
          
          EXTREME CLOSE UP: Joe writes:
          
          "What I Didn't Find in Africa".
          CLOSE UP ON JOE
          
          Did the Bush administration manipulate intelligence to justify an
          invasion of Iraq?"
          THE PHOTOGRAPH OF JOE AND GEORGE HW BUSH
          
          "The act of war is the last option of a democracy"
          THE GLOBE IN TWO HALVES
          
          "More than 200 American soldiers have lost their lives in Iraq already."
          JOE STOPS. HIS FINGERS HOVER.....THEN TYPE.
          
          "We have a duty to ensure that their sacrifice came for the right reasons."
          CLOSE ON: JOE SITS AT HIS DESK. MOTIONLESS. WE MOVE IN.
          
          JOE HITS `SEND'. HE STARES AT THE SCREEN.
          
          BLACKOUT.
          
          ESTABLISHING -- WHITE HOUSE. DAY.
          
          A long line of satellite broadcast vehicles. A reporter talks
          to camera. Others in the background, doing the same.
                                                                      70.
          
          
          INT. SCOOTER LIBBY'S OFFICE, OLD EXECUTIVE BUILDING. DAY.
          
          Libby reads Joe's article: "What I Didn't Find in Africa". He
          looks out at a line of satellite broadcast vehicles.
          
                                                             CUT TO:
          
          OUTSIDE..
          
                                REPORTER
                      Retired Ambassador Joe Wilson
                      yesterday claimed in a piece in the
                      New York Times that the President
                      mispoke in his State of the Union
                      Address in January, concerning
                      claims that Saddam sought 500 tons
                      of Yellowcake from Niger. Wilson,
                      who was acting Ambassador in Iraq
                      during the first Gulf War, said-
          
          INT. PRESS BRIEFING ROOM. DAY.
          
          Fleischer, on defence, before a packed house, buzzing.
          Everyone has Joe's article.
          
                                MR. FLEISCHER:
                      Look. There's zero, nada, nothing,
                      new here. The President's statement
                      in the State of the Union was much
                      broader than the Niger question.
          
                                JOURNALIST
                      Is the President's statement
                      correct?
          
                                FLEISCHER:
                      Yes, I see nothing that goes
                      broader that would indicate that
                      there was no basis to the
                      President's broader statement. But
                      specifically on the yellow cake,
                      the yellow cake for Niger, we've
                      acknowledged that that information
                      did turn out to be a forgery.
          
                                JOURNALIST 2
                      The President's statement was
                      accurate?
          
                                 FLEISCHER:
                      We see nothing that would dissuade
                      us from the President's broader
                      statement.
                                                                    71.
          
          
                              JOURNALIST
                    So you believe the British report
                    is true?
          
                                 MR. FLEISCHER:
                    I'm sorry?
          
          INT. CARD'S OFFICE. DAY.
          
          Card is at his desk, watching the briefing on TV.
          
                                 CARD
                    Uh-oh.
          
                                                              BACK TO:
          
                              MR. FLEISCHER:
                    Sorry, I see what David is asking.
                    Let me back up on that and explain
                    the President's statement again..
          
          INT. HADLEY'S OFFICE. DAY.
          
          Hadley comes out of his office, putting on his jacket.
          
                              HADLEY
                    Linda. Clear my morning.
          
                                                              BACK TO:
          
                              JOURNALIST
                    So it was wrong?
          
                              FLEISCHER
                    Let me do this, David. On your
                    specific question I'm going to come
                    back to you.
          
          The reporters leap to their feet in uproar..
          
          INT. ROVE'S OFFICE. DAY.
          
          Rove, TV on, holding the article, screams into the telephone.
          
                              ROVE
                    What is that tit-fuckin' homo
                    Fleischer doing to us? Call Mary.
                    Call Scooter. Call Hadley. We need
                    to get a hold of this. NOW!
          
          INT. LOBBY OUTSIDE SCOOTER'S OFFICE. DAY.
          
          SCOOTER comes out of his office. Unruffled. Cathie Martin is
          waiting. They walk and talk.
                                                                      72.
          
          
                      MARTIN                             LIBBY
          Fleischer ploughed the          I saw.
          briefing-
          
                              MARTIN
                    -CBS know Yellowcake was pulled
                    from Cincinnatti ten weeks ago at
                    the CIAs request. They also have
                    that Gerson wrote both speeches.
                    Karl is on line one. He's unhappy-
          
                              LIBBY
                    I want a transcript of everything
                    across networks, blogs and print
                    citing Ambassador Wilson, Niger or
                    Yellowcake. I want Hadley to meet
                    me in the VP's office in five
                    minutes. And tell Karl I'll be in
                    my office straight after I'm done.
                    I have something.
          
          He goes into the Vice President's office.
          
          INT. OUTSIDE SCOOTER LIBBY'S OFFICE. DAY.
          
          LATER. Silence. The secretaries, tense. Typing.
          
          INT. SCOOTER LIBBY'S OFFICE. DAY.
          
          INSIDE. KARL ROVE stands opposite Libby, staring. Libby
          finishes reading something. SILENCE.
          
                              LIBBY
                    This has become a trust issue for
                    the President. We can't get behind
                    this. We need to change the story.
          
          They look at one another in silence. Then --
          
                              ROVE
                    Who is Joe Wilson?
          
          INT. WEST WING. NIGHT.
          
          Libby comes out of his office. He walks round the corner to
          Rove's office. Rove's secretary is still there.
          
                              LIBBY
                    Linda. You still here. It's late..
          
                                                                 CUT TO:
          
          A piece of paper is put on a desk. Rove picks it up. Libby
          wathes him read. Rove puts the paper down.
                                                                     73.
          
          
                                ROVE
                      We can't do this.
          
          Libby nods.
          
                                LIBBY
                      So who can?
          
          BLACKOUT.
          
          ESTABLISHING -- CHARLESTON TERRACE. DAY.
          
          A 15 year old cyclist hurls newspapers into front yards.
          
          INT. BEDROOM. DAY.
          
          Valerie sits on the bed in a towel. Joe drops the newspaper
          onto it. Folded open on an article. "MISSION TO NIGER".
          
                                VALERIE
                          (Reading)
                      The CIA's decision to send retired
                      diplomat Joseph C. Wilson to Africa-
          
                                JOE WILSON
                      Further down.
          
                                VALERIE
                      Wilson never worked for the CIA,
                      but his wife, Valerie Plame..
          
                                JOE
                      "is an agency operative on weapons
                      of mass destruction."
          
          It hits her like a wave. She braces. It doesn't pass.
          
                                JOE
                      They just went ahead and did it.
          
                                VALERIE
                      Does this run overseas?
          
                     VALERIE                              JOE
          The column. Novak's column.        If it's in the paper it's on
          Is he syndicated overseas?         the net. Its everywhere.
                                             Valerie?
          
          Valerie gets up and walks out.
          
                                                               CUT TO:
          
          Valerie, dressed, leaves the house.
                                                                     74.
          
          
                              JOE
                    Valerie. Where are you going?
          
          EXT. WILSON HOUSE. DAY.
          
          Valerie walks outside. In the window across the street, her
          neighbour stares straight at her.
          
          Valerie looks ahead. Her eyes flick to the Paper on a
          neighbours lawn: The Wall Street Journal.
          
                              NEIGHBOUR (O.S.)
                    Morning Valerie!
          
          Another neighbour getting in his car waves. He's thrown when
          she doesn't reply. Val starts her car and drives. He watches.
          
          INT/EXT. VALERIE'S CAR (MOVING). DAY
          
          Valerie stares straight ahead, hands gripping the wheel. We
          watch her. Close. Her driving intercuts with her thoughts.
          
          FLASH - The Associated Press news bureau add her story to the
          bullet-feed.
          
          FLASH - An AP feed winds around a newspaper news room.
          
          FLASH - The Reuters office in Geneva picks up the story.
          
          FLASH - A Bloomberg tickers her name.
          
                                                           BACK TO:
          
          VALERIE, death white, drives along the Georgetown reservoir.
          
          FLASH - Huntingdon Valley Public Library, a man tears the
          page out of a high school year book.
          
          FLASH - Microfiche search of photos of embassy events with
          Joe and Valerie as guests. A grease pencil marks ones where
          she can be seen.
          
                                                           BACK TO:
          
          Turning away from the canal and speeding over the Potomac,
          she fishes in her glove compartment. Finds a pad. A pencil
          and starts writing names on a pad. Still driving.
          
