by J. R. Rain
More than you know. The scrolls, you see—
well, at least one of them—provided clues to
the location of the true Garden of Eden.
JACK
I still don’t—
TESS
Within the Garden of Eden, as the story goes,
is the Tree of Life, which, as some claim,
is the source of all life on earth.
Boris is searching for the Tree, Jack.
He’s searching for the cure to everything.
Jack is dumfounded. The conversation has clearly turned in a direction which he was not prepared for. He stammers, trying to keep up.
JACK
But the Garden of Eden—it’s just a story—a legend.
Besides, if it was real, which I seriously doubt,
wasn’t it supposed to have existed somewhere along
the Tigris and Euphrates? That’s Southern Iraq.
TESS
That’s the popular view.
JACK
Then what’s Boris doing in Northern Iran?
TESS
I’m glad you asked.
The exotic beauty, now very much a woman, opens her handbag and removes a laptop. She snaps it open, powers it up. Once done, she motions for Jack to sit next to her. He does so, their knees touching.
TESS
The Hebrew Bible gives very specific clues
to the location of the Garden of Eden. In particular,
it mentions the intersection of four rivers.
She turns the laptop toward him. On the screen is a picture of Iran. She highlights the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, both of which snake down across the Middle East and deposit into the Red Sea.
TESS
We already know two of the four rivers:
the Tigris and Euphrates. It’s the two remaining
rivers that have confounded scholars:
the Pishon and Gihon.
As she speaks, she manipulates the Power Point presentation on her laptop. The map scrolls up toward Iran.
TESS
Now, if you go north toward the headwaters
of the Tigris and Euphrates you will find two
minor rivers.
Tess clicks the mouse and now Northern Iran comes into sharper focus. We see two smaller rivers near the Black Sea. The names of the rivers are written above them. The first is Kezel-Uzun. Tess presses the mouse again, and as she speaks the name of the river begins changing...
TESS
The first river is called the Uzun by the locals.
Now, when transcribing Farsi into Hebrew,
the Farsi letter “U” becomes a “P”,
so the river name Uzun is transcribed as Puzun.
JACK
(catching on)
Which is close to Pishon.
TESS
Exactly. Now the fourth river, the Gihon,
is another enigma to scholars...
We next focus on the ARAS RIVER, the name of which will morph into something new as Tess continues to explain:
TESS
After much research, my father uncovered a
7th Century reference to the Aras River.
In fact, the Arabic geographer referred to it as the
River Gaihun.
JACK
(nodding)
Gaihun and Gihon.
TESS
No doubt one in the same.
BACK TO THE LAPTOP: On the map is Northern Iran. There we can see where all four rivers do, amazingly, come together.
TESS
And here, in Northern Iran, is where my father
felt was the location of the true Garden of Eden.
(a beat)
There’s just one problem.
JACK
What’s that?
TESS
There’s no garden there.
JACK
Maybe somebody paved paradise and put up a
parking lot.
TESS
Very funny, Jack. Now, in Northern Iran
there is an extinct volcano known as the
Mountain of God.
JACK
A volcano?
TESS
An extinct volcano.
(a beat)
And according to the scrolls, this is the true
home of the Garden of Eden.
JACK
On the mountain?
TESS
Within the mountain. Once Adam and Eve
were banished, the earth rose up and surrounded
the Garden.
JACK
That’s not in the Bible.
TESS
No. But the story is recounted in the lost scrolls.
JACK
The same scrolls your father deciphered.
TESS
Yes.
JACK
And how many other people know this story?
TESS
We’ll get to that.
(a beat)
About ten years ago my mother was diagnosed
with a particularly aggressive form of cancer.
She was given six months to live.
JACK
Let me guess: your father set out to find the
Garden of Eden.
TESS
Yes. They searched for it together.
(a beat)
And they’ve been gone ever since.
JACK
(standing, pacing)
And now your ex-husband, privy to this
information, decides to sell it to the Russian,
who himself is afflicted with cancer?
TESS
And now they’re here, in Iran, searching for
the Garden of Eden. And they have my son.
JACK
And those men with the guns at the cafe...?
TESS
Boris Karakov’s men. I am, after all, the only
one who knows about my father’s research.
JACK
But what threat are you to him?
