TEASER

SCENE: THEATER, NIGHT. The scene opens with a long shot from the back of the theater during the middle of a performance. The play is Hamlet, and the scene is Act II, Scene ii, Hamlet's meeting with the treacherous Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.

GUILDENSTERN: My lord, we were sent for.

HAMLET: I will tell you why, so shall my anticipation prevent your discovery, and your secrecy to the King and Queen moult no feather.

The camera begins tracking along the rear of the theater.

HAMLET: I have of late--but wherefore I know not--lost all my mirth, forgone all custom of exercises; and indeed it goes so heavily with my disposition that this goodly frame, the earth seems to me a sterile promontory; this most excellent canopy, the air...

The camera begins tracking down the aisle against the wall.

HAMLET: ...look you, this brave o'erhanging firmament, this majestical roof fretted with golden fire--why, it appeareth no other thing to me than a foul and pestilent congregation of vapors.

The camera finally comes to a stop beside Nikita and Michael. They are in formal clothes, dark and conservative. They are seated at the end of a row, about midway down.

A shot of Nikita, looking not at the play but at a man in a row further down. The man checks his watch and leans over to say something to his companion.

Nikita turns to Michael to say something, but stops. Michael is transfixed by the play, mouthing part of the following speech along with Hamlet.

HAMLET: (bitter, satiric) What a piece of work is a man! how noble in reason! how infinite in faculties! in form and moving how express and admirable! in action how like an angel! in apprehension how like a god! the beauty of the world, the paragon of animals! And yet to me what is this quintessence of dust?

NIKITA: (sotto voce) Michael.

He turns to her, distracted.

NIKITA: Rausch is leaving.

He looks down and sees that the man Nikita was watching is slipping out a side door to the theater. Michael gathers himself while Nikita gathers her purse and wrap. They slide out of their seats and down the aisle, following Rausch, the man who just left.

CUT to an alley outside. Michael and Nikita exit the theater just in time to see Rausch turn from the alley onto the street. They follow.

MICHAEL: Birkoff, are you with us?

CUT to van. Birkoff is watching a street view on his monitor. He sees Michael and Nikita emerge from the alley and follow Rausch. It is a mostly residential street, lined with brownstones and small stores.

BIRKOFF: I got you.

CUT to street. Rausch crosses the street and approaches a newsstand. Michael and Nikita pass beyond him and then stop by a brownstone stoop: Michael pulls Nikita into his arms and they pretend to be lovers cuddling while he watches Rausch over her shoulder. Rausch buys a newspaper, checks his watch, and walks down another block before stopping at a curb. Almost immediately, a car pulls up. The windows are tinted, and since Michael and Nikita are across the street they cannot see the driver when he rolls the window down.

MICHAEL: Run the plates, Birkoff.

CUT to inside the van.

BIRKOFF: Already done. It's a rental car. The name on the agreement is--get this--John Smith. Oh, and surprise, surprise, the driver's license is bogus.

CUT back to street. Rausch is looking around. He then gets into the back seat of the car.

MICHAEL: Birkoff, be ready to move.

Michael and Nikita shift positions, so Nikita is now watching Rausch over Michael's shoulder.

NIKITA: (after a moment) Doesn't look like they're going anywhere. Should we wait?

MICHAEL: Let them finish their business, and then first team can take the car and we'll--

A shot rings out. The back door of the car flies open, and Rausch's body is pushed out. The car races away.

MICHAEL: Birkoff, don't lose them!

From around the corner, the van peels out and follows the car. Michael and Nikita cross the street to Rausch's body. The two of them kneel down. He is still alive, but just barely. Michael leans in.

MICHAEL: Who? Tell me who--

Rasuch writhes in pain. Michael pulls out his gun and points it at his head.

MICHAEL: Tell me who or I'll finish the job.

RAUSCH: (gasping) Aung San (He breaks off, choking.)

Michael rears up, startled.

NIKITA: What is it?

MICHAEL: (roughly, angrily) Birkoff, take that car out now!

CUT to van, outside: it comes to a screeching halt at a stoplight, behind a large truck.

CUT to van, inside.

BIRKOFF: Sorry, Michael. We can't. We're cut off.

CUT back to street corner.

MICHAEL: (standing and jerking away) Damn it!

NIKITA: Michael, what is it?

MICHAEL: (after a moment, looking back at her) Is he dead?

NIKITA: (checking Rausch's pulse) Yes.

Michael holsters his gun and turns away.

MICHAEL: All teams in. (then, over his shoulder to Nikita) Go back to the Section with the mobile comm unit. I'll follow later.

He heads down the street.

NIKITA: Michael, where are you...Michael!

He does not stop when she calls. She stands and looks after him. When the van pulls up, she gets inside slowly.

BIRKOFF: Where's Michael?

NIKITA: I don't know.

CUT to newsstand. Michael stands and stares at the selection of newspapers--a variety, in all languages. Slowly, he picks one up: it's in a strange alphabet, like Arabic but curlier. He pays for it, and then steps away to open it.

On the front page is a picture of a beautiful Southeast Asian woman. Michael folds the paper and then quickly reads the article beside the woman's picture. When he finishes, he looks up, stares across the street, his jaw working. He seems uncertain what to do next.

His gaze falls on the theatre marquee. After a moment, he tucks the newspaper under his arm and crosses the street.

CUT back to the theater: the play. Michael enters from the back, and then stands there, watching the scene and gripping the strange newspaper.

HAMLET: . . . that is the question:
Whether `tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them. To die--to sleep--
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heartache, and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to. `Tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wished. To die--to sleep--
To sleep--perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub!
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause.

A close up of Michael: a quiver of pain passes over him. He closes his eyes, shuts himself off, then opens his eyes, all Section blankness again, and leaves.

ROLL CREDITS

************

ACT ONE: Constructive Engagement

SCENE: OBSERVATION DECK. Madeline and Operations stand side by side, looking down at the floor below, where Nikita, still in her theater dress, is standing beside Birkoff's station. Michael comes up and starts giving orders to Birkoff. Nikita watches him.

MADELINE: (her eyes not leaving the scene below) It's a mistake.

OPERATIONS: I don't see any other way. He's the only one who knows the place and the people--

MADELINE: And he's the only one who has a history with the place and the people.

OPERATIONS: Are you worried about his loyalty?

MADELINE: No. In this case, the last thing I would question is his loyalty.

OPERATIONS: Meaning what?

Madeline doesn't answer at first. She seems to be thinking.

MADELINE: Who are you sending in with him?

OPERATIONS: Just Chen. There'll be a lot of media. We have to keep a low profile.

Madeline doesn't respond, but her gaze shifts to Nikita.

************

SCENE: CONFERENCE ROOM. Michael sits next to Birkoff and two extra ops. Madeline sits at the end of the table, watching Michael steadily. Michael does not look back. Operations enters.

OPERATIONS: Where's Chen?

MADELINE: (with a breath) I reassigned her to the Corliss drop.

OPERATIONS: Reassigned her? Then who--

He looks up as Nikita comes in. She quickly takes a seat.

NIKITA: Sorry. I was out the door when I got the message.

Operations looks over at Madeline. There is a quiet staredown between the two of them. Nikita looks around, wondering what is happening. Michael watches Operations and Madeline, his expression completely neutral.

Finally, Operations narrows his eyes and clicks on the viewscreen. A shot of Rausch entering the theater comes into view.

OPERATIONS: As you all know, this man is, or rather was, Frank Rausch, a highly skilled assassin for hire. He arrived in this country three days ago, presumably to meet with a potential customer. We believe he met those customers last night, but they apparently were not impressed by his sales technique. (A click, and a view of Rausch's dead body) Fortunately, Rausch was able to identify the target before he died, and we have since confirmed it through other sources.

A shot of Nikita, looking over at Michael. He is staring at the viewscreen without blinking. She frowns a little, glances over at Madeline, who also watches Michael. Nikita turns back as Operations clicks the viewscreen again. The picture is of the Southeast Asian woman Michael saw in the newspaper.

OPERATIONS: This is Aung San Suu Kyi, winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts as the leader of the National League for Democracy in Myanmar, formerly and better known as Burma. Until two years ago, she was imprisoned by the socialist military regime of Burma, but now the government is seeking what it calls "constructive engagement" with its neighboring countries and the West, looking to open its borders for the first time in nearly 25 years. Make no mistake, Burma is as xenophobic a nation as you will find on the planet, but now it is beginning to take very small steps toward a more open society.

Michael makes an impatient move.

OPERATIONS: You disagree, Michael?

MICHAEL: (mildly) No.