          FLASH - Valerie next to her husband in black tie shakes hands
          with a visiting dignitary. A camera bulb goes off. She
          eyeballs the cameraman for a moment.
          
          Valerie turns onto the 120 freeway. The pad falls into the
          footwell. She reaches down and her --
                                                                     75.
          
          
          SAME HAND - reaches to shake hands with
          
          FLASH - different people in different countries, dinners with
          diplomats, meetings with captains of industry, conferences in
          far flung corners of the world.
          
          Hands. Faces. Smiles. EACH BECOMING A PHOTOGRAPH on a file.
          
          FLASH - Valerie shaking hands with Mr.Tabir in his Kuala
          Lumpur mansion. Him smiling, mouthing words silently.
          
          FLASH - A stock market ticker. In his office, Tabir is shown
          a blow up of a grainy photograph of Valerie and Hafiz.
          
          INT. DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS OFFICE. DAY.
          
          Valerie sits stock still in front of a large desk at Langley.
          
          The door opens. The DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS enters with a
          fifty something woman. He sits at the desk. She sits next to
          him. BEHIND HER -- in the corner, sits a third man. He
          doesn't speak.
          
                              DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS
                    Good morning. Please..sit down.
          
                              VALERIE
                    Good morning Sir. Ma'am.
          
                              DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS
                    Working backwards, we need a matrix
                    of everyone you've come into
                    contact with in a covert capacity
                    back to January 2001.
          
                              VALERIE
                    I've already started a list Sir.
          
                              DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS
                    Good. We need to get an idea..fast,
                    of how much this thing bleeds.
          
                              VALERIE
                    Sir, I have several live ops at
                    crucial stages, people in the field
                    in critical windows of operation-
          
                              BILL
                        (Interrupting)
                    One thing at time. Make a list.
                    Then come back here. Don't do
                    anything else.
          
          She opens her mouth. Nothing comes out.
                                                                     76.
          
          
                              VALERIE
                    Sir, why is Internal security here?
          
                              BILL
                    To help us. To help you, and us
                    conduct this damage assessment.
          
          Behind her, the Internal security guy stands.
          
          INT. CORRIDOR. DAY.
          
          Valerie comes out, followed by security. She goes left.
          
                              INTERNAL SECURITY
                    This way please.
          
          She turns and follows him. As she passes desks, she can feel
          people looking at her. The news has spread fast.
          
          INT. EMPTY OFFICE. DAY
          
          Valerie enters an empty office. The door is closed behind
          her. On the desk is a notepad and a telephone. She sits.
          
          She picks up the phone. The phone isn't connected.
          
          She sits staring at the blank page.
          
          SUDDENLY -- She gets up and walks out. At the end of the
          corridor: the Internal security guy follows.
          
                                 INTERNAL SECURITY
                    Ms Plame.
          
          VALERIE goes into the elevator..
          
                                 INTERNAL SECURITY
                    Ms Plame.
          
          He breaks into a run. The doors close on him.
          
          INT. CPD OFFICE, BASEMENT, LANGLEY. DAY.
          
          Valerie comes out of the elevator and walks fast. People
          looking at her. Her colleagues. Eyes. Whispers. All around.
          
          Bursting into her office, she sits. Starts typing fast. She
          tries to access her Joint Task Force database.
          
          ON THE SCREEN --ACCESS DENIED --
          
                                 INTERNAL SECURITY (O.S.)
                    Ms. Plame.
                                                                  77.
          
          
          The INTERNAL SECURITY stands outside.
          
          Valerie looks up. She sees Mike passing the doorway.
          
                              VALERIE
                    Mike. We need to get a message to
                    Baghdad. Sa'ad and his family are
                    being taken to the border today. I
                    have to get word to them.
          
          INTERNAL SECURITY watches him closely.
          
                              MIKE
                    I don't what you're talking about..
          
                              VALERIE
                    Mike. They're packed and ready.
                        (She stops. Appeals)
                    Mike you know what this means.
          
                              MIKE
                    Sorry. I have to go.
          
          He goes inside and closes his door.
          
                               BILL (O.S.)
                    Valerie.
          
          HER CHIEF is standing there. He beckons her into his office.
          She approaches. The Internal Security guy tries to join them.
          Bill puts a hand to his chest.
          
                              BILL
                    Go fuck yourself.
          
          He closes the door in his face.
          
          INSIDE
          
                              BILL
                    Sit down Valerie.
                    I've just been on the seventh
                    floor. As of this morning all CPD
                    operations involving you have been
                    suspended. Effective immediately
                    you are to have no further contact
                    with assets or agents in the field.
                    Any further involvement in
                    operations is no longer possible.
          
                              VALERIE
                    Bill. I have eight, nine teams in
                    the field. We have assets in Kuala
                    Lumpur. Dubai. Mumbai.
                                                                  78.
          
          
          She stops. The penny drops. She changes tack.
          
                              VALERIE
                    I need to brief my replacement in
                    the Joint Task Force.
          
                              BILL
                    The head of the JTFI's identity is
                    classified for reasons of
                    operational security.
          
          The shutters come down. Valerie opens her mouth.
          
                              VALERIE
                    I have a critical operation in
                    Baghdad in a major ongoing-
          
                              BILL
                    Val. It's over.
          
          INT. CHARLESTON TERRACE. DAY.
          
          The children are playing with Power Rangers in the lounge.
          
          IN THE KITCHEN Joe, at home, speaking on the phone. TV is on.
          
                              JOE
                    "Two senior administration
                    officials told me that Wilson's
                    wife suggested sending him to
                    Niger" That means a Vice President,
                    a chief of staff or top advisor..
                        (hearing the front door)
                    I gotta go.
          
          He hangs up. Valerie enters. The twins run out of the lounge
          towards her. She goes into mom mode.
          
                              VALERIE
                    Hey guys. Give mommy a kiss.
          
                     TREVOR                          SAMANTHA
          Mommy!                          Mommy. Trevor won't let me
                                          borrow his Power Ranger.
          
                              VALERIE
                    Well, did you say "Please"?
          
                              SAMANTHA
                    I said please. It's not fair.
          
          They go into the kitchen. Joe follows. The kids fight for her
          attention to show drawings they've done.
                                                                   79.
          
          
                      TREVOR                             JOE
          I drew a clown and a              There's a 1982 act states
          scarecrow.                        it's a crime for a government
                                            official to intentionally
                    VALERIE                 disclose a covert agent.
          Let's see.                        Carries a fine of fifty
                                            thousand dollars and or up to
                                            ten years in jail.
          
          
                              VALERIE
                    Wow. That is one cool scarecrow.
                        (To Samantha)
                    Don't eat that Sam. It's a crayon.
                    It's icky. Give it to mommy.
          
          Joe watches her. He can see the tension of her face.
          
                              JOE WILSON
                    How did it go?
          
          The phone rings. She freezes.
          
                              JOE
                    It's been ringing all day.
          
                              VALERIE
                    Don't pick it up. Who've you spoken
                    to? Joe, who have you spoken to?
          
                               JOE WILSON
                    Hello?
                        (he holds the phone out)
                    It's Lisa.
          
          Valerie looks blind sided.
          
                              JOE
                    OK who wants to watch TV?
          
          Scoops them up and leaves us with Val. She composes herself.
          
                                 VALERIE
                    Hello?
          
          INT. GEORGETOWN APARTMENT. DAY.
          
          Val's friend Lisa is in her lounge. Her kids are playing.
          
                              LISA
                    Val. Are you OK? Whats going on?
          
                                                             BACK TO:
                                                                  80.
          
          
                              VALERIE
                    Lisa. Yes. I read it. Listen-
                        (She steels herself)
                    I'm sorry..I can't talk about this.
                    I can't..I can't make a comment on
                    this right now.
          
                                                           BACK TO:
          
          Lisa's apartment. Another angle. Two other friends. Wrapt.
          
                              LISA
                    You can't make "a comment"? Val.
                    Your name is in the paper.
                    It says you're a CIA agent.
          
          NEXT DOOR -- THE KIDS Watch TV.
          
                              VALERIE
                    I have to go. I'm sorry. I'll call
                    you tomorrow.
          
          VALERIE hangs up. Joe is standing there.
          
                               JOE
                    Your mom called. And your Uncle.
                    And Janey called from Chicago. I
                    wrote them down.
                        (Then)
                    And Andrea Mitchell called. She
                    says White House sources say that
                    quote "the real story here is not
                    the sixteen words but Wilson and
                    his wife". Would I care to comment?
                    Yeah I fuckin' would care to
                    comment. She wants me on the show
                    day after tomorrow.
          
