Scarecrow and Mrs. King (1983–1987): Season 4, Episode 10 - Need to Know - full transcript

A reporter friend of Lee's gets mixed up in a convoluted plot to get headlines by destroying a valuable mineral.

DURSAC: How can that one
missile destroy all the tri-tanium?

Your target is 200
feet underground.

Two hundred and seven.

But the thermite warhead
can burn through a

50-story building,
right into the basement.

The plutonium combines with molten
metal and makes it hotter than Chernobyl.

And the free world's stockpile
of tri-tanium is gone, just like that.

America's Star Wars
defense will be a memory.

How soon can we be ready?

We've got to wait to pack
the plutonium in the warhead.

I'd say six hours after we
get the target coordinates.



And when will that be?

I can't give you a
date. But it will happen.

Never doubt the power
of the press, Dursac.

It's my job.

You do it better than anyone.

I'm not so worried about the missile
or the thermites or even the target.

I'm worried about you,
Nesbitt. I don't understand you.

Because I'm not for
hire like Fouts here...

or some fuzzy-cheeked
terrorist with hate in his eyes?

Exactly. Your newspaper
is creating the panic.

How can you duck the blame?

You're thinking about
the way it is in Bucharest.

Here we have freedom of the press.
I let my reporter take all the heat...

and I back him to the hilt
like any good publisher would.



And I don't ask him
to identity his source.

You'd be amazed at
what I can get away with.

[DURSAC SIGHS]

[CLICKS]

DURSAC: Good work.

[BOTH SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]

[CLICKING]

[ENGINE STARTS]

[ENGINE STARTS]

[ENGINE STARTS]

You're never gonna clean your closet
out if you won't throw anything away.

When in doubt, throw it out.

I will, I will. It's just that some
of this is hard to part with.

It's history, you
know, memories.

Look, change requires a
willingness to face the unknown.

The unknown is scary.
You're afraid of change.

- I am not.
- Oh, yeah, you are.

You heard the saying "You've
got to change to remain the same"?

I think change is
very stimulating.

When was the last time
you ever changed anything?

Oh. Oh, this was a close
one. Look at that, huh?

This was, uh, Paris, '82. Chomsky,
a freelancer for the Soviets...

This was a close one.
What is this, Stetson?

- Uh, could be blood.
- Could be?

Uh, could be a smear from that, uh,
contact plastique that we've been using...

Could be lipstick.

- Ahem. Yeah, it could be that too.
- Mm-hm.

Hmm.

LEE: Amanda...
- Hmm?

This stuff has been crammed
back in that closet for a long time.

- Mm-hm.
- Years. Most of it is...

- Very pretty.
- Yeah.

Uh, most of it is work-related.

Then again, some of
it is not. Heh. Ahem.

- But it is all history now. Heh.
- Mm-hm.

- Oh, I know. Mm-hm.
- Yeah.

- You're really curious, aren't you?
- No.

- Huh?
- No.

Aha. Yes, you are.

I've got the same itch.
It's called mutual curiosity.

[AMANDA SCOFFS]

It's a very healthy thing.

[PHONE RINGING]

[AMANDA SCOFFS & LEE CHUCKLES]

[CLEARS THROAT]

Hello, Stetson.

Hi. Charlie, yeah,
how you doing?

Yeah, I guess I could come down
there for a little while. Sure. Yeah, uh...

All right, I'll be there.
Yeah, I'll see you. Okay, bye.

That was Charlie Benton of the
Telegram. I've worked with him a few times.

- Ahem.
- Sandi with an I.

He said he wanted to
buy me a drink. Ahem.

He sounded real shook up.

Well, why don't you go on and
I'll just finish cleaning all this out?

Okay. There's, uh, let's see, more
jackets in the bedroom, suits in the hall.

- Hmm.
- Look, he didn't say, "Come alone."

- You'd love Charlie. Come along, huh?
- Worried, aren't you?

Afraid I'm gonna throw
something away without asking.

I won't throw anything
away without asking you.

I know that. It's just some
of this stuff, you know...

takes a little explaining, heh.

You wanna explain,
I'll be happy to listen.

- I thought you might.
- Mm-hm.

Amanda, I'm a spy.
My past is classified.

- It's a habit with me. I don't know.
- Huh.

Ah, thank you.

Now, I will tell you
anything, almost.

Is it gonna make a great big
difference if I keep a few secrets?

