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SC1. EXT. Magical, languid, sounds of
the sea but they are slowly and steadily invaded by the harsh
screech of seagulls and the rising hum of busy, purpose- full
machinery. The hum of machinery resembles the exaggerated hum
of refrigerators.
NAFISA: (voice-over) He kept pestering
me. Talking about things I had pushed to the margins, things
I wanted to forget. He kept pestering me and getting in
the way … and I can't be sorry for what happened to
him at the end.
'Do you think', he asked me, 'there's a giant camera
filming everything we do and say?' 'You mean here on the
rig', I said, 'for safety reasons.' 'No, I mean all the
time', he said. At first, I didn't know what he was talking
about.
FX: Sounds evocative of the
ceaseless activity and machinery of an oilrig.
INT. NAFISA's flat in Aberdeen. A long-distance
phone call to Khartoum.
MARYA: ….and so it will be the henna
on Wednesday, the wedding on Thursday and…
NAFISA: Marya…
MARYA: …then it won't be until the
Sunday that we leave so we'll get to spend time with you
and everyone else whose coming from abroad…..
NAFISA: Marya…
MARYA: ...his brother is coming all the
way from Australia. He's bringing his children - and it's
going to be the first time for them to see the Sudan!
NAFISA: Really.
MARYA: …and his mother's paying
for the honeymoon. Isn't she sweet?
NAFISA: She is sweet. Your nice in-laws
will be so helpful at the wedding, you won't even need your
sister. She can stay in Aberdeen..
MARYA: Nafisa!
NAFISA: I ..I can't come.
MARYA: What do you mean you can't come?
You promised.
NAFISA: I can't. I have to go off-shore.
It's part of my training.
MARYA: Why does it have to be now Nafisa?
Go next month.
NAFISA: It's the first time they've asked
me. And I've done my Offshore Survival Course and passed
my medical. How can I say no?
MARYA: How many times am I going to get
married?
NAFISA: Marya, please. I'll come home
later as soon as I get a holiday….
MARYA: Tell me, how many times am I going
to get married? And these oilrigs are there all the time…
NAFISA: It's not like that…
MARYA: I can't believe this. I just can't.
NAFISA: I'm so sorry. You don't know what
it's like here. Everyone's waiting for me to make a mistake.
Just to say she's not up to it. Then I get this chance and
you want me to come up with this girlie excuse - My Sister's
Wedding!
MARYA: So what am I going to tell everyone?
Oh sorry everyone, Nafisa would rather be in the middle
of the sea on a rig full of men than ..
NAFISA: That's not true. They are.. there
will be women there and…
MARYA: (calling) Mama, Mama! Come and
see what your beloved Nafisa has to say.
NAFISA: Please don't do this.
SC2: The Heliport at Aberdeen.
General hubbub of men's voices. Someone laughs. It's seven o'clock
on a bright sunny morning. Everyone's refreshed after two weeks
holiday on shore.
ANNOUNCEMENT: Passengers for Flight 5 to
the Sea Warrior please proceed to Gate A. The flight will
board in ten minutes.
DES: Ed, what are they up to on the rig
at the moment?
ED: They're saying there's some kind of
obstruction down in the well.
DES: Is that what they think is causing
the reduced flow rates?
ED: Yeah, they've been trying to get a
closer look at it - but so far without success. Now they're
talking of bringing out this new video camera to take a
look.
DES: (with sarcasm) New fangled technology.
NAFISA: (voice-over) We were all wearing
the same thing. Full-length survival suits in gaudy orange.
They went over the feet and it was a struggle getting into
my trainers again, as if I was wearing two layers of socks.
ED: (in the background) Course I remember
him. We were on a job last month in Norway.
NAFISA: (voice-over) I was the only woman
there, just my luck, but I told myself we were all cool
about this… I imagined that I was acting the veteran,
that no one would guess I was new.
ED: So, is this your first time off-shore?
NAFISA: Yes.
ED: You must be the Trainee PE then? I'm
Ed Reid, the Senior Petroleum Engineer.
NAFISA: I'm Nafisa Hassan. Hi.
ANNOUNCEMENT: …….this aircraft has two emergency
exits. There are three life rafts onboard. To launch the
life raft at the front of the craft ….
DES: Safety..it's never ending. Load of
bollocks if you ask me…
ANNOUNCEMENT: Your lifejacket is a Beaufort Mark6. To put
the lifejacket on…
ED: She's new, she could do without your
cynicism. Nafisa, this is Des Anderson.
DES: New! Let me tell you about life on
the rigs - freeze in winter, get boiled in your hard hat
all summer.
ED: It has it's ups and downs that's all.
DES: Life ruled by risk assessment. A
permit for this and a permit for that. We'll be needing
permits to shite next.
FX: The ANNOUCEMENT interrupts ED and
NAFISA's laughter
ANNOUNCEMENT: Last call for flight 5 to the Sea Warrior.
Would all remaining passengers please proceed to Gate A.
This flight is now boarding.
FX: They start to walk out of
the terminal and into the sound of the waiting helicopter. The sound
gets very loud and they have to shout.
NAFISA: How long is the flight?
ED: About an hour and a half.
FX: Inside the helicopter the almost deafening
noise makes talking impossible.
