RELIC

                              D'AGOSTA
                        (looks over)
                    What's that?

     Margo pulls off her glasses.

                              MARGO
                    Turkish Gecko, I believe.  A lizard.

                              KAWAKITA
                    Lizard DNA and human DNA on the same
                    strand?  Impossible.  The sample must
                    be contaminated.

                              MARGO
                    There's another possibility.  A lot
                    of repeated base pairs could suggest
                    a high level of genetic damage.

                              PENDERGAST
                    Genetic damage?

                              MARGO
                    When DNA is defective, it often
                    uncontrollably replicates long
                    repeating sequences of the same base
                    pair.  Viruses can damage DNA.  So can
                    radiation, certain chemicals.  Even
                    cancer.  Let's let the G.S.E. sort it
                    out.  I have to get started.  This
                    will take several hours.

                              PENDERGAST
                    We need someone to take us to the
                    secure storage area.

                              KAWAKITA
                    Try Dr. Frock.  He's the curator of
                    Plant Biology.  All the curators
                    have keys.  And he knows every inch
                    of this museum.  The rest of us still
                    get lost.

     INT. MUSEUM HALLWAY AREA - DAY

     Pendergast, D'Agosta and Dr. Frock get off are in an older, plain
     corridor with a long row of locked heavy steel doors.  The doors are
     numbered up to eight, then the corridor turns.

     As the three go forward, the creaking of the wheelchair echoes faintly
     in the hall.

                              PENDERGAST
                    Thank you for taking the time to
                    help us with this, Dr. Frock.

                              FROCK
                    Happy to be useful.  It's rare enough
                    these days.  According to security,
                    Beauregard put the Whittlesley
                    crates in storage area 1012.

                              PENDERGAST
                    How many storage areas are there?

                              FROCK
                    They fill seven floors.  We have the
                    largest collection of mammals and
                    dinosaurs in the world.  Just to give
                    you an idea, there are more than
                    three million insects specimens.  Not
                    to mention amphibians, reptiles,
                    birds, anthropological artifacts,
                    meteorites, minerals and gems.  Only
                    about five percent of the museum
                    collection is actually on display.

                              D'AGOSTA
                    This place is a maze.

                              FROCK
                    I'm one of the few who know every
                    inch it, now that John is gone.

                              PENDERGAST
                        (looks over)
                    Do you mean Dr. Whittlesley?

                              FROCK
                    Yes.  John made quite a study of the
                    whole museum.  He had a copy of my
                    original plans.

     Frock heads through a double door that leads to a FREIGHT ELEVATOR
     that's as big as a small room.  The operator, KARL has it decorated
     with a table, chair, and PICTURES.

                              MARGO
                    Osteo prep, Karl.

     The doors creak closed.  They are now inside...

     INT. FREIGHT ELEVATOR - DAY

     Headed down.  D'Agosta chews on a toothpick, stares at Karl's home-made
     picture show.  The photos have all been cut from nature magazines.  They
     are of ANIMALS MATING in extreme positions and undreamed of ways.
     D'Agosta turns to Pendergast, dead pan.

                              D'AGOSTA
                    My kind of art.

     Karl, who is sixty and wears a red toupee, leers.

                              KARL
                    They keep me company.  Gets kinda
                    lonely sometimes.

                              D'AGOSTA
                    My favorite is the two camels.

                              KARL
                    Really?  I'm partial to the skunks.

     Finally the doors open and they exit to a hail, enter another set of
     doors.  Now they are in

     INT. OSTEOLOGICAL PREPARATION AREA - DAY

     It looks more like a bizarre industrial kitchen than anything else.
     Deep stainless steel tanks line one wall.  On the ceiling near the
     tanks hang massive pulleys and grappling hooks for the larger
     carcasses.  In a far corner of the workshop is a stainless-steel gurney
     bearing a DEAD GORILLA.  A pink faced eighty year old man is working on
     the carcass with sharp tools.  This is DON OSTERBAAN.

                              FROCK
                    Did you ever wonder where we get all
                    our skeletons?  This is the
                    laboratory where animal carcasses
                    are reduced to bones.
                        (to Osterbaan)
                    What's cooking today, Don?

                              DON
                    Zebra.

     Frock looks into a large maceration tank with Pendergast and D'Agosta.
     A zebra carcass can be seen under the muddy surface, its flesh and
     soft tissues falling off.

