BOON

Written by

Wesley Bey

Address
Phone Number
 FADE IN:

OVER BLACK.

TITLES: It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves. -

Edmund Hillary

GEORGE (V.O.)
Look closely, buddy. See how
they're different?

INT. BOAT CABIN - DAY

A journal is opened on a table. A calloused hand holds a

little boy's index finger, underlining each word.

We see how some of the letters are written slightly

different.

"August 12 '82: We've found it. Drake's tomb. Off the coast
of a certain part of Panama."

GEORGE
The ones that are different --

MIKE
That's the code?

A pair of eyes belonging to a 5 year old boy peer over the

table. Scrawny in the way growing boys always are, MIKE
literally stands in the shadow of his father, GEORGE.

GEORGE
Yup.

MIKE
Well how're you supposed to read
it?

GEORGE
With the key.
 2.

MIKE
How's a key supposed to help you
read a buncha letters?

SHANE (O.S)
It's a written key, dummy.

Behind them, SHANE is smiling. At 12 he's just figuring out

who he is in the world. He exuberates a juvenile sort of
cockiness.

Mike scowls at him.

MIKE
I ain't no dummy, dummy.

GEORGE
I wrote the key. Only me and Shane
can read it.

Shane smiles at that.

SHANE
Not even Uncle Arthur can read it.

MIKE
Well I wanna learn it too.

GEORGE
You will. But first --

ARTHUR (O.S)
Santos is back.

ARTHUR MILLER is standing in the doorway of the cabin. An

older, fatter version of George with a beer in hand, an old
Hawaiian shirt unbuttoned revealing a protruding beer gut
that looks like an old leather basketball; you can tell this
man has spent his whole life on the ocean.

GEORGE
-- We've got to make a little
history.
 3.

EXT. BOAT - CONTINUOUS

JOHN STONE pulls RODRIGO SANTOS from the water.

John looks like he was cut from the cloth of a longshoreman's

overalls. Sun beaten with a mop of graying hair on his head,
he's the definition of the word 'salty.'

Shane begins to remove Rodrigo's dive pack.

RODRIGO
Thanks, little man.

MIKE
I wanna' help too.

He tries to grab the dive mask still plastered on Rodrigo's

face. Shane knocks his hand away.

SHANE
Don't do that.

Mike frowns.

MIKE
Hey!

RODRIGO
It's okay, Shane.

He removes the mask and a pair of kind eyes and a warm smile
meet Mike's.

SHANE
You don't just grab somebody's face
like that. It's rude.

MIKE
Well I'm just tryna help!

SHANE
You're not helping, you're being a
pain in the butt like usual.
 4.

MIKE
Am not!

He skulks and runs back into the cabin.

GEORGE
Why're you always so mean to him?

SHANE
What? I'm not. It's not my fault
he acts--

GEORGE
Enough. Stop. He's five.

SHANE
Well you asked.

George gives him THE LOOK, and Shane shuts his mouth.

GEORGE
What've we got, Rod?

Rodrigo looks back out at the water and we see a giant atoll
rising from the water in the distance.

RODRIGO
All clear to the interior chamber.
Water logged though. The system
itself is huge.

ARTHUR
Can we fit a boat through?

Rodrigo nods.

RODRIGO
Barely. But we can manage.

Arthur beams and takes a swig of beer.

RODRIGO (CONT'D)
This is big, boss. I've never seen
anything like it.
 5.

George smiles, grabs a beer from an ice chest, tosses it to

him.

GEORGE
You know, they buried him here so
the Spaniards could never get to
him.

RODRIGO
Good thing I'm Columbian.

They both laugh. Arthur grabs another beer from the chest.

ARTHUR
I believe celebrations are in
order.

He hands one to George. John watches, taking note that they

didn't offer him one.

GEORGE
John, get the RHIB ready.

John nods.

INT. BOAT CABIN - MOMENTS LATER

Mike sulks in the darkness, arms crossed.

George walks in, sets his beer down, sits down next to the
boy.

GEORGE
What's wrong, buddy?

Mike has tears running down his cheeks. He quickly wipes

them away.

MIKE
You love Shane more than me.
 6.

GEORGE
(chuckling)
Oh, is that so?

Mike nods.

MIKE
He gets to do all the cool stuff
with you and I don't.

GEORGE
All the cool stuff, huh?

MIKE
And I try and help and he tells me
to go away. I just want to do cool
stuff with you guys.

George wraps him up in a bear hug.

GEORGE
I love doing cool stuff with you
buddy. It's just --

MIKE
(mimicking his mother)
Dangerous. And mom says this and
mom says that, blah, blah blah.

George laughs.

GEORGE
Do you know what she'd do to me if
she knew I took you in there?

MIKE
Make you eat broccoli forever?

GEORGE
Worse.

MIKE
What could be worse than that?
 7.

GEORGE
Don't know. But your mom does.