NAFISA: (voice-over) All through the flight
Ed listened to his Walk-man and Des read a magazine. I was
feeling tense and so I made a list of my fears, as if somehow
this might calm me down. I was afraid of losing something
down the well or misinterpreting the graphs. I was afraid
that the shower cubicles wouldn't have any doors. What would
I do? Spend two weeks without having a shower? And the worst
fear of all that I would do something utterly imbecile,
start a fire, jeopardise people's lives.
SC3. INT. The Radio Room of the Sea
Warrior. In the background there is the sound of ships talking to
each other, static. The room is on the higher level of the rig.
ED is speaking to this wife CYNTHIA on the phone.
ED: Honey, what's wrong? I just got here yesterday.
CYNTHIA: A letter came this morning from
Duane's school…
ED: And…
CYNTHIA: They want us to come in and meet
the headmaster.
ED: What did he get up to this time?
CYNTHIA: The headmaster says he's going
to have to report him for shop-lifting.
ED: Look, I'm sure it'll be okay.
CYNTHIA: I can't figure him out anymore..
ED: Where's he now?
CYNTHIA: Basketball. It's Wednesday. Wednesday
is basketball, Monday is Judo.
ED: You know I lose track of the days here,
Cynthia.
CYNTHIA: I want you to come with me to
the school.
ED: I'm not due back for another two weeks.
CYNTHIA: I know but this is urgent.
ED: Honey, it'll blow over.
CYNTHIA: When if ever, are you going to
be around for these things?
ED: Do we have to go through this again?
I told you I don't want to stop working off-shore.
CYNTHIA: Look, I know they don't like you
making personal phone calls but you have to phone Duane
tomorrow.
ED: (pause)
CYNTHIA: You need to talk to him.
ED: I will.
CYNTHIA: Bye then. I miss you baby.
ED: Miss you too, Kiddo.
FX: ED walks out of the radio
room. There is the sound of his footsteps and the door closing.
He is now outdoors with all the outdoor sounds of the rig, the sea
and the machinery. He walks down the stairs. We hear an acoustic
that from now on will be associated with MARDEN. MARDEN speaks softly
and then his voice rises. It is as if ED passes him and then stops,
comes back , curious.
MARDEN: They steal things. Not because
they need to but for the sheer pleasure of it. You see something
on the shelf then make a grab for it, quickly stuff it into
your pocket. Do that with a packet of Fruit Gums, not crisps
because they rustle and give you away. An ice-lolly instead,
cold against your chest. Then strolling to the counter,
picking up a packet of gum, paying for it. That paid-for
piece of gum is to dampen suspicion.
ED: Are you talking to me?
MARDEN: Yes, Ed. Aren't you lucky? There
can't be anything better than being an American, is there?
ED: Do I know you? I can't remember your
name.
MARDEN: Marden. My name's Marden.
ED: Marden… Nope, doesn't ring a
bell.
MARDEN: What do you think happens to all
the forgotten things, Ed? Do you think they are stored somewhere
- in a massive pool of collective forgetfulness? A giant
cosmic ledger where everything is recorded, waiting to be
retrieved?
ED: Look man, I don't know you and I don't
know what you're talking about.
FX: ED's footsteps as he walks
away
ED: (muttering under his breath)
What a weirdo!
FX: ED's footsteps recede away.
The magical, languid sounds of the sea take over until we hear NAFISA.
NAFISA: (Voice-over) My first impressions
of the rig were of the noise and everywhere a smell of oil
and grease. The smell was nice but the grime got under my
finger-nails and it was a hassle keeping them clean. On
my first night I had trouble sleeping though I was lucky
I got a cabin all to myself. In the morning I saw dolphins
down in the water, a school of them and that was a happy
surprise. To boost my confidence, I kept reminding myself
of my achievements, all the hard work and struggles I had
gone through. Then I saw Marden for the first time, in front
of the office. I had been walking fast, worried that I was
late…
(FX: The sound of NAFISA's
quick footsteps. She turns the corner and walks straight into
MARDEN)
MARDEN: Careful!
NAFISA: Sorry.
MARDEN: You're in a hurry. What's going
on?
NAFISA: I have to be at the computer monitoring
the data- they're shutting the well in.
MARDEN: But the flare's still burning
which means they haven't yet stopped the oil flowing.
NAFISA: I know but..
MARDEN: Striking isn't it, the flare -
all that bright orange against the grey. It's oil they've
already measured and want to get rid of so they burn it
- but it's a pretty sight.
NAFISA: Look…
MARDEN: Marden.
NAFISA: Marden, if you'll excuse me…
MARDEN: You must be very ambitious to
be here. Is it a good thing to be ambitious?
NAFISA: Yes… yes it is.
MARDEN: To what extent?
NAFISA: I don't know what you mean.
MARDEN: You're good at bluffing aren't
you? It's a useful strategy, 'rather not know' and 'turn
a blind eye'. Maybe that's what got you so far.
NAFISA: Look I have to go now….
MARDEN: You're far away from where you
should be.
NAFISA: No, here.. there's the office.
MARDEN: You've lost your sense of direction.
You shouldn't be here at all.
NAFISA: I work here.
MARDEN: You don't work here. You bluff
your way...
NAFISA: What..!
MARDEN: Between you and I, do you think
you're cut out for this?