OPERATIONS: Next week, a group of Burmese government officials along with Aung San Suu Kyi will be meeting with a trade delegation from the west in Thailand. We believe that whoever killed Mr. Rausch intended to hire him to assassinate Aung San Suu Kyi at that meeting. The question is, who would want to assassinate her? The most obvious choice would be General Than Shwe, the current head of state, but our intel points in a completely different direction.

He clicks on the viewscreen: a fuzzy picture of a group of Burmese rebels, all in fatigues with yellow bandanas around their necks. In the background are thatched-roof huts and, further back, densely forested mountains.

OPERATIONS: Burma is full of rebel factions, mostly guerilla units working out of the hill country. Of late the most active and vocal has been this group, notable for their use of Western-style dress and tactics. They call themselves the Free Burma League.

MICHAEL: The Free Burma Now League.

OPERATIONS: (impatiently) Fine. The Free Burma Now League.

MICHAEL: It's an important distinction. The Free Burma League advocated a gradual, orderly transition to a democratic society. The Free Burma Now League seeks the immediate destruction of the current government, replacing it with anarchy.

OPERATIONS: Thank you for the history lesson, Michael. Now, as I was saying, Aung San Suu Kyi recently made a public statement denouncing the methods of the Free Burma NOW League, which, given her stature as damn near a saint in the eyes of the people, could mean these rebels might face not just the opposition of the military, but that of every peasant, farmer, Buddhist monk, and drug dealer in the country. We believe the league intends to assassinate her before she can do further damage--and we intend to do everything we can to stop them.

He clicks off the viewscreen abruptly.

OPERATIONS: (tersely) Tactical briefing will be at 1700 hours. Madeline, my office.

He tosses the remote onto the table and leaves abruptly. Madeline sighs, stands up, and follows him. Nikita watches her leave, and then turns to Michael, who is also standing to leave.

NIKITA: What was that about?

MICHAEL: What do you mean?

NIKITA: Oh, come on, Michael. That wasn't a briefing. That was a showdown at the OK Corral.

MICHAEL: (distantly) I really don't know what you're talking about.

He leaves without a word. Nonplussed, Nikita falls back in her chair.

************

SCENE: MADELINE'S OFFICE. Nikita sits on the sofa, her knees up. She chews on her hair and stares at the wall. Madeline enters.

MADELINE: Nikita, good. I was just going to look for you.

NIKITA: I hope that means you're going to tell me what's going on.

Madeline hands her a disk.

MADELINE: Background on Burma and Aung San Suu Kyi. You leave first thing in the morning, so you'd better get to it.

NIKITA: That's not what I wanted to know.

MADELINE: (crossing to her desk) Oh? What did you want to know?

NIKITA: Why you suddenly switched Janet and me.

MADELINE: Janet Chen is a good operative. She can handle the Corliss drop just fine.

NIKITA: That's not what I asked, Madeline.

MADELINE: I know. (She looks up, and her expression is very serious.) There's a lot I can't tell you, Nikita, but trust me--you were the better choice for this assignment.

Nikita looks at her, debating. Finally, she sighs, unwinds, and gets up.

NIKITA: OK. I guess I'll have to make do with that.

Just as Nikita reaches the door, Madeline stops her.

MADELINE: Nikita.

Nikita turns.

MADELINE: Why don't you ask Michael?

***********

SCENE: SECTION TRAINING ROOM. Nikita rounds the corner and comes upon Michael, in martial arts clothes (black belt, of course), bowing to the martial arts instructor. She backs up a bit around the corner, out of sight, and watches, a smile on her face.

Michael and the teacher begin to spar. At first, it is all standard moves, just exercise, but slowly the match becomes more serious. They begin to spar for real, Michael's expression growing colder and more ruthless with each chop and kick and throw. Others in the training room stop to watch. Nikita's smile fades, replaced with growing alarm.

A close up of Michael, intensely focused, suddenly cuts to a full shot as Michael brutally throws the instructor over.

From an entrance opposite to Nikita, Operations enters. Nikita steps back even more around the corner.

OPERATIONS: That's enough.

Michael, his back to Nikita, catches himself up stiffly. The instructor gets to his feet. They stare at one another, and then slowly bow to each other. The instructor walks away, and the onlookers disperse. Michael stays put and looks across at Operations.

OPERATIONS: My office, Michael.

Operations leaves, and Nikita turns to slip away.

MICHAEL: (without turning) Nikita.

She stops, and he leans down to pick up a towel. Wiping his face, he turns to her.

MICHAEL: What is it?

She frowns and shakes her head a little.

NIKITA: Nothing. I'll see you in the morning.

With a look back at him, she leaves. Michael continues to dry his face as he watches her leave. His expression is thoroughly cold and distant.

************

ACT II: Mai Pen Ra

SCENE: SECTION AIRPLANE. It is a small executive-type plane with sofas and tables. Nikita sits on one of the sofas. Beside her is a laptop. She is turned toward it, one arm on the back of the sofa with the other arm free to work the keys. Beside and behind her on the sofa is Michael. He sits with his head back and his eyes closed, as if trying to sleep. They are the only ones on the plane.

NIKITA: (reading the screen) Mai pen ra. (She looks over her shoulder at Michael.) What does that mean?

MICHAEL: (without opening his eyes) It doesn't matter.

NIKITA: It might.

MICHAEL: No, that's what it means. "It doesn't matter."

NIKITA: Oh. (She sighs and looks around the empty plane.) Michael--

MICHAEL: Yes.

NIKITA: Why are we the only operatives on this mission?

Michael opens his eyes but doesn't raise his head. She twists in her chair to look back at him.

MICHAEL: There'll be plenty of security. Interpol, the Agency, the Thai military--

NIKITA: Since when does Operations trust anyone but his own people?

MICHAEL: It's not a high priority for the powers that be, even those in the corporate world. Burma is still a primitive agricultural state, and its human rights record would make it a public relations nightmare for most American companies.

NIKITA: Then why the trade talks?

MICHAEL: To keep the lines of communication open. Burma gets most of its military support from China. (He pauses.) That's the official explanation.

NIKITA: What's the unofficial one?

He sits up, leans over her, and hits a key on the laptop. A map of southeast Asia appears.

MICHAEL: There is one product that the area produces that the West has an insatiable appetite for. It is grown here (he points on the map), this mountainous region along the borders of Burma, Laos, and Thailand. It's called the Golden Triangle.

He is still leaning over her and she watches him closely. His eyes stay fixed on the map.

NIKITA: And what product would that be?

MICHAEL: Opium. (He looks at her.) Heroin.

They look at each other for a moment.

NIKITA: Michael--

He sits back, away from her and avoiding her gaze.

MICHAEL: Yes.

NIKITA: (unable to ask the question she wants to) Did you know her? Aung San Suu Kyi.

Michael looks at her.

MICHAEL: No, I've never met her. (then, almost reluctantly) I saw her once. Leading a procession of protesters down a street in Rangoon. Yangon, now.

NIKITA: What was she like?

MICHAEL: Everything they say she is. Beautiful. Radiant. Noble.

NIKITA: (abruptly) Michael, why am I here?

After a long pause, Michael looks out the window of the airplane.

MICHAEL: We're beginning our approach.

***************

SCENE: BANGKOK HOTEL ROOM, DAY. It is a Western-style room, moderate to high price. Nikita stands at a window and looks out. Michael enters, carrying two tickets. He sets them on the dresser.

MICHAEL: All the flights are booked. We'll have to take the overnight train to Chiang Mai..

NIKITA: (moving a bit to see further out the window) That's OK. I like trains.

He joins her at the window.

MICHAEL: What are you looking for?

NIKITA: Something to tell me I'm in Bangkok and not Boise.

Michael smiles, ever so slightly, the ice beginning to melt.

MICHAEL: Come with me.

CUT to Bangkok bazaar. Thai music plays over the following montage. Nikita and Michael walk along, Nikita smiling at the array of brightly-colored goods on display. She points and asks a question, and Michael answers. She goes over to a vendor. Michael stays where he is, looking around as if remembering.

CUT to food stall. Nikita watches uncomfortably as a woman loads a bowl with rice and shrimp curry. Michael takes the bowl and chopsticks and hands them to Nikita. He nods, as if urging her to try it. She does and then fans her mouth fiercely as if it is very spicy. He smiles, and turns back to the woman to place his own order.

CUT to street performance of Thai dancers. In the back of the crowd of spectators stand Michael and Nikita. She is loaded down with shopping bags and shifts to arrange them while she watches the show. Michael reaches over and takes a few of the bags from her. She smiles and thanks him, and turns to watch the show, enraptured. Michael's eyes stay on her, as if her enjoyment is more interesting than the dance. He shifts the bags to his other hand, and with his free hand brushes her hair back and lets his hand settle on her shoulder. She gives him a quick smile. They both turn to watch the show.