No. Everybody's
entitled to a few secrets.

LEE: Mm.

- You can have as many as you want.
- Hmm.

How many do you want?

[CHUCKLING]

[BELL RINGS]

Thirty years in the
paper business.

I was running copy,
and the racing form...

Ah.

Up five flights of stairs
at the old Telegram.

Yeah, I know. That was just about
before everyone else was born.

Heh. Hey, those were the days when
being a reporter meant something.

Ever since Raoul Nesbitt
gobbled up the Telegram...

we've been running more fashion
hints and frou-frou recipes in a day...

than all the hard news
we print in a month.

It's not such a bad deal.
He owns a lot of papers...

throughout the country,
radio stations, TV stations.

All over the world.

I mean, he buys them and brings
in hired guns like Gary Gunning...

who write first,
ask questions later.

They're destroying the news
business. I can't just sit back.

You been following
Gunning's series on tri-tanium?

Uh...

CHARLIE: Don't
bluff me, Stetson.

You know the next generation of SDI
weapons is totally dependent on tri-tanium.

Gunning's undisclosed
source says we ain't got enough.

No, not says, speculates.

I've been in this business so long,
I can smell news before it happens.

Gunning's scoop
isn't worth spit.

- So it is a bad story.
CHARLIE: It's an awful story.

Nesbitt's been pushing it full
bore, giving Gunning carte blanche...

quoting unnamed sources close
to the White House. It's garbage.

The president used the same
words in his press conference.

Now whispers are starting again.

Whitewash, stonewall.

This isn't the Peoria Prairie News.
This is the Washington Telegram.

It stands for something.
Or at least it used to.

Here.

[CHARLIE SIGHS]

Here's the kind of
company Nesbitt's keeping.

There's Nesbitt.

LEE: Emile Dursac,
Romanian Secret Service.

Of course, there could be many
perfectly logical reasons why.

Many perfectly
dirty reasons why.

Charlie, why are you
telling me all this, huh?

This isn't your style. I
mean, what's the angle here?

Well, I, uh, figured maybe...

- we could scratch each other's back.
- How?

CHARLIE: There's something
rotten at the Telegram.

And I want the story. I've got a
hunch you're gonna want it too.

You're on the outside.

I'm in real tight with
Gladys in Personnel.

We could work something
out, get you on the inside.

BARTENDER: Benton? Phone.
- I'll be right back.

- How is the story coming, Gunning?
GUNNING: Just fine, thanks, Charlie.

CHARLIE: Shooting from the
hip. Cheap thrills, that's all it is.

Yeah, well, at least I've
got some bullets in my gun.

Look at the front page of the Telegram.
I see my name, but I don't see yours.

Yeah, you'll see it soon enough.

I got a story that'll knock
Nesbitt out of the water.

Yeah, sure, sure.
Whatever you say, Charlie.

BARTENDER: Hurry up, Benton.
Other people wanna use that phone.

NICK: Hey.

- Watch it, old man.
- Uh, Charlie, Charlie, come on.

- Let's sit down. CHARLIE:
What's his problem?

- Come on, sit down. I'm sorry.
- No, no, no.

The guy insulted me. I want
him to apologize. Come on.

- Come on.
- How about this instead?

[ALL GRUNTING]

That's not nice.

All right, break it up.

Over there, against the bar.

Move it.

It's you, Charlie.

They never laid a glove on me.

This is Fouts. I'm with Benton.

NESBITT: What do you need?
I'm about to meet with Eldridge.

FOUTS [OVER PHONE]: He's
showing shots. May be from the airport.

You see the pictures?

Enough to know we
could be in trouble.

I was hoping we could
let that sleeping dog lie...

- but use your own judgment.
- Right.

Dr. Eldridge.

I want out of this, Nesbitt.

You promised it would only
be a few contacts with Gunning.

You give my reporter one more
story and your visit to the White House.

Look, I don't know what you're up to, I
don't care. You're pushing me too far.

NESBITT: We have the
videotape to go along with that.

It's all yours if you
keep playing along.

Just as I promised,
within the week.

But I've told him all I know.

It's time to start
getting creative.

That's your script.

Be convincing, doctor. A lot
depends on your performance.

LEE: Look, do you know
every cop in town, Charlie?

CHARLIE: Oh, yeah,
yeah. One way or the other.

[CHARLIE CHUCKLES]

Yeah.

