Arctic Blue Page #5

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ERIC:

(shakes his head)

No way can he get away with this.

I'll be back by tonight.

29 EXT. DEVIL'S CAULDRON - AFTERNOON

The town is quiet.

30 INT. HOT SPRINGS SPA

Corbett soaks in one of the huge wooden tubs with a pudgy

Inupiat hooker, DIXIE.

He looks up as Eric comes into the spa. Eric holds

Corbett's boots, which have been repaired. Eric pauses when

he sees Corbett. There is a flash of recognition between

them.

ERIC:

Ben Corbett?

CORBETT:

Yep. Afraid you have me at a

disadvantage.

ERIC:

Kenai at the general store asked

me to bring these. Didn't expect

we'd already met.

CORBETT:

No big deal. We just got off on

the wrong foot. What's your

name?

Eric glances down at Corbett's duffel bag, which sits on the

floor next to Corbett's tub. Corbett's magnum rests on top

of it, well within reach. Corbett notices Eric's interest

in it. He leans back and smiles.

ERIC:

Desmond.

CORBETT:

New to the country, kid?

ERIC:

Six months. Ecological study for

Northland Oil.

CORBETT:

Ecology. Folks use that term for

everything but what it means:

who's eating who.

Putting his hand on Dixie's shoulder, Corbett stands and

gets out of the tub. His sinewy body, resembling a

scarecrow made of steel cable, is covered with scars. He

wraps a towel around his waist and crosses to Eric.

(CONTINUED)

30 CONTINUED:

CORBETT:

(continuing)

Now, why don't you get around to

saying what you want.

Corbett grabs his boots from Eric and finds himself facing a

revolver, which Eric has been hiding inside one of the

boots.

CORBETT:

(continuing; smiling)

You wouldn't shoot anyone...

WILDER (OS)

But I would.

NEW ANGLE:

Wilder has come in the back way and stands behind Corbett

with a 12-gauge shotgun. He kicks Corbett's magnum out of

reach.

CORBETT:

All this for laying traps on

private land?

WILDER:

You left a footprint at the

Sportsmen's camp. Only pretty

sight there, Ben, 'cause the two

men you didn't shoot and mutilate

died of exposure.

Corbett shakes his head but remains implacable.

CORBETT:

Christ if I shouldn't know better

than to step in soft earth. I've

seen footprints in the tundra a

hundred years old.

WILDER:

(to Eric)

I got it from here. Thanks.

CORBETT:

(to Wilder)

Sam, give Dixie here fifty bucks

out of my kit, will you?

31 EXT. HOT SPRINGS SPA

Eric comes outside. Earl Kenai, overdressed for the weather

in gloves, mukluks and a full-length sealskin coat, stands

(CONTINUED)

31 CONTINUED:

shivering by a woodshed near the hot springs, hacksawing a

piece of meat from a frozen moose carcass.

KENAI:

Before white men came, my people

lived in sod houses underground

and laid our dead on the tundra.

Now we live above ground and bury

our dead, and we haven't been

warm since.

Wilder comes out of the spa with his shotgun and Corbett's

duffel bag cradled in his arm. Handcuffed, Corbett walks in

front of him.

Kenai looks down to avoid eye contact with Corbett as he

goes by. Corbett stops next to Eric and smiles.

CORBETT:

Nice bluff the other day with the

tranquilizer gun out your jeep

window. See you again, maybe.

ERIC:

(unintimidated)

Yeah. Maybe so.

32 EXT. DEVIL'S CAULDRON - FOLLOW WILDER

as he leads Corbett along the boardwalk to the other end of

town. They approach a prefab house perched on skids under a

tall antenna tower. Mounted above the shack, a DC wind

charger turbine spins lazily in the faint breeze. From

within the cabin comes an anomalous SOUND -- MTV. Wilder

KNOCKS on the door.

ARTHUR NEFF, a pasty-white, 45-year-old ex-Texan, pulls the

door open. His customary grin fades when he sees Corbett.