CUT to residential street. Nice, middle-class houses line the street, with a few shops and an outdoor cafe. A tuk-tuk (three-wheeled pedicab) pulls over--Michael and Nikita are the passengers. They get out and Michael pays the driver. The tuk-tuk drives away, and Michael stands for a moment, looking around. Music subsides.

NIKITA: (looking around, unimpressed) Well, this is OK, I guess.

Michael points to one of the houses.

MICHAEL: I used to live there.

She looks at him, surprised.

MICHAEL: My father was a diplomat. The embassy is just down there (He points down the street).

NIKITA: (not knowing what to say) Wow.

MICHAEL: The cafe across the street used to have the best tom khaa ghai in the city.

NIKITA: (shifting her packages and linking an arm through his) Well, let's go see if it still does.

After a moment, he smiles and starts across the street to the cafe.

NIKITA: What's tom khaa ghai?

*************

SCENE: CAFE, LATER. A waiter leaves after taking their order. Michael sits back and looks across the street at his old house. Nikita watches him.

NIKITA: So your father was a diplomat. (Pause) What about your mother?

MICHAEL: She died when I was very young. I barely remember her.

Nikita plays with her chopsticks, willing him to go on.

MICHAEL: I spent most of my childhood in Europe. Boarding schools. Paris, Vienna, Zurich.

NIKITA: Did you see your father much?

MICHAEL: No. Weekends and holidays I spent with my grandfather in Geneva. My mother's father. He was a wealthy financier. I was his only grandchild, and he was determined that I would turn out. . . well.

NIKITA: And your father?

MICHAEL: Grandfather didn't think much of him. Thought he was just a paper-pusher. (a self-conscious glance at Nikita) My grandfather could be a very forceful personality.

NIKITA: How did you end up in Bangkok?

MICHAEL: My father was transferred here when I was sixteen. I guess he saw it as his only chance to get me away from Grandfather, so he insisted I come with him. (wryly) I wasn't very happy about it, and I let him know.

NIKITA: (with a small smile) Yeah? How?

MICHAEL: (with an even smaller smile) Let's just say I found my grandfather's lessons in arrogance quite useful. As soon as I arrived, I made a point of seeking out people my father would consider "the wrong sort."

His smile disappears, and he stares across the street again. Melancholy.

MICHAEL: Then I met Paul.

****************

SCENE: FLASHBACK. Patpong: the red-light district of Bangkok--a real den of iniquity, with hookers, junkies, peep shows, strip joints. The music sets the time period: Lipps's "Funkytown."

"Won't you take me to
Funkytown?
Won't you take me to
Funkytown?"

Down the street walks a teenage Michael. Beside him is another teenage boy. Both are dressed as Mick Jagger wannabes: long scraggly hair, ripped jeans, shirts hanging out and open to their navels.

"Won't you take me to
Funkytown?
Won't you take me to
Funkytown?"

Young Michael and his friend strut with the self-importance of adolescents, making crude comments to the hookers as they pass. Suddenly, Michael's friend stops and points. Michael looks.

The music changes to Elton John's "Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy." During the opening guitar strum, the camera pans past the door of a peep show to a makeshift stall set up on the street--a plank and two barrels. A homemade sign leaning against the barrels reads "Free Burma League," and the two young men manning the stall are college/grad-school age. Their long hair is neatly tied back and their clothes are "cool" but clean. They are handing out pamphlets to the riffraff that walk by. One of the young men is a washed-out blond; the other dark-haired one is clearly the leader: handsome, charismatic, articulate, passionate, with quite a few hookers hanging on his every word. This is Paul.

A shot of young Michael, looking at the display with bored disdain, and urging his friend to move on. The friend resists, pointing out the hookers hanging around.

"Captain Fantastic, raised and regimented
hardly a hero
Just someone his mother might know
Very clearly a case for cornflakes and classics
Two teas both with sugar please--"

A shot of the stall. Paul spots Michael and his friend, and he starts waving them over with a pamphlet. He grins and nods his head to the hookers.

"In the back of an alley
While little Dirt Cowboys turned brown in their saddles
Sweet chocolate biscuits
And red rosy apples in summer--"

A shot of Michael and his friend. The friend grins and crosses the street. Paul gives him a pamphlet and urges him to read it; Michael's friend pockets the pamphlet and turns immediately to the hookers. Michael stays where he is, leaning against a storefront and lighting a cigarette. Paul looks over and waves to him and nods again to the hookers. Michael takes a drag of his cigarette and doesn't respond. Paul shrugs and goes back to work.

"For it's hay make
And hey mom, do the papers say anything good--
Are there chances in life for little Dirt Cowboys,
Should I make my way out of my home
in the woods--"

Michael's friend walks off with a couple of hookers. As they pass the peep show entrance, an older man, obviously the owner, comes out and begins arguing with Paul, apparently upset that his customers are being scared away. Paul refuses to move. Michael smiles and smokes. The older man starts to get violent, shoving pamphlets to the ground and pointing his finger in Paul's face. Paul pushes his hand away forcefully, and the older man stumbles back. Paul comes around the stall and faces the older man, who gets up, enraged, and yells toward his front door. Three big bruisers come out and face Paul.

Michael smiles even broader and drops the cigarette. He crosses the street and joins Paul. The washed-out blond young man drops his pamphlets and splits. The music changes again: Bob Seger's "Ramblin' Gamblin' Man."

"Yeah, gonna tell my tale now
Come on give a listen--"

Michael and Paul face the three bruisers. Bruiser #1 steps up and flexes his muscles. Paul looks over at Michael, shrugs, and then lets loose with a strong right hook. Bruiser #1 falls back, knocking down Bruiser #2. Michael jumps in and nails Bruiser #3.

"`Cuz I was born lonely
Down by the riverside
Learned to spin the fortune wheel
throw dice--"

Bruiser #1 is up and mad. He charges Paul like a bull. Paul deftly steps aside and lets the bruiser charge past him. Bruiser #2 gets up with a roar and a fist flying. Michael stuns him with a punch to the nose.

"I was just thirteen
when I had to leave home
knew I couldn't stick around
had to roam--"

Bruiser #3 grabs Michael from behind and throws over the stall. Paul jumps the guy from behind, but then is grabbed by Bruiser #1 and thrown into the street.

"I ain't good looking
but you know I ain't shy
Ain't afraid to look you, girl,
in the eye--"

Hookers run to help Paul. Michael gets up by himself. The bruisers are all looking at Paul, flexing their muscles, ready to move as soon as the girls back off. Michael takes the stall's plank and, holding it in front of him, charges toward the bruisers.

"If you need some lovin'
and you need it right away
Take a little time out
Then maybe I'll stay--"

With one move, Michael knocks all three bruisers to the ground. Paul scrambles to his feet and joins Michael. They give each other a high-five. Suddenly Paul turns and looks back at the entrance to the peep show. The owner stands there with two more bruisers. Paul punches Michael in the arm, and Michael looks over as well. The two young men exchange an "oops" look.

"Then I got to ramble
Lord I got to gamble
Oh, I got to ramble
And I was born a ramblin' gamblin' man--"

Paul and Michael turn tail and run down the street.

**********

SCENE: FREE BURMA LEAGUE HEADQUARTERS. It isn't much of a headquarters: a small room with a few typewriters, stacks of pamphlets and newspapers, and a few signs and banners. Of primary interest are the photographs tacked along the walls: terrible pictures of starving children, lines of soldiers holding guns on peasants, piles of bodies being guarded by soldiers while malnourished peasants dig graves.

When the scene opens, young Michael (a large bruise forming on his right eye) is staring at the pictures. Paul enters from a back room, carrying an ice pack.

PAUL: Here. (He tosses the pack to Michael, who catches it deftly.) It's not purified, but that shiner won't know the difference.

MICHAEL: Thanks. (He puts the pack on his eye and continues looking at the pictures.)

PAUL: No, thank you. If you hadn't jumped in, I'd be a lump of bloody flesh on the street right now.

Paul takes a seat and lights a cigarette, eyeing Michael.

PAUL: Why did you jump in?

MICHAEL: I don't know. Didn't seem like a fair fight.

PAUL: This part of the world isn't known for its fair fights.

MICHAEL: (shrugging) Yeah, I guess.

There is silence for a few minutes. Michael keeps looking at the pictures, seemingly unable to take his eyes off them.

