Tehri Dam
WWV8 Episode 6
Teaser
Title Card: 5:35pm, Friday
Josh is standing
behind his desk, leaning over it and writing something while mumbling that he
doesn’t have time for this. He stands up and hands a piece of paper to Liz on
the other side of the desk.
Note to Brad –
Throughout this entire scene, Josh is above every thing. The others are barely
a blip on his radar.
Josh: Nothing else. Nothing.
Liz: You need to…
Josh: (cuts her off sternly without yelling) No.
Josh picks up a
bouquet of flowers, then walks around his desk and towards the door. Bram walks
in as he gets to it and Josh cuts him off as he starts to speak
Josh: No.
Josh leaves the
office and Bram follows him down the hallway, not quite keeping up.
Bram: I’m getting questions about
Josh: They have two weeks to strike a
deal. We’re not getting involved.
Bram: (looks down at flowers) Tonight’s the night?
Josh: Indeed it is.
Otto walks out of the
Roosevelt Room as they pass it and joins them.
Otto: Do you have flowers?
Josh: (looks at the flowers in his hand) Damn, I knew I forgot something.
Otto: Shouldn’t those be roses?
They pass a very
attractive woman in the hallway, presumably an assistant of some sort. Bram
smiles at her and nods a little, and once she passes, Otto turns to get a
glimpse of her. Josh doesn’t notice her.
Bram: You got reservations, right?
Josh: No.
Otto: (turning back around and acting near panicked) No? I thought we
decided on
Josh: (Raises his eyebrows but then lets it go) There’s no time for food.
(They walk through
the communications bullpen where Lou walks out of her office.)
Otto: What do you mean, there’s no…
Lou: (cuts Otto off) Hey, Senator Williamson just called and asked me
what we’re going to do about sanitation workers in his state.
Josh: I don’t know. Let ‘em sanitate?
Lou: I think he’s hoping…
Josh: (cutting her off) They have two weeks, we’re not getting involved.
Lou: But we really are, right?
Josh: Not tonight. I’ve got the thing.
Lou: This is the 'who’s the most
whipped man' night?
Josh: ‘Most romantic man’ night.
Lou: Whatever
Otto: (to Lou) He’s not letting her eat.
Lou: (to Josh sarcastically) Nice touch
Bram: And he didn’t get roses.
Lou: (looking down at papers in her hand) Ok, I’m done pretending to care.
Bram: What about a carriage? Sam has a
carriage.
Josh: The secret service put the kibosh
on that. Something about not wanting to run along side it all night.
Lou: Those carriages go pretty slow.
They could probably walk.
Josh: You gonna
be the one to tell them that?
Otto: What else have you got?
Josh: (smugly)
My boyish good looks. Donna can’t get enough of them.
Lou: (mumbling)
Donna’s deranged. (Josh gives her an evil
look and she turns a corner as the other three go straight)
Bram: Sam’s good looking too! (Josh and Otto stop walking and stare at
him. His eyes widen) I… (pause) I
mean… (weaker) Julie must think so.
Josh: (starts walking again) Listen Thing One and Thing Two; I can take it from here.
Otto: (quietly to Bram) Sam’s going to win.
They enter the main
lobby
Josh: (in an almost singsong voice) No he’s not.
Bram: He has a carriage and roses.
(Sam is standing in the
lobby with a huge bouquet of red roses, talking on his cell phone. He hangs up
and turns to them)
Sam: (smugly) And a violinist.
Otto: (quietly) We’re toast.
(Josh ignores him and
pulls two tickets out of his inside jacket pocket. He hands them to Sam, who
looks at them for a second, then hands them back)
Sam: (in a resigned voice) You win.
Josh: Always, Sam. Always.
(Josh continues
walking into the east wing as Bram and Otto stay with Sam, looking confused.)
Bram: What was that?
Sam: (smiling proudly after Josh) Plane tickets to
Cut to Donna’s
office. Donna’s packing her attaché case and talking to her assistant, Denise.
Note to Janel – Donna can’t stop smiling in this scene. She’s very
excited and trying with miserable results to play it cool.
Donna: She’s in the residence with Peter
and Miranda. Don’t bother her unless you’ve bothered me first. And don’t bother
me unless you absolutely have to.
