Millay - [talking on phone] No, you've never seen terra-cotta figures like these. I had to bribe half the Central Committee just to pull it off. [into phone] You know the rules. Payment in full before I ship a thing. [looks up as Kamir enters office] And by the way, you can handle customs. [pause] Looking forward, old boy. [hangs up, addresses Kamir, who is looking at a displayed statue] Laotian Buddha. Only two more like it in the whole world. I'm sure you can appreciate how valuable it is.

Kamir - Yes. Can you?

Millay - Ten thousand English pounds, sixteen thousand U.S. dollars, fourteen thousand Deutsche marks. Give or take a fancy weekend at the beach.

<Kamir - CUT Extremely impressive, Mr. Millay.> I see you accept all major religions without prejudice.

Millay - And all the major currencies. I'm a very tolerant man.

Kamir - So I've heard. I also believe that you deal in artifacts of, uh, shall we say, extreme rarity.

Millay - Oh, for the extremely discreet collector.

Kamir - I'm only interested in one item -- a bronze statue from Bengal, sixteen hundred years old, of the goddess Kali.

Millay - The Bengal Kali. Well, well. Drink?

Kamir - Then you have seen her. [Millay chuckles nervously as he opens his liqour cabinet.] Is she whole? Is she undamaged?

Millay - [pours himself a drink] Perfect... the last time I saw it.

Kamir - Where is she, then?

Millay - I'm afraid you're a little late. A university in the States just bought it.

Kamir - Now, that is a great pity. [moves closer, taking an orange-and-yellow silk scarf from his pocket] You know that Kali is supremely sacred to the Thuggee cult? [wraps twisted scarf around his hand]

Millay - [chuckles] Was. Those murderers died out long ago, old boy.

[Kamir wraps the twisted/knotted scarf around Millay's neck, choking him.]

Kamir - Not all of us died, old boy. [continues to strangle Millay as camera pans over to ornate statue behind them. ^A]

RR - Man. All these people, just to see a statue from India?

DM - And to donate money. A good private collection doesn't come cheap.

RR - Well, something tells me these people can afford it.

DM - Oh, yeah. Academics, university alumni, one or two foreign ambassadors... Come on, you fit right in.

RR - Oh, right. Yeah, me and the professors.

Shandra - [as DM & RR approach her] Duncan.

DM - Hi.

Shandra - Well, I am glad you decided to make it.

DM - Oh, I think we both know who decided. Shandra Devane, this is Richie Ryan. CUT [RR gives him a look.] Mm.

RR - [to Shandra] Oh, uh, I'm sorry. I was expecting someone a little, uh, tweedier, you know, maybe smoking a pipe.

Shandra - Oh. Well, I'll have to work on that. [takes DM's arm] Come on. Let's have a look at her. ¹ [walks with them to the Kali display] The Bengal Kali. Isn't she beautiful?

RR - Not exactly my type. I thought this was supposed to be a mother goddess.

Shandra - Kali takes on many forms in Hindu mythology. She is the mother, but she's is also the destroyer, the end of time itself. [to DM] And she's ours, thanks to you.

DM - All I gave you was a few contacts. Who finally came through?

Shandra - A dark horse. One of your contacts actually turned me on to him. Martin Millay.

DM - Millay? Shandra, the guy's one cut above a grave-robber.

Shandra - I wasn't exactly crazy about him either, but he swears it was legal.

DM - Oh, yeah. And I'm sure the word "technically" was used a lot, too.

Shandra - The point is she's here... and she's worth it.

[DM senses 'buzz', sees Kamir across the room. CUT Kamir bows to him.]

[Super: India 1764]

Ramsey - [bows to passing Indian royals] Your Highness.

Royal - Greetings, Colonel Ramsey. [continues past]

Alice - He's not a real king, Nigel. [sighs] What a farce, bowing and scraping to these savages. It feels as though my face is falling off. How long must we be here?

Ramsey - Until my new liaison arrives. There's not a damn thing I can do for Lord Clive until he does.

Alice - I hope to God he speaks English.

Ramsey - Well, he is English. British, anyhow. Some sort of Scot.

Indian servant - Chai, Colonel? [offers them a tray containing teacups. Ramsey waves him away.]

Alice - Close enough. [re the tea] It's meant to cool you, Nigel. Stimulate the sweat glands.