NAFISA: (voice over) I walked away from
him. Perhaps if I had stood up to him better he wouldn't
have bothered me again. But I was vulnerable and self-conscious
of it. I was new, a woman and black. I expected to find
hostility.
SC4.INT The Office. A room inside the rig where NAFISA and ED
do most of their work. The outdoor sounds of the rig are almost
non-existent. In the office there is the sound of the computers
humming softly and the printer printing out information (graphs
and statistics) about the flow of the well.
ED: What did he look like?
NAFISA: Grey eyes. Didn't look very healthy.
Slight.
ED: Short?
NAFISA: My height.
ED: Weird way of talking?
NAFISA: Yes.
ED: I think I bumped into him too. Just
what you need, eh, on your first day off-shore.
NAFISA: (smiling) Second. I've already
survived one day.
ED: Yeah. First day's rough.
NAFISA: I kept getting lost even after
the induction. And the rig wobbles a bit like it's floating,
I'm still not used to that … but I was worried that
the shower cubicle wouldn't have any doors and I ended up
with my very own bathroom!
ED: Well, the Sea Warrior is a new rig.
You do get living quarters suited for women.
NAFISA: That's a bonus… So, when
are they going to stop flowing the well and go for a build-up
of pressure?
ED: Just about now. They should have just
shut in. That graph over there shows the pressure of the
well. You should see the pressure increase at the time they
shut the well in. You'll soon get to know what to look for.
NAFISA: How many jobs like this have you
been on?
ED: After twenty years in the business,
you stop counting. I've mainly worked in the Far East, did
a stint in Alaska.
NAFISA: Alaska!
ED: Yeah, that was an experience and a
half! I was also five years in the Middle East.
NAFISA: Off-shore or in the desert?
ED: Both. It was good in the desert though.
Drive to the location and back home to the compound. Best
of both worlds. The compounds were like a piece of the US
just placed in the middle of the desert. We had swimming
pools, squash courts, American food, you name it we had
it.. My wife loved it. She did a lot of work there.
NAFISA: Is she also in the oil business?
ED: Cynthia? She's an artist. When we
were out there she did a lot of paintings of the desert,
Bedouin women, that kind of stuff.
NAFISA: That's cool! I'd like to work in
the desert one day. Most of the oil in Sudan is on-shore.
Once they start actively producing, I'll go back home. It'll
be great. We'll pump our own oil and stop being the poorest
country in the world.
ED: Must be quite rare in your part of
the world - a woman as a Petroleum Engineer.
NAFISA: I hate it when people say that!
ED: Why?
NAFISA: I don't know I just do….Yes,
the pressure has come up quickly since they shut the well
in. What do you think?
ED: That looks like it's performing the
way the Reservoir boys said it should. Not often the Reservoir
Dogs get it right!
SC5.EXT. Sounds of the sea, exaggerated, with the odd, intrusion
of machinery. The sounds are disjointed and there is a surreal
-like an echo- in the voices of MARDEN and NAFISA. This is like
an unpleasant dream- but one that is neither too frightening nor
deeply disturbing.
MARDEN: They suddenly stopped talking and turned to stare
at you.
NAFISA: Who?
MARDEN: Your mother and her friends.
NAFISA: Yes…yes, they did.
MARDEN: And your sister Marya.
NAFISA: Marya likes me.
MARDEN: You shouldn't have come in the
sitting room.
NAFISA: I wanted to…
MARDEN: Not like that, with your hair
all sticking out and your dress covered in mud. Not in the
middle of your mother's party.
NAFISA: I wanted to say something.
MARDEN: You did and it was, as always,
very sharp, very wise for your age.
NAFISA: Then I sat down on the floor and
listened. I like spying on grownups.
MARDEN Do you know what one these ladies
said about you?
NAFISA: Yes.
MARDEN: You heard her?
NAFISA: Yes.
MARDEN: She said that Nafisa is so…
NAFISA: so intelligent to the point of
being an idiot.(changes her tone of voice) She was jealous
of me. She lived next door. Had a daughter called Reeree.
Can you believe it?
MARDEN: It was a nickname.
NAFISA: (with contempt) Reeree. It's the
name of a baby cereal!
MARDEN: You didn't let her forget that.
NAFISA: She cried so easily.
MARDEN: She was just a little kid, much
younger than you.
NAFISA: There was something wrong with
her, something missing.
MARDEN: Her father was dead.
NAFISA: Yes that's right. I remember now.
He had a stroke.
MARDEN: While he was driving…
NAFISA: And the car crashed into a tree.
(FX: A clang. We are sharply
back in the normal, clear
world of cutlery and people in the background)
INT. The rig galley (cafeteria) at
a dull time. Low hum of people's voices, faint sounds of cutlery.
DES: Hey Nafisa. Falling asleep?
NAFISA: No…no. Are we going to have
the update meeting?
DES: As soon as the others come through.
Do you want a coffee?
NAFISA: Thanks Des. Lots of sugar!! And
a doughnut please.
DES: Shall I put it on your tab then?
NAFISA: Yeah, yeah….
DES: (laughing) You've been warned about
that one, then? (fetches the coffee while still talking)
Did you hear about the guy who was a new drilling engineer?
When he first came aboard he was told ,'I hope you've got
enough money with you because when you leave the rig you're
going to have to pay for everything except cereal'.