                              D'AGOSTA
                    Man, that's ripe.

     Frock now opens the door on a humid closet adjacent to the main room.
     Inside on a stainless steel table lies the corpse of a fox.  It's
     crawling with BLACK BEETLES which are devouring it.  D'Agosta and
     Pendergast watch the grizzly scene, properly impressed.

                              FROCK
                    Dermestid beetles.  The second method
                    of preparing a skeleton, used in
                    Natural History Museums world wide.
                    Bugs are clean and highly efficient.
                    They'll polish that fox off in no
                    time.

     As Don casually peels back the gorilla's whole face exposing the
     skull...

                              OSTERBAAN
                    Want to have a look at a gorilla
                    brain?  Got one right here.

                              FROCK
                    Thanks Don.  We're in a hurry.  Some
                    other time.

     INT. HALLWAY - DAY

     More rows of stainless steel doors under hissing steam pipes.  The
     light is dim here, and several bulbs are burned out.  But the numbers
     on the storage rooms are much higher now.  The three men come out of
     the darkness.  Frock rounds a last corner and wheels to a stop.

                              FROCK
                    This should be it.  Can you read the
                    number?

     Pendergast reaches up above them and TAPS THE LIGHT BULB.  It comes on
     and they all see the heavy steel door of the storage area.  D'Agosta's
     jaw drops and his toothpick falls out.  The door has been scored from
     top to bottom by long, vicious, CLAWS!

                              D'AGOSTA
                    Holy shit.

     Frock stares in amazement, shaken.  He runs a finger down the deep
     ruts.

                              FROCK
                    Something tried to get into this
                    room!

                              PENDERGAST
                    And failed.  These doors are solid
                    steel.

                              FROCK
                    This means there must be an animal
                    loose in the museum!

                              PENDERGAST
                    I wouldn't be so sure.

     Pendergast takes Frock's keys and opens the door.  It swings wide on
     oiled hinges.  D'Agosta turns on a light.

     INT. STORAGE ROOM - NIGHT

     They all enter.  Nothing has been disturbed.  The crates sit in the
     middle of the small room, untouched.  Pendergast kneels by the only one
     that's been opened.

                              PENDERGAST
                    This must be the one that held the
                    statue.  Let's see what else is
                    inside.

     Pendergast removes the lid and hands it to D'Agosta, pulls out a BLOW
     DART GUN, SEED PODS, a CARVED STONE.  D'Agosta takes the lid and turns
     it.

                              D'AGOSTA
                    The lid of this crate is scratched
                    with claw marks, just like the door.

     As D'Agosta studies the lid, a brittle, water damaged envelope slips
     out.  D'Agosta picks it up.  The envelope bears an imprint of TWO
     ARROWS, one silver overlaid with another of GOLD.

                              D'AGOSTA
                    Look.  It's some kind of letter.

                              FROCK
                        (excited)
                    May I see that?

     D'Agosta hands the letter to Frock.

                              FROCK
                    It's from John.  Those two arrows
                    were his insignia.  It's addressed to
                    Louis Moriarty, a patron who
                    financed his expeditions.

                              PENDERGAST
                    Read it out loud.

                              FROCK
                    "Dear Louis,
                     Tomorrow we go to the south
                    end of the tepui where we'll be in
                    the greatest danger, so I'm sending
                    Carlos back with the crates.  You
                    always believed in me, Louis, even
                    in the darkest days.  So it gives me
                    great pleasure to tell you your
                    faith has been rewarded.  We've made
                    an incredible find.  I enclose a
                    representation of Mbwun.  Note the
                    exaggerated claws, the reptilian
                    attributes, the hints of bipedalia.
                    It's beyond belief, but this statue
                    is accurate.  I know because I've
                    seen the beast."

     Frock stops, looks up at D'Agosta and Pendergast.  His face flushes
     with the thrill.

                              FROCK
                    Did you hear that?  My God.  He says
                    that Mbwun is real!

                              D'AGOSTA
                        (snorts)
                    Pardon my French, but bull shit.

                              FROCK
                    This on top of the scratches... isn't
                    it proof!

                              PENDERGAST
                    I think the scratches were put there
                    to scare us.  Perhaps even lead us to
                    this note.

     Pendergast looks out to the dark corridors.

                              PENDERGAST
                    You said John Whittlesley made a
                    study of your blueprints of the
                    museum.

