Titanic

CNN NEWS REPORT

Fifteen Technicians are carefully removing some papers from the safe and placing them in a tray of water to separate them safely. Nearby, other artifacts from the stateroom are being washed and preserved. Buell is on the satellite phone with the investors. Lovett is yelling at the video crew. "You send out what I tell you when I tell you. I'm signing your paychecks, not 60 minutes. Now get set up for the uplink."

Buell covers the phone and turns too Lovett. "The partners want to know how it's going?" How it's going? It's going like a first date in prison, whattaya think?!" Lovett grabs the phone from Buell and goes instantly smooth. "Hi, Dave? Barry? Look, it wasn't in the safe... no, look, don't worry about it, there're still plenty of places it could be... in the floor debris in the suite, in the mother's room, in the purser's safe on C deck..." He notices something from the corner of his eye and pauses for a second "Hang on a second."

A tech coaxes some letters in the water tray to one side with a tong... revealing a pencil drawing of a woman. Brock looks closely at the drawing, which is in excellent shape, though its edges have partially disintegrated. The woman is beautiful, and beautifully rendered. In her late teens or early twenties, she is nude, though posed with a kind of casual modesty. She is on an Empire divan, in a pool of light that seems to radiate outward from her eyes. Scrawled in the lower right corner is the date: April 14 1912. And the initials, JD.

He looks to his left and there is an already clean picture sitting in water. It's in the same condition but of a different woman. It's a simple portrait of her but it's close up rather than full body. The woman is beautiful but in a different way than the former, she seems to be in her late teens or twenty-one at most. Scrawled in this picture is the same date: April 14 1912. And the same initials, JD. 

He moves his attention back to the first drawing. The girl is not entirely nude. At her throat is a diamond necklace with one large stone hanging in the center. Lovett grabs a reference photo from the clutter on the lab table. It is a period black-and-white photo of a diamond necklace on a black velvet jeller's display stand. He holds it next to the drawing. It is clearly the same piece... a complex setting with a massive central stone which is almost heart-shaped.

"I'll be Goddamned."

A CNN NEWS STORY: a live satellite feed from the deck of the Keldysh, intercut with the CNN studio. "Treasure hunter Brock Lovett is best known for finding Spanish gold in sunken galleons in the Caribbean. Now he is using deep submergence technology to work two and a half miles down at another famous wreck... the Titanic. He is with us live via satellite from a Russian research ship in the middle of the Atlantic... hello Brock?" An announcer says.

"Yes, hi, Tracy. You know, Titanic is not just A shipwreck, Titanic is THE shipwreck. It's the Mount Everest of shipwrecks." Lovett explains on the satellite.

The CNN report is playing on a TV set in the living room of a small rustic house. It is full of ceramics, figurines, folk art, the walls crammed with drawings and paintings... things collected over a lifetime. Outside it is a quiet morning in Ojai, California. In the studio, amid incredible clutter, an old woman is throwing a pot on a potter's wheel. The liquid red clay covers her hands... hands that are gnarled and age-spotted, but still surprisingly strong and supple. A woman in her early forties assists her.

LOVETT: "I've planned this expedition for three years, and we're out here recovering some amazing things... things that will have enormous historical and educational value."

CNN REPORTER: "But it's no secret that education is not your main purpose. You're a treasure hunter. So what is the treasure you're hunting?"

LOVETT: "I'd rather show you then tell you, and we think we're very close to doing just that."

The old woman's name is Rose Calvert. Her face is a wrinkled mass, her body shapeless and shrunken under a one-piece African-print dress. But her eyes are just as bright and alive as those of a young girl. Rose gets up and walks into the living room, wiping pottery clay from her hands with a rag. A Pomeranian dog gets up and comes in with her.

The younger woman, Lizzy Calvert, rushes to help her.

"Turn that up please, dear." Rose Says

REPORTER: "Your expedition is at the center of a storm of controversy over salvage rights and even ethics. Many are calling you a grave robber."

LOVETT: "Nobody called the recovery of the artifacts from King Tut's tomb grave robbing. I have museum-trained experts here, making sure this stuff is preserved and catalogued properly. Look at this drawing, which was found today..."

The video camera pans off Brock to the drawing, in a tray of water. The image is of the woman with the necklace.

LOVETT: "...a piece of paper that's been underwater for 84 years... and my team are able to preserve it intact. Should this have remained unseen at the bottom of the ocean for eternity, when we can see it and enjoy it now...?"

Rose opens her mouth in shock "I'll be Goddamned."

The Mir subs are being launched. Mir Two is already in the water, and Lovett is getting ready to climb into Mir One when Bobby Buell runs up to him. "There's a satellite call for you."

"Bobby, we're launching. See these submersibles here, going in the water? Take a message." Lovett says and starts to leave before Buell grabs his arm. "No, trust me, you want to take this call." "This better be good"

Beull hands Lovett the phone, pushing down the blinking line. The call is from Rose and we see both ends of the conversation. She is in her kitchen with a mystified Lizzy. "This is Brock Lovett. What can I do for you, Mrs... ?" He covers the phone and raises his brow to Buell. :Rose Calvert." He whispers. Lovett not "... Mrs. Calvert?" "I was just wondering if you had found the "Heart of the Ocean" yet, Mr. Lovett."

Brock almost drops the phone. Buell sees his shocked expression... "I told you you wanted to take this call." "Alright. You have my attention, Rose. Can you tell me who the woman in the picture is?" Rose laughs "Oh yes. The woman in the picture is me."

An enormous SEA STALLION HELICOPTER thundering across the ocean. PAN 180 degrees as it roars past. There is no land at either horizon. The Keldysh is visible in the distance. Rose's face is visible, looking out calmly. Brock and Bodine are watching Mir 2 being swung over the side to start a dive."She's a goddamn liar! A nutcase. Like that... what's her name? That Anastasia babe." Bodine exclaims. Buell sighs "They're inbound."

Brock nods and the three of them head forward to meet the approaching helicopter. "She says she's Rose DeWitt Bukater, right? Rose DeWitt Bukater died on the Titanic. At the age of 17. If she'd've lived, she'd be over a hundred now." Bodine says. "A hundred and one next month." Lovett replies.

"Okay, so she's a very old goddamn liar. I traced her as far back as the 20's... she was working as an actress in L.A. An actress. Her name was Rose Dawson. Then she married a guy named Calvert, moved to Cedar Rapids, had two kids. Now Calvert's dead, and from what I've heard Cedar Rapids is dead." The Sea Stallion approaches the ship, BG, forcing Brock to yell over the rotors.

"And everybody who knows about the diamond is supposed to be dead... or on this ship. But she knows about it. And I want to hear what she has to say. Got it?" Lovett snaps before he leaves.