Josh: (walking
into the room with a grin) If you do, you’re going to be immediately fired,
so make sure it’s good.
Donna: (rolls her eyes but can’t stop the grin. Denise leaves, but smiles as
well) She’s
learned not to pay attention to you.
Josh: She’ll pay attention to me when
she’s my assistant.
Donna: Keep dreaming.
Josh: You can keep her for a while. I
don’t want her until you’ve trained her to be a mini-you.
Donna: (shakes her head and gestures for the flowers) Are those for me? Or are they part
of your evil plan to lure her over to the dark side.
Josh: (hands her the flowers) They’re for you. Are you ready? We’ve got places to go and
sex to have.
Donna: (tries to hide smile by smelling the flowers, then puts them on her
desk) You’re
pretty sure of yourself.
Josh: (ego grin) That’s because I’m brilliant.
Donna: (with a knowing smile) Competitive you mean.
Note to Brad: Use
your squeak voice here. She wasn’t supposed to know about the bet.
Josh: What?
Donna: (leans in and kisses Josh’s jaw, talking low and sexy) You forget that I know everything.
Do Julie and I get to pick the winner?
Josh: (smiles and puts his hands on Donna’s waist, pulling her a little
closer) Sam
already conceded.
Donna: (her hands stop on his bowtie and she looks up to meet his eyes,
excitement in hers)
That can only mean one thing.
Josh: Yeah? What’s that?
Donna: (her smile turns giddy and she puts her hands on his face) We’re
going out of town! (kisses him quickly on
the lips)
Josh stares at her for
a few seconds, equally impressed and suspicious. He finally pulls the plane
tickets out of his jacket and hands them to her.
Josh: You do know everything.
Donna looks at
tickets and then up at Josh before leaning in and kissing him again. He wraps
an arm around her and pulls her closer. They kiss for several seconds until his
pager goes off, followed by his cell phone vibrating. They reluctantly pull
apart and Josh looks at her with an apologetic smile before pulling his cell
from his pocket.
Bram: (Bram’s off screen in the outer office. His voice is rushed and relays
that whatever he needs is important) Is Josh still here?
Josh looks up at
Donna and mouths ‘sorry’ just as Bram rushes into the office with Annabeth behind him.
Smash cut to credits
Act 1
Scene 1
Title Card: 5:45pm
Friday, 3:15am Saturday,
Scene opens outside
the Oval Office as Ronna stands at the fax machine,
tapping it impatiently as a piece of
paper starts to spit through it. She tries to pull on it a bit early and
becomes even more impatient until it’s out of the machine, then takes it
quickly into the Oval Office, closing the door behind her. Inside is total
chaos. Josh, Sam, and President Santos are all talking to different people on telephones,
The president is at his desk talking with the president of India, Sam is on his
cell phone talking to an earthquake center in India, and Josh is on his cell
phone talking to the Tehri Hydro Development
Corporation. Lou and Bram are standing near the couches. Lou is talking quietly
and Bram is listening to her and writing something down. Sam is wearing a
tuxedo. Ronna stays in the room when
Note to actors – Talk
over each other.
Sam: (covering phone with his hand) 8.7 in Kashmir and
Bram looks over at
him and writes as quickly as possible on a pad of paper he’s holding.
Josh hears this and
turns to look at
Josh: (turns to face away) Have you started assessing the dam? (pause) Yes Mr. Jhakri, I understand that, but your company built the dam.
It’s your opinion President Kalam’s waiting on.
Sam: (hand over phone again) 9.5 in Uttakashi, Mussoorie, Tehri, and Dedra Dun. So far, that’s the hardest hit.
Josh and
Ronna nods and leaves.
Bram: (to Sam) Any
death toll figures yet?
(Sam shakes his head
no)
Sam: (into phone) Nothing?
(Covers phone and speaks louder) Nothing
in
Josh: (into phone) What
do you mean they can’t see it? It’s an 850 foot dam! Are they on the right
river?
Josh: When will that be? (pause)Two hours? We don’t have two
hours!
(Sam hangs up his
phone and puts it into his pocket)
Josh: (heavy sigh) They’re
bringing out helicopters? (pause) Ok,
please let me know the second you know anything. (He hangs up and stares at his phone for a few seconds before putting
it away turning towards the now quiet room.)