PAUL: So what's a nice white boy like you doing in the Patpong?

MICHAEL: (shrugging again) You know--Saturday night--

PAUL: Dangerous way to spend a Saturday night.

MICHAEL: (plopping into a chair with teenage insolence) Yeah? So--what are you, my father?

PAUL: (drawing on his cigarette and blowing out the smoke slowly) What's your name?

MICHAEL: Michael.

PAUL: I'm Paul.

He puts the cigarette in his mouth and holds out his hand. After a moment, Michael shakes it.

PAUL: So you like danger, do you, Michael?

**************

SCENE: BACK TO PRESENT. Nikita and Michael sit at the cafe table, the remnants of dinner spread out on the table.

MICHAEL: Then I went to work for the Free Burma League.

NIKITA: I bet your father was relieved.

MICHAEL: (with a short humorless laugh) Hardly. My father was a staunch conservative. Adolescent rebellion wasn't enough to send me home, but radical liberalism was. As soon as he found out, he bought my plane ticket.

NIKITA: What happened?

MICHAEL: My grandfather died.

NIKITA: I'm sorry.

MICHAEL: (bitterly) His final insult to my father was to leave his entire fortune to me. I was independently wealthy before I was old enough to vote.

NIKITA: Wow.

MICHAEL: Of course, my father managed to tie it up legally until I was eighteen. (He stops on noticing a strange look on her face) What?

NIKITA: Nothing. I was just thinking....how very different our lives have been.

Michael looks at her a long time, then reaches over to take one of her hands.

MICHAEL: Maybe not so different. We neither of us had much in the way of family.

She reaches over and covers his hand with her free one.

NIKITA: Tell me the rest.

MICHAEL: (sighing) It's a long story. And a long time ago. It doesn't matter now.

NIKITA: It does to me.

MICHAEL: (looking at his watch) We have a train to catch.

He starts to get up, but she clutches his hand fiercely.

NIKITA: It's a long train ride.

He looks at her, and then stands. He pulls money out and leaves it on the table while she gathers her belongings. They leave the cafe, but Michael stops for a moment to look at the house across the street.

CUT to flashback. Elton John's "Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy" starts again. A ramshackle van with a "Free Burma" sign pulls up to the house. Paul is driving. He honks the horn, then sits beating the steering wheel to the beat of the music.

"For cheap easy meals
Are hardly a home on the range
Too hot for the band
With a desperate desire for change--"

From the house, young Michael emerges, slamming the door behind him. He runs down and hops into the van. The door to the house opens: a man in a suit stands there. This is Michael's father--only he is too far away for us to see clearly.

"We've thrown in the towel too many times
Out for the count when we're down--"

Michael says something to Paul, and they laugh. Paul puts the van in gear and drives away.

"Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy
From the end of the world to your town."

CUT back to present. Michael still faces the house. His eyes close, pain contracting his brow.

CUT to a quick, flashing image, so fast we hardly see it: Paul on the ground, covered in blood.

CUT back to present. Nikita stands on the curb, next to a tuk-tuk.

NIKITA: Michael?

MICHAEL: (eyes opening abruptly) Coming. **************

ACT THREE: Slings and Arrows

SCENE: TRAIN CAR, NIGHT. Michael and Nikita have the compartment to themselves. He is stretched out on one bunk, asleep, his arm bent over his eyes. She is sitting on the other side, awake and staring out the window.

CUT to a shot of the view outside: rice fields under a full moon.

CUT to inside the car. Michael is starting to move, jerking his head from side to side. Nikita looks over him.

Michael's movements get stronger. Nikita sits forward, uncertain what to do.

MICHAEL: (mumbling) Mahou' pabu...mahou' pabu...behmale hsayawun--

Nikita gets up and kneels beside him. She gently shakes his shoulder.

NIKITA: Michael, wake up--

MICHAEL: (thrashing) Hsayawun....mahou' pabu....ya'pa....YA'PA!

He wakes and sits up, shaking and breathing hard, dripping with sweat. In a flash, Nikita is sitting beside him. He leans forward, his head in his hands, and she puts her arm around him.

NIKITA: It's OK. It's OK. It was a dream. Just a dream.

Gradually, Michael's breathing slows. He lowers his hands, but keeps his head down.

MICHAEL: (his voice raspy) What time is it?

NIKITA: Just after midnight.

MICHAEL: (sitting back and stretching his neck) Six more hours.

NIKITA: (watching him, worried) Michael, I wish you'd let me help.

MICHAEL: (heavily) There's nothing you can do.

NIKITA: I can listen.

Abruptly, he gets up and, from the overhead bin, takes down an overnight bag. From a side pocket, he pulls out a bottle of water.

NIKITA: It's why Madeline sent me, isn't it? Because she knew you could talk to me.

Michael steps over to the train window. He leans against it, looking out and drinking from the bottle of water.

MICHAEL: Probably.

NIKITA: So talk to me.

MICHAEL: (slowly, with difficulty) It didn't really start until my 18th birthday. For a present, Paul gave a trip across the border into Burma. A chance to see the country I'd been fighting for.

Nikita moves down the bunk so she is sitting opposite him and can see his face.

NIKITA: I thought the borders were closed.

MICHAEL: They were, but Paul knew which border guards to bribe. (then, bitterly) And I had enough money to bribe the Pope.

NIKITA: Your inheritance.

MICHAEL: (looking at her) Yes. I thought we'd go to Rangoon or Mandalay--maybe Bagan to see the temples--but instead Paul headed north into the hill country. Shan Province. (He looks out the window again.) The Golden Triangle.

CUT to FLASHBACK: An extreme long shot of densely forested mountains. Burmese music rises.

CUT to mountain road, hardly passable. Paul's van--minus the Free Burma sign--maneuvers its way across the road.

MICHAEL IN VOICE OVER: You can drive for days without seeing anything but trees and rocks. Rich, dense forest--nothing but the cries of animals you never see, although I think I saw a tiger once. You begin to think you're the only humans who ever walked that part of the earth. But of course you're not--

CUT to another mountain road, only this one has a poppy field with workers in longyis tilling the soil and men in fatigues with guns guarding the edges. One of the workers looks up: a very old man with a wizened face and glazed eyes.

MICHAEL IN VOICE OVER: The people that do live there seem frozen in time. It's medieval. They work like serfs for their war lords, or in most cases drug lords.

The camera pans around, and on a distant slope we catch a glimpse of Paul's van.

CUT to inside Paul's van. Young Michael is leaning out the window, eagerly watching the scene below with avid curiosity.

MICHAEL IN VOICE OVER: I was 18 and stupid. I thought it all a great adventure.

CUT to another mountain road, this one leading into a village of thatched-roof huts. People come out of their houses at the approach of Paul's van.

MICHAEL IN VOICE OVER: I was actually disappointed when I found out our destination was not the home of a great drug lord, but just a small settlement of farmers. Vegetables, not opium.

The van stops, and Paul and Michael get out. They are surrounded by villagers, greeting them with shy smiles and nods. Then, from one of the huts, a young woman exits. She sees them and her face lights up with a huge smile.

MICHAEL IN VOICE OVER: I was even more disappointed when I found out the real reason for the trip.

The young woman runs over to Paul. He catches her in his arms and whirls her around.

CUT BACK TO PRESENT. Michael is looking at Nikita with a small, self-deprecating smile.

MICHAEL: Paul was getting married.

NIKITA: Ahh. No more Saturday nights in the Patpong--

MICHAEL: Something like that. (He looks out the window again.) But then Paul introduced us.

CUT to FLASHBACK. Paul is introducing them. The young woman holds out her hand and, with a sweet smile, does a small curtsy when young Michael shakes it.

MICHAEL IN VOICE OVER: Her name was Sun Ye.

SUN YE: Mi-kel. Nice meet you.

MICHAEL: (with a shy smile) It's nice to meet you, too.

Both he and Sun Ye look over at Paul, who smiles approvingly and puts a proprietary arm around Sun Ye. A close up of Sun Ye, looking at Paul adoringly.

MICHAEL IN VOICE OVER: She had a grace about her I'd never seen in a woman. A natural kindness and beauty.

CUT TO PRESENT. Nikita has her legs up and her arms wrapped around her knees. She is watching Michael intently. He looks over at her.

MICHAEL: When I saw Aung San Suu Kyi leading that procession years later, the first thing I thought of was that day in the village, the day I met Sun Ye.

NIKITA: (awkwardly) Did you--uh, were you--

MICHAEL: In love with her? No. I think I was in love with them. With Paul and Sun Ye. With the village and the mountains and the smell of the air. (His head falls back as he remembers.)