Ramsey - My glands do not require stimulation.

Alice - [dry] Really.

[They reach a pair of wicker chairs just as DM, head covered by cloth wraps, sits in one.]

Ramsey - [waves DM out of chair] Off-ee. [DM remains sitting.] Off-ee! Off. Ee. Off-ee? [DM turns and gives him a look.] Where the devil is that new man?

DM - [removes the wrap from his face] Hee-ree. Hee-ree. Colonel Ramsey, I presume. I'm Duncan MacLeod.

Ramsey - MacLeod? What the devil are you doing got up in that?

DM - Everyone's got up like this, Ramsey. This is India. [re Ramsey's uniform] Or do you expect me to scout the country wearing the likes of that?

Ramsey - Bloody hell, man! While you work for me, you'll wear a proper uniform!

DM - I'll wear what I like. I might work with you, Ramsey, but I'm not your man. [turns to Alice] And who might you be?

Ramsey - My wife. [moves to her side] Alice.

DM - Oh. [takes her hand, kisses it]

Ramsey - Apparently, MacLeod is to be posted at the palace with us.

Alice - Delighted to have some new blood. I trust that you'll have some amusing stories for us?

DM - Losing an empire is hardly amusing, Mrs. Ramsey.

Alice - I thought we were gaining one?

DM - That's not exactly the Indian point of view. [senses 'buzz']

Kamir - [approaches, bows to DM] I am Kamir, advisor to His Highness.

Ramsey - He's the one who's going to help us with this... Thuggee nonsense.

DM - [to Ramsey] It's hardly nonsense. [to Kamir] I'm Duncan MacLeod.

Kamir - MacLeod, sahib. Have you encountered any of these mysterious Thuggees?

DM - Only their victims. But I've heard rumors that there are other killings in other provinces.

Kamir - India is a land of rumors. Not all of them are true.

Ramsey - Sensible man, Kamir. Damn waste of time, that. Running around the bush, chasing shadows.

Alice - Really, Nigel -- where's your sense of adventure? I rather fancy the idea of going native. Mr. MacLeod can show us the countryside as it really is... Unless, of course, you think it's too dangerous.

Ramsey - Nonsense. It's all perfectly safe. No one would dare attack an officer of the Crown, eh?

Kamir - As you say, no one would dare.

Alice - Splendid. You do ride well, Mr. MacLeod?

Ramsey - [clears his throat] Alice, if you would. [collects her to his side] Gentlemen, good afternoon.

(resume previous scene)

DM - Well, well, well. You throw a party, and look who turns up.

Kamir - MacLeod. Hobnobbing with the upper crust again? Or could it be that you just can't get India out of your system?

DM - Maybe it's a little of both. I want to introduce you to somebody. Kamir, this is Richie Ryan and Shandra Devane. Shandra's responsible for bringing the Kali here.

Shandra - With a little luck and a lot of help.

DM - Kamir doesn't believe in luck.

Kamir - Karma, luck, destiny... In the end, I suppose they're all the same. Kali calls us to her in different ways.

RR - Excuse me, are you saying that a statue brought you here?

Kamir - Actually, it was a swift, smooth seven-four-seven.

RR - Ah. Uh-huh.

Kamir - Anyway, the important thing is, the Kali statue has been found and can now take its rightful place.

Shandra - She already has. Right here, being seen and studied.

Kamir - Really? How do you study a god? This is no ordinary statue. Look at her eyes. See how they look through you, right into your soul. CUT

RR - [staring at statue, gives his head a little shake] He's right. Very weird. Listen, by the way-- [turns to find Kamir has vanished]

Shandra - Interesting friend you have.

DM - He always was.

Kamir - [enters office] Devane. Not a name you hear every day in Calcutta.

Shandra - [looks up from paperwork at desk] Probably because my father's Irish. What can I do for you?

Kamir - For me, nothing. For India.

Shandra - If you think I'll repatriate the Kali, you're shaking the wrong tree. Try the official channels.

Kamir - I have. They seem to regard it as nothing more than a property. CUT

Shandra - It's called trade. And it's perfectly legal.

Kamir - It is sacrilege! You should know that. You're Indian.

CUT

Shandra - You think I sold out on my Indian heritage? I want people to understand the culture. That's why I brought the Kali here. And that's why she stays.

