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Port Royal was washed
into the Caribbean Sea, the result of an earthquake and tsunami. The carnage
included a whole city, with around three thousand casualties, including
Henry Morgan's mausoleum, that was not to be
seen again for over 300 years.
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SCENE 5
PORT ROYAL - THE EARTH SHAKES
EXT. DOCKYARD - MIDDAY (JUNE 7TH, 1692)
The sun beats down upon PORT ROYAL, a bustling hive of merchants, sailors, and those of ill-repute. Casks are rolled across the wooden planks of the wharves. Sailors shout bawdy jests. The air hums with the din of a thriving port.
CAPTAIN BLACKHEART, a grizzled privateer with a patch over one eye, leans against the railing of his ship, The Serpent's Kiss, a tankard of rum in his hand. He watches as a gaggle of finely dressed GENTLEMEN haggle over prices with a swarthy MERCHANT.
CAPTAIN BLACKHEART
(To his MATE, a hulking man named GRIMSHAW)
Aye, Grimshaw, look at 'em, preenin' like peacocks. This town be nothin' but a den o' vipers, each one tryin' to out-cheat the other. Gold flows like the tide here, but so too does sin.
GRIMSHAW
(Nodding)
'Tis true, Captain. They say Port Royal be the storehouse o' the
West
Indies, but I reckon 'tis the Devil's treasury more like.
Suddenly, a low RUMBLE echoes through the air, growing steadily louder. The ground beneath their feet begins to TREMBLE.
MERCHANT
(Stumbling)
What in God's name...?
The shaking intensifies violently. People CRY OUT in fear. Buildings begin to CRACK and GROAN.
GENTLEMAN 1
An earthquake! Jesu have mercy!
GENTLEMAN 2
The ground... it moves like the sea!
Captain Blackheart grabs the railing, his eyes wide with alarm.
CAPTAIN BLACKHEART
Hold fast, Grimshaw! What devilry is this?!
The cobblestones of the dockyard BUCKLE and SPLIT. Water erupts from fissures in the ground, turning the dust to thick MUD.
GRIMSHAW
The wharves... they be sinkin'!
Indeed, the sturdy wooden structures along the waterfront begin to tilt and submerge into the harbor. Ships moored alongside are tossed about like toys in a bathtub.
EXT. STREET - CONTINUOUS
Panic reigns in the narrow streets. Brick buildings CRUMBLE and COLLAPSE, sending clouds of dust and debris into the
air. People are crushed beneath falling masonry.
A richly dressed LADY screams as the ground opens up before her, swallowing a nearby cart whole.
LADY
Help me! Sweet Mother Mary, save me!
A PREACHER, his face pale with terror, raises his arms towards the heavens.
PREACHER
Repent, ye sinners! This be the wrath of God made manifest! Your wickedness hath called down this doom!
EXT. HARBOR - CONTINUOUS
The sea begins to RECEDE rapidly, leaving the harbor floor exposed, littered with debris and stranded
fish. A strange, sucking sound fills the air.
CAPTAIN BLACKHEART
(Staring in disbelief)
The tide... it be goin' out faster than a thief in the night! Never seen the like!
GRIMSHAW
Captain, look! Out yonder!
A massive WALL OF WATER, dark and menacing, rises on the horizon, rushing towards the shore with terrifying speed.
SAILOR (O.S.)
A wave! A monstrous wave!
CAPTAIN BLACKHEART
(His voice filled with dread)
God have mercy on us all! This be no earthly tide!
The TSUNAMI crashes into Port Royal with a deafening roar. Ships are lifted high into the air, tossed inland like driftwood. Buildings are engulfed and shattered. The dockyard disappears beneath the churning water.
EXT. STREET - CONTINUOUS
The massive wave surges through the streets, sweeping away everything in its path. People are tossed about like rag dolls, their screams drowned out by the fury of the
water.
The PREACHER is swallowed by the wave, his cries cut short. The richly dressed LADY is dragged under, her pleas for salvation unanswered.
EXT. HARBOR - CONTINUOUS
The Serpent's Kiss is lifted by the wave and carried inland, crashing against the rooftops of submerged buildings.
CAPTAIN BLACKHEART
(Clinging to the mast)
Grimshaw! Where be ye?!
Grimshaw is nowhere to be seen. The water swirls around Captain Blackheart, filled with splintered
wood and the bodies of the drowned.
EXT. CEMETERY - CONTINUOUS
The wave tears through the PALISADOES CEMETERY. Tombstones are uprooted and scattered. The very ground where SIR HENRY MORGAN, the infamous pirate-turned-governor, was laid to rest, is washed away. His coffin is lost to the sea.
EXT. LIGUANEA (DISTANCE) - CONTINUOUS
In the distance, across the bay at Liguanea, houses COLLAPSE in clouds of dust.
Water SPEWS forth from deep wells, as if the very earth is weeping.
EXT. PORT ROYAL - AFTERMATH
The waters recede, leaving behind a scene of utter devastation. Two-thirds of
Port Royal has vanished beneath the waves. Only the tops of the highest buildings remain visible, surrounded by the masts of sunken ships. The air is thick with the stench of mud and death.
SURVIVORS, dazed and injured, crawl through the debris. Even amidst the horror, some begin to LOOT the fallen buildings and strip the bodies of the dead.
SURVIVOR 1
(Pulling a gold ring from a dead man's finger)
Every man for himself now! The world has ended!
SURVIVOR 2
(Breaking into a shattered warehouse)
There be goods here still! Enough to make a new fortune!
EXT. HILL OVERLOOKING PORT ROYAL - LATER
A group of JAMAICA COUNCIL MEMBERS, their faces grim, look down upon the ruined city.