                              VALERIE
                    I don't want you to go on TV.
          
          INT. TELEVISION STUDIO. DAY.
          
          Joe sits stiffly on the set. A make-up artist applies powder
          to his nose.
          
                              FLOOR MANAGER
                    Going in thirty seconds.
                                                                  81.
          
          
          JOE ON NBC NIGHTLY NEWS
          
                              JOE
                    This is clearly designed as a shot
                    across the bow to those who might
                    step forward, those unnamed
                    analysts who said they were
                    pressured by the White House would
                    think twice about having their own
                    families names being dragged
                    through this particular mud.
          
                                                            CUT TO:
          
          JOE ON CNN.
          
                              JOE
                    I was sent to Niger at the request
                    of the Vice President. I was not
                    sent by my wife. The issue here is
                    not who sent me here is whether a
                    crime has been committed.
          
          JOE ON MEET THE PRESS.
          
                              ANCHOR
                    You're saying a crime was committed
          
                              JOE
                    It is a crime to reveal the
                    identity of a covert agent working
                    in the employ of this nations
                    intelligence agencies.
                    This is now a matter for the
                    justice department Pete.
          
          JOE ON CROSSFIRE
          
                              JOE
                    The justice department need to
                    establish whether those in the
                    Highest Office sought to destroy
                    the career of a public servant to
                    punish me for speaking the truth.
          
          REAL FOOTAGE - WHITEHOUSE PRESS ROOM
          
          The new Press Secretary, Scott McClennan, fields questions.
          
                              MCLENNAN
                    First of all, that is not the way
                    this White House operates.
                              (MORE)
                                                                   82.
          
                              MCLENNAN (cont'd)
                    The President expects everyone in
                    his administration to adhere to the
                    highest standards of conduct. No
                    one would be authorized to do such
                    a thing.
          
                              REPORTER
                    Will the President move
                    aggressively to see if such a
                    transgression has occurred in the
                    White House?
          
                                                            CUT TO:
          
          A TELEVISION.
          
                               PRESIDENT
                    This is a very serious matter, our
                    administration takes it seriously.
                    I've got all the confidence the
                    Justice Department will do a good,
                    thorough job. I want there to be
                    full participation, because, April,
                    I am most interested in finding out
                    the truth.
          
          INT. KITCHEN. DAY.
          
          The kids are eating breakfast, acting up. Valerie is making
          breakfast. The phone rings.
          
                              JOE (ON PHONE)
                    Valerie. Turn on MSNBC.
          
          INT. MSNBC TV STUDIOS. DAY.
          
          Joe leaves the building. The news is on a bank of TVs.
          
                      MSNBC                          VALERIE
          A team of federal               Honey, Mommy's trying to
          investigators have been         listen to the TV.
          assembled by Attorney General
          John Ashcroft as part of a
          probe to investigate the
          alleged leaking of a covert
          CIA agent's identity to the
          press..
          
                              JOE WILSON
                    They've launched an investigation.
                    Ashcroft just announced it. They're
                    saying he's going to convene a
                    grand jury.
                                                                  83.
          
          
                              VALERIE
                    I have to go. Samantha's crying.
          
                                                            CUT TO:
          
          Joe out on the street. Gets into his car.
          
                              JOE WILSON
                    I'll be home later. I gotta go over
                    to Fox. They want me to comment on
                    the investigation.
          
                                 VALERIE
                    Joe-
          
                              JOE WILSON
                    We have to fight this Val. If we
                    don't push back.
          
          He looks at his phone.
          
                              JOE
                    I have another call. I have to go.
          
                                 VALERIE
                           (Exasperated)
                    Joe-
          
          He's gone. She puts the phone down.
          
                                                           BACK TO:
          
          IN THE CAR, JOE TAKES THE OTHER CALL.
          
                              JOE
                    Joe Wilson.
          
                              CHRIS MATTHEWS
                    Joe, its Chris Matthews. I just
                    spoke to Karl Rove. He told me
                    "Wilson's Wife is fair game".
          
          He goes still.
          
                              DIANA (O.S.)
                    So when did you join?
          
          INT. BUSY GEORGETOWN RESTAURANT. DAY.
          
          Waiters hurry about. Valerie sits with her friend, Diana.
          
                              VALERIE
                    `84. Straight out of college.
                                                                     84.
          
          
                              DIANA
                    Jenny said it makes a weird kind of
                    sense. Everyone says Valerie's a
                    great listener. Asks lots of
                    questions. About your job. About
                    Steve or the kids.
          
                              VALERIE
                    I had no plan for this day. Right
                    now it feels like I'm.. Everything
                    is smashed into a million pieces.
                    It's like I'm suddenly in this-
          
                              DIANA
                        (Interrupting)
                    Why did you do it?
          
                              VALERIE
                    What?
          
          Valerie is still.
          
                              DIANA
                    Every conversation. For twenty
                    years. Thousands of phone-calls.
                    You lied to me on every single one.
                    Nineteen years. Birthdays. My
                    wedding. You're my best friend Val.
          
          Diana has tears in her eyes.
          
                              VALERIE
                    Diana. I know it's hard to
                    understand, but it..
          
          They look at each other. Valerie really struggles. Then:
          
                              VALERIE
                    It becomes normal.
          
                              DIANA
                    Normal.
          
                              VALERIE
                    I know this is strange for you. And
                    you may not feel like it's, but I
                    need you right now. Because I'm-
          
                              DIANA
                    What? What are you? My ol' pal Val?
                        (Valerie is silent.)
                    I have photos. Hundreds and
                    hundreds of photographs with this
                    person. And..
                              (MORE)
                                                                    85.
          
                              DIANA (cont'd)
                    I'm sitting here, and I know the
                    face, I've known it half my life.
                    What else do I know? Who are you?
          
          Valerie sits there, very still.
          
          INT/EXT. CAR (MOVING). DAY.
          
          Valerie drives home past the Capitol, still.
          
          THE CAR PULLS UP AT THE PLAYGROUP.
          
          Valerie gets out and sleep-walks into the building.
          
          She joins a small group of mothers watching through glass
          door, their children playing. One of the mothers nudges
          another and whispers something. They both look at Valerie,
          who tenses.
          
          THROUGH THE GLASS
          
          Her kids put their coats on and come out. Valerie puts on a
          bright smile. Kneels to hug them.
          
                              VALERIE
                        (Brightly)
                    Hey guys. How was your day?
          
          She carries them out, watched by the other mothers.
          
          EXT. CHARLSTON TERRACE. DAY.
          
          Valerie bussles the kids out of the car. A neighbor is mowing
          his lawn. She tenses as he slows his pace to study her.
          
          Another neighbor, searching for his keys stops and watches
          her too, as she takes the kids into the house.
          
          INT. WILSON HOUSE. DAY.
          
          Valerie and the kids come inside. The phone is ringing.
          
                              VALERIE
                    Hello.
                        (Silence.)
                    Hello.
                        (Silence)
          
                              PHONE
                    Your husband is a fucking
                    communist. I hope you die you
                    fucking communist whore.
          
          She puts the phone down. Frozen. Shaking.
                                                                    86.
          
          
                              SAMANTHA (O.S.)
                    Mommy. Trevor won't let me go on
                    his tractor.
          
          All at once, the facade crumbles. VALERIE closes her eyes and
          is wracked with sobs. When she opens them Sam is terrified.
          
                              SAMANTHA
                    Mommy.
          
                              VALERIE
                    It's OK honey. Mommy's just tired.
          
          She hugs her. Crying. Samantha strokes her mom's hair.
          
          INT. KIDS BEDROOM, WILSON HOUSE. NIGHT.
          
          Valerie reads a storybook to her twins.
          
                              VALERIE
                    So the caterpillar built a cocoon
                    and it stayed safe inside for
                    weeks. And when it emerged it was a
                    beautiful butterfly..
          
                                                            CUT TO:
          
          She closes the door on her sleeping children. She goes next
          door into--
          
          INT. VALERIE AND JOE'S BEDROOM. NIGHT
          
          She goes into her closet. Removes a box. Then she taps a code
          into a small safe and removes another box. Alone, Valerie
          opens the first box. Photographs of herself with her friends.
          At college. People's weddings. Birthdays. Valerie and her
          girlfriends all smiling back at us. Holidays with the same
          friends. On a hen night.
          