CUT TO FLASHBACK: A vegetable field. Michael and Paul watch as a farmer hooks up oxen and prepares to till the field.

MICHAEL IN VOICE OVER: We stayed almost a month.

CUT to the same field, another day. Michael and the farmer now work the oxen together and plow the field. They stop for a moment. Michael pulls out a yellow bandana and wipes his face, looking around him. He sees Paul at the edge of the field and waves. Paul waves back.

MICHAEL IN VOICE OVER: In the day we worked in the fields. I'd never done that sort of thing before. It was the most satisfying work I've ever done in my life.

CUT to inside a hut, night. Michael, Paul, and Sun Ye recline on the floor around a low table set with food, plates, cups, and a large pitcher. Paul and Sun Ye each have books in hand. Michael watches with a smile as Paul reads something to Sun Ye and she reads something back.

MICHAEL IN VOICE OVER: At night we drank lychee wine and read Shakespeare. A different play each night. Paul was teaching Sun Ye English, and he said he wanted her to learn the best English.

Paul grimaces, grabs his heart, and falls back. Sun Ye throws her book at him; he grabs her and pulls her down for a kiss. Michael smiles wistfully and sips from his cup.

CUT TO PRESENT. Michael is staring out the train window sadly.

MICHAEL: I think that was the last time in my life I was truly happy.

Nikita looks away, stricken by tears.

MICHAEL: (his tone changing) Then, the night before we were supposed to return to Bangkok, I came back to reality.

CUT to FLASHBACK: THE VILLAGE, NIGHT. Paul and Michael leave one of the huts. They walk out a bit, stretching as if they've just finished a meal. Michael takes out a pack of cigarettes and lights one.

PAUL: Let me have one of those.

MICHAEL: (grinning) I thought you gave them up. Aren't you a good Buddhist husband now?

PAUL: One can only give up so much for nirvana.

Michael tosses him the pack and Paul lights one gratefully. He tosses the pack back, then blows out the smoke while watching Michael with a speculative eye.

PAUL: (abruptly) Come on. I want to show you something.

He walks away and Michael, after a moment, follows. Paul crosses to the van, parked at the edge of the village. Cigarette dangling from his mouth, he jerks open the back door and then stands back for Michael to look inside.

MICHAEL: Yeah?

Paul reaches in and, with one hand, pulls up the floor of the back of the van. He holds it up and gestures for Michael to look. Uncertain, Michael steps forward and looks down.

In the bottom false floor of the van are a dozen rifles.

MICHAEL: (stepping back as if burned) What the--

Paul puts the floor back in place and then sits on the back fender of the van.

PAUL: (quietly and carefully) This isn't a farming village. Sun Ye and her people--they're the rebels we've been working to support. I've been running arms and supplies to them for over a year.

MICHAEL: Jeez, why didn't you tell me?

PAUL: I had to be sure your interest in the cause wasn't just a passing phase. Or a way to get back at your father. I had to be sure your commitment was true.

MICHAEL: You know it is.

PAUL: Do I?

MICHAEL: Come on, what have I been doing the last two years? You know I want to help these people.

PAUL: Why?

MICHAEL: Because...because I can. Because I need to.

Paul takes a drag off his cigarette and doesn't answer.

MICHAEL: Because they deserve it.

Paul smiles and nods.

PAUL: OK.

He gets up and closes the van door. They start walking slowly back.

PAUL: I'm not going back to Bangkok. I'm going to stay here with Sun Ye. (shrugs a bit sheepishly) Be a married man for awhile, you know?

MICHAEL: (with an embarrassed adolescent grin) Yeah.

They reach the door of the hut they left earlier. Paul stops, takes a last puff, and grinds out his cigarette.

PAUL: We need someone to take over for me. Someone to take over the weapon runs.

Michael stares at him, open-mouthed. After a moment, he drops his own cigarette and grounds it out. He looks up at Paul, swallows, and nods. Paul smiles, pats him on the shoulder, and then goes into the hut. Michael follows.

CUT to inside the hut. Sun Ye looks up at their entrance. She looks from Paul to Michael and back to Paul. Paul nods. She smiles, stands, and comes over to Michael. She kisses him on both cheeks. Then she reaches out and pulls Michael and Paul to her. The three of them smile and hug.

A close-up of young Michael, smiling.

MICHAEL IN VOICE OVER: I was a kid, and he was my hero.

A pan and a freeze frame on a close-up of a smiling Paul.

MICHAEL IN VOICE OVER: The son of a bitch.

CUT TO PRESENT: Michael is staring blackly out the train window.

MICHAEL: For the next six years, I spent my days in a college classroom, undergrad then grad school.

He looks over at Nikita.

MICHAEL: I spent my nights and weekends learning to be a smuggler and a mercenary.

***********

SCENE: DINING ROOM, MORNING. A man in a business suit sits at the table, eating breakfast and reading the newspaper. He has his back to the camera, so we do not see his face. The camera pans up slightly and we see the entrance foyer to the house through a doorway.

Michael enters the foyer from upstairs. He is carrying a duffel bag, which he drops in the hallway. He is older, early to mid-twenties, and looks more like Section One's Michael. His hair is its current length, and he is wearing a dark t-shirt and dark jeans.

After dropping the duffel bag, he enters the dining room and, with a glance at the man in the suit, heads immediately to a buffet set up on the other side of the room. He takes a napkin and begins wrapping food inside it.

MICHAEL: (without looking at him) Good morning, Father.

He shoves a croissant in his mouth and continues to pile food into the napkin. Michael's father rattles the paper slightly and looks over it at his son.

FATHER: Another out-of-town trip?

Michael, his mouth full of croissant, nods.

FATHER: (lowering the paper) You know, graduation is less than a month away. You should be putting some effort into finding a real career.

MICHAEL: (swallowing the last of the croissant) What-- "freedom fighter" doesn't have enough prestige for you?

FATHER: You know what I mean, Michael. With an inheritance like yours comes responsibility.

MICHAEL: (with a cool smile) You're absolutely right. (He heads for the door.) See you in a couple of days.

He shoves the food in the duffel bag and leaves. The camera pans around and we get our first real look at Michael's father: he looks something like Operations, the same silver hair and cold blue eyes, but he has all of the grown Michael's composure.

A Thai in servant clothes appears in the doorway to the dining room. Michael's father looks up and, after a moment, nods his head. The servant leaves.

*************

SCENE: THAI SIDE STREET. A seedy part of town. A van pulls in--not Paul's van, but a much newer model in good condition. Michael is driving. He parks the van and pulls out his napkin breakfast. He checks his watch and eats.

A Thai man exits a building opposite where Michael parked the van. He looks nervous, checking the street in both directions before crossing it. He approaches Michael's van.

THAI MAN: You got dollar?

MICHAEL: (finishing his food) Yeah. I got dollar. You got goods?

The Thai man looks around again, and then nods toward the doorway he exited. A moment later, two men exit carrying a crate. Michael gets out of his van, goes to the rear, and opens it. The two men slide the crate in and leave. Michael reaches in and opens the crate.

A shot of the crate's contents: hand grenades.

Michael closes the crate and the van door. He goes to the front and takes out the duffel bag. From it he takes a fat envelope and hands it to the Thai man.

MICHAEL: Next month, I want munitions. All kinds, all types.

THAI MAN: You got dollar, I got bullet.

The man leaves, counting the money in the envelope, and Michael gets into the van.

*************

SCENE: FREE BURMA LEAGUE HEADQUARTERS. The room is in much better condition: new paint and furniture, new equipment and telephones. It looks like an election headquarters. There are four or five young Thai college students working at desks. Michael enters, and three of the student workers immediately rise to go over to him. Michael holds up a hand.

MICHAEL: I have only a few minutes. I have to be on the road before noon.

Two students turn back to their desk; the third continues to follow Michael as he heads to a desk at the back of the room. Michael stands by the desk, looking through messages, while the student leans to him confidentially.

STUDENT: (quietly) We got a message from Paul.

Michael looks up, surprised.

MICHAEL: When?

STUDENT: (handing Michael a piece of paper) This morning. He says the road is out--a mudslide.

MICHAEL: (taking the paper) Monsoon season.

STUDENT: Paul said he'd meet you at the border, south of Mae Sai, instead.

Michael frowns, but nods his head.

**************

SCENE: BURMA/THAILAND BORDER, NIGHT. A dirt road, nearly overgrown. Michael leans against the door of the van, his arms crossed. He looks skyward, checking for rain, and then looks at his watch. He nervously shifts from one foot to the other, and then takes out a packet of gum from his pocket. He shoves a stick into his mouth and chews hard.