Kamir - [behind her, pulls out the silk scarf he used to strangle Millay] You still have time to reconsider.

Shandra - I already have. The answer is no.

[Kamir steps toward her, then senses 'buzz', puts scarf back in his pocket as they hear a knock at the door.]

DM - [enters office] Sorry. Am I interrupting? CUT
 

[RR paces across dojo floor, twirling wooden staff. ² He continues twirling the staff, hits the floor with the tip, then moves ^B in front of mirror to watch his form as he practices, ends with tip of staff against floor again. He turns as he senses 'buzz'. Kamir has entered the dojo behind him. ³]

Kamir - You show great diligence with that... but there are other ways of using it.

RR - [holds staff out to him] Care to show me? [Kamir takes staff, performs a short kata.] Looks like a, uh, cross between tai-chi and kendo.

Kamir - And perhaps it is older than both of them.

RR - You don't know?

Kamir - My friend, modern India began over three thousand years ago. We were invaded by the Persians, the French, the British. Empire after empire tried to destroy us, but we are still there. CUT

RR - Must be an amazing place.

Kamir - It is. But to really know India, you have to live there. See it, taste it, breathe it.. There is no place in the world like India.

RR - Maybe someday I'll have the time to go. CUT [Both sense 'buzz', look up as DM enters.] Mac, you should see this guy with a quarterstaff.

DM - I'm sure he's very good.

RR - Good? The man is incredible. His moves have moves.

Kamir - Please, such excessive praise. I'm hardly worthy of that.

<DM - I like the humility, Kamir. CUT [Kamir tosses the staff to him.] Nah, I don't think so. [tosses staff back to Kamir]>

RR - Oh, come on, Mac. It's all in fun. [fetches another staff for DM]

Kamir - Come on, MacLeod. As Richie says, it's all in fun.

DM - Okay. [They begin to spar. DM jabs Kamir in the side. They circle each other, ready their stances, twirl their staffs, ^C then continue sparring. They exchange blows, DM ducks a kick from Kamir, then Kamir knocks DM off his feet.]

Kamir - [gives DM a hand up] Only luck has brought me this victory.

DM - Really? In Japan, the move is called diashi harai.

Kamir - Is it really?

DM - Really. See you later, Rich.

RR - See you guys later.

[DM & Kamir head toward the elevator.]

Kamir - Two hundred years of occupation... and to think that all we managed to teach the British was how to drink tea. [sips from Indian teacup]

DM - Then the British Empire wasn't a total waste of time. At least they brought one thing back with them.

Kamir - Yes. As I intend to.

DM - Kamir, the Kali's just been bought. What makes you think they'd even consider giving it back?

Kamir - Your help.

DM - Shandra's a friend.

Kamir - And Kali is sacred. What purpose can she serve here?

DM - To teach. Enlighten people -- help them understand.

<Kamir - CUT The Europeans tried to "understand" us for centuries. So they stole a piece here, stole a piece there and filled their museums.>

DM - And you think getting the Kali back would make a difference? CUT

<Kamir - This Kali's alive. She is a part of India herself. MacLeod, you saw us during the British rule. If anyone can see us with Indian eyes, you can. You know what life was like under the British.>

CUT

<Ramsey - You underestimate British resolve, MacLeod... and Lord Clive.> If anyone can subdue this country, he can... Thuggees or no Thuggees.

Alice - [sitting on picnic blanket with Ramsey & DM] Are they really so dangerous?

DM - Bad enough. They're a secret cult of assassins. They've killed only other Indians... so far.

Alice - Do they cut their hearts out? Do they eat them raw?

Ramsey - Alice, don't be absurd. CUT

DM - Actually, they strangle them with a silken cord.

Alice - Death by silk? Mr. MacLeod, you're giving me goosebumps.

Ramsey - Rubbish. Bunch of wog fanatics. We'll stamp them out in no time. [gets to his feet, walks away]

DM - He's an arrogant man.

Alice - You've no idea. [DM helps her to her feet.] Oh. [She sits again.] I seem to have a cramp in my leg. [lifts her skirts up] Would you mind terribly? [DM looks over at Ramsey, starts massaging Alice's calf.] You're not an empire builder. What brought you to the mysterious East?

DM - I came for the food.

Alice - Really. [glances over at Ramsey] I would like to put a little spice in my life. [moves his hand up her leg to her thigh] Higher, please.