Josh: (as if he can’t believe he’s saying it) They can’t see it.
Josh: It’s 3:15 in the morning there; the
sun’s not up for two more hours. They’ve lost electricity and can’t see it well
enough to check the foundation. President Kalam is
sending out helicopters.
Bram: But they’re sure it hasn’t given
out?
(Josh, Sam, Lou and
Lou: (as if he’s an idiot) I think we would’ve heard if people were drowning by the
minute.
Bram: (as if he feels like an idiot) Right.
Sam: The president won’t evacuate?
Josh: (to Bram) When
are you briefing?
Bram: Ten minutes.
Josh: Nancy McNally and Secretary Vinick are on their way here. Once they’re here, we’re
going to be briefed by seismologists and geophysicists. Ronna
has their names.
Bram nods
Josh: The only thing you answer about the
dam is that they’re inspecting its stability and that both the
Bram: And they are…
Lou: They built the dam. They’ll
ultimately be the ones to tell us if it’s safe.
Josh: Sam, I need you to stay in constant
contact with their director, Nathpa Jhakri, and tell me the very second you hear anything.
Sam nods
Sam: Thank you Mr. President.
The others follow
suit and then leave through the door to Ronna’s
office. Josh waits until the door is closed behind them to speak to the
president.
Josh: It’s going to give.
Scene 2
Bram and Lou are
walking into the communications bullpen. Lou is in front and stops by her
assistant, who’s standing at the copier.
Lou: Find out if any current members of
the house who were around in 1971 voted in favor of financial contributions to
the Tehri Dam project.
Assistant: There are current house members who
were around in 1971?
Lou: (as she walks towards her office) Byrd’s been in office since 1959.
Assistant: (mumbling) I
wasn’t even alive then.
Lou stops at her
office door and looks back at her, appalled.
Lou: Neither was I!
Assistant: (wide-eyed) I
wasn’t saying…
Lou: Get me the information.
Lou goes into her
office, followed by Bram. She sits down and looks at her cell phone before
looking up and noticing him.
Lou: Aren’t you briefing in a few
minutes?
Bram: (nods) The
thing is…
Lou: You don’t know what the Tehri Dam is.
Bram: It’s not that I don’t know what the
Tehri Dam is… it’s just that I don’t know anything
about the Tehri Dam.
Lou: (mumbles while shaking her head) Children. (Looks
up at Bram) It’s the fifth largest dam in the world. It has the
capabilities to provide 270 million gallons of water a day to New Dehli and about 50 other cities and villages for drinking
and irrigation, and starting in June, it’s also supposed to provide
electricity.
Bram grabs a pen off
her desk and starts writing on the pad of paper in his hand.
Lou: It sits not only on two rivers in
the Himalayas that I can’t pronounce, but also on the Allah Bund fault line, which
is just one of the reasons that it was highly contested by anybody with half a
brain. It wasn’t built to sustain an earthquake greater than 7.2 on the Richter
scale, and if it gives, it could drown a half a million people in less than a
day.
Bram: (looking at his notes) The earthquake that hit there was a 9.5.
Lou: Yes.
Silence for several
seconds
Bram: (quietly) Wow.
Lou: There’s more. The
Bram: We gave
Lou: Technically Nixon did, but yeah.
Scene 3
Josh walks into his
office through the door connecting to the oval. Donna is sitting in a chair
next to the couch and he forces a smile when he sees her. He takes off his suit
jacket and tosses it on the couch, then sits down behind his desk and puts his
face in his hands.
Note to Brad and Janel – Both Josh and Donna have done a 180 in terms of
mood. Josh is suddenly exhausted and Donna is quiet and subdued.
Donna: (softly) Bad?
Josh: (nods and runs his hands through his hair) 9.5 in Tehri.
Donna: (pauses for a second to let that sink in) They’re evacuating?
Josh: They’re waiting on reports of the
dam’s stability before they start wide-spread panic.
Donna: They know the dam’s stability. It
can’t withhold more than a 7.2.
Josh: They’re hoping they’re wrong about
that.
Donna: Are they?
Josh: (pauses before speaking and looks up at her) No.