                              FROCK
                    Yes.

                              PENDERGAST
                    Are there any hidden rooms or
                    staircases?  Places where someone
                    could hide?

                              FROCK
                    Not really.  Just the sub-basement.

     D'Agosta and Pendergast exchange a look.

                              PENDERGAST
                    Where is that?

                              FROCK
                    I don't know.  It was walled over.  No
                    one's been down there in years.

                              PENDERGAST
                    You said you had plans of the
                    museum.  Could we see them, please?

     EXT. MUSEUM SIDE DOOR - DAY

     A series of boxes labeled "PROFESSOR FROCK" sit on the loading dock.  A
     small moving van, partially loaded with the contents of Frock's
     office, sits waiting.  Frock delves through one of the boxes while
     Pendergast and D'Agosta look on.

                              FROCK
                    I know they're here somewhere.  It's
                    a good thing we caught the movers in
                    time.  They're nineteen century
                    blueprints from when the museum was
                    built.  I remember the sub-basement
                    was below the regular basement,
                    linked to the city sewer.  I only
                    know about it because it flooded all
                    the way up to the museum during the
                    hurricane of '49.  I lost so many
                    precious books.

     Frock continues to unload boxes, scattering things right and left.
     It's the most amazing assortment of paraphernalia.  A collection of
     wildflowers, soil samples, a stuffed owl.  Finally he pulls out some
     very old blueprints and flashes a triumphant smile.

                              FROCK
                    Eureka.  Who says it doesn't pay to
                    be a pack rat?  Now please be careful
                    with these.  When you're done, I'd
                    like them back.

     INT. HALL OF THE AFRICAN MAMMALS - DAY

     Visitors scatter as Pendergast enters with D'Agosta, TWO DEPUTIES, a
     dog handler, JONATHAN HAMM and Jonathan's pair of HUGE BLOODHOUNDS.
     The deputies are armed with large shotguns.  Pendergast scans the
     blueprints as they walk.

                              D'AGOSTA
                    How big is the sub-basement?

                              PENDERGAST
                    Apparently it's huge.

                              D'AGOSTA
                    I think I should come with you.

                              PENDERGAST
                    We haven't got time.  You have to
                    meet with museum security so we can
                    make a decision about tonight.

     INT. MUSEUM - STAIRCASE - DAY

     Pendergast, Jonathan, his dogs and the deputies make their way down an
     industrial set of stairs into the basement.

     INT. BASEMENT CORRIDOR - DAY

     In a moment they arrive at the site of Beauregard's murder.  The area
     at the bottom of the spiral stairway is still littered with chalk,
     crime tape, spray paint and the remains of scores of people tramping
     in and out.

                              PENDERGAST
                    These plans indicate there's a
                    walled over entrance to the sub-
                    basement right around here.

     They move carefully down the dark corridor which we remember from the
     time we last saw it with Henry and Larry.  Unknown to Jonathan or
     Pendergast, the dogs are walking directly towards the spot where the
     boys faced the monster.

                              JONATHAN
                    The dogs are picking up something,
                    Mr. Pendergast.

     The dogs start barking in animation, sniffing the wall.  Pendergast
     studies the blueprints with a flashlight, moves to the spot.  There's
     nothing to be seen.  He shines his flashlight over the water-stained,
     uneven stucco between two steel beams.  The dogs sniff furiously at the
     point where the wall meets the floor.  Pendergast moves his fingers to
     the joint between the stucco and the beam, shoves hard.  The wall
     pushes back.  It's a door!

     INT. STAIRWELL - SUB-BASEMENT - DAY

     They enter a dank stairwell with brick stairs.  Water drips on the
     walls.

                              DEPUTY ONE
                    What is this?  A dungeon?

     Jonathan looks uneasy, double wraps the dogs' leashes around his
     black-gloved hands.  The two deputies remove their 12 gauges from their
     shoulders.  Then they all follow the animals, descend down the inky
     stairwell.

     INT. SECURITY COMMAND CENTER - MUSEUM - DAY

     The place looks like the control room of a nuclear power plant.  Two
     SECURITY GUARDS monitor a battery of closed-circuit screens.  D'Agosta
     is now accompanied by the pompous head of security, IPPOLITO.  Clearly
     Ippolito feels D'Agosta is pissing on his territory and he's trying to
     assert control.