COUNCIL MEMBER 1
Behold! The wages of sin! God hath delivered his judgment upon this wicked place!
COUNCIL MEMBER 2
We are become a testament to His wrath! A warning to all who would stray from the righteous path!
The sun sets over the drowned remains of Port Royal, a silent monument to the day the earth shook and the sea rose up to claim the wickedest city in the West Indies.
FADE TO BLACK.
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SCENE 6.1
Admiral
Sir Henry Morgan retired to Jamaica, where he was a slaver, with his own
plantation and many African workers. In those times, for some reason,
Europeans seemed to think that enslaving another human was acceptable. They
would feed them poorly and work them hard. In modern times, banks and
governments working together, do something similar. Banks sell money they
don't actually have. And governments tax just about everything. The net
result is that a large number of citizens become financial slaves.
The Palisadoes Cemetery was located on a thin strip of sand that served as a natural protection for the harbour of Kingston Jamaica. On
Tuesday the 7th of June 1692 a great earthquake caused the strip of land and the cemetery to sink beneath the
sea, from a tsunami suction backwash.
Damn you for Villains, who are you? And, from whence came you? The Lieutenant made him Answer, You may see by our Colours we are no
Pyrates. Black-beard bid him send his Boat on Board, that he might see who he was; but Mr. Maynard reply'd thus; I cannot spare my Boat, but I will come aboard of you as soon as I can, with my Sloop. Upon this, Black-beard took a Glass of Liquor and drank to him with these Words: Damnation seize my Soul if I give you Quarters, or take any from you. In Answer to which, Mr. Maynard told him,
that he expected no Quarters from him, nor should he give him any.
PROLOGUE:
ROYAL
AFRICAN COMPANY - King Charles
II, Royal Charter James Stuart II,
transport goods from Africa: Bloody
Triangle.
SCENE
1. THE
BATTLE OF OCRACOKE - Lt Robert Maynard, Blackbeard's
curse, beheading &
torturous interrogation on the
Adventure
SCENE
2. EARTHQUAKE
JAMAICA - Present Day - An earthquake hits Port Royal,
disturbing the sunken city & Palisadoes cemetery.
SCENE
3. BLUE SHIELD ENGLAND -
Blue
Shield, Newcastle UK, UNESCO
requests Storm catalogue underwater city UNEP
World
Heritage Site.
SCENE
3.1. SWASHBUCKLING
- John tries out Dan's VR sword fencing program, then duel with real pirate
cutlasses, Hal keeping score.
SCENE
4. HENRY
MORGAN'S DEATH - Henry Morgan has a heart attack; funeral ceremony at Palisadoes
cemetery, old Port Royal.
SCENE
5. SUNKEN
CITY SURVEY - Present Day, Swann's sensors scan the ocean bed, revealing mausoleum former Governor of Jamaica.
SCENE
6. JUNE
1692 TSUNAMI - Jamaica, June 7th, an earthquake hits
Port Royal, then a tsunami washes the pirate haven
under the sea.
SCENE
6.1. GHOSTS
BLACKBEARD & MORGAN - Spectral figures cheer on John Storm as
he searches Henry's Palisadoes crypt for clues.
SCENE
7. HENRY
MORGAN'S COFFIN - John Storm & ROV,
comes face to face with Henry's skeletal remains. Finds interesting wooden engraving.
SCENE
8. BBC
JILL BIRD - London. John
Storm's finds lost Henry Morgan's pirate remains. "And for those of you wondering,
there was no treasure."
SCENE 9. OPERATION
HISPANIOLA - British Geographical Society,
& Royal Navy fund Lord Huntington's
expedition to recover relics in the Caribbean.
SCENE
10. SHIP'S
COOK - William Gray helps John Long's cut-throats to crew for
Huntington's Hispaniola, Long a dab
hand on the galley.
SCENE
11. ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOS - Huntington
(BGS
bigwig) asks John Storm for help with
shipwreck survey - meet in the Caribbean, Haiti.
SCENE
12. SKELETON
ISLAND - Intrigued by map proffered by Lord Huntington, John
agrees to switch attention to location, to coast of Panama. .
SCENE
13. SANTA
CATALINA - Colombian,
Mexican,
Panamanian,
Nicaraguan
patrols re: 'Satisfaction'
& hunt for Aztec
gold, Spanish
Conquistadors.
SCENE
14. TREASURE ISLAND -
Hurricane
Iota erased map clues, Isla Providencia.
Longstride believes location of Blackbeard's/Morgan's treasure.
SCENE
15. KIDNAP -
Black Jack
& Billy Bones kidnap
Dan, Cleopatra - lock in Hispaniola with
Tremaine. Hal alerts John to events via BioCore.
SCENE
16. DOUBLE CROSS - Maynard
pact with Spanish
Navy to blockade Caribbean to capture John & Swann. Longstride deal Aztec
Golden
Skull.
SCENE
17. BLACKBEARD'S CURSE - John retakes Swann, Hal immobilizes Black Jack and Billy
Bones and rescues prisoners on Hispaniola.
SCENE
18. MORGAN'S TREASURE SHIP - John deciphers carving
code helped Dan and Cybercore
Genetica. Dives to find privateer's shipwreck.
SCENE
19. BILLION DOLLAR DEAL - John
negotiates with Panama, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador & Blue
Shield for % salvage based on wreck video.
SCENE
20. BLOCKADE RUNNER - Swann navigates through
Spanish
Armada & Royal Navy
blockade in stealth mode, invisible to radar.
SCENE
21. BERMUDA TRIANGLE - Pirates
head into
Bermuda Triangle, Colombian Navy in pursuit:
BBC Sky News. Never to be seen again.
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