The sound of a van alerts him to Paul's arrival. A moment later, Paul's van, in terrible shape, pulls in behind Michael's. Michael, shading his eyes from the glare of the headlights, walks around to the back of his van while Paul gets out. Paul reaches back in and turns off the headlights, and then makes his way to the front of his van, holding onto the sides. He looks terrible: he wears a dirty Burmese longyi and a long-sleeved shirt, his hair is greasy and unwashed, and his frame is gaunt. When he reaches Michael, he avoids making eye contact.

MICHAEL: You all right?

PAUL: (avoiding his gaze) Fine. You got them?

MICHAEL: (after a moment) Of course. (He opens the van door.) You know, you couldn't have picked a worse spot for a meet. We're just fifty miles from Khan Sa territory.

PAUL: You're behind the times, my friend. Khan Sa took this territory two months ago.

Michael stops, looks at him, and then continues unloading the crate. He sets it on the ground between them. Paul kneels down but has trouble opening it.

MICHAEL: How's Sun Ye?

PAUL: (frustrated by the crate) Sonova (he looks up a Michael) My WIFE is just fine, thank you. Did you nail this damn thing shut?

Michael leans down and easily opens the crate.

MICHAEL: What the hell's wrong with you?

PAUL: Nothing. (He looks in at the grenades.) They work?

MICHAEL: They're from my usual contact. But, no, I didn't test them, if that's what you mean.

PAUL: (closing the crate) Always the trusting little soul, aren't you, Michael?

With difficulty, Paul lifts the crate and staggers toward the back of the van, almost dropping it. Michael runs over to help him, grabbing one end of the crate.

MICHAEL: Godalmighty, Paul, you're going to set these things off--and then you'll know for sure they work.

Paul stares at him over the crate.

PAUL: Yeah, and then you'll run to help comfort my grieving wife, right?

MICHAEL: What is with you, man?

PAUL: Nothing. Just help me load this. We gotta get out of here.

They load the crate in the back of the van. Paul closes the door and then stands there, staring morosely at Michael.

PAUL: (gruffly) Sorry. I'm--uh--I'm having a rough month.

MICHAEL: Yeah, we all have them.

PAUL: I'll see you--

Quickly, he turns and gets into the van. Michael steps back as Paul turns the van around, veering wildly. Michael watches a moment, and then hurries to get into his own van. He starts it up and turns to follow Paul. Rain begins to splatter on his windshield.

MUSIC rises: Dire Straits' "Brothers in Arms." During opening instrumental, we see shots of Paul's van through Michael's windshield, the rain falling harder and harder.

Michael frowns, trying to see through the rain.

CUT TO PRESENT: Michael looks out the window of the train.

MICHAEL: He wasn't headed to the village. He was going north, toward Kengtung. The heart of the Triangle, and Khan Sa's territory.

CUT TO PAST: Michael is still following Paul's van, but barely. The rain is coming down very hard.

"These mist covered mountains
Are a home for me now
But my home is the lowlands
And always will be--"

Paul's van enters a small clearing, where is parked a truck. Michael stops his van, out of sight and watches as Paul gets out of the van. Three men--one in fatigues, the other two in longyis, get out of the truck. Paul motions to the van, and the man in fatigues gestures to the others to retrieve the crate. Paul stands in the rain, wavering and watching as the men unload the crate and carry it to the truck.

"Some day you'll return to
Your valleys and your farms
And you'll no longer burn
To be brothers in arms--"

When the crate has been transferred to the truck, the man in fatigues reaches into the truck cab. He brings out a small brown parcel and then tosses it through the rain to Paul. Paul grabs for it but misses, and goes sprawling into the mud. The three men laugh and get into the truck. As the truck drives past Paul, the man in fatigues leans out and yells.

MAN: Khan Sa thank you!

The truck disappears. Paul begins crawling through the mud to the small parcel. He reaches it and cradles it to him. A shot of Michael, looking away, sickened.

CUT TO PRESENT: Michael turns haunted eyes to Nikita.

MICHAEL: I had just one thought--I had to get to Sun Ye.

CUT TO VILLAGE, NIGHT. The rain is still pouring. Michael's van pulls up to the village: it has been destroyed, the huts and fields burned. He gets out and shields his face from the rain.

MICHAEL: Sun Ye! Sun Ye!

"Through these fields of destruction
Baptisms of fire
I've watched all your suffering
As the battles raged higher--"

He starts running from one burned out hut to another, fighting the rain and the mud. Finally, he thinks he sees something: a makeshift shelter, like a tent, erected on the remaining wall of a hut. He hurries over and jerks aside the tent cover.

Sun Ye cowers against the wall. She is covered in mud and dried blood. Her eyes are wild.

MICHAEL: Sun Ye--

He steps in and, with a scream, she attacks him, slapping, scratching, biting. He subdues her by holding her arms down. That's when he sees the track marks.

"And though they did hurt me so bad
In the fear and alarm--"

MICHAEL: Oh, no, no, Sun Ye--

Calmed, she seems to suddenly hear his voice.

SUN YE: Michael?

Michael eases his hold on her.

SUN YE: Paul is come. Coming. He bring medicine--

"You did not desert me
My brothers in arms--"

Michael grimaces in pain, and then in a strangled voice, he lies to her.

MICHAEL: Paul sent me to get you. I'm going to take you to him.

SUN YE: To get medicine?

MICHAEL: Yes. To get medicine.

Outside the tent, he leads her to the van and helps her inside. Quickly, he gets in the driver's side and tries to start the van. The engine is flooded and won't turn over.

MICHAEL: Damn (to Sun Ye) Hold on. Just...hold on.

He gets out and goes to the front, where he pops the hood. The rain is coming harder, beating loudly against the metal. In the van, Sun Ye looks around, suddenly frightened. She opens the door and gets out.

"There's so many different worlds
So many different suns--"

Michael closes the hood and sees immediately that Sun Ye is gone. Frantically, he runs to her side, looks in, and then turns and starts screaming into the torrent.

MICHAEL: SUN YE! SUN YE!

He starts running through the village, calling her name.

"And we have just one world
But we live in different ones--"

A high angle shot of Michael, turning around, looking and calling her name.

Music stops.

************

SCENE: DINING ROOM. Michael's father is in the same spot, eating breakfast again. He looks up when the front door opens. Michael steps into the doorway of the dining room: covered in mud and beyond exhaustion. Michael looks at his father. His face twists in pain, and he turns to sit on the bottom step of the stairs.

Michael's father gets up and crosses to the doorway. He sees his son, collapsed on the stairs, his head in his hands, sobbing. Michael's father slowly steps over and sits down beside him.

FATHER: (his voice choked) Son--

Michael turns into his father's arms. Awkwardly, the older man holds his son, trying to comfort him.

FATHER: I'm so sorry. So sorry.

***********

SCENE: PRESENT DAY--TRAIN. Michael and Nikita stare out the train window. The sun is beginning to rise, and the train is slowing to a stop. Outside the window we see a train station coming into view.

MICHAEL: Chiang Mai.

He gets up slowly and starts taking their luggage down from the overhead bin. Nikita sits at the window, staring out.

NIKITA: Did you ever see them again? Paul and Sun Ye?

MICHAEL: (bleakly) Oh, yes.

He hands her a bag and then leaves the train car.

************

ACT IV: Patpong

SCENE: CHIANG MAI RESORT. The resort is set in a valley surrounded by hills in northern Thailand. There is a main building surrounded by bungalow guest houses and picturesque steppe farms. The scene opens on an expansive terrace attached to the side of the resort's main building. Resort employees are setting up chairs and a central dais for speakers. Thai security people are everywhere, as are men in bland suits with ear pieces.

Michael stands on one side of the terrace, conferring with one of the men in bland suits. Nikita is wandering around, looking at the decorations and checking out the layout of the site. Michael excuses himself and comes over to her.

MICHAEL: (all business) The Burmese delegation will be arriving by limo at 9 a.m. They will drive in through the main entrance there (he points) and then circle around to the terrace steps (He points again) where they will get out and proceed to the dais.

NIKITA: (looking around) Lots of places to shoot from.

MICHAEL: I know. You'll be on the perimeter team at the front entrance, along with several Thai security people.

NIKITA: What about you?

MICHAEL: I'll be stationed on one side of the dais.

NIKITA: (agreeably) OK.

MICHAEL: You should coordinate with the head of Thai security. (He indicates a man in uniform on the other side of the terrace.) Don't worry, he speaks fluent English, and he knows you're on our security team.

He starts back toward the man he was talking to.

NIKITA: Michael--

MICHAEL: (looking back obliquely) Later.