Donna: Josh…
Josh: (standing up and slamming his hands down on his desk. yells) Don’t you think I know? Don’t you
think I’ve told them to evacuate? They aren’t… (stops and looks up at the ceiling, speaks quietly) They’re waiting
on the experts.
Donna stands up and
walks around the desk to him and places her hand lightly on his back.
Josh: (sighs deeply) 500 thousand people.
It’s quiet for
several few seconds, and then Donna shifts and sits on the edge of the desk.
Donna: I can
pull some numbers, find some expert opinions while we…
Josh: Ronna’s working on it.
Donna: (pauses) How about I go pick us up some dinner?
Josh: (shakes his head) No. You should… (looks away and
then at her) I don’t know.
Donna: I can stay; I don’t mind.
Josh: I’m probably going to be all night.
Go to
Donna: (not believing that at all) Really?
Josh: (sighs and rubs hand over his face) Or you could spend the weekend shopping.
Donna: I don’t want to spend the weekend
alone in
Josh: I’m sorry, I…
Donna: (cutting him off) It wasn’t meant as a guilt trip.
Liz walks into the
office through the door that leads to hers.
Liz: Secretary Vinick’s
here; he’s in the oval. The President would like you.
Josh: Yeah, thanks.
Josh walks to the
couch and picks up his jacket, putting it on as he walks towards the door to
the Ova Office. He turns back to Donna.
Josh: Sam’s stuck here too. Why don’t
you call Julie? Go to dinner.
Donna nods slightly
and he leaves. She stays there watching the now empty doorway until she hears Liz
shuffling papers, then turns around.
Donna: Sorry, I’ll...
Donna trails off and
moves to the door that leads to the hallway. When she reaches it, she looks
inside one more time and then leaves, walking slowly down the hallway as others
rush around.
Act 2
Scene 1
Title Card: 7:00pm
Friday, 4:30am Saturday,
Scene begins in the
situation room.
Dr. Brune: (pointing to the far west of the map and moving it southeast as he
speaks) The
earthquake stretched from Kashmir to western
Josh: It’s slow going until dawn. A
hospital with 1200 patients was destroyed in
Vinick: (to Dr. Brune) This was one earthquake?
Dr. Brune: Actually, no. It was probably three, the second two caused by the
moving plates of the first.
Vinick nods.
Dr. Brune: (circling an area west of
Dr. Jones: They’ve had helicopters circling it
for the last thirty minutes. They’ve found several leaks.
Vinick: How big?
Dr. Jones picks up a
sort of remote and points it at the screen, where the picture changes to a
close up of the dam. Dr. Brune hands him the laser
pointer and Dr. Jones points to an area near the top center of the dam.
Dr. Jones: They found a leak in this area
approximately 50 feet long by 30 feet wide.
Dr. Jones: Yes Sir. There’s another (moves pointer to lower left) here. It’s
almost a hundred feet long and 20 feet wide.
Dr. Jones: (looks at Dr’s Brune and Gregory for a
second, and then back at
Dr. Jones: The best case scenario is that the
leaks stay confined and don’t spread, and that the water currently being leaked
can be held by the Bhagirathi and Bhinangana
rivers.
Vinick: If that’s the case, can the dam be
repaired?
Dr. Jones: Possibly.
Dr. Gregory: But it could permanently lose
function. If there have been any significant landslides into the reservoirs,
the water will be contaminated with sediments and unusable.
Dr. Gregory: An aftershock could destroy the dam
immediately. If that happens, there won’t be time to finish evacuating.
Dr. Brune: (uses remote to switch to a screen
of northern India and points as he speaks) Rishikesh, Pauri, Haridwar, Sultanpur, Najibabad, Kiratpur, Nagina, Muzaffarnagar and every
town in between will be completely submerged within a few hours. The rest of
the Uttar Pradesh state south of Tehri within a day.
Josh: They’re evacuating now. Are they going east and west?
Vinick: Ok, that’s our best and worst case
scenario. What’s actually going to happen?
Dr. Jones: The dam will break a little at a
time, releasing more water as it does. Those same cities will be submerged
within the next several days.
Dr. Gregory: I disagree with that analysis.
Dr. Gregory: I think we’ll have aftershocks for
the next several hours and I think one of them will wipe out the dam.
