Arctic Blue Page #7

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VIKING BOB:

Ben?

No answer. Viking Bob looks in the cab. Kenai's passenger

is Dixie, the Inupiat hooker. Viking Bob grabs Kenai and

pushes the barrel of the shotgun hard against his cheek.

VIKING BOB:

(continuing)

Where's Ben Corbett?

KENAI:

I have no argument with you, Bob.

Wilder said I could keep his

truck if I drove it ten miles

away from town.

VIKING BOB:

Where did they go?

KENAI:

He didn't say, but I would guess

the opposite way from here.

Viking Bob shoves Kenai against the truck, then punches him

for good measure. Cussing, he runs back to his station

wagon and drives off.

CUT TO:

46 INT. THE TURTLE - REAR MODULE - NIGHT

Eric and Anne Marie are asleep. Eric starts awake at the OS

sound of a high-pitched vehicle HORN and an approaching

ENGINE.

47 EXT. HAUL ROAD - THE TURTLE

Eric pulls the door open. Wilder is untying Corbett from

the snowmobile.

WILDER:

I got an emergency on my hands.

Corbett smiles at Eric as he walks inside.

48 INT. THE TURTLE

Eric, Wilder and Corbett sit in the front module. Anne

Marie, nervous, wearing a down robe, serves coffee. She

stares at Corbett, trying to reconcile his quiet demeanor

with what she saw that afternoon. Corbett smiles at Eric.

WILDER:

(to Eric)

...You give us a ride in the

Cessna you got hangared at the

pumping station, we'll be in

Fairbanks in a few hours.

ERIC:

That's what we should've done in

the first place.

WILDER:

I could've sat tight for the

transport, 'til Bob came poking

around.

CORBETT:

(to Wilder; re Anne Marie)

A lot to ask, dragging him away

from such a good-looking girl --

ERIC:

(irritated)

-- To take you to jail? It'll be

my pleasure.

WILDER:

(to Eric)

You better get some sleep.

CORBETT:

Good idea. Flying over mountains

can give you some nasty

surprises. Go too low, one of

the clouds might have a big rock

inside it.

(CONTINUED)

48 CONTINUED:

ERIC:

(hard)

I'll get you there all right.

Eric takes Anne Marie to the rear module, leaving Wilder

with his prisoner.

CUT TO:

49 INT. THE TURTLE - LATER THAT NIGHT

A bottle of Eric's Scotch sits almost empty on the table

beside Wilder. Wilder dozes in a chair facing Corbett.

Corbett is awake. He contorts his body to bring his

handcuff chain under his feet and get his hands in front of

him. He eyes Wilder's .357. It's in a lefty Sam Browne

holster. No way to take it without waking Wilder.

Corbett stands and inches toward the door. As he pulls it

open, the insulation makes enough NOISE to stir Wilder.

Wilder gets up and pushes Corbett back into his chair.

WILDER:

Goddammit, I don't need this

aggravation. I'll shoot you,

Ben. Bank on it.

CORBETT:

I don't want to hurt you, Sam.

WILDER:

I'm not too old to knock the snot

out of you!

CORBETT:

Nothing personal.

Wilder's mind clears enough to realize that Corbett's hands

are in front of him. He reaches for his .357. Corbett

butts into Wilder's midsection with his head. Amazingly,

Wilder stays on his feet.

Corbett hurries back to the door. Wilder lunges,

bull-determined to hold onto him. Corbett smashes Wilder

across the face with his clenched hands. Wilder goes down

hard, hitting his head on the table, and stays there.

Corbett instinctively kneels to see if Wilder is still

breathing. But then, hearing MOVEMENT in the rear module,

Corbett flees.

50 INT. THE TURTLE - REAR MODULE

Eric is pulling on his pants.

51 INT. THE TURTLE - FRONT MODULE

Eric rushes in. The outside door is open and Wilder lies on

the floor. His holster is empty. Anne Marie comes in and

crosses to Wilder.

Eric pulls a floor trap door open and digs through the

company-issue equipment, coming up with a huge Remington

bolt-action bear rifle. Unfamiliar with weapons, Eric tears

open a box of shells and fumbles to load the rifle.

52 EXT. THE TURTLE

Corbett is trying to start Eric's Scout.

Eric fires a loud warning SHOT from the Turtle doorway.

ERIC:

You want to try that handgun

against this rifle, go ahead.

Corbett sits in the Scout for a long moment, weighing his

odds. He takes his hands off the steering wheel...

Eric SHOOTS again, this time SMASHING the side-view mirror

and window next to Corbett's head.

Still handcuffed, Corbett gets out of the Scout. Holding

the .357 gingerly by the butt, he puts it on the hood of the

Scout.

CORBETT:

Some day you might have to face

me without a gun.

53 INT. THE TURTLE

Eric leads Corbett in. Anne Marie is cradling Wilder's

head. She's crying. Eric looks at Wilder. There is blood

coming from his ear and he's fading fast.

WILDER:

(thickly)

Fetch him back?

(Eric nods)

Don't let him walk...

Eric nods again. Wilder holds his gaze on Eric, then simply

stops breathing.

(CONTINUED)

53 CONTINUED:

Eric is stunned. Quietly, Corbett sits down. Clutching the

rifle, Eric sits on the floor and glares at Corbett.

CORBETT:

(softly)

Does he have people?

ERIC:

(after a beat)

A daughter in Oregon.

CORBETT:

Send him down to her. There's

money in my duffel bag, back at

his cabin.

Corbett's benign attitude is chilling.

ERIC:

I better call in.

He turns the shortwave radio on. It SPARKS and burns out.

The remainder of the liquor has been poured inside it.

ERIC:

(continuing)

Thought of everything, huh?

CORBETT:

Surviving is what I know --

ERIC:

-- Killing is what you know.

(to Anne Marie)

Pack some food while I prep for

the flight.

(off her look)

I'm sure not gonna let him go.

Covering Corbett with the rifle, Eric handcuffs him to the

sturdy metal bracket of a wall unit.

54 EXT. CACHE, ALASKA - (MOVING SHOT) - NIGHT

Viking Bob approaches in his station wagon on a narrow dirt

road. The huge night sky all but smothers the weak light

from the town up ahead.

Cache seems a mistake -- a jumble of unpainted buildings in

the middle of a big nothing, twenty miles north of the

Arctic Circle. Still, it's more animated than Devil's

Cauldron. There are a hundred permanent residents, several

taverns and a three-store, fly-in shopping center.

(CONTINUED)

54 CONTINUED:

Even though it's the middle of the night, people roam the

streets, drinking and socializing. With only a couple feet

of snow on the ground, this is still summertime. Under

storefront awnings, drunken INDIANS sleep on the concrete.

Viking Bob cruises the main drag, looking for the other

trappers. He spots their jeep in front of a

dangerous-looking saloon called the "Bear Sign Inn."

ANGLE WITH VIKING BOB

as he parks and gets out of his station wagon. He hears a

familiar VOICE around the side of the building.

LEMALLE (OS)

C'mon, girl, talk to me,

negotiate with me...

55 EXT. CACHE - ALLEY

Drunk, LeMalle stands in an alley with a bored, acne-scarred

Oriental PROSTITUTE. He weaves and leers, his hand stuck

inside her blouse.

VIKING BOB:

LeMalle. We got a problem.

Where's Mitchell?

LEMALLE:

Goddamn! Viking Bob! Mitchell's

inside, boring bastard...

Grumbling, Viking Bob separates LeMalle from the Prostitute

and drags him by the collar out of the alley.

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