[CHARLIE GRUNTS]

I wouldn't be surprised if that
fight was a setup to take me out.

A setup? Come on, you
started it and you know it.

Ever since I've been poking into this
Nesbitt story, someone's been on my butt.

- Yeah, heh.
- Yeah. I can feel it.

Come on up, I'll buy you a drink.
Hey, I got some single-malt whiskey...

- in the cupboard.
- No, I can't this time.

I will deliver your message to my people.
Until then, I swear this is off the record.

- You got that?
- Gotcha.

Don't you breathe a word
either. How about just a tiny one?

- Yeah? Come on. Come on.
- All right. You talked me into it.

[CHARLIE CHUCKLES]

- Ha, ha. We sure showed them,
didn't we? LEE: Yeah, we sure did.

[TIRES SCREECHING]

Charlie. Come here.

Charlie, you all right?

Yeah.

LEE: Oh...

[SIREN WAILING]

[SIGHS]

[LEE GRUNTS]

Disturbing the peace, assault,
destroying personal property...

not to mention six different
municipal code violations.

You've had quite a day.

It is all in the report
that I'm about to file, Billy.

And while you were out having fun, we're
trying to keep the lid on a major flap.

The White House
is not happy, people.

Everything about tri-tanium is "eyes only,"
how much we've got, where we've got it.

But the Telegram has it on the
front page, and they have it wrong.

Or did you have time to read
the paper between crime sprees?

I read the articles.

Why is the Telegram
the one with the story?

Charlie Benton says this guy
Gunning is a hotshot reporter...

who hasn't got his facts
straight. Look at these.

Charlie took them. That's
Nesbitt with Emile Dursac.

What's the publisher of the
Telegram doing with Emile Dursac?

- That's what I'd like to know.
- Francine, pull the file on Dursac...

and put together anything
you have on Nesbitt.

If Dursac's involved
in this, I'll need more.

Look, Charlie has
offered to help.

He's never been cozy with the
Intelligence Community before.

Okay, here's what we'll do. I
want you both to work the Telegram.

- Be discreet and be careful.
- Yes, sir.

- And no more arrests, understood?
- Yes.

I thought Billy was gonna throw the book
at me, and I walk out smelling like a rose.

- Yep.
- Ha, ha.

Amanda, I have been thinking about
what we were talking about earlier.

- Yeah?
- And I have decided, no secrets.

Good plan. Now you're
really onto something.

Who's Jim Saarinen?

Um, Hilton Head, 1976.

I haven't got a
clue. What...? Just...

- Tsk, tsk, tsk.
- Uh...

You know what? I think I'm
developing a sort of, um...

selective memory or something.

Yeah, you know, I had that same
kind of memory with the Patrovich twins.

I don't know what tumblers
from the circus have to do with...

- Jim Saarinen?
- Who?

The Patrovich twins were a
little tiny chapter in my past...

I would have kept secret...

but no, you had to read
the report, remember?

Oh, God. Remember?
I... Gee, I...

- Yeah, I... Yes, I do.
- Hmm.

Yes, I do remember that. I do. I
gotta admit it, I do. I remember that.

Uh-huh. Since there were
no little goodies in your past...

that usually come up
under "the line of duty"...

I thought that the Jim Saarinen
file would make a fair trade.

[BOTH CHUCKLE]

It's kind of like we're
trading baseball cards.

I'll give you two Mickey
Mantles for a Whitey Ford.

Yeah, we'll swap secrets.
You know, tell everything.

Lay it all out on the line, huh?

Yeah. I'll go second.

Let's flip a coin.

All right.

Call.

- Uh, no, no.
- No, no.

Would you stop it? Stop it.

- Stop it. Stop it. LEE:
Oh, no. No, you don't.

Background profile on Nesbitt.
Billy thought you might need it.

Don't even bother to
explain. It'll only make it worse.

[DOOR CLOSES]

Amanda, come on.
This is not fair. I flipped.

Get off of me. I'm a woman.

Now go ahead and
call it like a man.

- Tails. Oh.
- Heads. Ha.

Start talking.

There's been a huge
response to this article.

Twenty-nine newspapers, including
Izvestia, have quoted my newswire.

People like to believe the
worst about Washington.

Any official rebuttal?

Dan Pratt from the White
House Press Office called.

I told them that we'd be glad to print an
eyewitness verification of the tri-tanium.

