RONIN

                          DEIRDRE
               You're thinking with your gun, Seamus,
               and not your head...

                          SEAMUS
                   (losing it)
               Shut up!!!
                   (he puts a gun to her head)
               Shut up and drive!  I'm your superior
               officer and you will do as I goddamn well
               say, is that understood?!?

     BEAT.  Deirdre bristles at Seamus's words but says nothing.

                          SEAMUS
               Do I need to repeat myself?

                          DEIRDRE
               No, Seamus.  I heard you the first time.

     EXT. OUTSIDE THE CAR - SAME TIME

     THE CAR zooms off into the night and as it does -

     A LIGHT RAIN starts to fall and we -

     DISSOLVE TO:

     EXT. A CHATEAU OUTSIDE OF PARIS - NIGHT

     THE SAME RAIN falls, more of a steady mist than a rain.  The
     mist GLEAMS electrically in the THOUSAND WATT LIGHTS which
     shine from - THE CHATEAU.  Hundreds of years old, it sits far
     back from its own MAIN GATE.  In front of the Chateau - ARMED
     MEN.  Lots of them.  Whatever this place is, it's not one
     that invites company.  Now we're - MOVING TOWARDS the
     Chateau, and as we MOVE we get a glimpse of the surrounding
     environment: ancient statues, sitting benches in private
     gardens, small pools of fish -- you name it, this place has
     it.  We hear VOICES, and they're talking in - RUSSIAN.
     Heavy, thick Russian, punctuated with words like "Da!" and
     "Nyet!" -- making it clear that we've reached the address of
     the Russian Production Company.  BEHIND THE CHATEAU - MORE
     GARDENS, more everything.  It's well-patrolled, but there
     aren't quite as many guards back here as there are out front,
     because bordering the chateau is a natural fotress -

     A WOODS -

     A forest, really.  Filled with ancient trees, almost mythic
     in appearance, and for all the light of the chateau this
     place is darkness visible -- light comes here and dies.  And
     in this woods, looking out, we find - Vincent and Sam.
     Heavily armed, they've just humped God knows how many miles
     through the woods to get here.  Both men exhausted from the
     walk -- Sam from his wound, Vincent from his smoking habit.
     They collapse and Vincent takes out his cigarettes.  Even
     though they're screened from the chateau back here, Sam
     reaches over and takes the cigarettes out of Vincent's hands.

                          SAM
               Not here.  They might see it.

                          VINCENT
               If I'm going to die for the CIA, I'm
               going to go out smoking.
                   (takes the cigarettes back and
                    lights one)
               Besides, there's half a forest between us
               and them, they can't see a goddamned
               thing.

     Vincent offers one to Sam, who declines with a shake of
     his head.

                          SAM
               Time to quit.

                          VINCENT
               Just like that?

                          SAM
               Not just like that... Just before I turn
               around and it's six months from now and
               the first thing I do when I wake up in
               the morning is light a cigarette.

                          VINCENT
                   (obviously he does this)
               What of it?
                   (almost to himself)
               Samurai pain in the ass.

                          SAM
                   (he hates this)
               Would you stop with that...

                          VINCENT
               Why?  You've got more force of will than
               anyone I've ever seen.  You handle a gun
               like it's a part of you, you perform
               surgery on yourself without anesthesia...
                   (quick beat)
               And most amazing of all, you quit
               smoking, just like that.

                          SAM
                   (qith a cynical laugh)
               The mark of a true Samurai.
                   (seriously)
               What I do for the Company, Vincent, is no
               different than what you do.  We're both
               hired guns, and this is a job -- like any
               other job.

                          VINCENT
               Why then, Sam, don't you act like this is
               a job like any other?  Surely, if you are
               a hired gun, you realize that some times
               you just have to walk away without
               getting what you came for.

                          SAM
               Because I don't walk away.

                          VINCENT
               Why not?

                          SAM
               It's the one thing I've got left to hold
               onto.
                   (beat)
               Jean-Pierre is one of your closest
               friends, is he not?

                          VINCENT
               Closest and oldest.

                          SAM
               And yet you would have killed him to save
               my life.
                   (quick beat)
               You have a sense of honor, Vincent, that
               I can't even remember anymore.  I don't
               know that I ever even had it to begin
               with.  All I know to do, Vincent, is to
               finish my job.

                          VINCENT
               And when you finish?  What then?  This
               package, whatever it is, do you give it
               to the CIA?  Do you really think they
               deserve it?

                          SAM
               That's a good question.

                          VINCENT
               Do you have a good answer?

