Arctic Blue Page #17

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150 INT. WILDER'S CABIN - NIGHT

Eric stirs a pot of beans on the cookstove. Corbett watches

from the cot in the cell.

CORBETT:

Talk to that good-looking girl of

yours?

ERIC:

You broke the radio, remember?

CORBETT:

(smiles)

I'm sure she's fine. Seemed like

a clever kid.

Corbett sits up as Eric hands him a plate of beans.

CORBETT:

(continuing)

You were real resourceful out

there. Got me thinking of this

perimeter man, froze all his

fingers one winter. So he hacked

the tips off and sharpened the

exposed bones. Gets along better

than ever. Yeah, maybe I

underestimated you.

ERIC:

I liked you better frozen. You

didn't talk so much.

CORBETT:

You're damn lucky, glimpsing this

country before it's ruined, gone

for good. You saw wonders you'd

only dreamed of. That alone

makes you different than the

sorry bastards back where you

came from, because you have

dreamt them.

Corbett sees he's hit a nerve with Eric.

CORBETT:

(continuing)

Remember that demon in the gut?

Sometimes it's nothing more than

wondering if the so-called

civilized life has bred the balls

and brains out of you. That's

what you want out of this, isn't

it?

(CONTINUED)

150 CONTINUED:

ERIC:

All I want want is you in jail --

A KNOCK at the door interrupts. Eric lowers the flame on

the gas lantern and peers out through a corner of the

cardboard in the front window. Frowning, he cracks the door

open and slips outside.

151 EXT. WILDER'S CABIN

It's Neff and Kenai. Neff looks guiltily at Eric.

NEFF:

(explaining)

He saw you and Corbett come in...

KENAI:

Dixie's waiting at the infirmary.

She'll put a splint on that

injured leg.

Eric is skeptical of Kenai's concern.

NEFF:

Don't let him fool you. Real

reason he's here is to buy

Corbett's traps.

Eric looks at Kenai, then at Neff. Neff nods that it's

okay. As extra precaution, Eric handcuffs Corbett's right

wrist to the frame of the cot inside the cell.

ERIC:

(to Kenai)

Okay. You can talk to him. But

I'll keep the keys with me.

152 INT. HOT SPRINGS SPA - NIGHT

Outside the wind HOWLS. Eric enters and walks into the

hallway connecting the bath partitions. A hand grabs his

arm. Startled, he turns around.

It's Dixie, wearing a threadbare flannel robe.

DIXIE:

Earl says you get discount.

Twenty-five dollar.

Eric shakes his head -- typical Kenai. He gives her three

tens. She smiles and leads Eric toward the "infirmary."

It's actually a bath partition outfitted with an examining

table and a first-aid kit.

153 INT. WILDER'S CABIN - NIGHT

Neff paces nervously. Corbett smiles at him and Kenai.

NEFF:

(apologetically)

Look, Ben, we don't want any

trouble. The kid's got the key,

and besides, he looks edgy enough

to use that magnum he's carrying.

CORBETT:

Relax. I'll get loose in time.

KENAI:

Any traps you don't want, I'll

pay cash money.

CORBETT:

Guess someone should use them.

Open the bottom drawer in

Wilder's desk. My kit's in

there. Might as well unload

everything.

Kenai tugs on the drawer. It's locked. Undaunted, he

jimmies it open with a knife. Neff groans. Kenai goes to

throw Corbett the duffel bag, but Neff grabs it. He checks

for weapons, pulling out a hunting knife. Satisfied, he

hands Corbett the bag through the bars.

With his free hand, Corbett digs through his belongings:

clothing, freeze-dried provisions, jerky, paperback books.

He looks up and shrugs.

154 INT. HOT SPRINGS SPA - NIGHT

Eric's ankle is in a resin cast. His foot rests on a stool.

While waiting for the cast to set he soaks in the bathtub, a

hot towel draped over his face. Above him, on a wall

bracket, a closed circuit TV plays a war-surplus PORNO FILM.

The door CREAKS open and Dixie comes in. She impassively

checks his cast -- which is interesting, as she's now

wearing panties, clog shoes and nothing else. Eric takes

the towel off his face and sits up, astonished.

DIXIE:

I wash your back for you. You

will like it.

Before Eric can protest, the door OPENS again. It's

Meyerling. He snaps his fingers at Dixie to shoo her and

she scurries away.

(CONTINUED)

154 CONTINUED:

MEYERLING:

I hate to interrupt playtime, but

why the hell are you caught up in

a local matter when I gave you

express instructions to the

contrary?!

ERIC:

Cut the sh*t, Leo. I might need

your help...

155 EXT. CHUKFOKTULIK, ALASKA - NIGHT

Consisting of a handful of sod-roof cabins, mostly bars,

Chukfoktulik is a way station in the coniferous forest,

sixty miles southeast of Devil's Cauldron.

156 INT. TRAPPERS' JEEP

With the seats pushed back, LeMalle peels the town's lone

WHORE out of her parka. He's got the motor running for

warmth. Her gold tooth glints in the light from the

building next to them. The locating screen on the beat-up

radio beacon receiver bolted to the dash GLOWS

phosphorescent green.

WHORE:

They got nice beds upstairs,

honey.

LEMALLE:

I'm standin' guard duty.

Besides, rather spend the room

money on sloppy seconds.

Over the sound of LeMalle's exertions there begins an

insistent succession of BEEPS. The Whore looks over

LeMalle's shoulder at the locating device.

WHORE:

Hey, Tiger --

LeMalle turns and immediately loses interest in the Whore.

Pushing her off of him, he blows the jeep's HORN three

times.

157 INT. HOT SPRINGS SPA - NIGHT

Eric and Meyerling are in the middle of an argument.

ERIC:

...I won't let a killer walk!

(CONTINUED)

157 CONTINUED:

MEYERLING:

Alleged killer.

ERIC:

What does this matter to you?

MEYERLING:

(sneering)

You can't see past your lousy

little assignment, sniffing

around the pipeline. The few

voters there are in this district

look up to Corbett, and I'm not

about to alienate them.

ERIC:

I should release Corbett because

you want some votes?

MEYERLING:

This miserable wilderness is a

state of the union. Policy's

made here the same way as in the

civilized world:
at the ballot

box. That's the beauty of it --

these icebox cowboys are living a

century too late. Get them on

your side, it's like buying

Manhattan for beads. With a

handful of votes you control the

greatest frontier since white men

stumbled onto the New World.

ERIC:

Some day these people'll wake up,

and you'll be the first one

they'll run out of here.

Eric's attention turns to a rhythmic INTERFERENCE on the TV

screen. There are three short bursts, followed by three

long bursts. Something about it is very familiar.

Scowling, he sits up.

ERIC:

(continuing)

Sh*t...

(to Meyerling; distracted)

Do what you have to. So will I.

Eric climbs out of the water and pulls his pants on.

158 INT. WILDER'S CABIN - NIGHT

Kenai sorts through the tangle of Corbett's traps. The

door bursts open and Eric hobbles in. Gun drawn, Eric

unlocks the cell door. He rips Corbett's shirt open.

Looking around, he sees Corbett's duffel bag sitting by the

cot. Digging through it, he finds at the bottom of the bag

an ELT with a small red LED flashing on it.

Furious, he flings it against the wall, smashing it.

159 INT. TRAPPERS' JEEP - CHUKFOKTULIK - NIGHT

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