FADE IN
On the walls within a grand cathedral.
Upon the walls, bathed in varicoloured light passing down through an unseen prism-like skylight above, are vibrantly coloured murals. Though nearly identical in style to those created by the ancient Egyptians, these are composed of intricately-arranged precious gems instead of ink drawings, emblazoned with unrecognizable cursive script rather than the familiar hieroglyphs. The scenes they depict are of a beneficent deity descending from the heavens to Earth in luminous glory, blessing the sons and daughters of man with science and civilization.
TITLE: STARGATE
FADE TO
A shot of the sun blazing a fierce yellow in the clear blue sky.
ZOOM OUT & PAN DOWN
To a panoramic shot of the regal Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities building.
SUPERIMPOSE: “CAIRO, 1967”
INT. EGYPTIAN MINISTRY OF ANTIQUITIES BUILDING/EGYPTIAN INTERIOR MINISTER’S OFFICE – DAY
The office room – well-lit and elaborately decorated – is inhabited by a pair of men, PROFESSOR PAUL LANGFORD and the EGYPTIAN INTERIOR MINISTER. E.I.M – a plump Arab in a fine white suit with a meticulously waxed moustache – is seated behind a grand ebony desk, while Langford – a bean-thin Swede with a thin white moustache clad in his own fine white suit – stands before it. The two men are engaged in a conversation already in progress.
E.I.M: (cont’d) … they present a bad omen, Paul. It would be just too great a risk to extend your permit.
PROF. LANGFORD: (tugs at the collar of his uncomfortable suit) As I have already told you –
E.I.M: (puts up one hand) I cannot in good conscience go through with it. I have already done what I can. Now is the time to put our most pressing concerns – those of personal security – first.
PROF. LANGFORD: (angry) So your solution is to pack up and leave? Just leave all we’ve struggled for to blow away in the winds?
E.I.M: (smiles) It may not be the right thing to do, but it’s the best thing to do. Take Catherine and go back home to Sweden. Allah knows it’s been forever since you’ve seen your wife. (beat) Once this political nonsense blows over, I’ll be happy to let you come back and begin again. No time will have passed at all.
PROF. LANGFORD: Oh, don’t try to bamboozle me. I’ve got your number precisely.
E.I.M: (nonplussed) My number? Paul, please –
PROF. LANGFORD: (shouting) No! You’ll listen to me now!
Langford slams his clenched fist down on the top of E.I.M’s desk, rattling the contents sitting on its surface.
PROF. LANGFORD: (cont’d) I have spent over 400,000 kronas on this excavation. I’ve given the beggars and thieves of your country paying jobs so they could put food in their families’ bellies. And then there were the promises, good sir, promises you failed to keep. Remember that financier, that Canadian fellow?
E.I.M: The Canadian –
PROF. LANGFORD: (points his finger accusingly at the Arab) Don’t you forget how you guaranteed – no, how you swore –
A loud series of RAPS sound through the office door.
E.I.M (sighs) If you’ll excuse me, Paul ….
E.I.M barks out a command in Arabic and the door opens; a thin, dark-skinned man in a simple uniform steps inside.
DELIVERY BOY: (in Arabic, subtitled) I have a message for you, Professor Langford.
PROF. LANGFORD: (subtitled) A message? What about? From whom?
DELIVERY BOY: (subtitled) I do not know the contents, sir, but it is a note from Mr. Taylor.
PROF. LANGFORD: Taylor, eh? (beat; in Arabic, subtitled) Alright, give it to me.
The delivery boy pulls out a sealed envelope and hands it to Langford. The Swede opens it and withdraws a piece of paper.
E.I.M: (to the delivery boy; subtitled) You can go now.
As the thin man leaves, Langford unfolds the paper.
CUT TO
Close up shot of the note, which reads:
"Langford,
Sitting down? We’ve got something. Probably a tomb. Too soon to tell. Excavation continues. Very exciting. I suggest you get your aristocratic hind-end out here. AT ONCE. And don’t bring any of those pudding heads from the ministry. Let’s keep this quiet for as long as we can.
Taylor."
CUT TO
Professor Langford, now seated in the back of a black Rolls Royce with his daughter CATHERINE, still looking the note over.
EXT. DOWNTOWN CAIRO – DAY
The luxurious vehicle, currently speeding through Cairo’s congested downtown toward the zoological gardens, scatters pedestrians with loud honks from its horn as it passes. Catherine, trying to read a thick book bearing the title Ancient Egypt, squeals with mock fright at each near-collision.
The automobile soon makes it onto the highway. Folding the note in his hands, Langford looks up, taking in the breathtaking view of the sparkling Nile river and the Giza Pyramids beyond.
CATHERINE: (in Swedish, subtitled) What do you think they’ve found, Daddy?
PROF. LANGFORD: (subtitled) I don’t know, Little Mother. We’ll just have to wait and see, won’t we?
Langford then looks down at his fancy white suit.
PROF. LANGFORD: (subtitled) I really should have stopped to change out of these ridiculous clothes ….