his secretary is still standing there, gazingat him with those tremulous, pleading eyes. Then:
GETTY:
Get me Fletcher Chace.
CUT TO:
THE SAUDI DESERT undulates beneath us as we SOAR above it, from the POV of aPeregrine falcon. We come over a rise and descend INTO - 28.
INT. BEDOUIN TENT -- DAY -- and onto the arm of a SHEIKH. The sheikh wears a Patek Phillipe and sunglasses, as do the others lounging on pillows.
One man stands out from the rest:
an American in a wrinkled khaki suit. God knows how he got here, but FLETCHER CHACEgrins like a man who holds all the cards or is bluffing forall he's worth.
CHACE:
I feel for your situation, Your RoyalHighness. Truly I do.
PRINCE AL-RASHID Our agreement with Getty has broughtus nothing but problems. The youngergeneration has become weak and lazy.
Our children care about nothing butLamborghinis and discotheques.
CHACE:
Perhaps then you would do well toaccept our competitor's offer.
PRINCE AL-RASHID How so, Mr Chace?
CHACE:
Maybe Standard Oil will find ways tosiphon all that money away with theiraccounting tricks, and bring yourwayward children closer to God.
Fletcher Chace grins. The princes don't.
CHACE (CONT'D) Kidding aside, your highness. Myemployer has made you rich.
PRINCE AL-RASHID Not as rich as him.
CHACE:
If you renew your land-use agreementwith Getty, he'll make you twice asrich. Can Standard Oil say that?
(a beat)
In America we have a saying:
betterto deal with the devil you know thanthe devil you don't. Another prince speaks, in Arabic: 29.
PRINCE AL-WALID (to Al-Rashid) You know where Getty hired this onefrom? He belongs to the den of CIAspies that brought down Mossadegh --
CHACE:
(in Arabic) Belonged, Your Royal Highness. Past tense, please.
(in English) I don't have the stomach for politics anymore. People tend to get hurt, and it's usually all the wrong people.
Business is better. Nobody dies, they just go broke.
PRINCE AL-RASHID For some people going broke is worse.
CHACE:
That's why I work for Getty now.
I've noticed people have a way ofgetting rich just standing next tohim. People like you.