TESS
What awaits in the Garden of Eden—
in particular, the healing oils that
purportedly seep from the Tree of Life—
could be priceless. That is enough for
most greedy men to kill the innocent.
Already, my house in the States was burned
to the ground. I only barely escaped with
my life—my life, and copies of my
father’s research.
(a beat)
So, Jack Rome, will you help me
find my son?
JACK
(rubbing his injured leg)
Like I said, you’ve got the wrong guy.
INT. JACK’S OFFICE – DAY
Jack’s working at his desk when his intercom buzzes.
SECRETARY (O.S.)
There’s someone here to see you, Mr. Rome.
JACK
Who is it?
SECRETARY
Rashid Ramalah, the Tehran Chief of Police.
JACK
Send him in.
Jack stands and moves quickly around the desk, hobbling with his cane, and opens the door himself. He’s met by an older, gray-haired Iranian dressed in a Western suit and tie, both of which are about ten years out of style. A very pleasant-looking man with a massive gut. Jack opens his arms and they greet each other like old friends, kissing on the cheek, as is traditional in Iran.
JACK
Chief, you look good.
The Chief shakes his head. When he speaks, he does so with a heavy Persian accent.
CHIEF
Cholesterol is off the charts.
I’m heavier than ever. You are a liar,
Jack Rome.
JACK
Well, then, you’d better arrest me.
CHIEF
Don’t speak so flippantly, my friend.
I just may have to do that.
The Chief pulls out a cigar and chews on it, but leaves it unlit.
He sits heavily in one of Jack’s client chairs. Jack moves around and sits on the corner of his executive desk.
CHIEF
Tell me what happened yesterday at
the cafe.
JACK
I had lunch—a delicious salad with
goat cheese, walnuts, olives—
CHIEF
Enough. Three shooters opened fire,
tore up the place pretty good. No one
was hurt; except, that is, the shooters themselves.
Someone left two of them with cracked skulls.
(his gaze flicks over to Jack’s snake-head cane)
You wouldn’t know anything about that,
would you?
JACK
Your guess is as good as mine.
CHIEF
Cut the crap, Rome. We know it was you.
We also know who the American woman was,
Tessla Morgan. We brought her in for questioning
this morning.
(a beat)
She admits to knowing the attackers,
and has this wild story of a kidnapped
child and the Garden of Eden. What do
you make of it?
JACK
She could be crazy.
CHIEF
That’s what I thought, which is why I have
her in jail.
JACK
In jail?
CHIEF
Seemed safer for her. Meanwhile, I checked
out her story and she’s telling the truth.
Her child and ex-husband are both here in Iran.
JACK
Good. Then go find her kid.
CHIEF
It’s not that easy. Her ex-husband hasn’t
broken any laws and we could give a damn
about the fraud charges brought against
him by his own government. We have no
extradition treaty with the Americans.
JACK
So what do you want from me?
CHIEF
I want you to help her.
JACK
You don’t know what you’re asking.
CHIEF
You speak fluent Persian and Arabic,
and she trusts you. I know exactly what
I’m asking.
JACK
I’m sorry, but I can’t—
CHIEF
Of course, I could always arrest you, too,
and sort out what happened back there at the café.
(a beat)
And that could take weeks, maybe even months.
CAMERA TIGHT on Jack’s face as he bitterly contemplates the Chief’s requests, not liking the idea at all.
INT. IRANIAN JAIL – DAY
A freed Tess Morgan is led away from her jail cell and out into a lobby, where she’s met by a pacing Jack Rome, who’s smoking and looking anything but happy about this situation. Tess stops, surprised.
TESS
Jack, what are you doing here?
JACK
Let’s just say the Chief drives a hard bargain.
TESS
What do you mean?
JACK
Either I help you, or get thrown into prison
myself. I think the Chief must like you.
TESS
Well, I don’t need your help, Jack Rome.
JACK
Yes, you do.
EXT. IRANIAN COUNTRYSIDE, OPEN ROAD – DAY
Early morning, the sky just beginning to pale with the coming dawn. A lone Jeep hurls down the empty road, parting the swirling mist. Beyond are barren hills. Jack is at the wheel, with Tess next to him. The Jeep is overflowing with supplies and gear. Jack looks bleary-eyed, clearly not a morning person. Tess looks peppy and alert, perhaps because they are on their way to search for her kidnapped son.
