Making history

STEVE

(also slightly awkward) Right. Well, I guess I'd better be . MICHAEL, surprising himself, silently pulls STEVE towards him. He puts a hand on his cheek.

STEVE stares at MICHAEL, unable to move. The feeling of MICHAEL'S hand on his cheek is like an electric shock. MICHAEL

(whispering, hardly audible) I mean it, really . . . thanks. He leans forward and kisses STEVE on the lips .

STEVE puts his arms round MICHAEL'S neck and holds him tightly.

MICHAEL suddenly ends the kiss and pulls away. He goes to the door, opens it and says, in a clear voice.

MICHAEL Goodnight then, Steve. STEVE

(disappointed, hurt) Right . . . sure. G'night.

MICHAEL immediately closes the door loudly, before STEVE has had a chance to leave. MICHAEL puts a finger to his lips.

STEVE suddenly understands. He smiles in radiant relief, pure love and joy in his eyes .

They embrace.

EXT. QUANTUM MECHANICS BUILDING AFTERNOON FADE TO: LATE

STEVE is by the chestnut tree again, bicycle leaning up beside it. He is reading. He looks up towards the entrance to the building. Nothing. He yawns and looks up at the sky, dreamily contented.

He stretches a hand for his nylon bag and takes out a compad, like the one we saw in MICHAEL'S room: a phone and pager combined.

STEVE smiles to himself as he taps its keys. CUT TO:

INT . MICHAEL ' S ROOMS - SAME TIME

MICHAEL is at the Pad, touching glyphs on the screen with great rapidity and assurance now.

Panes appear and reappear on-screen, zooming and cutting and mixing. We catch sight of large sections of

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text being highlighted and moved around. The name 'Gloder' appears a great deal.

Suddenly, on the screen, a panel appears accompanied by a PURRING BEEP: lFlashmail waiting . . . '

Surprised: Michael touches the screen.

A window opens: 'Flashmail from S Burns, Dickinson Hall 105.'

MICHAEL reads the text. MESSAGE You are so cool . XXX

MICHAEL smiles to himself and closes the window. He touches some more parts of the screen.

CUT TO: EXT. QUANTUM MECHANICS BUILDING - SAME TIME

STEVE stands suddenly and looks towards the entrance of the Quantum Physics Building.

We see, from his POV, LEO, we'll still call him that, emerging from the building, briefcase in hand.

STEVE scrambles to his bike, throws the book into the nylon bag and hoists the bag over his shoulder. ANOTHER ANGLE:

LEO is walking towards the car-park. In the background we see STEVE wheeling casually around in circles behind him.

LEO goes to a car, a small dark-blue convertible, and drops his briefcase onto the passenger seat.

CUT TO:

LEO driving out of the car-park and STEVE pedalling furiously behind him.

CUT TO:

STEVE, crouched low over the handlebars, concentrating on the car ahead.

Suddenly, we hear a BEEP-BEEP-BEEP come from the nylon bag over his shoulder.

CUT TO: EXT. NASSAU STREET, PRINCETON - SAME TIME

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LEO is in west-bound traffic, waiting at a stop light, tapping the steering-wheel. Two cars behind him, casually leaning against a parking meter, is STEVE.

With one eye keeping a watch on LEO's car, STEVE digs out his compad and presses a button. We see the readout.

READOUT

You are one bitching, slamming, waycool dude yourself .

. . XXX

STEVE gives a grin, wide as a tree-frog's. Then he looks up quickly. The lights have turned green and the traffic is starting to move.

The compad still in his hand, STEVE hares after the traffic.

Fortunately it is Princeton's rush-hour.

•There's enough of a line of traffic on the road to allow STEVE to keep LEO in sight.

LEO proceeds west along Nassau and then peels off left. STEVE follows.

CUT TO: INT. MICHAEL'S ROOM, HENRY HALL - SAME TIME

MICHAEL is still busy working. A message comes up: 'Cart full! '

MICHAEL ejects the cart and replaces it with another.

While he is labelling the full cart, another PURRING BEEP comes from the terminal. 'Flashmail waiting!'

MICHAEL touches the screen and reads the text:

MESSAGE

BINGO - QUARRY LOCATED . . . XXX PS: IS 'BITCHING' GOOD?

MICHAEL smiles and touches the screen.

CUT TO: EXT. MERCER STREET, PRINCETON - SAME TIME

STEVE has leaned his bike against a tree and is standing opposite a house.

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We see the blue convertible parked there and the number on the door, 22.

There is a beeping sound.

STEVE gets out his communicator. READOUT

Good work! I've got printing to do. A & B, 7 : 00 pm? PS: 'Bitching' is as good as it gets. XXX

STEVE presses a button on the compad and climbs happily back onto his bike.