NAFISAH: You're kidding - he fell for
it.
DES: (laughs) He spent the two weeks living
off cereal.
NAFISA: He must have been mad when he found
out that the food was free.
DES: He probably felt pretty stupid as
well. People like to play nasty tricks and practical jokes.
You can always tell when someone has never been offshore
before - they are easy prey!! You have to watch everything
and check everything. Like your boots, here's a bit of advice
- always check inside your safety boots before you put them
on.
NAFISA: I just leave them in the locker
room with all the other boots.
DES: People will put all kinds of things
in them. Shaving foam for example, or worse, parmesan cheese.
And man, if you put them on and wear them for six hours….
NAFISA: Thanks for the warning.
DES: Och..You'll soon get used to the
life and being constantly alert.
NAFISA: The food is pretty good though,
I can't complain about that!
DES: Aye, it can get even better. Real
fancy stuff: prawn cocktail, smoked salmon. But still there's
no booze, man, no booze. I make sure that I make up for
it when I'm back on- shore, but.
NAFISA: Des, is there anywhere I can buy
stuff- toiletries?
DES: There's the Bond. It's as small as
a cupboard but everything is Duty Free. So you can get all
the basic stuff like toothpaste and shampoo but you can
also buy perfumes, fancy chocolates. Sad to say there's
no booze but I buy packets of cigarettes - it pleases the
folks back in Aberdeen.
NAFISA: You not pulling my leg are you
about everything being Duty Free?
DES: Honest. We're off-shore, remember.
Off-shore.
SC.6.INT. The recreation room on the rig. Relaxing atmosphere
of people reading magazines, chatting, playing billiards, watching
TV etc. ED is listening to his walk-man. He is listening to Hotel
California and singing along.
ED: ...Up ahead in the distance, I saw
a shimmering light. My head grew heavy and my sight….
FX: ED stops singing abruptly
and the tape continues …'grew dim, I had to stop for the
night. There she stood in the doorway, I heard the mission bells'..
before it also clicks into silence.
MARDEN: About your son Duane.
ED: What's wrong with Duane?
MARDEN: He smokes.
ED: Cigarettes?
MARDEN: Yes.
ED: Is that all?
MARDEN You don't mind then.
ED: Look, just who the hell are you?
MARDEN: You wouldn't remember me, Ed.
ED: I don't.
MARDEN: The accident.
ED: (uncomfortably & suspiciously)
Oh.
MARDEN: But you wouldn't want to talk
about that, would you?
ED: That was a long time ago.
MARDEN: Sure. And the Far East is far away
from here. Do you know where Duane gets the money to buy
cigarettes?
ED: He gets regular pocket money.
MARDEN: But he always takes a bit more
from his mother's purse.
ED: How do you know all this?
MARDEN: Would you consider it stealing?
If a teenager steals from his mother, is it stealing?
ED: It's wrong but it's not a crime.
MARDEN: I've heard an American say that.
I've committed a sin but not a crime. I can't remember who
that was. Can you?
ED: No.
MARDEN: Someone famous. A famous American.
ED: I have no idea.
MARDEN: Do you know what I learnt from
that accident?
ED: What?
MARDEN: It's so easy for things to go
wrong even when you don't mean them to. You turn the wrong
valve, you cut corners, miss out steps in a procedure, and
then bang..someone dies, another goes blind….
ED: The whole incident was very…
unfortunate.
MARDEN: You reckon?
ED: Yes.
MARDEN: Look after your son, Ed. You've
only got one child.
FX: ED gets up and starts walking away.
ED: (Fading) You're really pushing your
luck.
FX: ED quickly walks out of
the room. There is the outdoor sounds of the rig and the whistle
of the wind. ED runs up the stairs to the Radio Room. The door
opens closes and then we no longer hear the outdoor sounds of
the rig. ED addresses the radio operator.
ED: (a little out of breath) I want to
make a personal call please.
FX: Sound of a number being dialled. It rings and then the voice
of CYHTHIA on the answering machine.
CYNTHIA: Hi! Cynthia, Ed and Duane can't receive your call right
now. If you leave your name and number after the beep, we'll get
right back to you soon as we can.
ED: Duane, it's me Dad. Are you doing
okay? I'm … I'm worried about you. Why aren't you
at home? Are you at Judo? Next time Mom phones me, be sure
to be there son. Okay. Love you all. Bye.
SC.7 EXT. At the well, on the rig floor.
Loud sound of machinery with bangs and clangs. People calling
out commands at one another every now and then.
BACKGROUND VOICE: Bring some more hose
here…
BACKGROUND VOICE: Hey Fred, pick up a
bit…
MARDEN: So this is it then.
NAFISA: What?
MARDEN: The well. The focus. Look at this
massive rig. The helicopter deck up there, all the engine
rooms. There's a hundred and twelve of us on the Sea Warrior,
with all our needs catered for, all the equipment, all the
computers,… all of this for one single well!
(FX: MARDEN reaches out and snatches NAFISA's calculator)
NAFISA: Hey! Give me my calculator back.
MARDEN: Is it really yours?
NAFISA: You just snatched it from me!
BACKGROUND VOICE: Are the tongs secure?
MARDEN: I'm going to throw it down the
well.
NAFISA: You wouldn't dare. It might break
the camera they've just run in there.