- Did he agree to it?
- He almost choked on it.

But the seed has been planted.

Eldridge and his Union
of Concerned Scientists...

is going over there this afternoon
to ask for a look for themselves.

It's getting a bit warm
for the Oval Office.

Even so, is it enough for them
to breach their own security?

If it's good PR. They
love PR over there.

Anyway, nobody should be
concerned about tri-tanium.

There's hundreds of
tons of it in the ground.

- They want people to know.
- Oh, yes.

We still have Benton to worry
about since Fouts was not successful.

Once is an accident, twice
is murder. I'm calling him off.

Eldridge is our only exposure.

Once he's made his impassioned
plea for inspection, he's history.

Your stomach is not strong
enough for this kind of work, hmm?

Heh. You've given me a
great deal to worry about.

I'm used to working
behind the scenes. But you...

I am a courageous publisher
thumbing my nose at Big Brother.

I'll be a popular hero.

There isn't anything to connect me
to the tri-tanium once we blow it up.

DOTTY: You know how
awful the supermarket can be.

And Jamie and I had a
grocery list as long as your arm.

Well, the cart traffic was as
bad as Georgetown at rush hour.

Yeah, you should have
seen her drive the cart.

- It was like Andretti.
- Heh.

We turned the corner, there
he was, thumping cantaloupes.

He smiled. I smiled back.

Then we headed him
off in dairy products.

Mother.

Well, we needed skim
milk, he needed sour cream.

- It was serendipity.
- It was a pickup.

We met. Who cares how?
He ask me to dinner at Emilio's.

- You didn't accept?
DOTTY: No. Of course not.

I, uh, took his number. I mean, if
things don't work out with Captain Curt...

Mother, you don't know
anything about him.

I do too. He lives in Georgetown.
He's a CPA, he loves dogs.

Kibble in the cart.

WOMAN: They're gonna
reorganize the whole division.

MAN: Oh, really?

There you go. Thank you.

- Hi.
- Hi.

- Could I have a BLT please?
- Yeah, you got it.

- Here we go.
- Oh, thank you.

I'm reading you on all
floors. How's the job?

- Charlie came through.
- There we go.

I'm making deliveries so I
can cover the whole building.

Good. I'll hang
around near the exits.

- Good luck.
- Thank you.

- See you later.
- Uh-huh.

[WHISTLING]

If you've got questions about the story,
Charlie, buy a paper. It's all in there.

I've read the story, but I still want
some hard news, Gary. Some facts.

You want facts, Charlie? Okay.

I've got a front-page, seven-part
series, you got zip. That's a fact.

I'm producing, you're
not. That's a fact.

I'm good, I work hard, and
you're jealous. Those are all facts.

AMANDA: Oops, sorry.
- Heh, excuse me.

- Uh, do I know you?
- Amanda Kane. I'm a temp off assistant.

- Have we met?
- No, I don't think so.

You've probably
just seen me around.

- Part time? Huh.
- Part time.

- Research?
- Mm.

Well, I can use all
of your part time.

I've got a ton of research. I'll
need things from microfiche.

Meet me in my
office in 15 minutes.

Damn kid thinks
he owns the place.

Thank you.

[PHONE RINGS]

Mr. Gunning's office,
can I take a message?

Oh, hold on just
a second, please.

Mm-hm. All right.
Thank you. Goodbye.

Oh, hello, Mr. Gunning. Here's
the research you wanted...

and you got a phone call
from a Mr. Prometheus.

He said there was no message.

Oh, good. Great. Thanks. Uh...

I've gotta go. We'll jump on
that microfiche stuff later, okay?

Gunning's leaving the office.
He just got a phone call...

[OVER RADIO]...from someone
who called himself Prometheus.

GUNNING: Eldridge,
what's going on?

ELDRIDGE: I had to talk to you.

GUNNING: What's going
on? You never call the office.

This will be our last meeting.

Why? We're just about ready
to pry the lid off this thing.

What I'm gonna give you
today will blow it all the way off.

[CLICKS]

ELDRIDGE: It's an official
Security Council report...

on the state of our
tri-tanium reserves.

GUNNING: Pretty low?
ELDRIDGE: Totally empty.

GUNNING: So you're saying
someone is stealing the tri-tanium?

ELDRIDGE: That's what I
hear, but I'm checking it out.