Scene 2
Donna and Julie are
sitting on stools at a bar, both holding a drink. Jazz music is playing in the
background and the lights of the restaurant are dimmed low. A woman walks up
and tells them their table is ready, and they follow her out of the bar area to
a romantic table in the back near a lit fire place. The roses Sam had earlier
are in a vase on the table.
Note to Janel – Donna is trying to remain upbeat in this scene, but
she’d rather be at the White House and is a little confused that Josh didn’t
want her there.
Julie: (smelling the roses) Wow. I wonder what else he had planned.
Donna: (sitting down) I have it under good authority that you were getting a horse-drawn
carriage.
Julie: (sits across from Donna) They need to have this contest
again.
Donna: (chuckles) Maybe
next time we’ll end up with them instead of each other.
Julie: (takes a drink of her wine) When Sam called, he said he’d probably be all night.
Donna: (nods) They’ll
spend most of the night on the phone assessing damage and casualties, then
they’ll work on aid and support with the UN and other countries.
Julie: We’re still getting used to these.
Donna: All nighters?
Julie nods and Donna smiles
sympathetically
Donna: It gets easier.
Julie: (pause)
You didn’t have to stay?
Donna: The First Lady’s office isn’t
involved in things like this. I offered to help with some research, but… (trails off in thought as waiter brings
menus)
Julie: But?
Donna: (distracted) Huh? Sorry. They had it under control. Josh didn’t… (stops and looks down at her menu) he didn’t need me there.
Julie: Lucky for you.
Donna: (unconvincingly) Yeah.
Scene 3
Sam is walking
through the DCoS bullpen towards the communications
bullpen as he reads something. He crosses the foyer and Amy is walking towards
the exit wearing a jacket and carrying an attaché case, clearly leaving for the
night.
Note to Mary Louise –
Amy is kind of put off, not knowing exactly where she fits into this situation.
Everybody seems busy except her.
Sam: Amy, good. You’re not busy.
Amy: (stops and looks at him) No, not at all in fact. What’s happening?
Sam: They’re
evacuating and hoping the dam doesn’t give.
Amy: Do you want me to make some phone
calls? Try to get some aid moving?
Sam: (starts walking. Amy goes with him) No, we’ve got it under control.
Amy: Right.
Sam: But I do want you to start drafting
some legislation for emergency relief funds. Get with Ainsley
Hayes about the language and coordinate with Secretary Vinick.
Amy: (happier with something to do) How much?
Sam: That depends.
Amy: On what?
Sam: Whether or not the dam holds.
Amy: Are we including money to
re-build?
Sam: (Stops suddenly and looks at her) I don’t know.
Amy: Don’t you think someone’s going to
ask if we’re in favor of rebuilding a dam that has the capabilities of killing
so many people?
Sam: (groans) I’m sure of it, in fact.
Amy: We need an answer.
Sam: (in a resigned voice) Yeah.
Act 3
Scene 1
Title Card:
11:30pm Friday, 9:00am Saturday,
Scene opens in the
pressroom. Bram walks in carrying several pieces of paper and the white house
press corps immediately starts yelling his name while making their way to seats.
He ogles a female reporter in the front row while making his way to the podium.
Screen flashes to said female reporter, who’s rolling her eyes.
Bram: I’ve got a lot of updates so be quiet and maybe this won’t
be painful. (looks down at papers on podium)
Chitkal reported an aftershock twenty minutes ago
measuring 2.5 on the Richter scale. No major damages have been reported from
the aftershock, but they are reporting 875 dead so far from the original
earthquake.
(shouts of Bram)
Bram: (ignoring shouts) In Kashmir, the
(shouts of Bram)
Bram: (casually) I’m not listening… (pauses while room quiets down) The main damage in Simla was in the market or downtown area. Again, because of
the hour, they aren’t expecting many casualties in the area. However, a twelve
mile stretch of highway was destroyed, and so far they’ve found 46 dead there.
A small village in the hills outside of town called Jutogh
has basically slid down the mountain. Approximately 200 families lived in the
village. All are presumed dead at this time.
Someone in Press: What about Tehri?
Bram: (looking at the man and then down at his papers, shuffling through them
a bit) New Tehri, also a hillside village, has had severe damage as
well, but numbers aren’t available yet.