          She opens the second box: Different currencies. Credit cards,
          photos of her with different people. Half a dozen passports.
          American. A couple Canadian. EU. She looks at the photos.
          Different names. Hair colour. She puts them back in the box.
          Carefully, and shuts the lid tight shut. She looks at herself
          in the mirror. The doorbell rings and Valerie gets up.
          
                                                            CUT TO:
          
          VALERIE opens the front door. Standing there is Sawsan.
          
                              VALERIE
                    Sawsan. What are you doing here?
                                                                   87.
          
          
                              SAWSAN
                    Your name and address are all over
                    the web. There's even a picture of
                    your house..
          
          Valerie tries to take this in. Sawsan steps forward --
          
                              SAWSAN
                    Sa'ad has disappeared. His wife,
                    his children are missing.
                    My uncle in Mansour. He said they
                    were targeting them. They were
                    killing them..
          
                              VALERIE
                    Who?
          
                              SAWSAN
                    Sa'ad's colleagues. Dr Habbuck was
                    shot dead in the street. Dr Falli
                    was murdered in his hallway.
                    They're killing them.
          
                              VALERIE
                    Sawsan, listen to me-
          
                              SAWSAN
                    I know you can't tell me where he
                    is. Just tell me you have him. I
                    beg you. Please. I don't need to
                    know anything. Just tell me he's
                    safe.. He's my little brother.
                    Please. If you have him, if he's
                    somewhere...
                        (She starts to cry.)
                    Please. Please, I beg you. Do you
                    have him. I have to know.
          
          Valerie speaks quietly.
          
                              VALERIE
                    We don't have him.
          
          Sawsan closes her eyes. She sobs.
          
                              SAWSAN
                    You said he would be safe. You said
                    we would help. You promised-
          
          VALERIE approaches. Sawsan withdraws.
          
                              SAWSAN
                    I trusted you.
                                                                   88.
          
          
          She turns her back and walks away. Leaving Valerie alone.
          
                                                             CUT TO:
          
          EXT. STREET IN GEORGETOWN SUBURB. NIGHT
          
          Valerie's boss MIKE is watching TV with his wife and kids and
          her mother, when the doorbell rings. He gets up.
          
          The front door opens. Valerie is standing there.
          
                              MIKE
                    Valerie. What are you doing here?
          
          Mike steps forward and closes his front door. Mike glances up
          and down the street.
          
                                                             CUT TO:
          
          A garage door opens. Valerie and Mike step into his garage
          and fluorescent light flickers on to reveal boxes of
          Christmas decorations etc-
          
                              VALERIE
                    Falli. Habbuck. Who else?
          
                               MIKE
                    Valerie-
          
                              VALERIE
                    Who else Mike?
          
                              MIKE
                    I don't know what you're talking
                    about.
          
          She fixes him. Eventually he shrugs.
          
                              MIKE
                        (He shrugs)
                    You were right. It's all about the
                    scientists. We made a call.
          
                               VALERIE
                    A call?
          
                               MIKE
                    We passed your case files to
                    liason. You know yourself we're not
                    great at this stuff.
                        (Off her shock)
                    Val, Mossad were already on the
                    same page.
                               (MORE)
                                                                  89.
          
                              MIKE (cont'd)
                    They've been trying to hunt these
                    guys down since the invasion.
          
                              VALERIE
                    You've..
                        (She stops. Looks at him.)
                    We're killing them. We're killing
                    the scientists.
          
                                MIKE
                    Valerie-
          
                              VALERIE
                    You'll drive them underground.
                    They'll run straight to Iran.
                    Pakistan.
          
                              MIKE
                    Valerie. This isn't your problem
                    anymore.
          
                              VALERIE
                    It's not my problem. It's not my
                    problem. How can you sleep when you
                    know-
          
                              MIKE
                        (With purpose)
                    I sleep just fine. Now Carol's
                    mother is here. I'm going to have
                    to ask you to leave.
          
                              VALERIE
                    It's called counter-proliferation,
                    Mike.
          
          She turns and walks out.
          
          EXT. STREET. NIGHT.
          
          Valerie gets in her car. Shaking. Shuts the door. She holds
          her head in her hands and starts to sob.
          
          We hear the sound of a crowd cheering..
          
          INT. SEATTLE FORUM. DAY.
          
          Joe Wilson is on a panel before a crowd of about a thousand.
                                                                     90.
          
          
                              JOE WILSON
                    At the end of the day, it's of keen
                    interest to me to see whether or
                    not we can get Karl Rove frog-
                    marched out of White House in
                    handcuffs. And trust me when I use
                    that name, I measure my words.
          
          Cheers. Applause. Joe looks defiant.
          
                                                              CUT TO:
          
          JOE MEETING HIS PUBLIC. PUMPING HANDS. A WARM SHOW OF SUPPORT.
          
                              SUPPORTER
                    We came all the way from Portland
                    for this.
          
                              JOE
                    Your support means everything to
                    us. Really.
          
                              SUPPORTER 2
                    You're a true American hero.
          
                              JOE
                    The real heroes are in Iraq right
                    now fighting a war which was
                    prosecuted on lies and falsehoods.
          
          A quick montage of Joe being feted. It ends with Joe in a
          huddle with a dozen or so supporters.
          
                              JOE
                    My wife and I have never sought
                    publicity. But I know when I tell
                    her about how much support there
                    was here today, I know how thrilled
                    and humbled she'll be.
          
          EXT. WASHINGTON MONUMENT. DAY.
          
          A bright DC day. Joggers. Lunchtime office workers.
          
          Valerie walks alone through the park. She sits down on a
          bench next to JIM PAVITT.
          
                              PAVITT
                    Thank you for coming here today.
                    I wanted to convey my outrage to
                    you in person. In all my
                    experience, nothing has disgusted
                    me like this business.
                              (MORE)
                                                                   91.
          
                              PAVITT (cont'd)
                    I know it's not easy for you, but I
                    want you to know how much the
                    agency appreciates your silence in
                    the light of this matter. We know
                    how damaging this has been to you.
                    We can't afford for this knife
                    fight to go on any longer.
          
                              VALERIE
                    I get death threats every day.
                    People threatening to kill my
                    husband. Hurt my children. I went
                    to the agency and I requested
                    security to protect my family. It
                    was declined. Because quote "My
                    circumstances fall outside budget
                    protocols." If this is a knife
                    fight, right now, Sir - we're
                    fighting it alone.
          
          Pavitt starts to chuckle.
          
                              PAVITT
                    Joe Wilson versus the White House.
                    Well, all I can say is Good Luck.
                    But as a friend, I feel I should
                    tell you that those men..
          
          He points down the hill at the White House.
          
                              PAVITT
                    Those few men in that building over
                    there, that small white house, are
                    the most powerful men in the
                    history of the world. How much of a
                    stretch do you think it would be
                    for them to take on Joe Wilson?
          
          He looks at her.
          
                              PAVITT
                    Joe's out there on his own Valerie.
                    But I know we can trust you. Speak
                    to your husband.
          
          He turns and walks off, leaving her alone, looking at the
          White House.
          
          INT. KITCHEN. NIGHT
          
          Joe and Valerie are having supper. The TV is on in the
          background. Joe is energized. Valerie is quiet.
                                                                92.
          
          
                              TV (MATT FREI)
                    The nightmare scenario of an attack
                    on a major city is as real, if not
                    more real, than it was a year ago..
          
                              JOE WILSON
                    Tucker Carlson said yesterday that
                    Wilson's wife sent him on a
                    boondoggle. Said I needed the work.
                    Who needs to work for free? Niger
                    does have restaurants. The Opera.
                    Reminds me alot of Paris.
          
                              RUMSFELD ON TV
                    We know if we do not fight the
                    terrorists over there in Iraq, in
                    Afghanistan and across the world,
                    we will have to face them here.
          
                              JOE WILSON
                    Someone from Vanity Fair called.
                    They want to do a piece on us.
                    Cover-story. Five thousand words.
                    In-depth interview. Photographs of
                    the two of us. What do you think?
          
                              VALERIE
                    What do I think? Do I want my
                    photograph in Vanity Fair? Is that
                    the question?
          
                    JOE WILSON                        NEWS
          We have to keep this as high   In Baghdad today, co-
          profile as possible. We have   ordinated car bombs killed
          to keep fighting.              175 in what is being called
                                         the worst day of insurgent
                                         violence in months...
          
                              VALERIE
                    I'm going to bed.
          
                              JOE WILSON
                    Val...what's wrong? What did I say?
          
                              VALERIE
                    My name is everywhere, Joe. My real
                    name. Everywhere. All this
                    publicity and noise and fighting
                    talk, where is it getting us?
          