She watches him leave, and then heads for the Thai security man.

************

SCENE: GUESTHOUSE. It is a beautiful room, definitely Thai in design and decor--bamboo furniture, a slowly turning ceiling fan, and large glass doors opening onto a balcony that overlooks one of the neighboring farms. Nikita enters and tiredly drops her keys on the dresser. She moves further into the room and glances out to the balcony. She sees Michael standing there, looking out over the valley. Slowly, she walks to the door.

MICHAEL: (without turning) After I got back to Bangkok, I quit the Free Burma League and went to work for my father.

Nikita steps onto the balcony and takes a seat quietly, as if afraid he won't continue. She has nothing to fear. Michael is the Ancient Mariner, compelled to tell his story to the end no matter what.

MICHAEL: I wanted to establish some kind of bond with him. He was my father, after all, the only family I had left. (He looks down and shakes his head.) But he was a difficult man to get to know. Very private, self-contained. Even secretive.

A shot of Nikita making a face, as if she's biting her tongue. Michael looks up and out over the fields.

MICHAEL: It was nearly a year later when he brought me news of Paul and Sun Ye.

**********

SCENE: SMALL EMBASSY OFFICE. Michael, in a suit and tie, sits at a desk, typing. A man's shadow crosses the doorway. Michael looks up and gives a small welcoming smile. His father steps into the room and stands before his desk, his face grave.

MICHAEL: (smile fading) What is it?

FATHER: We've had some news. From Burma.

MICHAEL: (going blank) Yes.

FATHER: There's been a lot of rioting. The military is clamping down, trying to quash the rebellion, but the demonstrations are continuing.

Slowly, Michael's father pulls a photograph from his suit pocket. He sets the photograph down in front of Michael.

FATHER: This is from Rangoon. It was taken three days ago.

Michael looks at it. The photograph is of Burmese demonstrators holding signs and yelling.

FATHER: That doesn't matter. What matters is this.

He leans over and points to a corner in the photograph. Michael leans in for a closer look. A close up of that section: a seemingly healthy Paul and Sun Ye in the middle of the demonstrators, yelling with raised fists like everyone else.

Michael's head rears up.

MICHAEL: I have to get them out!

FATHER: (shaking his head) It's too dangerous. You'll never get in.

Michael stands and comes around the desk to face his father. When he speaks, it's in a low voice.

MICHAEL: You could get me in.

The two men look at each other. Michael's father backs up a bit, looking away.

FATHER: (coolly) Even if I could, it's a big city. How would you find them?

MICHAEL: Sun Ye has family in Rangoon. I'm sure they're with them.

Michael's father looks at him, and then away, as if debating.

MICHAEL: You owe me, Father.

*********

SCENE: RANGOON STREET. Michael walks along, reading signs and checking with a slip of paper in his hand. Finally, he comes upon a small restaurant. He looks at the sign, and then steps inside.

CUT to inside. It is a small, family-run restaurant, just a few bare tables and a bar on one side. An elderly Burmese man is behind the bar, stacking bowls. He looks up with a smile, but it fades on seeing who the customer is. Michael approaches him, pulling out the photograph.

MICHAEL: Mingala ba.

The man blinks and doesn't respond. Michael sets the photograph down on the bar.

MICHAEL: Ingalei? (No response.) Guess not. (He slides the photograph over to the man) Shaneibade--

He points to Paul and Sun Ye in the picture. The man refuses to look. Michael sighs and puts the picture away.

MICHAEL: Ceizu ba.

He turns to head for the exit, and as he does Paul and Sun Ye enter. Sun Ye is about six months pregnant. All three freeze and stare at one another. Then Paul breaks into a huge smile and comes forward, hand outstretched.

MICHAEL IN VOICE OVER: At first it was like nothing had happened. We were glad to be together again.

Michael and Paul shake hands, eagerly and enthusiastically. Sun Ye steps forward and kisses Michael on both cheeks. They laugh. Paul points to Sun Ye's stomach. They laugh again.

MICHAEL IN VOICE OVER: They were happy to be clean, happy about the baby.

CUT to later. The three of them sit around a table in the restaurant. The old man, now all smiles, serves them drinks. Paul is talking and gesturing, while Sun Ye sits back and rubs her stomach.

MICHAEL IN VOICE OVER: Paul told me that someone had given away the location of the rebel camp to the government just after my last visit. The two of them managed to get away, but then they were captured by Khan Sa, the drug lord. He hooked them on heroin, and let them go only when they agreed to supply weapons from our source. When I quit the league and stopped running arms, Khan Sa cut them off, which was actually the best thing that could have happened.

A shot of Sun Ye, looking away from Paul and Michael, her expression closing up. A shot of Michael, his smile fading somewhat.

CUT TO PRESENT. Michael is still looking out over the fields, but he is frowning.

NIKITA: What? What went wrong?

MICHAEL: I don't know. Somewhere along the way, things became different. Sun Ye withdrew into complete silence while Paul kept getting louder and louder.

CUT TO PAST. Paul is on a soapbox, pounding the table and gesturing. Sun Ye stares ahead, immobile and expressionless.

MICHAEL IN VOICE OVER: He kept talking about this one general. General Saw Maung. Paul said he was planning a coup to put the country on the road to democracy. Saw Maung. That's all he talked about. Said he'd met the man, planned to go to work for him.

In the middle of Paul's speech, Sun Ye gets up and joins the old man behind the bar. The two of them work at preparing the meal, but never take their eyes off Paul.

A shot of Paul, as handsome and charismatic as he was when Michael met him, passionately arguing his cause.

CUT TO PRESENT: Michael, still at the balcony wall, turns and faces Nikita.

MICHAEL: But at some point that evening, I knew he was lying. ( a pause) And then all hell broke loose.

*********

SCENE: RANGOON STREET. Michael, Paul, and Sun Ye leave the restaurant. Paul has his arm around Michael, who has retreated into his all-familiar blankness. Paul and Michael step out onto the street, while Sun Ye stays in the doorway, holding her stomach.

PAUL: I'm tellin' you, brother, it's a new day. All our hard work is going to pay off.

A noise down the street. The three of them turn and look. In the distance, they see a crowd approaching: signs, banners, torches. They hear chanting.

PAUL: (with a huge grin) All right. I was hoping they would go tonight. (He turns to Michael.) Feel like a little protest march, Mike?

Without waiting for an answer, he turns and blows a kiss to Sun Ye, then starts down the street. Michael looks back at Sun Ye. She is looking at him, her eyes wide and afraid. He steps over to her as she steps up to him. She grabs his arm.

SUN YE: You must go! Now!

MICHAEL: I came to take you back with me.

SUN YE: No. We stay. You go. (fiercely) GO!

She starts walking down the street backward.

SUN YE: Go! Please!

She turns and runs after her husband. Michael starts to follow, but stops. He steps back into the doorway of the restaurant and watches as the procession nears. It gets closer and closer, and then he realizes who is leading it: Aung San Suu Kyi. She is dressed in white, and walks with her hands folded in front of her. Behind her are mostly young people in traditional Burmese dress, carrying signs with her picture and singing a chant with their fists raised.

Michael stands, open-mouthed. Aung San Suu Kyi sees him. She smiles, gives a small bow of her head, and moves on.

The procession moves on. Michael sees Paul and Sun Ye in the middle of the crowd. Paul lifts his hand in a wave; Sun Ye stares at the ground, her expression frozen. Michael watches them pass.

Suddenly, gunfire erupts. People scream and run. Michael runs toward the street, looking for Paul and Sun Ye, but he is knocked back and then down by the fleeing spectators. He gets up, but it is mass confusion. He turns this way and that, unsure where to go.

CUT TO PRESENT: Michael has turned around again, facing the hills.

MICHAEL: I looked for them, of course, for days, but I couldn't find them. Finally, I made my way back to Bangkok. (His voice grows cold and distant.) Soon after my father brought me the news. General Saw Maung had indeed staged a coup. He then refused to honor all his promises for a free election. And he backed up his refusal by making a deal with the largest drug lord in the country. Khan Sa.

NIKITA: (dropping her head) Oh, my God.

MICHAEL: A few months later I was in the Patpong when I saw him.

***********

SCENE: PATPONG STRIP CLUB. It is a very sleazy joint, dark and seedy. Michael sits in the corner, his head against a wall and a glass in his hand. Beside him, passed out on the table, is a hooker. In the middle of the table is a half-full whiskey bottle.

Methodically, Michael lifts the bottle and pours a drink. He raises the glass to his lips and downs it in a single gulp. He doesn't even flinch as the liquor goes down.