Katie: Bram, what about the dam?
Bram: (sarcastically) Thanks for waiting like I asked Katie. (pause) The dam is still standing, although leaks found before dawn
are getting bigger. The government is evacuating the areas to the south of the
dam as quickly as possible.
(shouts of Bram)
Bram: (looks around) Jeff.
Jeff: Are they trying to repair the
damage to the dam or are they considering it gone at this point?
Bram: It’s too unstable to work on
repairs right now. Simla, Pathankot,
and now Chitkal have all had aftershocks. They’ll
assess the situation once the seismic activity in the area has stopped.
(shouts of Bram)
Bram: Melissa.
Melissa: Do you know how many people they’ve
evacuated so far?
Bram: No, but they’ve been evacuating for
four hours, and they’re using every possible method, including airplanes,
buses, cars and semi-trucks.
(shouts of Bram)
Bram: Brock
Brock: Locals are reporting that the government
isn’t allowing the evacuation of sixteen orphanages in the region. Two weeks
ago, the government reported that they have an all-time high percentage of
children in the system and a budget that can’t support them. Are they using
this as a way to solve their problem?
(Room goes silent for
a few seconds)
Bram: (clearly unprepared and blindsided by the question) I’m sorry, what…
Brock: Bram, is the Indian government
planning on letting the children in those orphanages die because they can’t
afford to raise them?
Bram: I… no, I mean… No, I haven’t heard
anything of the sort.
Brock: Is the president aware this is
happening?
Bram: Are you even aware this is
happening?
Brock: Is this administration willing to provide
support and aid to a country that’s letting over 3,000 children drown to save
money?
Scene 2
Scene opens in the
Oval Office. Josh and Lou and standing in front of the president’s desk waiting
for him to get off the phone. We hear the ending of the president’s call with
pauses.
Note to Jimmy –
He hangs up and looks
at Josh
Josh: We don’t know yet, sir.
Lou: You can’t, sir.
(Ronna
opens the door and waits at the threshold.)
Ronna: Yes sir?
Ronna: Yes, Sir.
Josh speaks before Ronna has a chance to leave the room. She stays when she
hears what he says.
Josh: Mr. President, that’s a call you
can’t make.
Lou: Because if you ask him and he
confirms it, we can’t send aid.
Josh: We have to sir.
Josh: Hundreds of thousands of people
have been affected by this earthquake. We have to help.
Lou: We don’t even know if it’s true,
sir. They’re trying to evacuate a half a million people. I’m sure they’re
moving as fast as they can.
Josh: You can’t call the president of
Lou: If it’s true, he’ll lie anyway.
It’s quiet for
several seconds while
Josh: If we make that threat we have to
follow through with it.
Lou: We don’t know that sir.
Josh: (nods) I
have a call in to the ambassador, sir. Let me talk to him. I can make the
threat without making it. This is a question you can’t ask.
The room is silent
for several seconds before he reluctantly nods. Ronna
quietly leaves, shutting the door behind her.
Josh: Yes sir.
Scene 3
Scene opens with
Helen in Miranda’s bedroom. She picks a stuffed animal up off the floor and
puts it back into Miranda’s arms. Miranda shifts but doesn’t wake up. Helen
sits on the side of her bed and pushes hair away from Miranda’s face. She looks
at her for a few seconds and starts to leave when she sees Matt standing in the
doorway looking in. She walks up to him and he looks over her head at Miranda.
Helen: (looking behind her at their daughter) Yes.
Helen: I wasn’t expecting you up here for
a while.
Helen: Why?
Scene 4
Scene opens in Josh’s
office. He’s sitting at his desk reading something. He stops and rubs his eyes,
then picks up a sandwich and takes a bite. When he puts the sandwich down, he
picks up a bottled water and takes a drink, then purposely looks at a picture
on his desk. He picks it up and leans
back in his chair and the shot changes so we can see that it’s a picture of
Josh and Donna holding each other in front of the ocean, both wearing beach
attire and leis on their necks.
Liz knocks once and
then walks into his office, closing the door behind her. He sits up and looks
up at her.
Liz: Ambassador Sen
is here.
Josh: (looks at her for a split second, then sits up and puts the picture down) Thanks.