GUNNING: Is the president aware of this?
ELDRIDGE: I don't see how he can help.

[CLICKS]

[ENGINES START]

[CAR ALARM WAILING]

Charlie, hit the deck!

[CHARLIE GROANS]

[GROANS]

LEE: Charlie, you all
right? CHARLIE: Yeah.

Yeah. What about him?

BILLY: When it rains, it pours.

One minute we've got zip, the
next minute my desk is overflowing.

- How's Benton?
- Leg wound.

Lost a lot of blood, but he's stable.
I sent Amanda over to talk to him.

Is he gonna keep
the shooting quiet?

As long as he can. He's
got a few days' sick leave.

- What about the FBI?
- They bought us about 24 hours.

They misfiled the death
certificate on the gunman.

That's good. We finally
got an ID. Derek Fouts.

Derek Fouts, the
Shopkeeper? Heh.

Part-time mercenary, full-time
merchant of everything...

- the wrong people shouldn't
have. BILLY: Got that right.

For months we've tied
him into everything...

from stolen Kalishnikov
rifles to missing plutonium.

Why is he in a parking garage
shooting at Charlie Benton?

We've ID'd Gunning's
source from his tag number.

Dr. Eldridge, science
advisor to the White House.

And architect of our strategic
metals program, I think.

Bingo. Bring him in, Francine.

Eldridge's housekeeper
found him dead an hour ago.

LEE: What? FRANCINE:
Overdose of digitalis.

Right after his meeting with Gunning.
We're checking his prescription.

What the hell have we got here?
News conglomerates, dead mercenaries.

Why is the president's own
science advisor lying to the press?

He's gotta be Gunning's source.

He'd know better than anyone
if our tri-tanium was secure.

[TELEPHONE BEEPS]

Melrose here.

Yes, Dr. Smith.

Yes, sir, I'll be right up.

The latest Telegram story
just broke the camel's back.

The president is sending in an
inspection team to the tri-tanium site...

0600 hours tomorrow.
We're in charge of security.

I want you to conduct the tour.

There is your "why," Billy.

If Nesbitt is trying
to find our tri-tanium,

he just cooked up
a good way to do it.

We can't prove that, Scarecrow.

They're going on a blind bus.
They won't know where they are.

Then I say we pick up Gunning and Nesbitt
and start squeezing them right away.

They'll start screaming we're
violating their constitutional rights.

The way to handle this is to
put them under surveillance...

until you bring me cause.

- And I mean a lot of it.
- Hmm.

As soon as the
inspection's completed, we're

taking the tri-tanium
to a backup site.

All right.

Why hasn't Fouts checked in?

He'll have an explanation.
He's a total professional.

- Are you sure the transmitter's working?
- I exchanged the glasses with Gunning.

That bug is so accurate...

we can fire our missile
from over the horizon...

and fly it right up his
nose if we want to.

All we need is a target.

- Have I ever disappointed you, Emile?
- Of course not.

Your papers are some of the best weapons
the Warsaw Pact has in the free world.

Heh. I'm Romanian.
We have to fret.

I'm an American.
We're born optimists.

American-born. It puzzles me.

Why would I sabotage
my own country, you mean?

It's not common
for a wealthy man.

I'll tell you what's got
your stomach in a knot.

We're partners. You
don't know how to trust me.

You're taking all the risks,
and you don't need our money.

I wouldn't need a partner if
you didn't have the missile.

Don't you understand?
I'm not doing this for you.

I'm doing this for myself
and for my country.

It's that important to you?

All the SDI technology will do
is throw off the balance of terror.

Take away the tri-tanium and
we're back to the old standoff.

Your country could have
supremacy. You let that go?

Supremacy for
what? A first strike?

- I don't care what they call me.
- Some people will call you a maniac.

A world balanced on the point of a
spear is better than no world at all.

Besides, I'm a newspaperman.

It makes good copy.

[SIGHS]

[BEEPING]

[BEEPING]

[CLICKING]

LEE: I found 15 dossiers on the
kind of people who make headlines...

all of them filled with dirt.

Did you find anything in
Nesbitt's office on Dr. Eldridge?

Well, it's obvious. Nesbitt
was blackmailing the guy.

Whoa, look at this.

There's a lot more.

Logged meetings.

From this, looks like Nesbitt knew the time
and place that Eldridge and Gunning met.

Almost like he planned it.