33 INT. NEFF'S HOUSE

Wilder pushes Corbett inside past Neff.

WILDER:

I need to call Fairbanks.

Neff just stares at Corbett.

WILDER:

(continuing)

Neff! Dial it up. State police.

With a "what can I do but oblige?" look to Corbett, Neff

sits in front of the RCA Alascom radio telephone and dials.

(CONTINUED)

33 CONTINUED:

NEFF:

(on phone)

Fairbanks Alascom? Patch me

through to the State Police.

After a moment, he hands the receiver to Wilder. Wilder

takes it, keeping one eye and the shotgun on Corbett.

WILDER:

(on phone)

This is Sam Wilder, Marshal in

Devil's Cauldron. Had some

killings here. I got a suspect;

be real nice if someone came and

took him off my hands.

STATE POLICEMAN (VO)

(thru phone)

On a good day I couldn't spare a

crosswalk guard. But now, no

way. Folks're batshit with the

weather turning sour. Bring him

in yourself.

WILDER:

(on phone)

Next plane's not coming 'til next

Monday.

STATE POLICEMAN (VO)

(thru phone)

Sit your suspect out in the cold.

He'll keep.

WILDER:

(on phone)

This man's friends ain't gonna

look favorably on his

incarceration.

STATE POLICEMAN (VO)

(thru phone; Mr. Glib)

So shoot him. Won't have to feed

him that way --

Angry, Wilder slams the receiver down.

34 INT. WILDER'S CABIN

In one room, there is a wood-burning cookstove and an Ashley

heat stove, a table, a bunk and a small window. Behind a

cloth partition is an eight by six holding cell. The frame

of an iron-bar door is securely cemented to the log walls.

Wilder comes in with Corbett and locks him in the cell.

(CONTINUED)

34 CONTINUED:

CORBETT:

Mind if I get some stuff from my

kit?

Wilder does mind. He locks the duffel bag and Corbett's .44

in his desk drawer.

CORBETT:

(continuing)

Sam, listen -- I shot to defend

my man. Other guy drew first.

WILDER:

If that was all, fine. But

carving him up, stranding the

others, that's too f***ing much.

Is everything that walks, crawls,

flies or swims fair game to you?

CORBETT:

(softly)

I'll get loose before that plane

comes.

WILDER:

Don't try me. I'll kill you if

it comes to it.

35 EXT. DEVIL'S CAULDRON - AFTERNOON

As Eric walks into Kenai's general store, Neff hurries over.

NEFF:

Mr. Desmond!

(grins; sticks his hand

out)

Arthur Neff. Area rep for the

Federal Assistance Plan. Tell

the boys in DC to keep those

goodies coming.

ERIC:

Sure.

NEFF:

Snowplow, generator, TV dish...

hell, we get the goddamn Playboy

Channel! Here, this is for you.

He hands Eric a piece of styrofoam shaped like a commode

seat.

(CONTINUED)

35 CONTINUED:

NEFF:

(continuing)

Warm to forty below. Remember,

anything you want, you ask Arthur

Neff.

36 EXT. HAUL ROAD - THE TURTLE - NIGHT

The storm has passed. A faint CHUGGING emanates from the

small orange generator trailer behind the Turtle. Eric

pulls up and parks the Scout.

37 INT. THE TURTLE

Nylon storage netting along the ceiling holds Eric's

research equipment and Anne Marie's photographic supplies.

In one corner of the Turtle are several of her black and

white prints. All are of man-made objects whose presence is

juxtaposed with the natural surroundings.

Relieved he's home in one piece, Anne Marie meets Eric at

the door and kisses him. Carrying a brown-paper-wrapped

package, Eric follows her into the kitchen, where she's

preparing dinner.

ANNE MARIE:

Did you catch Corbett?

ERIC:

Sure did. He was one of the

trappers we rousted from the Haul

Road.

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