EXT. GOTHAM HARBOR - DAY

The Rosevale takes the shortest possible route out to sea, but this also puts it directly in the path of emergency coast guard vessels bound for the Orinoco.

INT. BRIDGE - USCG ENDURANCE

Captain HORROWELL, of the coast guard cutter Endurance, eyes the plume of smoke pouring from the Orinoco's hold through the window while simultaneously shouting out orders to his crew.

HORROWELL
My god, that's a lot of smoke. Let's get those pumps online. Any word yet if it was a bomb?

COMMS OFFICER
Not yet, sir. I'm hearing conflicting reports.

FIRST MATE
Captain, look!

Horrowell's attention turns in the direction of the Rosevale. It's getting bigger in the window.

HORROWELL
Where the hell do they think they're going?

Horrowell shifts over to the comms station and grabs the radio mic.

HORROWELL
(to comms officer)
Punch me in.

COMMS OFFICER
You're good.

HORROWELL
This is Coast Guard cutter Endurance to Rosevale, a state of emergency has been declared for the harbor. You are ordered to cut your engines and return to port, over.

Horrowell waits for a response.

HORROWELL
Endurance to Rosevale, you are ordered to cut your engines and return to port, immediately. The harbor is in a state of emergency and we need to clear all traffic lanes. Respond to confirm, over.

Horrowell waits.

INT. VENTILATION SHAFT - COMMAND CENTER - ROSEVALE

Bruce crawls through a ventilation shaft to a vantage point within earshot of William King and four of his people who have taken control over the Rosevale's abandoned command center. Bruce makes note of the number with a marker, drawing lines on his arm to represent each one. Counting the four from the main deck, that makes nine that he knows of.

INT. COMMAND CENTER - ROSEVALE

William King looks at his pocket watch as we hear Captain Horrowell's voice over the loudspeaker.

HORROWELL (V.O.)
Repeat, this is Captain Horrowell of the USCG Endurance to the captain of the Rosevale. You are ordered to cut your engines and return to port.

Manning the comm station is BRITT (male, 30's). He's tall and thin, but with muscles like steel cable.

BRITT
They're early.

KING
By more than six minutes. A surprising level of efficiency for government employees. Annoying, but hardly an insurmountable obstacle.

King grabs the radio.

KING
Captain Horrowell, this is the new captain of the Rosevale. Having only just recently commandeered this vessel, I am disinclined to return it. Should you attempt to force the issue, I direct your attention to the explosive devices I've installed along the outside of the hull. If you're having difficulty seeing them, I'm happy to offer you a closer look.

King turns off the radio before Horrowell can respond.

KING
Going to need a little more speed, Jade, darling.

At the nav station is JADE, deadly as she is striking. Perhaps she's the real reason Verity became expendable. She pushes the Rosevale's engines harder.

EXT. GOTHAM HARBOR - DAY

The Rosevale's engines kick it into a higher gear. It heads straight for...

INT. BRIDGE - USCG ENDURANCE

Captain Horrowell looks out the window.

FIRST MATE
She's speeding up.

Horrowell's first mate points to the Rosevale as it barrels through the water right towards them in a game of maritime chicken.

Everyone stares at the enormous vessel, frozen for a moment by their fear.

HORROWELL
Hard to port!

The crew leaps into action...

EXT. GOTHAM HARBOR - DAY

USCG Endurance banks hard to port, narrowly avoiding a collision with the Rosevale, but the wake of the much larger ship, combined with the tilt of the Endurance from its hard turn, capsizes the coast guard cutter.

EXT. MAIN DECK - ORINOCO - DAY

Robin sees the cutter capsize. He takes a few steps backwards and then runs straight towards the railing, using it to launch himself up into the air to again take flight using his jetpack.

INT. COMMAND CENTER - ROSEVALE

Satisfied, King touches Jade's shoulder and offers a nod of approval.

KING
That should get us our six minutes back. Now, let's put some distance between us and them. Only seven hours to international waters.

Jade smiles.

EXT. GOTHAM HARBOR - DAY

Crew from the capsized cutter tread water and call for help.

Above them, Robin, wearing the mask he used to breathe while in the Orinoco's hold, flies into position above and behind the Endurance, then nosedives into the water.

INT. UNDERWATER - GOTHAM HARBOR - DAY

The jetpack propels Robin through the water, towards the ship.

INT. BRIDGE - USCG ENDURANCE - UNDERWATER

We see Captain Horrowell struggling to pry his leg free from a cabinet that tipped over and pinned him up against a wall. No matter how hard he pulls, pushes, and tugs, he can't get himself free. Out of breath, he passes out.

A tiny underwater explosion breaks a nearby pane of glass, clearing the way for Robin to swim inside. He sees Captain Horrowell, swims over, removes his breathing mask and puts it over the Captain's face.

Robin reaches into his utility belt for a laser which he then uses to cut away a piece of debris to free Horrowell's leg. He grabs Horrowell and swims out.

INT. COMMAND CENTER - ROSEVALE

King turns to the other two of his men, RUFUS and TYNE.

KING
Gentlemen, find me my missiles.

Rufus nods and the pair leave just as Foulkes enters.

FOULKES
We've finished placing the mines.

KING
I guess everyone had their coffee black this morning. Help the two mercs finish sweeping the ship. They're already late reporting back. If there are still crew on board, I need them alive. What's that look on your face?

Foulkes makes like he just tasted a lemon.

FOULKES
(lowers voice)
Maybe send Britt?

KING
You're my best. Besides, I need someone who can keep them in line. Rumor has it the big one likes to gnaw on people, and Britt doesn't scare anybody.

BRITT (O.S.)
I can hear you.

FOULKES
Which one's the big one?

KING
I'm going to check on Mr. Simpkins.