BACKGROUND VOICE: Stooooop!
MARDEN: Something new?
NAFISA: It's a new camera designed to
stand the extreme conditions down there. We'll be able to
tell if it is an obstruction that's causing the reduced
flow.
BACKGROUND VOICE: Move the chain..
MARDEN: Mmmm. Do you think there's a giant
camera, filming us all, all of the time, year after year,
recording everything we say and do.
NAFISA: You mean on the rig. For safety
reasons.
MARDEN: No I mean all the time.
NAFISA: I don't know what you're talking
about.
MARDEN: Would you like to see a film of
yourself?
NAFISA: What do you mean? No.
MARDEN: You and poor Reeree the day her
father died.
NAFISA: There's no such film.
MARDEN: You liked telling her everything.
The two of you in the garden and all the facts coming from
clever Nafisa. (he mimics a child's prissy voice) Your father
is dead and floppy like a chicken before it's cooked….
NAFISA: Stop it.
MARDEN: (continuing) They're washing him
now inside the house. I saw the men carrying towels and
a white shroud. But they're not going to put him in the
bathtub. They're going to put him on a bed. They'll press
his tummy so all the pee and pooh comes out. Then they'll
put him under the ground ….
NAFISA: Just stop it. Where do you know
all this from?
MARDEN: I was there.
NAFISA: Liar. You can't have been.
FX: NAFISA starts to walk away and MARDEN's
voice becomes fainter
MARDEN: …. all the worms will eat
him….Then snakes will coil themselves around his bones….
FX: NAFISA opens the door to the cafeteria.
The welcoming sounds and warmth of the cafeteria after the
harshness of outdoors.
NAFISA: Des, when you were on the rig floor,
did you notice a guy wearing a blue balaclava? Grey eyes,
my height.
DES: No. Can't say I have.
NAFISA: He took my calculator!
DES: (amused) Aaaaa. Well maybe he needed it.
NAFISA: I told him to give it back but
he didn't.
DES: (laughing) It'll turn up.
NAFISA: He said he'd throw it in the well.
DES: He was probably pulling your leg.
Look, gotta go…
FX: DES's footsteps going away
and the noises of the cafeteria become louder
NAFISA: (voice over) Marya wouldn't have
put up with what was happening. Not with Des laughing at
her, not with Marden who didn't make sense… Marya
would have said, 'An oil rig is no place for a woman'. And
I would have given her a lecture on how unambitious she
was. All she ever wanted to do was get married! But she
was nice to Reeree; Marya had patience for the misery next
door. How bored I was with everyone who stayed put in one
place, everyone who was stupid in Maths, … I didn't
mean to hurt them, not really, but they must have found
me cruel.
ED: There you are! Did you by any chance
see that weirdo again?
NAFISA: Yes. On the rig floor. I asked
Des about him but he doesn't know him
ED: Yeah. I've been asking around myself
and no one seems to know anything about him. We're the only
ones.
NAFISA: He kept talking about my next
door neighbour years ago. He knows things about her.
ED: Yeah, he's been telling me stuff about
my son too. Maybe he's met your neighbour and she told him
about you.
NAFISA: Maybe, yes. It's unlikely. But
then I don't know where she is now. She could very well
have left Sudan.
ED: Did he say anything to you about me?
NAFISA: No.
ED: Let me know ,will you, if he bothers
you again. We need to keep an eye on him.
NAFISA: I found this in my room.
FX: A rustle of paper as NAFISA
takes out a sheet of paper from her pocket.
ED: This should be reported.
NAFISA: (taken aback) It's just a cartoon
drawing.
ED: Of a golliwog!
NAFISA: It's just a doll. I had a doll
like that when I was young.
ED: That's not the point, you should report
this.
NAFISA: No way. No.
(FX: Rustle of paper as NAFISA
puts the drawing away)
ED: Listen to me. This shouldn't happen…
NAFISA: But it's him that put it there.
He's trying to spook me for some reason. But I'm not going
to let him get to me.
ED: It doesn't matter whether it was Marden
or not. Racist incidents have to get reported and dealt
with.
NAFISA: I'm not upset about a little drawing
of a golliwog. Cute, isn't he?
ED: Nafisa, people like that.. if they're
not stopped, they just go on. And they get bolder and more
of a threat…
NAFISA: The first time off-shore and you
want me to draw attention to myself and be a nuisance. I
don't want this to get big. I want it to just stay small
and to go away.
ED: But this is stupid.
(FX: pause and the sounds of
the canteen)
NAFISA: ( very slowly ) Stupid..eh? That
hurts more than any golliwog.
FX: The Tannoy comes soft at
first but then is repeated louder.
TANOY: Telephone call for Ed Reid. Telephone
call for Ed Reid.
ED: Look, I'm sorry but…
NAFISA: Just forget it.
ED: (going away) We'll talk later.
(FX: ED's footsteps as he walks away)
NAFISA: (voice-over) For some reason the
doll made me think about Marya's wedding, her big day. She'd
be wearing her wedding dress and everyone gathering around
her for the photographs. I wouldn't be in any of these photos…
They'd get passed around the way wedding photos do,and everyone
would always remember that I wasn't there. Even Mayra's
children would look at them one day and find me missing!