MIKE
I'll listen real good, I promise.

George hesitates, Mike senses it and latches on.

MIKE (CONT'D)
PLEASE. I don't ever get to go on
the small boat with you guys.

GEORGE
Buddy, it's not that I don't want
to --

MIKE
You're such a pushover.

GEORGE
Now where'd you learn a work like
that?

MIKE
Mom calls you that when you guys
are fighting. I hear her say it
when she's talking to Grammy on the
phone.

A flicker of resentment in George's eyes.

GEORGE
You listen to me and Mr. Rod at all
times. And your brother. If Shane
tells you to do something --

MIKE
I will daddy, I promise. Whatever
you say.

He jumps up and gives his dad a hug.

 8.

MIKE (CONT'D)
Thank you-thank you-thank you! You
won't regret it, I promise.

EXT. BOAT CABIN - CONTINUOUS

Shane is listening in on the conversation. He looks

concerned.

SHANE
Shit.

JOHN (O.S.)
What's wrong?

Shane looks back and sees John standing next to the RHIB,
watching him with an silent fascination.

SHANE
Dad's taking Mikey with us.

JOHN
I don't see nothing wrong with
that.

SHANE
He gets on my nerves. I like it
when it's just me and dad.
He...gets in the way.

JOHN
I don't ever get to go with them
either.

SHANE
Dad says you're scared of the
water. Which doesn't make much
sense.

JOHN
That's not it. Not it at all.
 9.

SHANE
Then what is it?

JOHN
Almost drowned once. A long time
ago.

SHANE
You did?

John nods.

SHANE (CONT'D)
And now --

JOHN
And now I'm confined to boat duty
for the foreseeable future.
Captain's orders.

George walks out. The two men's eyes meet.

John smiles, submissive almost. George nods his head.

There's something there, an uncomfortable history maybe.

Rodrigo walks up from the stern of the ship with a Colt .45
in hand.

RODRIGO
The boat ready, Johnny?

John nods.

SHANE
(eyes on gun)
What's that for?

Rodrigo winks at him.

RODRIGO
Just in case we run into some
Spaniards.
 10.

INT. RHIB - LATER

George, Mike, Shane, Rodrigo, and Arthur are in the RHIB.

George hands Mike a life jacket.

GEORGE
Shane, help your brother with this.

He turns his attention towards the front to unhitch from the

boat.

He looks up at John and smiles.

GEORGE (CONTD)
I'll radio you when we reach the
center.

John smiles meekly in return.

GEORGE (CONT'D)
You know you're as much a part of
this as we are, don't you?

John nods.

JOHN
Sure thing, boss.

George reaches out his hand. John takes it, shakes it

firmly.

John walks to the back of the boat and unties a mooring line.

JOHN (CONT'D)
You ain't staying with me today,
buddy?

MIKE
No, sir. Daddy's taking me on an
adventure.

John reaches into his back pocket and pulls out a small
Sailor figurine.
 11.

JOHN
Well I suppose I should I give it
to you now.

He holds out two fists.

JOHN (CONT'D)
Guess which one?

They've played this game before because Mike immediately goes

for the right hand first.

Sure enough, it opens up and the Sailor is smiling back at

Mike's excited face.

MIKE
Who is he?

JOHN
Don't know. Figured you could give
him a name.

MIKE
Larry.

JOHN
Larry? That's a great name. Well
if you get scared on this cool
adventure of yours, Larry'll keep
you safe.

Mike reaches up and hugs John.

MIKE
I'll miss ya, John.

JOHN
Yeah, yeah. Skedaddle.

George casts the last line and the boat pulls away from the
ship.
 12.

GEORGE
And watch out for pirates!

John waves, the distance making him smaller and smaller.

Mike is struggling with his life jacket. Shane reaches out

to help him tie it.

MIKE
Get off! I can do it.

Shane rolls his eyes and turns around.

Mike keeps fidgeting with the straps.

EXT. BOAT - CONTINUOUS

The small boat takes off for the atoll, slowly becoming a
speck in the distance.

John watches.

Behind him in the background, out of focus and barely

visible, another boat approaches...

EXT. ATOLL

The RHIB begins to approach a shallow opening. They idle

through it slowly.

Mike looks out at the old, hardened coral walls.

MIKE
This is so cool.

George looks back at his son.

GEORGE
Just wait.
 13.

They pass through the opening and into a much deeper pool of
water surrounded by walls of ancient white coral on all
sides. At the far side, an opening leads into a blackened
cave.

Mike stares at it transfixed.

MIKE
Are we going in there?

ARTHUR
Yup.

He flips on a powerful search light on the front of the boat.

ARTHUR (CONT'D)
This should keep the monsters away.

MIKE
Monsters?!

SHANE
He's just joking.

Shane can't help looking a little timid as well.

The giant opening looks like the mouth of some great dead sea
beast.

SHANE (CONT'D)
All a joke.