Foulkes and King leave in opposite directions.

INT. VENTILATION SHAFT - COMMAND CENTER - ROSEVALE

Bruce draws three more lines on his arm, one for each of the two mercs and another for Randall Simpkins, then moves out.

INT. DATA CENTER - ROSEVALE

DEVENEY, a canonball of a man carrying an assault rifle, stands over Randall Simpkins at a workstation as King enters through the security door.

KING
Mr. Simpkins, I trust you have only good news for me.

SIMPKINS
I've isolated all active network connections. They're cut off. No one from the outside can tunnel into any of the on board servers.

KING
Excellent. How soon can you make yourself available?

SIMPKINS
It depends how many hard drives we're talking. Instead of downloading the information, I could just remove all the hard drives, take them with us when we go. Then, we can grab the data at our leisure.

KING
(smiles)
You can do that? Excellent. I knew Verity wouldn't let me down. She spoke very highly of you, you know.

Simpkins blushes.

SIMPKINS
Is she on board? I'd very much like to see her again.

KING
Not just now, but I'll be sure to reunite the two of you as soon as this is over. I'll let you know when I need you. Be sure to drop what you're doing. These are still just a secondary priority.

King leaves. Simpkins gets to work.

EXT. GOTHAM HARBOR - DAY

Emergency vehicles of all kinds arrive at the harbor. Police officers setup a barrier to keep back the gathering crowds. Firefighters continue to work on extinguishing the smoke pouring from the Orinoco's hold. Real EMTs tend to those who've inhaled the smoke.

EXT. HARBOR PATROL HQ - GOTHAM HARBOR - DAY

A police cruiser pulls through the barrier and comes to a stop outside the Harbor Patrol headquarters. Commissioner Gordon gets out and runs inside along with two detectives; HARVEY BULLOCK and RENEE MONTOYA.

INT. CONFERENCE ROOM - HARBOR PATROL HQ - GOTHAM HARBOR

Voices over voices as incident commander Chief Lincoln and his four STAFFERS - ANDREWS (female, 40's), BECK (female, late 30's), COSGROVE (male, 40's), and DIETRICH (male, 50's) - try to get a handle on the situation.

ANDREWS
No, there's no fire.

CHIEF LINCOLN
What the hell are we breathing in?

ANDREWS
We're not sure. Potassium nitrate?

BECK
Rescue operations are underway on the overturned cutter.

COSGROVE
Do we even know if everyone on board is accounted for?

BECK
We've still got people in the water.

DIETRICH
What about the Waynetech ship?

Commissioner Gordon enters with Bullock and Montoya.

GORDON
Who's in charge, here?

Lincoln sees Gordon.

CHIEF LINCOLN
Commissioner. I am.

GORDON
That you, Ed? Thought you retired.

CHIEF LINCOLN
If I told you I retired yesterday, would you let me go home?

GORDON
What the hell is going on?

CHIEF LINCOLN
I wish I knew. I've got at least three catastrophes on my hands. I've got a ship that's on fire, or maybe it isn't. I've got a capsized ship. I'm hearing bomb threats. It's pandemonium.

ROBIN (O.S.)
It's all about Rosevale.

Everyone quiets and turns to see Robin, soaking wet, standing in the corner. Everyone is surprised. No one even saw him enter.

BULLOCK
Great. How many of these nuts are there?

GORDON
(warning)
Harvey.

With all eyes on him, Robin steps forward.

ROBIN
Chief Lincoln, you still have men in the water, but I got everyone out of your capsized cutter. The crew is safe.

CHIEF LINCOLN
Um... thank you?

GORDON
(to Robin)
What do you know?

ROBIN
It's the Clock King. The Orinoco was a smoke screen, literally, a giant smoke screen. He and his men posed as emergency personnel and boarded the Rosevale intent on stealing it. He's set course for international waters and if you don't move to intercept, he'll get there before you do. She's a lot faster than she looks and equipped with stealth technology. But there's a catch. If we try to move on the ship, he'll set off a series of mines and sink it. And he probably has hostages.

MONTOYA
Probably?

CHIEF LINCOLN
Dietrich...

DIETRICH
On it.

Dietrich runs out of the room.

GORDON
Montoya, go with him. Coordinate with our teams and the fire marshal. And make sure we update the Feds. Maybe they can bring the Naval authorities in on this. They probably have something with some teeth in the water that can intercept before we can.

MONTOYA
Yes, sir.

Montoya follows Dietrich out.

BULLOCK
(to Robin)
How do you know all this?

ROBIN
I have someone on the inside.

BULLOCK
What? You mean Batman? Christ, as soon as King realizes he's on board, you know he'll set off those mines. He's going to get those hostages killed!

GORDON
What does King want with it? What's on board?

ROBIN
It's a mobile data center, originally slated for military use, but that fell through. Primarily, it's a blank slate, just a bunch of empty servers.

CHIEF LINCOLN
Still, there's got to be significant monetary value attached to the equipment.

ROBIN
Maybe.

Robin steps towards the door.

GORDON
You don't sound convinced.

ROBIN
This isn't stolen art. Is there really a black market out there for a floating data center? And who even knew that's what was on that ship in the first place? Waynetech kept it a secret from the public.

BULLOCK
You knew.

ROBIN
I didn't tell King. Did you?

Bullock clams up.

ROBIN
There's more going on here than we know. You'll know more when I know more.

Robin leaves.

BULLOCK
(to Gordon)
Those two are going to screw up this whole thing. If they catch his partner on board that ship, who knows what they'll do? And it'll be on our heads. Are you just going to let him walk out of here?

Gordon thinks.

GORDON
Yeah.

Gordon turns to Lincoln.

GORDON
(to Lincoln)
Now, what do you need from me to calm things down here?

-To be Continued...-