                              JOE
                    Karl Rove told the Financial Times
                    they're rolling the earth movers
                    over Joe Wilson. Quote.
                              (MORE)
                                                                    93.
          
                              JOE (cont'd)
                    Earth Movers. Well I'm sorry but
                    they don't get me without a fight.
                    Not without a big fucking fight
                    they don't.
          
                              VALERIE
                    It's the White House Joe. You
                    seriously think you can pick a
                    fight with the White House and win.
                    They'll bury us.
          
                              JOE WILSON
                    They'll bury us if we don't.
                    How loud can you shout Val? Say we
                    get in an argument you think you're
                    right, and I think your wrong. You
                    start making your point with all
                    your might, and I start shouting
                    back, except I'm the White House,
                    and I can a shout a million times
                    louder. Does that make me right?
                    They lied Val. That's the truth.
          
                              VALERIE
                    By the time they're finished here
                    you won't know what that is.
          
                                                            CUT TO:
          
                              REPORTER ON TV
                    Today Special Prosecutor Patrick
                    Fitzgerald, in charge of the
                    enquiry into the leaking of the
                    identity of a covert agent
                    announced that he is convening a
                    Grand Jury to investigate the
                    affair. Among the blizzard of
                    subpoenas issued are ones for the
                    Vice President's chief of Staff
                    Scooter Libby, and special advisor
                    to the President Karl Rove. Both
                    men are under suspicion of having
                    leaked the agent's name to
                    reporters in order to damage former
                    Ambassador Joseph Wilson, a vocal
                    and combative critic of the
                    administration. It is believed that
                    the President himself has been
                    questioned under oath by the FBI.
          
          INT. WHITE HOUSE. DAY.
          
          KARL ROVE walks down a corridor past Libby's secretary.
                                                                     94.
          
          
                              ROVE
                    Scooter home?
          
                                                            CUT TO:
          
          ROVE enters. Libby looks up from his desk.
          
                               ROVE
                    Scooter.
          
          Karl tosses a heavy document onto the desk.
          
                              LIBBY
                    What's that?
          
                              ROVE
                    Findings of the Select Committee on
                    Intelligence. All five hundred
                    pages and eleven pages of it.
          
                              LIBBY
                    Am I going to enjoy it?
          
                              ROVE
                    I know someone who isn't.
          
          Libby smiles.
          
          EXT. PARK. DAY.
          
          A military parade. Three hundred eighteen year old recruits.
          Fresh. Immaculate. Shining in the morning sun.
          
                              TREVOR
                    Look at the soldiers mommy. Look!
          
          VALERIE and the twins join the small crowd and watch. Valerie
          watches the American flag lowered, folded, and stowed.
          
                                                            CUT TO:
          
          EXT. CHILDREN'S PLAYGROUND IN THE PARK. DAY.
          
          The twins are playing on a slide. Valerie sits on a bench.
          
          When she looks back, she sees Joe approaching across the
          playground. He greets the kids, hugging them..
          
                              JOE
                    Go and play now.
          
          And he walks over to Valerie on the bench.
                                                                    95.
          
          
                                VALERIE
                    Hey.
          
          Joe carries a heavy brown manilla envelope. From it he
          removes a thick wad of paper and drops it on the bench.
          
                              VALERIE
                    What's that?
          
                              JOE WILSON
                    That is the Senate Select Committee
                    on Intelligence. On page thirty six
                    it says "the former ambassador's
                    wife offered up his name" and
                    includes a memorandum written by
                    Valerie Plame which says quote "my
                    husband has good relations with
                    both the prime minister and the
                    former Minister of Mines, both of
                    whom could possibly shed light on
                    this sort of activity." I've spent
                    a whole year denying just this.
          
                                VALERIE
                    Joe wait-
          
                              JOE WILSON
                    Telling everyone who'll listen, on
                    TV. In the press. My wife did not
                    send me on a junket.
          
                              VALERIE
                    Joe. I didn`t send you. I didn't
                    have that power.
          
                               JOE WILSON
                    You sent an email. The SSCI found
                    the email.
          
                     VALERIE                        JOE WILSON
          I write hundreds of emails.     Why didn't you tell me? At no
                                          time in the past twelve
                                          months you never thought-
          
                              VALERIE
                    I didn't make the decision. I was
                    asked to write a recommendation.
                    What am I supposed to do. Not say
                    my husband knows about this.
          
                              JOE WILSON
                    They have this now. They will call
                    me a liar. It will stick. They have
                    all the power here, what do I have?
                              (MORE)
                                                                  96.
          
                              JOE WILSON (cont'd)
                    My word. You have to speak up. You
                    have to go on record.
          
                              VALERIE
                    Joe-
          
                              JOE WILSON
                    You have to defend us. Now.
          
          She's cornered. Shakes her head in frustration.
          
                              VALERIE
                    So what do you want me to do Joe?
                    Go to the papers like you did?
                    Write a piece in the New York
                    Times? You know I'd have to submit
                    it to the Agency, and they'll-
          
                              JOE WILSON
                        (Interrupting)
                    The agency? The.. Wait.. Is this
                    the same Agency which won't give
                    you protection for your children?
                    Is this the same CIA that's erased
                    your pension? Where's your loyalty
                    Val? To your husband or the CIA?
          
                              VALERIE
                        (Shouts louder)
                    It's to MY FAMILY. I put my family
                    first. ALWAYS. Were you putting
                    them first when you wrote that
                    fucking article?
          
          People are looking over. The children notice. JOE is stung
          into silence.
          
                              VALERIE
                    I'm taking different routes to and
                    from school. I'm looking in empty
                    rooms..under the beds every time I
                    come home. A home we're going to
                    lose because your work has dried up
                    and your clients are running for
                    cover. What has all this achieved?
                    What changed Joe? Who won?
          
                               JOE WILSON
                        (nods)
                    Maybe you're right. Maybe I should
                    have kept my mouth shut. Is that
                    what your dad taught you Valerie?
                    That what Colonel Sam Plame said?
                               (MORE)
                                                                  97.
          
                               JOE WILSON (cont'd)
                    A good American doesn't rock the
                    boat. A good American looks the
                    other way.
          
          They are both terribly wounded. He looks at her, levelly.
          
                              JOE
                    Did you send me to Niger?
                        (Silence)
                    "His business is struggling. He's
                    on the slide. I'll throw him a
                    bone." Was that it Val? You pull
                    some strings for me? You help your
                    old man out?
          
                              VALERIE
                    How dare you?
          
                              JOE WILSON
                    Did you send me?
          
                              VALERIE
                    You think I'm lying to you.
          
                              JOE
                    Could I tell if you were?
          
          Utter silence.
          
                              VALERIE
                    You fucking bastard..
          
          She stops. SAMANTHA is watching them. She has tears in her
          eyes. Valerie goes over and scoops her up. And Trevor. And
          carries them off. Joe is alone.
          
                                                            CUT TO:
          
          CNN NEWS FOOTAGE
          
                               ANCHORMAN
                    The Senate Intelligence Committee
                    published information that showed
                    Joe Wilson had lied about how he
                    came to be sent to Niger. He
                    denied that his wife had any role
                    in it whatsoever, but a memo Plame
                    wrote on February 12, 2002 proves
                    otherwise.
                                                                  98.
          
          
          MSNBC NEWS FOOTAGE
          
                              ANCHORMAN
                    The Senate Intelligence Committee
                    let some air ­ a lot of air - out
                    of Joe Wilson's overly inflated ego
                    when it issued its first report on
                    prewar intelligence. While the
                    committee heaped most of its
                    criticism on the Central
                    Intelligence Agency for getting
                    almost everything wrong about Iraq
                    and weapons of mass destruction it
                    pointedly rebuked the former
                    ambassador and his infamous mission
                    to Niger.
          
          EXT. HOUSE. DAY.
          
          Morning. Joe, in a suit, comes out of his house. A gaggle of
          reporter is waiting, they follow Joe as he crosses into the
          street towards his car. Shutters and flashbulbs firing.
          
                              REPORTER
                    Mr Wilson, do you still maintain
                    the Vice President's office sent
                    you Niger and not your wife?
          
                              REPORTER 2
                    Mr Wilson was Niger just a free
                    holiday? A boondoggle?
          
                              JOE WILSON
                    My wife did not send me. I didn't
                    receive payment. It was not a
                    holiday. It was a fact finding
                    mission in the run up to a war. But
                    the fact is no one wanted facts.
          
                              REPORTER
                    Are you against our troops Mr
                    Wilson?
          