Send him in.
Liz leaves and returns
a few seconds later with Ambassador Sen. He’s fairly young for an ambassador,
probably about Josh’s age, and looks tired and upset. Josh stands up and shakes
his hand.
Josh: Thank you for coming in so late,
Ambassador.
Sen: (nods slightly) I was up.
Josh: Yeah… (gestures to chair) please, have a seat.
Both men sit down and
Josh moves his sandwich out of the way.
Josh: Sorry, it’s the first time I’ve had
a chance…
Sen: (smiles) My wife sent dinner to my office
two hours ago. I would’ve forgotten otherwise.
Josh: (smiles and gestures to the sandwich) My girlfriend.
Sen: (nods and chuckles) We’re really quite useless without
them.
Josh stares at the
sandwich for just a second and then looks up at the ambassador.
Josh: Sir…
Sen: I’ve heard the rumors, Mr. Lyman.
Let me assure you… they’re untrue.
Josh: Ambassador, the president is very
concerned about this.
Sen: The president has a family. Of
course he’s concerned.
Josh: Sending emergency relief aid to a country
that would sacrifice children like that isn’t something he’s likely to do.
Sen: (cutting Josh off) Do you
have children, Mr. Lyman?
Josh: (pauses then shakes his head) No.
Sen: I do. (slightly smiles with fatherly pride) Three daughters and a son. My
oldest is twelve, my youngest four. If that were happening in my country, the Tehri Dam would be the least of my worries tonight.
Josh: (studies the ambassador for a few seconds) Have the
orphanages been evacuated?
Sen: Eight have been. They’ve started in
the northern regions, but they are evacuating orphanages, hospitals, elderly
care facilities and jails as quickly as possible. Our citizens do matter to us,
Mr. Lyman.
Josh: They matter to us too, sir. That’s
the reason for our concern.
Sen: I appreciate that. Please assure
the president for me that we’re doing the very best we can and that we deeply
appreciate the aid the
Josh stands up and
the ambassador follows.
Josh: Thank you for coming in,
Ambassador. Try and get some sleep tonight.
Sen: (shaking Josh’s hand) I think
sleep is for another night. (He starts to leave through the door he came
in and stops just before opening it, turning back to Josh.) If the dam gives,
Mr. Lyman, a lot of people will die. Some of those people will be children.
Josh nods and the
ambassador leaves.
Act 4
Scene 1
Title Card: 2:00am
Saturday, 11:30am,
Lou and Bram are in Lou’s
office. Lou’s lying on the couch and Bram is on a visitors’ chair. The lights
are off in the bullpen behind them, obvious that the support staff has been
sent home. Sam walks in.
Sam: The Indian ambassador called .Two
more orphanages have been evacuated.
Lou: (to Bram with closed eyes) Open the briefing with that. Don’t give them anything to
ask.
Bram: (tiredly) Alright.
Sam: With any luck, the worst of it’s
over. The Tehri Hydro Development Corporation is
starting repairs to the dam in the next few hours.
Lou: (eyes still closed) Bram needs to know how that’s going to happen.
Sam: (to Bram) They’re
going to take huge pieces of stone and… well stone… and put them into the
reservoir side to block the leaks. I think.
Lou: (sarcastically) Thanks for the technical terms, Sam.
Sam: (ignores Lou and talks to Bram) You’ve got the UN and US aid information?
Bram: (nods) And
I’ve got an update on casualties. I was going to call a full lid after that.
Sam: That’s fine.
Lou lifts her head
and opens her eyes for the first time this scene, giving Sam a look.
Sam: Sorry.
Lou: (looks at him for another second before turning to Bram) That’s fine.
Sam’s phone rings and
he talks to Bram as he takes it off his belt and looks at the caller id.
Sam: How many deaths so far?
Bram: 8800.
Sam: (mumbling at the phone) I just talked with him.
Lou: Who’s calling a two o’clock in the
morning?
Sam: The Tehri
Hydro Development Corporation (flips cell
phone) Mr. Jhakri?
Music starts and
camera focuses on Sam’s face as he goes from hopeful to devastated. His eyes
close and his head drops, and he shakes his head a little. It’s a few seconds
before he speaks again.
Sam: (quietly) When?