TESS
You don’t have to do this, you know.
JACK
Yes, I do.
TESS
Why?
JACK
To keep you out of trouble.
TESS
But I thought I had the wrong man.
I thought you were out of the hero business
and all that.
JACK
I am. This is unofficial hero work.
He looks at her and winks. Tess grins—and suddenly leans over and kisses Jack sweetly on the cheek.
EXT. ROAD, RUGGED IRANIAN COUNTRYSIDE – DAY
WIDE CAMERA SHOT as the Jeep roars along the mostly empty highway. A map superimposed on the screen charts their course up north through Iran.
INT. JEEP – DAY
Tess is dozing, mouth open, lightly snoring. She looks peaceful and beautiful. Jack looks over at her and grins warmly, shaking his head. Perhaps at the bizarre circumstances that has led Tessla back into his life. Then he lets his gaze slip down over her lithe figure—and then quickly averts his eyes, looking forward again, breathing deep. Tess opens a single eye and looks over at him. She grins to herself, and then snuggles deeper into the passenger side nook. Perhaps she was aware of his lingering gaze, after all.
LATER ON THE SAME ROAD – EVENING
Tess is awake. Both are snacking on bags of nuts. The Jeep’s top is down and Tess’s long hair blows behind her like a tattered brown flag. Jack can’t help but notice her carefree beauty, and casts her what he thinks are discreet sidelong glances.
JACK
So what do you do back in the States?
TESS
I teach mythology at UCLA.
JACK
Let me guess...
TESS
Yes, much of what I teach is focused around
the Garden of Eden. Call it an obsession.
(a beat)
So who were those people on your desk?
JACK
On my desk?
TESS
In the picture frame.
JACK
Oh...
He’s silent, contemplative. Finally he speaks.
JACK
My wife and boy.
TESS
You’re married?
JACK
There was a bomb. Two years ago.
TESS
Jack, I’m sorry...
JACK
Their bus was destroyed.
TESS
Did they find who did it?
JACK
Yes.
(a beat)
And I watched them get publicly beheaded.
INT. GAS STATION – DAY
Jack finishes topping off the tank and heads around the car, moving swiftly with his cane across the hard-packed dirt. He steps inside the station. Jack’s wearing a beat-up baseball hat. He takes it off and fans his face. Behind the counter is a very tall and heavy-set Persian man with a friendly enough face. This is ZAHIR AL SHAMIR.
JACK
(in Farsi, subtitles)
Change?
The clerk hands him some Iranian notes. Jack sees a tip jar and drops a few coins inside.
ZAHIR
(in English)
Thank, you my friend! Please come again!
JACK
Yeah, sure.
ZAHIR
Have a good day!
As Jack exits, Zahir looks at the two pathetic coins inside his tip jar.
ZAHIR
You cheap bastard.
EXT. GAS STATION – DAY
As Jack exits the gas station, whistling, he immediately stops short. His mouth promptly drops open and his eyes bug out.
JACK
What the hell—
A helicopter has just dropped from the sky. Wind and dust blow everywhere. Jack shields his eyes as two men jump out the side hatch, both brandishing automatic weapons. To Jack’s horror, they yank open the Jeep’s passenger door and drag Tess out. She doesn’t go willingly, kicking and screaming.
As Jack runs forward, yelling, one of the men turns and lets lose with his automatic weapon. Jack dives, taking cover behind a stack of
wooden crates, as bullets tear up the place.
INT. GAS STATION – DAY
Zahir the gas station attendant comes running out of his bathroom, zipping up his fly. We see what he sees: a black helicopter at his gas station. Not realizing Jack is under fire, the station attendant dashes outside, waving his fists.
ZAHIR
We don’t serve your kind!
The shooter turns on him. Zahir squeals and dives for cover, ending up behind the same crates next to Jack.
INT. HELICOPTER – DAY
Tess is deposited roughly into the chopper, which is full of more armed men. One is the tall and sickly Boris Karakov, a man Tess knows quite well. Boris smiles at her congenially enough, but he cannot disguise the sickness that’s eating away at him. The handsome man sitting next to Boris is none other than MORRIE MORGAN, Tess’s fugitive ex-husband.
MORRIE
Hello, Tess. Fancy meeting you here.
TESS
What the devil is going on, Morrie!?
Where’s Ricky?