                          SAM
                   (he's really just considering
                    this)
               No, I don't.

     INT. THE CHATEAU - MEANWHILE

     ARMED RUSSIAN MOBSTERS everywhere -- a convention of the goon
     squad.

     MOVING THROUGH the Chateau itself, and from in here we see
     the side of France we haven't yet seen in this film: culture.
     Each room could be a museum, as we move through -

     A GALLERY, filled with paintings by Renaissance Masters -

     A PARLOR, with antique furniture, the youngest piece of which
     is two hundred years old -

     A BALLROOM, empty and barren, but lit by the dazzling light
     of an exquisite chandelier -

     A KITCHEN, where a cigarette smoking CHEF is putting the
     finishing touches on what is perhaps the most amazing meal
     you've ever seen.  Now - A SERVANT takes the tray and carries
     it out to -

     A DINING ROOM, and the table is set for a formal dinner for
     twenty, with crystal and china at every place setting, and
     yet the table is occupied by only one man -

     MIKHAEL RACHEV, Russian Gangster Supreme, called Mikhi.  Now -

     The Servant sets the food down in front of Mikhi, and as this
     chief hood starts to eat a lonely and solitary dinner we PULL
     BACK, MOVING DOWN the length of the way-too-long table.

     EXT. THE CHATEAU WALLS - NIGHT

     A TAXI pulls up to the Main Gate and Gregor gets out.
     Attached to his wrist, by that same handcuff: the Briefcase.
     Gregor is admitted by a Guard as we -

     CUT TO:

     INT. THE DINING ROOM/CHATEAU - A LITTLE LATER

     Mikhi the Gangster is eating his dinner as Gregor is ushered
     into the room.  THREE THUGS hang back behind Gregor, watching
     to see what Mikhi wants.  Now -

     Mikhi waves the Thugs out of the room, leaving Gregor alone
     with the gangster.  Mikhi takes a last few bites of dinner as
     he motions for Gregor to sit.

                          MIKHI
                   (in Russian, English subtitles)
               Sit, sit...
                   (offering a cigarette)
               Would you like one?

                          GREGOR
                   (in English)
               No, Mikhi, I wouldn't.
                   (letting that sink in for a
                    minute)
               Since I won't speak your language, and
               you can't speak mine, English will do
               nicely.

                          MIKHI
                   (makes no never mind to him)
               Whatever you wish...
                   (lights his own cigarette)
               This has all been a terrible mistake,
               Gregor.  I wanted to play straight with
               you, but Edvard insisted we try and kill
               you.

                          GREGOR
               Edvard said the same thing about you
               before he died.

                          MIKHI
               I'm shocked, shocked to think that you'd
               believe him.

                          GREGOR
                   (suddenly sharp)
               Enough!

     Gregor raises the Briefcase which is still attached to his
     wrist via the handcuff.  Gregor rests the Briefcase on the
     table.

                          MIKHI
               Ahh...

     The moment of truth.  Before this scene can develop any
     further, a VOICE comes from Off Screen, and as the Voice
     speaks, Gregor blanches.

                          SEAMUS (O.S.)
               The moment of truth, is it?

     ANOTHER ANGLE - Deirdre and Seamus have entered the room.
     And we notice something unusual: nobody is alarmed (except
     for Gregor, that is).  It's as if they were expected.

                          GREGOR
               What is he doing here?

     As Seamus speaks he walks through the room, examining the
     valuable china and crystal, all the while moving inexorably
     closer to Gregor.  His face is, if anything, even more
     horrific than it was a short while ago, as his formerly fresh
     wounds have started to scab over.

                          SEAMUS
               What am I doing here?  Why, I'm here to
               see my partners, Gregor, the boys in the
               Russian Mafia.  See, your bosses had
               hoped to screw me by hiring you to pull
               your thieving double cross.  But they
               only just found out that what's in the
               briefcase is completely useless without
               me.  I can't fight them, and they can't
               kill me -- that means we're gonna have to
               do business together.

                          GREGOR
               But you hate each other!

                          SEAMUS
               What's a little hate between business
               partners?

     EXT. THE WOODS - MEANWHILE

     Vincent's CIGARETTE is stubbed into a rock and the two men
     rise with a slow purpose.  They exchange a look and then Sam
     steps forward, leading the way

                          SAM
               I'm on point, Vincent.

     A WIDE ANGLE - THE BACK LAWN OF THE CHATEAU -

     Pure Kurosawa.  The JAPANESE DRUM we've heard before starts
     to play again as -