I can imagine the wedding - everyone asking, 'Where's Nafisa?'
and Marya saying 'Nafisa couldn't come, isn't that disapointing?'
And everyone would agree and be sympathetic. Though if they
were clever, if they were mean they would say to themselves,
'Nafisa could have come if she really wanted to. She couldn't
be bothered that's all. She couldn't be bothered to help
out, fetch and carry, smile and offer sweets. She always
thought of herself too important for these kind of things.'
FX: The canteen sounds recede
and we hear ED's footsteps running up the steps to the Radio Room.
ED: Cynthia, Hi…
MARDEN: Ed. It's me, Marden.
ED: What do you want?
MARDEN: Oh.. just to chat about your blunder
that cost lives.
ED: What are you talking about?
MARDEN: Six casualties when that fire
broke out on that rig….And you got away with it Ed.
(FX: ED slams the phone down)
ED: (under his breath) Dammit.
SC.8. INT. The office on the rig. Sounds
of computer and printers.
NAFISA: (voice -over) After the golliwog incident, my friendship
with Ed cooled. We never spoke about Marden. But he was
still there and coming closer.
MARDEN: I'm not going to ask you, Ed,
if I can come in.
ED: Get out of my office.
MARDEN: What about you Nafisa? You should
be more welcoming.
NAFISA: I'm not. I'm working.
ED: Get out of my office, Marden.
MARDEN: Not until I tell Nafisa what I
know about you.
NAFISA: I don't want to know.
MARDEN: All you care about is how good
that well is flowing… Did you ever wonder how Ed recognised
you at the heliport? (laughs) They told him, 'You can't
miss the new Trainee, she's as black as the Ace of Spades'.
NAFISA: Go away.
FX: Rustle of paper as MARDEN
picks up some of the printouts ED and NAFISA have been working
on
ED: Look Marden, what is it that you're
after?
MARDEN: Making public the truth about
the accident.
NAFISA: What accident?
(pause)
MARDEN: Well, are you going to tell her
or shall I?
ED: A fire broke out once when I was on
a rig in the Far East. Some people died.
MARDEN: But who caused that fire? His
record isn't so clean, Nafisa. He got away with something
he shouldn't have.
ED: I don't know what you're accusing me
of or what proof you have.
MARDEN: Oh I have proof.
ED: You're bluffing.
MARDEN: I'm not going to stay quiet. By
the way, your mother just spoke to me.
ED: You are bluffing. My mother's been
dead for the past two years!
MARDEN: She said you used to steal from
her purse. Just like Duane steals from Cynthia. Isn't that
a coincidence?
ED: Don't bring my family into this. I'm
warning you.
MARDEN: I'll annoy Nafisa instead.
FX: Sound of tearing paper
and commotion as MARDEN starts to tear up all their work and NAFISA
and ED resist.
NAFISA: Stop it! You're destroying valuable
data! It takes a lot of hard work to produce these reports.
ED: Damm you, man.
FX: Sounds of a scuffle as ED
struggles with MARDEN to push him out of the room. MARDEN laughs
but we can tell he has been badly shaken.
ED: I've had it with you!
MARDEN: (struggling) Stop!
NAFISA: Stop Ed, you'll kill him!
ED: (while shaking MARDEN) Don't mess
with me again. Do you hear. Don't mess with me.
FX: Sound of the cabin/ office
door opening to the sound of gales outside and ED pushes MARDEN
out.
ED: Stay out.
FX: The door closes again and the only
sound is ED's breathing.
NAFISA: (voice-over) I picked up bits
of paper from the floor, tidied up. Ed sat slumped with
his head in his hands. I had looked up to him before, now
I felt dull and flat inside. Was Marden telling the truth?
I couldn't be sure - but how could Ed stop Marden from speaking?
SC.9.INT. The radio room. A telephone
conversation between ED and CYNTHIA. CYNTHIA is distraught and
ED can hardly get a word in
CYNTHIA: Ed, Duane's been arrested…
ED: What!
CYNTHIA: I told you he's been stealing
stuff from the shop round the corner.
ED: What did he take?
CYNTHIA: Sweets. And he took money from
the till. I just can't understand it. We give him pocket
money. He had money. And then with the police he was so
calm, as if nothing has happened, he's driving me nuts.
ED: Honey, calm down.
CYNTHIA: You have to be here Ed.
ED: I'll be with you in few days, Kiddo. Just hang on…
CYNTHIA: No, you have to come now Ed. I
don't care what happens, I don't care if they fire you.
You have to be here, I can't cope with this on my own.
ED: Alright, alright…
CYNTHIA: I mean it Ed. This has better
be your last time off-shore. Duane needs you and you can't
afford to be away from him!
FX: The dialling tone as CYNTHIA
slams down the phone. ED slowly puts the phone down and we hear
the sound of the door as he leaves the radio room.
EXT. The outdoor sounds of the
rig but with severe winds and rain. ED comes down the stairs
of the rig and finds MARDEN. They have to raise their voices
because of the wind and the rain.
MARDEN: It's all catching up with you
now. You can't get away.
ED: Get out of my way Marden!
FX: ED hits MARDEN hard and
MARDEN gasps and punches ED back. MARDEN, by far the weaker of
the two, is
the one whose speech is most affected by the fight.
MARDEN: You pompous bastard, lives were
ruined because of you..