Scene 2
Montage scene.
Haunting music playing softly as we hear Bram’s press briefing without seeing
him.
Scene shows Josh
sitting in his darkened office staring almost blindly at the television in the
corner, the light from the screen flickering across his face. The camera pans
to the television and we see a shot from a helicopter of an unbelievable amount
of water pouring through an opening with barely remnants of a dam on the sides.
‘Tehri Dam Collapses’ is written across the bottom of
the screen.
Cut to Matt, walking
slowly down a hallway in the residence. He passes a room being guarded by the
secret service and then goes back to it and the secret serviceman opens it for
him. He looks inside and sees Helen, still wearing her suit from the day,
sleeping on top of the covers on Miranda’s bed, holding Miranda from behind. He
watches for a few seconds before walking across the hall to another door being
guarded by the secret service. That guard opens the door for him and he goes
inside and walks to Peter’s bed. He looks at him for a second and then leans
down and kisses his forehead, then walks to the other side of the bed, toes off
his shoes and lies down.
Cut to an airplane
runway as boxes are being loaded onto a military airplane as it rains on the young
military personnel loading it. Boxes are clearly marked with food, medical
supplies, and clothing.
Bram: (voiceover as the above scenes are shown) An aftershock in the Utter Pradish state of India at 2:07am eastern, 11:37am local
time, caused the Tehri Dam to collapse completely.
More than two hundred miles to the south of the dam is expected to be
completely underwater within the next ten hours. Evacuation on the area started
seven hours ago, but officials expect there to be anywhere from two to three
hundred thousand deaths due to the collapse. Ten of the sixteen orphanages in
the path of the dam have been evacuated to Dedra Dun
and other areas to the north. Fourteen hospitals, six jails and eleven elderly
care facilities have also been evacuated. Officials say they’ll continue the
evacuation in southern Utter Pradish until it becomes
too dangerous.
Other deaths from the original earthquake that hit India
eight and a half hours ago are estimated at nine thousand, four hundred, but
that number is likely to raise to anywhere from twenty-five to thirty-thousand.
The
Scene 3
Josh walks into his
apartment. There’s a small light on in the corner, but otherwise the room is
dark. He drops his book bag by the door and takes off his jacket, tossing it on
the couch as he makes his way through the living room and into the bedroom
where CNN is on but muted and Donna’s lying in bed with her back to the camera.
Josh sits down on the edge of the bed and takes off his shoes, pants and socks,
then pulls off his button-down shirt and crawls into bed. The camera angle
switches to the other side of the bed and we see that Donna is awake staring at
the wall. Josh lies still on his back for a few seconds, then rolls over onto
his side and puts an arm around her.
Donna: (sleepy whisper) What time is it?
Josh: (softly) 3:30
Donna: Did you eat?
Josh: Yeah. (kisses her shoulder) How was dinner
with Julie?
Donna: Good.
Josh: I’m sorry I couldn’t get away.
Donna: You don’t have to apologize for
work emergencies.
Josh: At least I didn’t beg you to stay.
Donna: (looks off towards the wall and pauses) No,
you certainly didn’t do that.
Josh: (says through a yawn) And I only almost called you twice.
Donna: (turns her head and looks at him) You did?
Josh: (half smirks) Liz is good, but she’s never going to be you.
Donna: (turns back around and smiles) I spoke with Mrs. Santos earlier. She wants to look at the
treatment of children in foreign orphanages.
Josh: (nods even though she can’t see him) They were both upset.
Donna: Yeah.
Josh: The Indian ambassador said… (trails off) He kind of implied…
Donna: What?
Josh: (pause)
Nothing.
There’s a rather long
pause and Donna snuggles into Josh some more and closes her eyes. Josh’s eyes
are still open.
Josh: Do you want children?
Donna stiffens and
her eyes pop open. There’s another long pause and she rolls onto her back. He
has to scoot back a little to make room for her, and they look at each other.
Josh: You know, some day.
Donna: Do you?
Josh: (another pause and then barely a whisper) Yes.
Donna: (looks at him for another moment) I
do too.
Josh: (timidly) Mine?
Donna: (smiles softly and
shakes her head no) Ours.
Josh looks at her for
a few seconds, then leans down and kisses her.
Screen goes black.