                              REPORTER
                    Mr. Wilson is it true you donated
                    money to the Kerry campaign?
          
                              REPORTER
                    People are saying your wife does
                    not actually work for the CIA.
          
                              REPORTER
                    Is it true she was just a secretary
                    at Langley?
                                                                     99.
          
          
          Joe turns round, furious, as if he's going to punch the
          reporter. He tenses his jaw.
          
                              JOE WILSON
                    No comment.
          
          Joe gets into his car. The questions roaring around him.
          
          INT. HOUSE. NIGHT.
          
          Valerie is alone. In bed. Watching TV. FOX NEWS. Rogers.
          
                              GUEST
                    The question still remains, who is
                    Valerie Plame? Was she really
                    simply a glorified typist?
          
                              ROGERS
                    Well, I think it's really all about
                    the money. We're talking about a
                    third-rate CIA agent who had a
                    government salary, and she had sent
                    her husband to Niger, and he had
                    come back and didn't give the
                    report to the CIA, but he turned it
                    over in an op-ed to The New York
                    Times. So she was already in the
                    hot seat with the CIA, and so now
                    she's all about the money. Plus
                    it's come out that she was
                    considered kind of a mediocre agent
                    at best.
          
          INT. LIVING ROOM. NIGHT.
          
          Joe puts a sheet on the couch. He looks around for something
          to use as a pillow.
          
          INT. BEDROOM. NIGHT.
          
          Joe comes into the bedroom to get his pillow. Valerie is
          lying in the bed, turned away. He pauses in the doorway.
          
          We see Valerie up close. She begins to speak.
          
                              VALERIE
                    When we were at the "Farm",
                    training to be field officers, they
                    picked four or five of us and told
                    us we'd stood out.
          
          FLASH---- Valerie, kneeling, blindfold, in stress position.
          
                                                           BACK TO:
                                                                 100.
          
          
                              VALERIE
                    We were bound, hooded and thrown in
                    separate cells. They beat us.
                    Deprived us of sleep. All you had
                    to do was give up the name of one
                    of the others. Just one name. For a
                    glass of water. A sandwich. To
                    avoid another punch.
          
          FLASH -- A CAR BATTERY IS CONNECTED.. SZZZZZZ!
          
                              VALERIE
                    Another hour in a stress position.
          
          FLASH -- VALERIE bursts out from under the water. Gasps in a
          draft of air.
          
                              VALERIE
                    They push you until they find it.
                    Til they find the point at which
                    you break. Because they have to
                    know. You have to know. And one by
                    one, everybody broke. Except me. I
                    never broke.
                        (she looks at him)
                    I've been in situations, places
                    where I was afraid. Where if you
                    made a mistake, one tiny mistake,
                    at any moment..
                        (Pause)
                    But I never made a mistake. And
                    that made me feel special. I
                    thought: I'm Different. Bullet-
                    proof. You can't break me. I don't
                    have a breaking point.
                        (Pause)
                    I was wrong.
          
          Joe comes over. He reaches out and touches Valerie.
          Immediately she gets up and walks out.
          
          Alone, he hears the bathroom door close.
          
          ESTABLISHING. CHARLESTON TERRACE. DAY --
          
          INT. UPSTAIRS, WILSON HOUSE. DAY.
          
          Valerie packs the kids stuff up into suitcases.
          
          INT. DOWNSTAIRS. JOE'S STUDY. DAY.
          
          Joe sits at his desk, a book open. Not reading.
                                                                   101.
          
          
          Valerie puts the kid's coats on. The study door is open. She
          knows Joe is there but she doesn't look at him nor he at her.
          
                              VALERIE
                    OK. Say goodbye to your father.
          
          The kids go into -- THE STUDY -- Joe looks up.
          
                                 JOE WILSON
                    Hey guys.
          
                              SAMANTHA
                    We're going on a mystery tour.
          
                              TREVOR
                    Why aren't you coming daddy.
          
          It hits him in the gut.
          
                                 JOE WILSON
                    Come here.
          
          He scoops them up. Kisses him. Her.
          
                              JOE WILSON
                    I'll see you both real soon OK?
          
          In the hallway Valerie waits.
          
                              VALERIE
                    OK guys. C'mon.
          
                                                               CUT TO:
          
          On the driveway, VALERIE puts the kids in the car.
          
          INSIDE -- Joe sits there, not looking as the car pulls away.
          
          EXT. HUNTSVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA. DAY
          
          Valerie gets out of the car. The kids run to hug Grandma and
          Grandpa.
          
          INT. KITCHEN. DAY.
          
          Valerie's mom coralls the kids.
          
                              VALERIE'S MOM
                    Who wants to make toffee apples?
          
                                 KIDS
                    Me! Me!
          
          Val looks downstairs. In the shop, her father, in an apron.
                                                                 102.
          
          
                                LT. COLONEL SAM PLAME
                      Well don't just stand there. Come
                      take a look.
          
          INT. BASEMENT WORKSHOP. DAY.
          
          A wide workbench. Tools in neat rows. Valerie's father, an
          old man in a plaid shirt holds a sander. Points to the table
          he's working on.
          
                                LT. COLONEL SAM PLAME
                      It's cherry. I thought it'd work in
                      your dining room. I can see the
                      great and the good of Washington
                      eating off this thing for years to
                      come. Just sanding her down then
                      she done.
          
                                VALERIE
                      It's beautiful.
          
                                VALERIE'S MOM
                          (calling down)
                      Sam. I keep telling you. They have
                      a table.
          
          Valerie smiles at her Dad who looks at her properly.
          
                                LT. COLONEL SAM PLAME
                      Well come here.
          
          They hug.
          
          INT. FOUR SEASONS HOTEL. DAY.
          
          Joe walks across the floor. He shakes hands with three or
          four businessmen.
          
                                JOE WILSON
                      Good morning.
          
          They all introduce themselves. Joe orders breakfast.
          
                                BUSINESSMAN
                      How's your wife Joe?
          
                                JOE WILSON
                      She's fine. She's well. She uh..
          
          He uses the waitress to change the subject.
          
                                JOE WILSON
                      Hi. I'll just have a strong coffee.
                      I'm not very hungry.
                                (MORE)
                                                                 103.
          
                              JOE WILSON (cont'd)
                        (to the other men)
                    So. How long are you in town for?
          
                                                             CUT TO:
          
          Joe washing his hands in the bathroom. Tense. He looks tired.
          
                                                             CUT TO:
          
          Joe comes out of the bathroom and walks across the foyer and
          back to his table. A woman is talking to his business
          associates. He sees who it is, instantly looks concerned.
          
                              JOE
                    Can I help you? Excuse me. Can I
                    help you?
          
                              RIGHT WING REPORTER
                    I'm just telling these people that
                    you sir are a fraud.
          
                              JOE
                    OK. This is a private lunch. Please
                    leave us alone.
          
                              RIGHT WING REPORTER
                    This man is a liar and a traitor.
                    He is in the pay of left wing hate
                    groups, he is a democrat stooge,
                    and he is an anti-war zealot. He
                    has stabbed our troops the back.
          
          Joe is trying to laugh it off. But everyone is watching.
          
                              JOE
                    OK. Leave now.
          
                  BUSINESSMAN 2                 RIGHT WING REPORTER
          May we get the check?            You have blood on your hands.
                                           You are a fraud and your wife
                                           is a traitor and a fantasist.
          
                                JOE
                    OK.   Leave my fucking table. Now.
                    How   dare you talk about my wife?
                    You   don't know her. You don't know
                    me.   Now leave my table. Now.
          
          The table nearby are watching.
          
                              RIGHT WING REPORTER
                        (To the next table)
                    Ladies and gentleman. Joe Wilson.
                              (MORE)
                                                                 104.
          
                              RIGHT WING REPORTER (cont'd)
                    He likes to lie in the press and he
                    likes to swear and insult women.
          
                              BUSINESSMAN
                    I think we should leave.
          
                              JOE WILSON
                    No. Please.
          
                              BUSINESSMAN 2
                    No really we should.
          
                              BUSINESSMAN
                    We'll call.
          
                              JOE WILSON
                    Shame on you. You call yourself a
                    reporter. Shame on you.
                        (to himself as she leaves)
                    You're a self publicising hack.
                    Fuck you. Fuck you.
          
          Joe storms away. OUT OF THE FOUR SEASONS
          
          Into the street -- He doesn't know what just happened. He
          hails a TAXI. It tears past. He hails another. It stops.
          
          INT. TAXI. DAY.
          