ED: It was a mistake. I didn't want anyone
to get hurt. I didn't do it on purpose.
MARDEN: You could have owned up to it.
That accident could have been avoided and you knew it.
ED: What good would it have done? I would
have just ruined my career...
MARDEN: And when someone else takes the
rap…
ED: That was up to the investigation committee.
It wasn't up to me.
FX: MARDEN hits ED hard and ED gasps but
quickly punches MARDEN back.
MARDEN: You got away with it, you bastard,
but not forever.
FX: ED shakes MARDEN. MARDEN
can no longer feel the left side of his body. It has gone numb
and he slumps onto the floor of the rig.
MARDEN: My arm….it's gone numb…
FX: ED's footsteps swiftly
walking away. The outdoor night sounds of the rig. The wind blows
cruelly and the rain is endless
SC 10. INT. The voices come one after
the other, fading in and out.
DES: They found him dead near the Radio Room. Stone cold.
The poor bloke had a stroke, would you believe it? We're
all supposed to have passed medicals to get here!
NAFISA: (voice-over) Death here, so close,
while we worked round the clock, pumping six thousand barrels
a day at thirty dollars a barrel. Didn't I hate Marden?
Didn't he make me feel small and guilty? But there was no
feeling of relief. I turned and looked at Ed and heard him
say…
ED: I don't know who he is.
DES: That's the problem, no one does. He
hasn't got an ID on him or anything.
ED: No, I haven't seen anyone suspicious
around.
DES: All hell's broken lose. The Safety
folk go berserk if so much as one finger gets broken…
let alone a death.
ED: No, he wasn't someone that I knew.
Did you know him Nafisa?
DES: Had you seen him around, Nafisa?
NAFISA: No…. No, I didn't know him.
FX: We hear the sounds of the
wind and rain at the time of MARDEN's death
DES He must have shouted for help but no
one heard him. A stroke and he can't have been more than
forty!
FX: For a long time we hear
the sounds of the wind and the rain. Space and time to absorb
Marden's death.
SC.11 INT. The office on the
rig. Sounds of computer and printers.
NAFISA: Hi Ed, sorry I'm late.
ED: You alright?
NAFISA: Yes.
ED: Sure?
NAFISA: Sure. And you?
ED: Sort of. You upset about what happened?
NAFISA: Yes.
ED: You did the right thing when Des asked
you if you knew Marden.
NAFISA: I was just following your line.
ED: It would just complicate things if
you and I start saying he was harassing us.
NAFISA: Yes.
ED: Everyone's very sensitive when something
like that happens. A careless word from either of us, could
be traumatic for his family and friends.
NAFISA: Did he have a family?
ED: I don't know. I don't want to know.
NAFISA: Right.
ED: I've been very impressed with your
work, Nafisa. It's a shame something like that had to happen
on your first trip off-shore.
NAFISA: There's two more days to go.
ED: That's right. Day after tomorrow,
chopper back to Aberdeen, off-shore experience under your
belt. You won't be a Trainee for long.
(pause)
ED: I don't know if I've mentioned this
before, but I'm going to be leaving the company soon.
NAFISA: Oh, that's a shame..
ED: Yeah, but I've been doing the same
thing for ages, it's time to move on.
NAFISA: (voice-over) Maybe because I was
so tired, maybe because I was confused. I looked at Ed.
He was shaken and trying hard not to show it. I guessed
how Marden had died. Then I felt cold and queasy. I looked
away so I would always be suspicious but never sure. I didn't
want the responsibility of being sure. If I was sure then
it would mean that Ed had twice caused death without meaning
to, then lied, not owning up like he should… so much
faith in his own innocence.
FX: Fade to the sound of a helicopter arriving
at Aberdeen Heliport.
SC12. INT. Restaurant sounds with light background music
- the best restaurant in Aberdeen. A business dinner/party
for a group of about fifty.It's Ed's farewell dinner.
DES: (Background voice - in a speech to
everyone) Throughout your career, Ed, you've been a champion
of team work and attention to detail. Someone who's always
shown strong concern for his fellow collegues so………we're
really all glad to see you go!
FX: The sound of general laughter.
NAFISA: (voice-over) I thought to myself
I could ruin this farewell dinner. All I had to do was stand
up and say, 'You left him lying there, Ed , that night on
the rig. Marden was shouting for help and you just walked
away.' That would wipe the smile off everyone's face. And
if I went on and repeated everything Marden had said about
Ed and that accident, I'd ruin this fancy dinner for sure.
Just thinking of speaking out made me feel sick. I put my
napkin on the table and walked through the swinging doors
to the LADIES. Afterwards when I washed my face I saw in
the mirror that my eyes were red- guilty and red. Marya
would have liked the dress I was wearing. She would have
approved. I'd gone and bought her the most expensive wedding
present- a camcorder. I could afford it with all the bonus
I'd made working off-shore.
FX: Swinging door of the LADIES
and footsteps as NAFISA walks back to the party.
ED: (Background voice - in a speech to
everyone) Thank you all for this great dinner and the set
of golf clubs! I never expected this…I'm very touched.
I value all the colleagues and friends I've made over the
years and the times we've spent together. We had a good
team here. I'm gonna miss all of you - some more than others
of course…
FX: A bit of individual laughter from
the audience.