CUT TO:

INT. HENRY HALL, PRINCETON - SOME TIME LATER MICHAEL emerges from his room clutching a bag. He closes the door and walks along the corridor.

He jumps down the stairs, five at a time, until he reaches the lobby. He goes to a door marked 'Printing Room' and enters .

INT. PRINTING ROOM, HENRY HALL CUT TO: SAME TIME

MICHAEL, alone in the room, approaches a large printer and presses a button on the front panel. The message comes up: 'Student number?'

MICHAEL punches in his number. A message says: 'Hello, Michael D Young. Please insert cart . . . '

MICHAEL gets out some carts from his bag, goes through them and inserts the first. A

new message appears: '# of copies?'

MICHAEL punches '1' . Another message: 'Collation method? 1=LOOSE 2=PUNCHED 3=LAMINATE-B0UND'. MICHAEL thinks about this for a moment. He looks around and sees, on a shelf above the printer, a small tray of green string document tags. He presses l 2' on the control panel.

The message reads: "Now printing. Please wait. ' There is a humming noise from the machine and the sound of paper being flicked and sucked and fed through rollers.

MICHAEL goes to a chair and gets out a book from his bag. We see the title: Darkness Falls by George Orwell. He starts to read.

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MUSIC FADE TO:

INT. HENRY HALL, PRINT ROOM - TIME LAPSE SEQUENCE

A series of shots:-

The printer's control panel ejects a cart and the display comes up: 'Next cart'.

MICHAEL jumps up from his reading, finds the next cart and places it in the machine.

He returns to the chair.

The control panel ejects the next cart.

MICHAEL replaces the next: the picture FADES to the next cart ejecting. Double and triple exposed images of MICHAEL standing up, sitting down, replacing carts, carts being ejected.

The machine beeps. CLOSE on the display. END MUSIC: The display reads: '224 Pages. You have been billed $25.00. Thank you, Michael D Young.'

MICHAEL stands looking stupidly at the machine. Where is the printout?

He walks round to the back. There is a moulded plastic handle at the rear of the printer.

MICHAEL lifts the handle cautiously.

Nestling neatly, squared, a punched hole lined up exactly at the top left of each page, is a tall stack of printed paper.

The top page reads : -

From Bayreuth to Munich The Roots of Power by Michael D Young

Below it is a turn-of-the-century sepia portrait of the very young Rudolf Gloder.

MICHAEL looks at the manuscript lovingly and breathes quietly to himself . . .

MICHAEL Das Meisterwerk! CUT TO:

EXT. ALCHEMIST AND BARRISTER, PRINCETON -LATER MICHAEL and STEVE are sipping beers in the corner of the courtyard at the table nearest the street. The tables

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either side of them are empty. MICHAEL checks the other tables.

STEVE

Hey, don't be so paranoid. It makes you look suspicious. MICHAEL 22 Mercer Street. You're sure?

STEVE

Sure I 'm sure . I'll show you on the map. Real easy to find. How the printing go?

MICHAEL pulls up his bag from the floor and opens the top. STEVE peeps inside.

STEVE (CONT'D) Jesus, how long is that? MICHAEL

It repeats and repeats. He'll only see the first couple of dozen pages. I'll make sure of that.

STEVE You're the boss.

They sip beer for a while. Suddenly MICHAEL starts. MICHAEL

Hey! It's Friday today. Jo-Beth! STEVE nods glumly.

STEVE

I know. I' ve been thinking about that and it's okay. MICHAEL

'You've been thinking about that and it's okay?' What does that mean?

STEVE I'll go. It's no problem. MICHAEL You'll go on the date? STEVE Uh-huh. I'll go. MICHAEL

But if she . . . you know . . . gets up close and personal? STEVE I'll handle it.

MICHAEL thinks about this for a while. MICHAEL

So now it's my turn to be jealous. STEVE is touched.

STEVE

Come on. You just said that to please me. MICHAEL

Oh yeah?

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STEVE doesn't know whether to believe him or not. STEVE

Another beer . I need one . For courage. MICHAEL

Hey, she's not gonna bite you, you know. You might even enjoy it. She's a nice girl. There's worse things.

STEVE (standing) Right.

CUT TO:

EXT. NASSAU STREET - NIGHT

STEVE is walking slowly along the sidewalk,

now wearing a jacket and tie. He reaches PJ's Pancake House. He looks through the window. He can't see much. He swallows twice, straightens his tie and enters.

CUT TO:

INT. PJ'S PANCAKE HOUSE - NIGHT

JO-BETH is hanging up her waitress uniform. She turns when she hears the door.

STEVE (shyly) Hi there, Jo-Beth.

JO-BETH (embarrassed) Oh. Steve. Hi! Listen, um . . . I tried to get in touch with you . . . but .

STEVE Is there a problem?

A MAN gets up from a seat and turns round. It's RONNIE. RONNIE I am that problem . . .