Can we stop the
inspection tour with this?

I doubt it.

It's almost 5:00. The bus
leaves the Pentagon at dawn.

Now the only thing we can do is
just keep looking through this junk...

and send the
bloodhounds after Nesbitt.

Hmm.

LEE: At this level, we're
140 feet underground.

Sorry about the inconvenience,
but security is the top priority.

The location of this
site is top secret.

[ALARM BEEPING]

Excuse me, senator.
We'll have to do it again.

Would you stand
over there, please?

[BEEPING]

MAN 1: Got a reading. MAN 2:
Did you get it off the plutonium?

MAN 1: No, it's
barely a roentgen.

MAN 2: These
suits should hold up.

We just took the maximum burst fix
from the transmitter within 200 yards.

Okay, that's it.

As soon as the
warhead's changed, we go.

Dr. Van der Veer and I have taken
five random samples of the material.

Each is approximately
98.3 percent fine tri-tanium.

I am satisfied, Dr. Van
der Veer is satisfied.

LEE: Thank you, Dr. Frank.

This concludes our
inspection. If you'll all join me...

Wait, wait, just a minute. There's
gotta be some sort of mistake.

That or you rigged
this or something.

Mr. Gunning, would
you join us in the van?

What is this, a whitewash?
Test some more.

- Let's go.
- I have an impeccable source.

An advisor to the president who
says that the tri-tanium is gone.

You had a source. And
he wasn't so impeccable.

Dr. Eldridge is dead, yesterday.

[BEEPING]

LEE: Murder isn't out of the
question. He was being blackmailed.

Now, your publisher has a nasty
file on him about an inch thick.

And he also has a daily log on
your meetings with Dr. Eldridge.

Oh, wait a minute. Nesbitt
doesn't know my source.

Maybe. But the question is...

are you in this with Nesbitt or
are you just another of his stooges?

Half-second burst transmission.

We've been getting them every
two minutes or so, but random.

- Took us a while to triangulate.
- Heh. What, more of the cover story?

- I get shot... LEE: Shut up.

And we're gonna find it, so
save us the trouble, will you?

Senator, colonel...

Mr. Gunning here has a
radio on him somewhere.

A sophisticated job
that we almost missed.

Even the x-rays and metal
detectors couldn't catch it.

[DEVICE BEEPING]

Mm-hm.

Hey, wait a minute. What...?

I'm talking about
a homing device.

Homing device?

It's probably activated by remote
control to avoid the electronic sweep.

- These are your glasses, aren't they?
- Yes. But I don't know about this.

Warm up a chopper and patch
me into the agency, would you?

Ladies and gentlemen, I'm invoking
a national security alert. The lid is on.

Come on, Gunning, let's go.

I kept this thing working until we
got well into D.C. to avoid suspicion.

Sorry to keep you waiting.

Well, find him. I don't care if
he's mining gold in the Yukon.

Nesbitt is supposedly on a tour,
checking on his Canadian papers.

You can change a lot minds with
blackmail and a world-news syndicate.

By the look on his face, I don't think
Gunning had any idea about that bug.

- Francine, how is the evacuation coming?
- Slow.

We've got 500 Special Forces
troops surrounding the site.

BILLY: How can they
put a price on tri-tanium?

I mean, grabbing the
free world's entire supply...

it makes the Brink's job look like stealing
a nickel out of your mother's purse.

You wanna take this up and see
what you and Amanda can do with it?

- Can I have my office back, please?
- Yes, sir.

Ah, must you fly to
the target yourself?

My pilot is taking my
Gulfstream to Ontario.

You stay on the ground and
gobble your antacids, Emile.

You'll never understand...

that the really big
winners in this world...

can't just sit back and watch
their battles from a distance.

- Are you sure one missile can do the job?
- A contained explosion, clean enough.

A nice solution, I think.

The thermite burns
into the tunnels...

liquefies the metal, and
the plutonium irradiates...

every last ounce of their
tri-tanium for 20,000 years.

I think that should effectively cripple
the American Star Wars defense.

Don't you?

In two hours, the U.S.
stockpile will cease to exist...

and nobody can
do anything about it.

Something about
this just isn't right.

AMANDA: Did you see this?

Look at this on Nesbitt's
calendar. "Lear 24 remove tanks."

Real little in the bottom
left. You see that?

Yeah, a Learjet.

Private, expensive. That's
the kind of plane he'd own.