The door opens. Michael blinks and turns toward it. MUSIC rises: the final chorus of Dire Straits' "Brothers in Arms."

"Now the sun's gone to hell
And the moon's riding high--"

Paul walks in. He has on flashy, expensive Western clothes. He wears a gold Rolex and gold chains. On either arm is a cheap hooker. He might as well be wearing a sign saying "drug dealer."

A shot of Michael, leaning forward and reaching for the bottle.

"Let me bid you farewell
Every man has to die--"

In slow motion, Michael rams the bottle against the wall behind him. The neck of the bottle is a sharp, jagged piece of glass.

"But it's written in the starlight
We're fools to make war--"

In slow motion, Michael stands and walks toward Paul, who has his back to him.

Paul, grinning, turns on Michael's approach. His grin fades.

With one swift, brutal gesture, Micahel jams the bottle neck into Paul's throat.

"On our brothers in arms."

Paul falls to the ground, blood spurting from his neck.

Michael stands there, looking down on him. The bottleneck falls from his hand.

**********

SCENE: BACK TO THE PRESENT, THE BALCONY. Michael turns toward Nikita and crosses his arms. She is leaning forward, her head in her hands, devastated by the story. He watches her, completely expressionless.

MICHAEL: I have no memory of killing him. Just flashes, images. But I know I did. My father (a small quiver of bitterness) My father pulled some strings to get me to serve my sentence in an American rather than a Thai prison. Then once I was "safely" ensconced in the "civilized" world, my father--

He stops and looks down. Nikita looks up.

NIKITA: (ragged) What?

MICHAEL: In his suicide note, my father confessed to having been a Communist spy for most of his diplomatic career. He said he could have lived with betraying his country, but not betraying his son.

Michael looks back up.

MICHAEL: It was my father who alerted the Burmese government about Paul and Sun Ye's rebel camp. He wanted me away from them, so he arranged their destruction.

Nikita looks down again.

NIKITA: Oh, God, Michael--

MICHAEL: Shortly after that I was recruited by Section One.

Her head moves back and forth, in pain and anger, maybe a little fear. In contrast, he is as still and quiet as a statue.

MICHAEL: And here I am.

With an almost inarticulate cry, she is out of her chair, locking her arms around his neck and burying her head in his shoulder. At first he is unmoved, but then he slowly uncrosses his arms and places his hands on her forearms. Gently, he tries to pull her off, but she only grips him tighter.

MICHAEL: Nikita--

Her response is to turn her head into his neck and hold him tighter. She is crying, silently and painfully. He gives up trying to pry her away and lets his hands slide to her back, where he pats her absently, like a parent comforting a child.

A sound from below the balcony: the jingle of bells on an ox and a farmer's impatient cry. Michael hears it and freezes. The sound has opened a door. After another cry from the farmer, he winces, and then turns toward Nikita, closing his eyes and breathing in the smell of her hair, of her. His arms slide around her back, and he pulls her to him, his face all but disappearing into her bright, golden hair. They stand together, clenched.

Now it is her turn to pull back. She raises her head, unlocks her arms, and takes his face into her hands. He is struggling to contain himself, trying to use sheer will to close the door on the pain he has kept buried for so long. His breath is quick and shallow, and he refuses to meet her eyes.

She kisses him. Not a soft kiss: a lock of her lips on his, as if in so doing she can draw the pain from him like one draws poison from a snakebite. He grabs her head, holding her to him and kissing her back desperately, hungrily. It is not enough. He reaches down and lifts her to him. She wraps her arms around his neck as he carries her from the balcony, into the bedroom.

CUT to inside bedroom. MUSIC rises: Clannad's "I Will Find You." (Sorry I don't know Gaelic--I had to crib phonetically). A shot of the ceiling fan, and then a slow pan down to the bed. Michael and Nikita fall slowly back onto it, both unclothed, devouring each other, their limbs gleaming with sweat.

"Who is your survival?
Captived by a need--"

Michael raises up and looks down at her. He pushes her sweat-soaked hair from her eyes, and her face moves with his hand, her mouth reaching for it. He leans over again--an extreme close up of their lips locking together.

"No matter where you go
I will find you
If it takes a long, long time--"

CUT to a shot of them sitting up, face to face, Michael frantically kissing her lips, her eyes, her cheeks. His lips move down her neck, and her head falls back, a painful smile of pleasure stretching across her face.

"No matter where you go
I will find you
If it takes a thousand years--"

CUT to a shot of them prone, Nikita leaning over Michael, running her lips over his face, down his neck, and slowly down his chest, sleek with sweat.

"Akahaima pala
Nanehmu horganh"

Michael lifts his head to watch her, his eyes dark and desperate.

"No matter where you go
I will find you
In a place with no frontiers--"

CUT to a slow-motion shot of them, turning from one side of the bed to the other, kissing and caressing.

"No matter where you go
I will find you
If it takes a thousand years--"

CUT to a shot of them, Nikita on top and Michael lunging up to kiss her.

"Alawuya--alaeesa--
Alawuya--alawuya--
Alawuya--alaeesa--
Alawuya--alaeesa--"

They turn, so Michael is leaning over her. A close up of their faces as they move together, moving to the peak.

"Alawuya--alaeesa--
Alawuya--alawuya--
Alawuya--alaeesa-
Alawuya--alawuya--"

A freeze frame of their faces, looking into each other's eyes.

"Alawuya--"

CUT to later. They hold each other close, not speaking. Michael has his head against Nikita's neck, and she has her arm around it, stroking his hair. She leans over and kisses his forehead.

"No matter where you go
My heart is with you
In a place with no frontiers--"

Slowly, Michael's eyes close. He moves in closer to Nikita, and at last he sleeps peacefully.

"No matter where you go
My heart is with you
If it takes a thousand years--"

A shot of the two of them from across the room. Slowly, the camera pans up to the ceiling fan, still circling slowly, and then around the room to the patio doors. A small zoom toward the hill in the distance.

"No matter where you go
No matter where you go--"

CUT to outside, on the hill. A woman in fatigues with a yellow bandana around her neck sits on the hill, looking through binoculars. Slowly, she lowers the binoculars. It's an older Sun Ye. She has a terrible scar down the side of her face. She stares coldly at the balcony across the way.

************

EPILOGUE

SCENE: THE CHANG MAI RESORT TERRACE. Dignitaries and security are everywhere. Michael stands beside the dais, his arms crossed and his eyes panning the crowd.

NIKITA'S VOICE: Michael, they're here.

Michael turns and steps a few feet away from the dais. By craning his neck, he can see around to the front of the resort, where Nikita stands with several men in Thai military uniforms. Several limousines are pulling into the entrance. Michael watches as the limousines round the entranceway and make their way to the side of the hotel. He looks back at Nikita. From a distance, she gives him a thumbs up.

Michael returns to the dais. He watches as Burmese government officials exit the first limo and are greeted by other dignitaries. They proceed up the platform. The first limo pulls away, and the second limo pulls up.

Michael looks around. He notices a man on the other side of the dais step back a bit. Michael steps back likewise, and moves around behind the dais swiftly and quietly. He reaches the man just as he is pulling a gun from his jacket.

MICHAEL: (pulling his own gun) Please come with me.

The man brings his hands back out of the jacket, keeping them clear. Michael nods to two Thai security men arrive, who hurry over to take charge of the would-be assassin. Michael watches as they lead him away, and then turns to the limousine in time to see the door open.

Aung San Suu Kyi emerges. She is greeted and begins to proceed up to the dais. Michael steps back and watches, a small smile on his face.

MICHAEL: I think we're home free, Nikita.

There is no response.

MICHAEL: Nikita?

Frowning, he slips back around the dais to his original position. He looks around to the front of the hotel. The Thai security men are still there, but Nikita is gone.

CUT to front of hotel. Michael runs up to the security men.

MICHAEL: Where is she?

THAI SECURITY MAN: Who?

MICHAEL: Our operative! The blond woman--

The two security men look at each other and then around, genuinely mystified.

THAI SECURITY MAN: She was just here--

Michael steps toward the road, looking around desperately.

MICHAEL: NIKITA!

***********

SCENE: MOUNTAIN ROAD. Paul's old van, nearly falling apart, takes a curve on two wheels. A tracking shot reveals that Sun Ye is driving, both hands on the wheel, her expression determined.

CUT to inside the van. Nikita, bound and gagged, tries to brace herself against the side of the van. She looks up to the front of the van, where she can see the side of Sun Ye's face with the scar.

Sun Ye looks back at her coldly, then turns her attention to the road.

THE END ROLL CREDITS

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