DM - [gives her a look] India's hardly a boring country.

Alice - [breathing heavily] I was not referring to India.

Ramsey - [returns] MacLeod, I though we were going to explore the countryside.

DM - Cramp's all gone.

Ramsey - Isn't it time we pushed on?

DM - Your wife was just telling me about her keen interest in spice.

Ramsey - Really? Thought you hated curry. [DM & Alice both roll their eyes.]

[DM, Ramsey & Alice ride up on horseback.]

Ramsey - What is it?

DM - A funeral.

[A body wrapped in orange cloth is lying on a funeral pyre. Vashti walks toward the pyre, flanked by two other women. A man with a lit torch is with them.]

Alice - What is she doing?

DM - Becoming suttee. 'Tis an act of devotion. Her husband's dead. She's to join him on the fire.

Alice - Burned alive? My god, it's horrible.

Ramsey - It's India. Life means nothing to these people. Nothing we can do for her, my dear. It's her fate.

[Vashti looks over at the riders, her eyes meeting DM's for a moment.]

DM - Fate is what you make it. Hyah. [spurs his horse forward]

Ramsey - MacLeod! Damn the man!

[DM rides to Vashti, swings her up behind him on the horse. Kamir watches from the temple.]

CUT

<Ramsey - What the devil were you thinking of? There's going to be hell to pay over this! I will not be held responsible for your actions.

DM - Never thought you would be.

Ramsey - [blocks DM with his riding cane] Now that you've saved your little heathen girl from the fire, what am I to tell the prince?

DM - [grabs hold of riding cane] Whatever you like. And don't do that to me again. [releases cane.> Ramsey storms off. DM approaches Vashti.] Are you all right? They treated you well?

Vashti - Why have you done this to me?

DM - I saved your life. They were going to burn you alive.

Vashti - It was my choice! I was to die on his funeral bed, but you shamed me... in front of my people, my gods, my dead husband! How can I live after this?

DM - I'm sorry. You must have loved him very much.

Vashti - Whether I loved him or not is not important.

DM - If you say that, you could never have been in love.

Vashti - CUT It was my duty. It is our way.

DM - Vashti, if something's always done, it does not make it right.

Vashti - CUT I should have died. I wanted to die.

DM - No. You wanted to live. I saw it in your eyes.

Vashti - It does not matter what I wanted. CUT My life is over.

DM - No, Vashti. Perhaps it's just beginning.

(resume previous scene)

Kamir - We were slaves to them, just cattle. They stole from us with impunity and called it their right. Their destiny.

DM - The British left India a long time ago.

Kamir - But their ghosts remain.

DM - Buying art is not a crime.

Kamir - No? Looting with guns, or looting with money, what's the difference? A people and its art cannot be separated. They are one.

Shandra - You're joking.

DM - You know I'm not.

Shandra - But you helped me get the piece in the first place!

DM - Not from Martin Millay.

Shandra - What, that makes a difference?

DM - It does if it was stolen.

Shandra - Well-- I dreamed about this... and you want the university to lose it because some guy from Calcutta with a sob story drops by?

DM - Just one piece.

Shandra - Why stop there? Why not empty out all the museums? You know, the Louvre, the Met. Hey, we'll send them all back.

DM - That's not a bad idea. The point is, the Kali was stolen.

Shandra - Millay swore it wasn't.

DM - Then let's find out. Call him. Find out where he got it from, and I'll check it out.

Shandra - [dials number on cell phone] Do you know what time it is in London right now?

DM - Well, you'll save on the rates.

Shandra - [into phone] Hello. Yeah, is Martin Millay there please? [pause, reacts] I see. [pause] I see. When? [pause] Thank you. [hangs up] He's dead. They found him in his shop. Strangled. [DM & Shandra both react to this. ^D]
 

Kamir - [as RR practices with wooden staff] Shabash. Well done, as we say in India.

RR - It must have been quite a world.

Kamir - India has many worlds, Richie. From the borders of Sri Lanka up to the Himalayas. Anything you could imagine, India had it. India was it. And, as the great wheel turns, will be that again. [RR continues kata.] Good. Men like us must preserve where we come from, because that is what makes us sane. That is what makes us holy.

RR - [stops kata] Sure, if you come from somewhere... or someone.