The pictures of Nesbitt and Dursac
were taken at the Telegram's hangars.

- Let me call Charlie.
- Yeah.

Nesbitt's supposedly
flying across Canada today.

Charlie Benton, please?

CHARLIE [OVER PHONE]: Yeah.
- Yeah, Charlie, Lee Stetson.

- I'm going nuts.
- Yeah, I know.

Listen, one question: What
kind of plane does Nesbitt own?

Two of them. A Learjet and a
Gulfstream, both here in D.C. Why?

Thanks, Charlie. Thanks a lot.

No, don't worry, no
one's gonna scoop you.

Yeah. Okay.

Yeah, I'll talk to you
later. Thanks a lot.

Guess what. He owns two
planes, a Lear and a Gulfstream.

He's gonna fly across Canada.
Why is he removing the tanks?

- Hmm. MAN [OVER
PHONE]: Hello, air traffic.

- D.C.-Baltimore air traffic control?
- Yes.

Yeah, I'd like to know if there is a
flight plan active for a Raoul Nesbitt...

- for either a Learjet or a Gulfstream.
- The Gulf filed for Toronto this morning.

- Thank you. Thank you very much.
- You're welcome.

Gulfstream left for
Toronto this morning...

but the Lear is still here in D.C.
and Nesbitt is rated to fly both of them.

- We better check it out, huh?
- What about backup?

Tell Operations
where we're going.

They can get ahold of our
cover at the tri-tanium site.

[ENGINE STOPS]

Charlie's photos are right on.

- Let's go inside.
- Yeah.

[DOOR OPENS]

LEE: The missile. AMANDA: Yeah.

LEE: It's a Slingshot. AMANDA:
Short range, air-to-surface.

Designed for the F-4.
Obsolete. Studied it in hardware.

Yeah, well, the Air Force dumped all our
Slingshots in the '70s all over the world.

They're not carrying the
normal cyclonite warhead.

AMANDA: Hmm.
- It's been modified to thermite.

Those guys are wearing
contamination suits for radiation.

Nuclear warheads?

Well, nuclear, yes, but
not a fission weapon.

The Shopkeeper was supposed
to have some plutonium.

They burn down
to the tri-tanium...

the plutonium will be useless and
radioactive for the next 300 generations.

Watch my back.

I know they've got a fix,
but we've gotta be positive.

- Right. Careful.
- Yeah.

DURSAC: Who are you?

Turn around.

Well, everything here seems
to be in order. Excellent.

- Who are you?
- I'm with the FAA.

I was making a spot check here.

And believe me, gentlemen, I
intend to file a glowing report.

- Search him.
- Oh.

Check outside and
see if he's alone.

Tie him up.

Wait till we are airborne.
And then you must kill him.

Let's go. We're gonna
stay on schedule.

MAN: Move it.

[WRENCH CLANGS]

[GUNSHOT]

[BOTH GRUNT]

[GROANS]

- Get on the phone and get us some backup.
- Yeah.

[ENGINE STARTS]

Yes, sir, about four
miles south of Rockville.

Yes, sir.

- What are we gonna do if we catch him?
- One thing at a time.

What are we gonna do if
he lets that missile loose?

MAN [OVER RADIO]: Lear Niner-01,
you are clear on Runway 3 north.

NESBITT: Thank you, tower.

This is Lear 901. We're rolling.

MAN: Lear Niner-01 and all
runway traffic, this is Control.

Hold all takeoff.

DURSAC: Get
into the air, Nesbitt.

NESBITT: I don't have
enough air speed to rotate.

What do we do now?

We sit back and
wait for the cavalry.

[AMANDA CHUCKLES]

Well, I've never written a
story that pleased me more.

[ALL CHUCKLE]

CHARLIE: An editor I knew used to
say newsmen make lousy news stories...

but, heh, I guess they
never knew Nesbitt.

Sure beats obits and
high school basketball.

[TELEPHONE RINGING]

Sure does.

Thanks.

- Both of you.
- Sure.

BARTENDER: Benton, telephone.

[CHARLIE GRUNTS]

- Well, we'll see you,
Charlie. CHARLIE: Yeah.

- Oh, congratulations.
- On what?

I'm a reporter. I got a
keen sense for big stories.

[CHARLIE & LEE CHUCKLE]

[AMANDA SIGHS]

[English - US -SDH]