ED: …but as you know, it's a small
world and I'm sure we'll bump into each other. Again I have
to say I really enjoyed working with you. I've watched many
of you progress from raw recruits to where you are now……
NAFISA: (voice-over) I didn't speak out
and ruin the evening after all. I told myself I didn't have
any proof. It was all just my suspicions. I told myself
that sometimes it's better to look away.
SC.13 INT. A month later. The kitchen in ED and CYNTHIA's house
in Aberdeen. In the background Hotel California is playing on
the CD. There are the sounds of cooking.
CD player: …In the master's chamber
they gathered for the feast. They stabbed it with their
steely knives but they just can't kill the beast
ED: Soup..again?
CYNTHIA: I've got all these squishy tomatoes
I need to get rid of. Look at them!
ED: Where did you get them from?
CYNTHIA: Where else?
ED: Well..we have to keep shopping there
as a good will gesture…
CYNTHIA: You mean grovelling thanks..
ED: For dropping the charges against Duane,
it's a small price to pay, Kiddo.
CYNTHIA: Wait till you see the bill from
his therapist.
ED: He needs help. We can't cut corners
on that.
CYNTHIA: You had one of these nightmares
again yesterday?
ED: Did I? I don't remember.
CYNTHIA: You scared the life out of me,
moaning and….
ED: Leave it.
CYNTHIA: Tell me what's wrong. Do you miss
going off-shore?
ED: No comment.
CYNTHIA: Do you?
ED: You're the one who wanted me to stop!
CYNTHIA: But I'm not the only reason that
you stopped, am I?
CD PLAYER: The last lines of Hotel California
followed by the music. You can check out any time you like
but you can never leave.
SC.14 INT. In another country on another
continent. MARYA's house in Khartoum. NAFISA and MARYA and watching
the video of MARYA's wedding. The music and ululation of the wedding
can be heard in the background.
NAFISA: (voice-over) I kept my promise to Marya. The first
holiday I got, I flew home. I found her changed in a way
that was hard to place. Or maybe I was the one who had changed.
NAFISA: So that's the brother who came
all the way from Australia.
MARYA: Yes and that's his wife in the blue dress. The band
was a disaster, just look at them.
NAFISA: (laughs) I'm going to take a copy of this video
back with me to Aberdeen. You must get me a copy.
MARYA: Sure.
NAFISA: You looked lovely Marya. I knew
you would. Smiling…
MARYA: I was nervous.
NAFISA: And who's this in the nauseous
yellow?
MARYA: You didn't recognise her? You loved
teasing her when she lived next door.
NAFISA: No. Don't tell me.
MARYA: It's her, Reeree.
NAFISA: Reeree. Oh no. Wait, I've got
to rewind this.
FX: Sound of tape being rewound.
MARYA: There she is. My mother-in-law
invited her. They work in the same office.
NAFISA: Yes, she's still so weak-looking.
MARYA: They had it rough with the dad
dying and all that.
NAFISA: I was mean to that girl. Before
her dad died, after her dad died. I remember going over
to her house a lot - playing on her swing. She had that
nice swing made from a car's tyre.
FX: MARYA switches the video
tape off.
MARYA: You pushed her off that swing so many times.
NAFISA: I don't know why I did that.
MARYA: She got on your nerves for some
reason.
NAFISA: Her name. Her baby cereal name
just got to me. Reeree.
MARYA: It was a nick- name.
NAFISA: I know. She'd come over and you
and Mama would fuss all over her…
MARYA: They were neighbours Nafisa, and
when the dad died they lost their income and got into debt.
Reeree's mother had to start sewing clothes for people.
NAFISA: Now I remember. We had to wear
these awful dresses she made for us, didn't we?
MARYA: laughs a little) I know. Mama had
to just go and become her best customer. And the poor woman
wasn't such a great dress-maker. But Mama said it's better
that way - getting her to make our clothes instead of giving
her charity and hurting her feeling.
NAFISA: How did you know all this Marya
-you're younger than me? How did you understand all this?
MARYA: I don't know. It was all clear and
obvious.
NAFISA: But I was there with you, all
this was going on around me and it wasn't obvious to me.
MARYA: That's just the way you are, Nafisa.
NAFISA: Heartless?
MARYA: (teasing her)Hmmm
NAFISA: Was I ever horrible to you?
MARYA: Apart from not coming to my wedding…
NAFISA: Apart from that - when we were kids?
MARYA: You were okay Nafisa, you weren't
horrible to me. You used to punch all the boys who bullied
me and you called them names. They were scared of you.
NAFISA: (with regret) Do you know what
I used to say to Reeree after her father died? I used to
go over to her house and say 'Where's your dad, hasn't he
come back yet?' Sometimes she cried.
FX: A clang and the aura of MARDEN.
NAFISA: (voice-over) We never found out who Marden was or
what he was doing on the rig. In the end, the matter was
dropped …there was oil waiting to be pumped. And how
had he known all these things about us? I could only guess…
I couldn't be sure. After a while I began to question if
he was real… (pause) At the end of my holiday, I lowered
my pride and told Marya that I'd made a mistake in not attending
her wedding. But somehow that didn't change anything. There
was still the guilt. Ed's guilt, my guilt. Guilt coating
me like the grime on the rig. Who can make it go away?
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