Kamir - You only say this because you don't know who your parents are. No Immortal does. We are children and heirs of the time and place that bore us.

RR - So, Mac's got the Highlands... You've got India... I've got bowling alleys and fast food joints.

Kamir - You have much more than that, Richie. And you will know it when it starts to die before you. And you will fight for it. Even if you are, as I am, the last of your kind. Come on, now. Let's go. ⁴ [attacks with staff. RR blocks with his staff.] Well done. Shabash. [Both sense 'buzz'.]

DM - [enters] Give us a moment, would you?

RR - Sure. [moves away]

Kamir - Did you speak to Miss Devane?

DM - Martin Millay was killed.

Kamir - Ah. The great wheel turns, and the goddess takes her revenge.

DM - Or maybe you helped her out.

Kamir - And what if I did?

DM - We have a problem.

Kamir - Why? Because it is primitive, barbaric, or just plain unjustified? The MacLeod I knew was not so quick to judge. Or was I wrong?

[DM walks along hallway, stoops to pick up lacy garter lying on the floor.]

Alice - [standing nearby] There's a full moon out tonight. [moves toward him] They say unusual things can occur in moonlight.

DM - True. You can read without a lamp. [tries to walk past her]

Alice - [moves in front of him] They say it makes you forget yourself.

DM - Your husband, too, apparently. Isn't Ramsey expected back? [gives garter to her]

Alice - No. Not for hours. There's a fertility rite in the village. Drums, wild dancing... God knows what they're doing. I can feel it in my blood. [She swoons against him. He grabs her as she falls & she spins in his arms and kisses him passionately.]

DM - [pushes her away] Then perhaps you should join them. I have other duties.

Alice - Yes, I'm sure you do... with that little brown tart of yours! You think I don't know what's happening?

DM - Her name is Vashti, and nothing is happening.

Alice - CUT Do you think I'm a fool?

DM - You're making a good job of it. Do you want to wake the entire palace?

Alice - I don't care! I hate all of it! The disease, the dirt, the whole filthy lot of them!

DM - Of course you do. They eat strange foods, they have their own gods, and they don't have your high moral standards. It must be very nice knowing you're of a superior race.

Alice - At least I'm white. CUT

DM - Get out of my sight, Mrs. Ramsey, before I do forget myself.

[She departs. DM turns & continues down hallway. He passes an alcove where Vashti is standing, hidden from his view.]

[Several Indian men sit around a campfire, playing sitars.]

Ramsey - [riding past with British officer] Rite of some kind. Beggars have bucketloads of them.

Cripple - [hobbles toward them] Have mercy. Show pity to poor man, sahib.

Ramsey - [draws his sword] Get away! What I'll show you is the back of my hand! [Two other Indians move forward & pull Ramsey off his horse.] Get your... filthy-- [tries to shoot at the Indians with his firearm. They grab his arms.] Release me! [The Indians drag both officers toward the fire.] Release me! I'll have the East India Company down on your necks!

Cripple - [throws off his rags -- it is Kamir] I think not, Colonel.

Ramsey - Kamir! What do you think you're about?

Kamir - Appeasing my god, Colonel. CUT

Ramsey - Damn your insolence! No wog is going to teach me a lesson!

Kamir - Of course not, Colonel. You ARE the lesson.

Ramsey - See here! I am an officer of the Crown! I shall have you all flayed alive! Release me this instant!

CUT

[The Indians behind the two officers wrap silk cords around their necks and strangle them both.]

Kamir - Who knows, Colonel? Perhaps you'll have a more auspicious birth in your next life.

(resume previous scene)

DM - Was it Martin Millay's wish to die?

Kamir - The nature of Millay's life determined his death. I was merely an instrument.

DM - Stop hiding in your philosophy, Kamir. You took a mortal life.

Kamir - And you haven't?

DM - No, not when someone else's life was not at stake.

Kamir - The act was just, MacLeod.

DM - No, Kamir! It was murder.

Kamir - Millay robbed my people, ripped away their culture. He was worse than a murderer. He was destroying their souls. Look, MacLeod. I came for your help. If you want to challenge me, do so... but don't judge me. CUT [leaves]
 

RR - I don't get it, Mac. The guy seems so enlightened about life. I mean, when I talk to him, I feel like I'm talking to some kind of priest.