                              JOE WILSON
                        (Shaken)
                    Pallisades.
          
          The driver drives. Joe tries to calm down, but in the back of
          this cab, it all hits him and he starts to lose it. He looks
          sick. His head is exploding. The tension like a vice. He
          opens the window. He gets himself under control, but he's
          white and shaking. The cab driver looks in the rear-view.
          
                                TAXI DRIVER
                    You OK?
          
                                JOE WILSON
                    I'm fine.
          
                              TAXI DRIVER
                    You're him. I see you on the TV.
                    You're Joe Wilson.
          
                              JOE
                    No, I'm not.
          
                              TAXI DRIVER
                    Yes brother. I see you on the TV.
                                                           105.
          
          
                              JOE WILSON
                    That's somebody else.
          
                              TAXI DRIVER
                    No no. I know you. My name is Joe
                    too. I am from Sierra Leone.
                    Freetown. You've been there, right.
                    You like Freetown?
          
          Joe looks out of the window.
          
                              JOE WILSON
                    Joe, we both know Freetown's a shit-
                    hole.
          
          The taxi driver cracks up.
          
                              TAXI DRIVER
                    That's the truth. That's the truth
                    right there, brother. Yes indeed.
                    Sierra Leone is dying. The people
                    at the top have too much power. WAY
                    too much power. Over there we have
                    no truth. Just power. People can't
                    see that from here. Over here it's
                    a different world.
          
          Joe stares out the window.
          
                              JOE WILSON
                    I wouldn't be so sure of that.
          
                              TAXI DRIVER
                    How can you say that? Land of the
                    Free, brother. Home of the Brave.
          
          Joe looks sick.
          
                              JOE WILSON
                    Can we pull over. I'm going to
                    walk. Look keep the change.
          
                              TAXI DRIVER
                    Do you pray, Joe Wilson?
          
                              JOE WILSON
                    No.
          
                              TAXI DRIVER
                    I give you this. It is my church
                    maybe you come. And if you open a
                    bible, look John Chapter eight.
                              (MORE)
                                                                   106.
          
                              TAXI DRIVER (cont'd)
                    Then Jesus said if you continue in
                    my word then are you my disciples
                    indeed. And you shall know the
                    truth and the truth shall set you
                    free.
                        (he smiles)
                    Take care brother Joe.
          
          ..and drives off. Joe looks up. He is standing right outside
          the Capitol.
          
          EXT. BACK FIELD. DAY.
          
          Valerie's father is teaching the kids how to lassoo a pole.
          They both want to go first. He tries to keep the peace.
          
          FROM THE KITCHEN -- Valerie and her mother watch.
          
                              VALERIE
                    How's is he?
          
                              MOTHER
                    Oh you know. Getting better.
                    Shakin' through.
          
          OUT IN THE FIELD -- Val's Dad lassoos the pole. Kids cheer.
          
                                                              CUT TO:
          
          Sunset. Midges swirl in dizzy soups. Out in the field,
          Samantha is trying to lassoo the pole. Valerie comes out and
          joins her father on the porch. He suddenly points.
          
                              LT. COLONEL SAM PLAME
                    OK. See those birds. Those guys.
                    Those yellow fellas. See `em..
          
                              VALERIE
                    Yeah I see `em.
          
                              LT. COLONEL SAM PLAME
                    OK. Listen.
                        (They both listen)
                    You hear that? Ain't that
                    beautiful. They suddenly showed up
                    last year. They're called..
                        (Stops)
                    What are they called? I know their
                    name. They're called something.
                        (He wracks his brain)
                    Anyway. They were here last year.
                    And the year before. God they're
                    beautiful. Look at that.
                                                                  107.
          
          
          They watch the birds.
          
                              VALERIE
                    Dad, I think my marriage is over.
          
          The sun setting. Samantha playing below. He nods slowly.
          
                              LT. COLONEL SAM PLAME
                    Well. I know my little girl doesn't
                    say anything til she absolutely has
                    to.
          
          Tears come to her eyes.
          
                              LT. COLONEL SAM PLAME
                    I'm the same way. And I've said
                    that too. Those exact same words.
                    July 1972. Your mother and I were
                    fighting all the time. I guess she
                    was just plain tired of moving
                    home. Wasn't `til I retired after
                    42 years in the Air Force, I
                    realised we never had a home.
                    Germany, Singapore, Australia,
                    England. Heck I can remember the
                    day you were born in a freezing
                    cold airbase outside Anchorage
                    Alaska. You must have been to
                    twenty schools. Twenty different
                    chances to introduce yourself. Be
                    someone new. But you turned out OK.
                    Responsible. A little too serious.
                    Always looking down the road.
                    Worrying where life was going to
                    drag you next. But it made you
                    tough. Real tough. Maybe tougher
                    than I, or your mother, or anyone
                    knows.
          
                              VALERIE
                    He wants me to go on the record.
                    Speak out. Like that would suddenly
                    make this all go away. We can't
                    even speak to each other.
                        (She shakes her head)
                    I can't see how this comes round. I
                    just can't see it, pop. Not
                    anymore.
          
          He looks at her. With a serious intent. He speak low.
          
                              LT. COLONEL SAM PLAME
                    What they did was wrong Valerie.
                    Plain wrong. Never forget that.
                                                                  108.
          
          
          Valerie look at the floor as her father's words sink in.
          
                              LT. COLONEL SAM PLAME
                    Say through some miracle you even
                    get through this.. you and Joe are
                    always gonna fight. You're
                    fighters. He's a stubborn son of a
                    bitch too. He don't give up easy
                    either.
          
          A dark cloud comes over him. He speaks levelly.
          
                              LT. COLONEL SAM PLAME
                    One day this country is gonna look
                    back on these years, and it's gonna
                    hang its head. It's gonna weep.
                    Then it's gonna stand up straight
                    and walk on.
          
          He watches Samantha in the half-light, still trying to lassoo
          the pole.
          
                              LT. COLONEL SAM PLAME
                    I swear to God, she's gonna keep at
                    that until she licks it.
          
          Valerie smiles. He points to Samantha.
          
                              LT. COLONEL SAM PLAME.
                    They're tougher than we are.
                    They'll piss you off from time to
                    time, but they're built to last.
          
          EXT. CAPITOL. OLD ASSEMBLY HALL. NIGHT.
          
          Joe sits surrounded by the statues of Presidents and law-
          makers. A janitor approaches.
          
                              JANITOR
                    Mister?
                        (No reaction)
                    We're closing. You have to leave.
          
          EXT. CAPITOL. NIGHT.
          
          Joe walks out. The Capitol behind him. He walks away.
          
          EXT. WHITE HOUSE. DAY.
          
          A line of Satellite vans a hundred yards long.
          
          INT. WEST WING. DAY.
          
          Libby is escorted out of the White House by security.
                                                                    109.
          
          
                              MSNBC
                    The vice president's chief of
                    staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby
                    Jr., was indicted Friday on charges
                    of obstruction of justice, perjury
                    and making false statements..
          
                                                            CUT TO:
          
          Libby gets into the back of a black Mercedes. Cameras flash.
          
                     FOX NEWS                          CNN
          ..in the CIA leak               Karl Rove, Bush's closest
          investigation, a politically    adviser, escaped indictment
          charged case that casts a       Friday but remained under
          harsh light on President        investigation, his legal
          Bush's push to war. Libby,      status casting a dark cloud
          55, resigned and left the       over a White House already in
          White House.                    trouble.
          
                              CNN
                    The U.S. military death toll in
                    Iraq exceeded 2,000 this week, and
                    the president's approval ratings
                    are at the lowest point since he
                    took office in 2001.
          
                              MSNBC
                    At a news conference, special
                    counsel Patrick Fitzgerald declined
                    to comment about Rove's
                    involvement.
          
                              FOX NEWS
                    Asked about Cheney, he said: "I'm
                    not making allegations about anyone
                    not charged in the indictment."
          
                              CNN
                    Friday's charges stemmed from a two-
                    year investigation by Fitzgerald
                    into whether Rove, Libby or any
                    other administration officials
                    knowingly revealed the identity of
                    CIA officer Valerie Plame..
          
          INT. LIVING ROOM. NIGHT.
          
          Joe stands in his living room, watching the TV.. Alone.
                                                                 110.
          
          
                              CNN
                    In a statement released Friday
                    afternoon, Libby said, "I have
                    conducted my responsibilities
                    honorably and truthfully. I am
                    confident that at the end of this
                    process I will be completely and
                    totally exonerated."
          