STEVE

(staring in surprise) Ronnie? RONNIE

(shrugging cockily) Sorry, pal. But, like they r

say. All's fair in love and war, you know what I mean? STEVE

Oh . . . you mean you and . . . ? Oh, I get it. JO-BETH

Steve I'm really sorry. Really I am. It's just that Ronnie and I. We . . .

STEVE

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(putting up a hand) Hey! No, no. Really. It's fine. I understand. Totally. I totally understand. Truly. Believe me.

RONNIE comes up to him grinning broadly. RONNIE

Hey. Put it there, Burns. Taken like a man. STEVE shakes RONNIE'S hand. Serious guy stuff. STEVE

Sure. No problem. I'll . . . I'll see you guys around. Have a good time now, you hear? Enjoy the movie or ... you know . . . whatever . . .

STEVE backs out, trying desperately to look

at the same time bitterly disappointed and generous in defeat, whereas inside he is feeling exultant and relieved. CUT TO:

INT. MICHAEL'S ROOM, BEDROOM, HENRY HALL -NIGHT MICHAEL is lying in bed, reading Darkness Falls. He hears the sound of his door opening and sits up, alert.

The door to the bedroom opens and STEVE stands there. MICHAEL looks surprised to see him and looks at his watch. It is only ten o'clock.

MICHAEL mouths the words, ' How was the movie?' STEVE shakes his head slowly and starts to kick off his shoes.

He mouths the word 'Ronnie'.

MICHAEL switches on the radio next to his bed and turns up the volume. Country and Western music fills the room. MICHAEL

(under the music) Did you say 'Ronnie'? STEVE

He got in there real fast, I'll say that for him. MICHAEL

So you've been chucked? Jilted. Passed over. I never would have thought Jo-Beth had such poor taste.

STEVE smiles at the compliment, sits on the bed and ruffles MICHAEL'S hair.

STEVE

(just loving the word) You are so cool . . .

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He reaches over and switches off the radio. CUT TO:

EXT. MERCER STREET, PRINCETON - EARLY MORNING We PULL BACK from Number 22, where LEO'S blue car is still parked.

We LOOK down the street, beautiful in the early light. Birdsong, light dappling on the sidewalk, an idyllic summer morning.

MICHAEL is leaning against a tree on his bike. He has his bag in his hands and is checking the pages of the manuscript inside.

The first twenty or so pages are loose, the rest are firmly tagged.

He hears a noise and looks up the street to number 22 . A door opens. LEO emerges, a briefcase under his arm. MICHAEL stiffens, arranges the bag over his shoulder and crouches over his handlebars, ready to go.

LEO starts the engine of his car and switches on the radio.

MUSIC floods out. Beethoven's Eroica.

Tumpty-tumming to himself, LEO shoots a cursory glance into the driver's mirror and backs slowly out of the driveway.

CUT TO:

ANOTHER ANGLE: Crouching low, tight to the tree-line, MICHAEL pedalling furiously towards us.

ANOTHER ANGLE: The trunk of the car slowly emerging from the driveway.

ANOTHER ANGLE: LEO humming lustily to Beethoven. ANOTHER ANGLE: from WIDER and HIGHER, MICHAEL'S bike hurtling towards the emerging rear-end of the car. ANOTHER ANGLE: LEO singing very lustily now: he accelerates the car backwards and

THUMP! CRASH!

MICHAEL'S front wheel CRASHES into the blue metal of LEO's car.

PAPERS fly in the air.

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LEO slams on the brakes, aghast. Papers swirl about his head and flutter into the car itself.

LEO cuts the engine, the MUSIC dies. LEO

(leaping from the car) Oh my God. My God!

MICHAEL lies artistically on the road, the bulk of his manuscript still safely held in the bag.

LEO comes round and stoops anxiously. His accent is thickly Germanic, not a hint of American in it.

LEO

Are you all right? Oh, please God you are all right! I didn't see you. I never saw you. Forgive me, forgive me. MICHAEL

(getting to his feet) Woah - that's okay, sir. No bones broken. Whew!

He dusts himself down.

LEO You are sure? You are not hurt? MICHAEL

Guess I shoulda looked where I was going. It's my fault. I was on the wrong side of the street . . . oh Jesus, my assignment!

MICHAEL looks in horror at the pieces of paper scattered all around and inside the car.

LEO

I get them for you. I get them, no problem. Please, stay where you are.

MICHAEL looks into his bag-. MICHAEL

They're mostly still here. Sheesh! I thought I was really screwed then.

LEO leaps about collecting papers from inside the car and around the curb.

LEO Here. They are fine. They are

He breaks off. He has seen the title page. MICHAEL looks at him innocently.

MICHAEL

They all there, sir? I guess I need . . .

(he checks the bag) . . . pages 1 through 24.

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