DM - You were. He's just not the type that takes confession.

RR - But now you're trying to tell me he's a murderer.

DM - That's right.

RR - But Millay was a dirtbag, Mac. You said so yourself.

DM - The Kali was already gone. There was no reason to kill him.

RR - Kamir thought there was.

DM - Yeah, but Kamir thinks he lives under a different set of rules than everybody else -- rules that give him the right to kill.

RR - Maybe they do.

DM - Richie, it doesn't work like that. They thought that in the twelfth century when they cut off somebody's hand for stealing a loaf of bread.

RR - Yes, but, Mac, according to them, according to what they believed in, they were right.

DM - We all have the judgment of what is right and what is wrong.

RR - So Kamir made a different call than you did. Does that make him evil?

DM - No, it doesn't.

RR - That's what I'm saying, Mac. He is just trying to save his culture. To us, the Kali is just a piece of bronze, but to him, it's India. It's everything he loves.

DM - I know.>

DM - Something's wrong. They should have been back by now.

Kamir - CUT Perhaps they were merely delayed.

DM - Ramsey's a British officer. He doesn't get delayed... Especially not for pleasure.

Kamir - You don't like him, do you?

DM - I know his kind. The likes of him destroyed my country, scattered my people.

Kamir - And yet you fear for his safety.

DM - No, not only his. If Ramsey is dead, the British will repay in blood. You kill one of theirs, they kill ten of yours. Are you certain there are no Thuggees in the area?

Kamir - As your colonel said, we live in a barbarous and uncivilized land. One cannot be certain of anything. CUT [looks up as Vashti approaches] Somehow I suspect that your presence here is more welcome than mine. [leaves]

Vashti - It displeases you that I've come?

DM - No, it would displease me more if you had not. [Vashti smiles shyly, but then turns away from him.] Is something wrong? [She shakes her head.] It must be hard, cut off from your people.

Vashti - No harder than it must be for you. Are you not lonely?

DM - At times.

Vashti - Then why did you refuse the memsahib, Mrs. Ramsey?

DM - [groans] I'm sorry you heard that.

Vashti - But she is beautiful. She is white, she is English... She is like you.

DM - No, she's not like me. She sees nothing but her own vanity, cares for nothing but herself. She'll never find the beauty in this land. Not like I have. CUT <[He holds out his hand. She takes it. ^F She gazes at him. He kisses the back of her hand.]>

Kamir - [offscreen] You have chosen the right path, Vashti.

[Kamir exits room, bows to DM in hallway as they pass each other. DM approaches door Kamir just exited, knocks, enters.]

DM - You asked to see me?

Vashti - Yes. [pats window seat] Come. Sit by me.

DM - [sits beside her] What were you thinking?

Vashti - About life.

DM - Yours or mine?

Vashti - Both. Duncan? Do you believe in immortality? I -- I mean, of the soul?

DM - Reincarnation is a beautiful thought.

Vashti - Do you think you must live your life correctly, in order to become pure? CUT

DM - We should try. But, Vashti, I'm not perfect. No one is.

Vashti - Not in one lifetime. Come. [stands, leads him by the hand across room]

DM - Is this what you really want?

Vashti - [picks up candle] Yes. ⁵

[She continues across room, ^G lets go of his hand. He follows her to bedside table, where she set candle down before turning to kiss him.]

DM - Are you certain?

Vashti - I'm certain of many things now. You are one of them. [They kiss again, and make love in her bed.]

[later]

DM - [wakes, finds Vashti is already up and dressed] Vashti, it is -- it is not even dawn yet. Come back to bed.

Vashti - I must go to the temple.

DM - I will come with you.

Vashti - No. I must go alone.

DM - Then hurry back. We have much to discuss.

Vashti - Duncan? When we first met, you told me I'd never truly been in love.

DM - Aye.

Vashti - Now I have. [They kiss. She leaves.]

DM - [to servant] Have you seen Vashti?

Servant - No, sir.

Alice - [offscreen] No! [sobs]

DM - [rushes to her] What's happened?

Alice - [slaps him] Damn you and this bloody land! [slaps him again]

DM - Where's Ramsey?

Alice - Dead! Your precious Indians murdered him... buried him in the dirt. They -- they strangled him like a dog! [collapses against him, weeping]

DM - I'm sorry. [transfers her to the English wives standing nearby] Take care of her.

