"TRINITY" - PART 7
Sorry, there was a projector problem today…
The plot thickens…
INT. CAMP HEADQUARTERS - LATER THAT NIGHT
Ray watches as Brand confronts Prager.
BRAND
Colonel Prager, I hold you responsible for their escape and for everything that’s happened here!
Prager stands mute.
BRAND (Cont)
...they murdered Lieutenant Anton Held and Oberleutnant Harald Tischler of the German Army. And Mr. Walker Williams, an American civilian.
Prager has no reply. Ray cuts in.
RAY
These are not the actions of prisoners of war, Colonel Prager, but of common criminals! Those are your men dead!
Prager has no response.
RAY
There are five suspects:
Hauptmann Krupinski?
(no response)
Leutnant Heyer?
(no response)
Oberleutnant Emmerer?
(no response)
Sturmbannfuehrer Moelders?
(leans toward Prager)
Hauptmann Stahlberg?
Prager’s at stiff attention. Ray regards him a long moment.
RAY
You, yourself, asked us to arrest Hauptmann Stahlberg.
PRAGER
(Spits it out)
He is not a Hauptmann.
(Contemptuous)
Obersturmbannfuehrer Erich Stahlberg is an SS commando.
RAY
Commandos have missions.
Prager wrestles with his conscience and his concept of duty.
RAY
Come on, Colonel Prager. There's no love lost between honorable Wehrmacht officers like yourself and those goons! We're talking about a murderer.
PRAGER
(conscience wins)
He is here to stop Manhattan.
RAY
And what is that?
PRAGER
He said it was the code name for a scientific project.
RAY
What kind of scientific project?
PRAGER
Your atomic bomb.
Ray and Brand are both amazed by that.
PRAGER
He told me he allowed himself to be captured at Monte Cassino to get here. Everything he did as a prisoner was to get sent to this camp.
BRAND
Where have they gone, Colonel?
PRAGER
As I said: he has gone to destroy Manhattan.
BRAND
Where has he gone?
PRAGER
He did not say. I know nothing of his plan. I would tell you if I knew. To save the others.
RAY
What else do you know about Stahlberg, Colonel?
Prager pauses - in for a pfennig, in for a Deutschmark.
PRAGER
He is Volksdeutsch. He was raised in America, and returned to the Fatherland to answer the call of duty. He is one of Skorzeny's commandos. He flew the plane that landed on Castel Gandolfo when they rescued Mussolini.
Ray starts to realize the enormity of what they’re up against.
Brand sees Ray’s look.
BRAND
Just what the hell is this atomic bomb, Captain?
RAY
Well, I always thought it was kind of like H.G. Wells or –
BRAND
That "War of the Worlds" radio show didn't fool me for an instant.
RAY
Of course, sir, but there's people who've talked seriously about that kind of thing for years. When I was teaching at Cal, I knew some of them.
BRAND
(All business)
You find that sonofabitch and bring him back here to me pronto, Captain. Dead or alive. And that’s an order.
RAY
Yes, sir.
INT. PRISON OFFICE - LATER
Roberts pulls files from the drawers as Ray recites names.
RAY
Emmerer...Heyer...Krupinski... Moelders...Stahlberg.
ROBERTS
Sir? If I know what you're looking for, maybe I can help.
RAY
I want to know why he took these guys in particular.
ROBERTS
Emmerer was captured in Tunisia when the Afrika Korps surrendered. He escaped in a disabled tank he managed to fix and was recaptured when he stopped to shoot up an ammo dump... Heyer was captured at Salerno. He was a student at the Max Planck Institute before joining their air force. He’s a demolitions expert. Heyer and Emmerer organized a tunnel escape at Camp Wilson in California...
Captain Krupinski is a top fighter ace. Knight's Cross. Captured in North Africa. He escaped in Texas and was recaptured trying to steal a plane to fly to Mexico.
Ray is surprised by Roberts’ display of knowledge.
RAY
How the devil can you remember all that, Corporal Roberts?
ROBERTS
Reading about these guys beats numbers - I can at least imagine I’m part of the war.
RAY
That still leaves Moelders.
ROBERTS
Waffen SS - just a thug who enjoys killing.
Ray stands there for a moment long enough to make Roberts uncomfortable, then it hits him...
RAY
You said Heyer’s from the Max Planck Institute?
ROBERTS
(Picks up the file, looks)
Yes, sir. Graduated in 1938.
RAY
Let me see that.
Roberts gives him the file and Ray disappears into his office.
INT. PARLOR - NIGHT
Electricity and the phone on the table are the only real changes since 1885.
A stuffed owl watches from the wall as Beverly, in her housecoat, runs in and picks up the RINGING phone. Her pregnancy is just starting to show.
BEVERLY
Hello?
INT. HEADQUARTERS - CAMP GLADDEN - SAME
Ray leans forward at the sound of her voice.
RAY
Hi, Bev...
BEVERLY - is surprised to hear his voice.
BEVERLY
Ray! What...where are you?
RAY - cradles the phone as though it was her.
RAY
How are you feeling?
INT. PARLOR
She clutches the old stand-up phone to her heart.
BEVERLY
I thought I felt something move the other day, but Doctor England says it’s too early.
RAY - still holds the phone close.
RAY
Everything’s okay?
BEVERLY (on phone)
(Laughs)
Yes, boringly normal.
RAY
I need you to reach Phil, Bev.
BEVERLY (on phone)
Well, there's the University.
(worried)
Ray, what's the matter?
He ponders how much to say, but who can he trust if not her?
RAY
You have to keep this under your hat, Bev. Nobody but Phil.
BEVERLY
Okay...
RAY
We've had a breakout. Five Germans got away. I think it’s about Phil's work with Oppie.
Tell him these Germans know about "Manhattan." Tell him they're a serious threat. One of them was at the Max Planck Institute.
BEVERLY
Ray! What —
RAY
Phil'll know what to do.
The door opens - Roberts stands in the doorway.
RAY
(Sees Roberts)
Gotta go. I love you, Bev. Both of you.
INT. PARLOR - NIGHT
The phone BUZZES. She hangs up, stares at her wedding ring, then touches her stomach. She picks up the telephone and THE OPERATOR ANSWERS.
BEVERLY
Yes, Jane. I want to make a long distance call to Berkeley, California. JUniper 2-2-3-0.
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This is really, really good.
Hmm....the plot does thicken