          He turns. Valerie is standing there. He stiffens. Tries to
          cover his shock. Becomes almost formal-
          
                              JOE
                    They served up Libby. He's taking
                    the fall.
          
          He fixes on the screen.
          
                              JOE
                    I bet they've already struck the
                    deal. He takes the fall. He gets
                    pardoned. The deck's stacked. I bet
                    this doesn't even get to a trial.
          
                                 VALERIE
                    Thank you.
          
          He looks at her and sways slightly.
          
                              VALERIE
                    I don't care how angry you get. I
                    don't care what they say about us.
                    I don't care if you hate me. If
                    they take everything away from us,
                    but they are not going to take
                    this. They do not get to take my
                    marriage.
          
          Joe's eyes fill with tears.
          
                              JOE WILSON
                    I'm so sorry.
          
          Tears fill her eyes.
          
                              VALERIE
                    You did good.
          
          He looks her in the eye. Shakes his head.
          
                              JOE WILSON
                    I did it for me.
          
          She shakes her head.
                                                                 111.
          
          
                               VALERIE
                    I know why you did it.
                        (She looks at him)
                    Thank you.
          
          There's a thousand things he could suddenly say. And suddenly
          nothing, as he fights tears.
          
                              JOE
                    If I could give it back to you. If
                    I could give you back who you were-
          
                              VALERIE
                    This is who I am. Right here.
          
          They clasp each other and hug, and all the pain drains away.
          They kiss. As they break she looks into her husband's eyes.
          
                              VALERIE
                    So are you ready to fight?
          
          Joe looks at his wife. His eyes filled with tears.
          
          INT. BEDROOM. DAY.
          
          Valerie getting ready. She puts on make-up. A grey suit.
          
                              JOE (O.S.)
                    How many of you know who put the 16
                    words in the State of the Union
                    address?
          
          ESTABLISHING-- OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY CAMPUS. DAY.
          
                              JOE WILSON (O.S.)
                    Arguably the most important speech
                    the president makes all year. Never
                    more important when the nation is
                    on the brink of war.
          
          INT. CAVERNOUS LECTURE THEATRE, COLUMBUS OHIO. NIGHT
          
          Joe steps out onto a stage. Packed to the rafters. Kids stand
          on window ledges, others hang over balconies. SILENCE.
          
                              JOE WILSON
                    How many of you know who put it in?
                        (No hands.)
                    How many of you know my wife's
                    name?
                        (Everyone in the hall.)
                    How do you know one and not the
                    other?
                              (MORE)
                                                                  112.
          
                                JOE WILSON (cont'd)
                      How did the question move from "Why
                      are we going to war?" to "Who is
                      that man's wife". I asked the first
                      question. Someone else asked the
                      second. It worked. Its still
                      working. Because we still don't
                      know the truth. But you all know my
                      wife's name.
          
          INT. TAXI (MOVING). DAY.
          
          Valerie sits in the back of a cab, looking out of the window.
          
                                JOE WILSON V/O
                      Public officials swear an oath to
                      uphold the constitution. That is
                      their duty. They must be kept to
                      their oath. That is yours. This
                      offense wasn't committed against
                      me. Nor against my wife...
          
          THE HALL.
          
                                JOE WILSON
                      It was committed against you.
                      And if you ever feel angry.
                      Misrepresented. Ashamed even.
          
          VALERIE IN THE CAB.
          
                                JOE WILSON (O.S.)
                      Do something about it. In 1787 as
                      Benjamin Franklin left the
                      Constitution Hall after the last
                      drafting session, he was stopped by
                      a woman on the street. She asked--
          
          THE HALL.
          
                                JOE WILSON
                      -what manner of government have you
                      bequeathed us? Ben said 'A Republic
                      madam. If you can keep it.'
          
                                                            BACK TO:
          
          VALERIE IN THE CAB. THE PASSING STREET REFLECTED ON HER FACE.
          
                                JOE WILSON
                      If you can keep it.
          
                                                              CUT TO:
                                                                  113.
          
          
          INT. AIRPORT TERMINAL TEHRAN. DAY
          
          Sa'ad and his family walk out of the jetway and are greeted
          by officials and men in uniform. Sa'ad smiles and shakes
          hands. His wife nervously shepherds their children.
          
                              JOE WILSON V/O
                    The responsibilty for this country
                    does not lie in the hands of a
                    privileged few.
          
          EXT. MOUNTAINOUS ROAD. DAY
          
          Sa'ad, a Korean man and two officers of the Sepah
          revolutionary guard ride in a four wheel drive through rugged
          Iranian countryside, reflected on his face.
          
                              JOE WILSON
                    We are strong and we are free from
                    tyranny only for as long as each
                    and every one of us remembers their
                    duty as citizens.
          
          EXT. NATANZ NUCLEAR RESEARCH FACILITY, IRAN. DAY
          
          Sa'ad arrives at the heavily fortified reactor. He is
          introduced to several men the last of which is Manucher Vaziri,
          the arms dealer Valerie was tracking.
          
                              VAZIRI
                    Welcome to the revolution my
                    brother.
          
          Sa'ad looks up at the state of the art facility.
          
                                                              CUT TO:
          
          EXT. CAPITOL HILL. DAY.
          
          VALERIE GETS OUT OF THE CAB. She walks down the street past
          the gleaming government buildings.
          
                              JOE WILSON
                    Whether its a pothole at the end of
                    your street or a lie in the State
                    of the Union Address..Speak up. Ask
                    the question. Demand the truth.
          
          Valerie walks. We see the Capitol dome behind her. She begins
          to climb steps..
          
                              JOE WILSON
                    Democracy is not a free ride...
                                                                 114.
          
          
          THE HALL.
          
                                JOE WILSON
                      Man I'm here to tell you that. But
                      its where we live. And if we do our
                      job its where our children will
                      live. God bless America.
          
          A roar erupts from the auditorium.
          
                                                            BACK TO:
          
          Valerie climbs the steps. Suddenly she is engulfed in
          flashes. Dozens of photographers. Reporters. She climbs the
          steps. She passes between the two enormous statues to the
          Spirit of Justice and The Majesty of the Law --
          
          INT. RAYBURN HOUSE. CAPITOL HILL. DAY.
          
          Valerie walks onto the floor of the Oversight Committee.
          Cameras. Microphones. Press photographers. She sits before a
          microphone. Swallows.
          
                                VALERIE
                      Good morning, Mr. Chairman and
                      members of the committee. My name
                      is Valerie Plame Wilson, and I am
                      honored to have been invited to
                      testify under oath before the
                      Committee on Oversight and
                      Government Reform on the critical
                      issue...
          
          The shot dissolves into the REAL VALERIE PLAME delivering her
          testimony to the chamber.
          
                                REAL VALERIE FOOTAGE
                      ...of safeguarding classified
                      information. I'm grateful for this
                      opportunity to set the record
                      straight. I served the United
                      States loyally and to the best of
                      my ability as a covert operations
                      officer for the Central
                      Intelligence Agency. I worked on
                      behalf of the national security of
                      our country, on behalf of the
                      people of the United States until
                      my name and true affiliation were
                      exposed in the national media on
                      July 14th, 2003, after a leak by
                      administration officials. Today I
                      can tell this committee even more.
                                (MORE)
                                                                 115.
          
                                 REAL VALERIE FOOTAGE (cont'd)
                       In the run-up to the war with Iraq
                       I worked in the Counter
                       Proliferation Division of the CIA,
                       still as a covert officer whose
                       affiliation with the CIA was
                       classified. I raced to discover
                       solid intelligence for senior
                       policy makers on Iraq 's presumed
                       weapons of mass destruction
                       program. While I helped to manage
                       and run secret worldwide operations
                       against this WMD target from CIA
                       headquarters in Washington , I also
                       traveled to foreign countries on
                       secret missions to find vital
                       intelligence. I loved my career
                       because I love my country.
          
          BLACKOUT
          
          On March 6th 2007 Scooter Libby was found guilty of perjury,
          obstruction of justice and making false statements to the
          FBI, concerning the leaking of Valerie Plame's identity.
          
          He was handed the maximum sentence: two and a half years in
          prison, and a $250,000 fine.
          
          On July 2nd 2007. The President used his executive authority
          to commute the court's sentence.
          
          Joe and Valerie left Washington and found a new home in Santa
          Fe. They live there today, with their children.
          
          FADE OUT..

Fair Game



Writers :   Jez Butterworth  John-Henry Butterworth
Genres :   Action  Drama  Thriller


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