Alice - Where are you going? Stay here! STAY HERE!

[Kamir exits elevator. DM motions to object on table covered by a cloth. Kamir removes the cloth -- it is the Kali statue. Kamir kneels & bows before the statue.]

Kamir - Kali, Mother Goddess, Protector, Destroyer. So many forms, all in one. You have come home to me. {Jay Kalibah.} MacLeod, I owe so much to you.

DM - Then show it. Take the Kali and be on the next plane home. It's over. CUT

[Shandra walks down deserted corridor. Kamir steps around corner behind her & follows, holding the silk scarf ready. She turns at a sound, but he ducks out of sight. She resumes walking. He follows again, then senses 'buzz' as she walks around a corner. He turns to face DM behind him.]

DM - Why couldn't you just take the Kali and leave in peace?

Kamir - Because Shandra Devane is the worst kind of traitor. To Millay, that statue was just a trade. To her, it should have been a god. Kali has judged her and her punishment is death.

DM - Shandra's not part of your world. She's part of mine. Whatever Kali's laws are, she's not subject to them.

Kamir - I am her law, for I am Kali's priest. CUT <That's why Vashti lost her life.>

DM - [gallops up on horse] Vashti! Vash-- Vashti, no! Leave her! [Vashti is lying on a funeral pyre. DM rides up, pushes away man holding lit torch.] Leave her! [jumps off horse, runs to funeral pyre] No. Vashti. Vashti. [realizes she is dead] What have you done?

Kamir - What duty required. [comes forward from temple] This is merely her mortal body. Her soul has already left.

DM - You knew? You did this?

Kamir - Vashti came to me, MacLeod, sahib. It was her wish.

DM - [draws his sword] Then it is my wish that you die.

Kamir - Why?

DM - Fight me!

Kamir - Because I helped her?

DM - Aye!

Kamir - CUT She obeyed what was in her heart.

DM - I was in her heart. She loved me!

Kamir - I know. [gestures at pyre] This is because she loved you. She became a suttee to atone for her actions. CUT So don't hate yourself, MacLeod, sahib. Allow us to fulfill her wishes, and let her return to us.

[Man with torch steps forward. DM grabs torch away from him, bends to caress Vashti's cheek, kisses her lips.]

<[Flashback to Vashti talking to DM in her room.
Vashti - Duncan, do you believe in immortality? I mean, of the soul?]> CUT

[DM stands watching the funeral pyre burn.] CUT

<DM - [voice-over] Reincarnation is a beautiful thought.

Vashti - [voice-over] Do you think you must life your life correctly in order to become pure, to move toward perfection?

DM - [voice-over] We should try. But, Vashti, no one is perfect.

Vashti - [voice-over] Not in one lifetime.>

(resume previous scene)

DM - Don't you cheapen her death. She died for her beliefs, not you.

Kamir - She believed in me, MacLeod. I am India. I am Kali.

DM - You are not a god. You never were.

Kamir - Who are you to tell me what I am?

DM - I'm an Immortal, like you. Now take the Kali and leave.

Kamir - Not while the traitor lives.

DM - Then there's one rule we both live by. [takes out his sword, removes his jacket] There can be only one.

Kamir - Very well. Let our blades decide who is right. [takes off his jacket, draws his sword] Kali is watching. [They bow to each other, then fight.]

[The fight takes them into the planetarium, and the central console gets turned on, throwing spirals and patterns of light onto the domed ceiling. Kamir wraps his silk scarf around the handle of DM's katana, trying to disarm him, but DM uses it to pull Kamir to him for a fatal slash to the torso, then beheads him & takes his Quickening.]
 

RR - [looking at the Kali statue] All the people that were killed for this thing. [turns to DM] I still don't feel good about him dying.

DM - You're not supposed to.

RR - There was a greatness about him, Mac. What he said, what he stood for, what he wanted for his people.

DM - Richie, Kamir didn't speak for India. He spoke for himself and a cult that died out over a hundred years ago.

RR - I know. But some of it still felt like the truth.

DM - Some of it was. When you're immortal, you see kings and dynasties come and go. Sometimes it's hard to remember that you're not a god. Kamir thought that he was.

RR - So what are you going to do with the Kali now?

DM - Well, he came to take her home. That's where she's going. [covers statue with cloth, closes crate]