Flight of the Phoenix Page #3

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of the starboard boom-

this boom then becomes the fuselage...

becomes the plane.

Do you see what I'm saying?

And-And while the port area

of the tail unit is intact...

we will still have to

redesign the tail section.

What the hell is he talking about?

He's talking about

building a new airplane.

- Out of the old one.

- Yes, Captain.

And flying ourselves out of here.

Yeah, why didn't I think of that?

Why don't we build a swimming

pool, while we're at it?

Oh, that's funny.

Yeah.

Well, you know, there are

no component problems...

and we have all the parts

and tools we need on board.

- I assure you, we can do it.

- It's impossible.

At first glance, it seems

impossible that a bee should fly...

but it does.

I think a bee stung you

on your big dumb-ass head.

What do you know about airplanes?

I design them, Mr. Towns.

That's what I know about airplanes.

You might have mentioned that little piece

of information a bit earlier on, Elliott.

Who do you work for? What company?

Sizemore and Pratt.

They're in Long Beach.

They do mostly experimental aircraft.

Mm-hmm. And you understand that

engine's got a 2,000-pound thrust?

- Yes. So?

- When it gets started, it's gonna tear your bee apart.

Well, you'll just have

to be careful this time.

The design is perfect. The only flaw is

that we have to rely on you to fly it.

I say we build the damn

plane. Why the hell not?

- Get us out of here.

- Let's build it, man.

It's better than doin'

nothin', fightin' over water.

- It's worth a try.

- Oh, yeah. It's worth a try!

If we had a few months and an unlimited

supply of water, which we don't.

And if you do try,you won't live

None of you will.

- We could work.

- So what do you think we should do?

- Nothing.

- What?

The longer we wait, the better chance

we have of somebody spotting us.

Where's Liddle?

Oh, sh*t.

Has anybody seen Liddle?

He's definitely not in here.

Oh, God. We lost another one.

He'll never make it.

Sh*t.

Maybe he doesn't give your sit-on-your-ass-

and-do-nothing plan much hope.

Hey, you're not going after him.

No one else dies, remember?

I'll go.

I'll bring him back.

- A.J.?

- Yeah?

Throw me that canteen.

Good luck.

- Yeah.

- Captain, Liddle's first name is James.

Jimbo.

Liddle!

Liddle!

No.

Someone's already been here.

The dead guy's Kyle.

He had a really nice Seiko.

I know, 'cause he won it from me

in a poker game back at the patch.

Someone came along and took it.

Nomads.

Smugglers, probably. That's

the last thing we need.

You okay?

I'm not going back.

I'm just resting.

You look like you could use some water.

So,just between the two of us-

no bullshit, Captain Towns-

do you think they're ever gonna find us?

It's a long shot.

So why not try and build the plane?

Why give people false hope?

Come on, man.

Most people spend their

whole lives hanging on...

to hopes and dreams that are never

gonna come true, but they hold on to 'em.

Why are you gonna give up on

'em now when you need 'em most?

You're assuming I'm one of those

people who has hopes and dreams.

I find it hard to believe that a man

who learns to fly never had a dream.

Look, how could I let those

people build that plane...

when I don't believe it'll work?

And every day they waste trying to build

it brings 'em one day closer to dying.

I think a man only

needs one thing in life.

He just needs someone to love.

If you can't give him that, then

give him something to hope for.

And if you can't give him that...

just give him something to do.

James, you'll never make it.

Then I'll die trying.

There are people counting on me.

Okay! Okay, okay.

Okay.

We'll build it.

Just come back with me.

How do I know you're not full of sh*t?

Here.

Take it.

You can give it back when we get home.

- What?

- Nothing.

- I'm just amazed.

- By what?

That during these dire times...

you take the time to

thank God for anything.

Well, we're still alive, aren't we?

Let me tell you a story.

A rabbi and a priest

attend a boxing match.

They watch as the boxers

come into the ring.

The rabbi sees one of

the boxers cross himself.

So the rabbi turns to

the priest and asks...

"What does that mean?"

The priest says, "Not a damn

thing if the man can't fight. "

- There you go.

- Yeah.

Liddle and I had a talk.

I think we should build the plane.

Wha-

Elliott...

can you really design this

thing the way you said you could?

- No bullshit?

- Yes, I can.

Well, we're either all in

this together or no one at all.

No compromises.

I'm in.

Yeah.

Yeah, me too.

Sh*t. Me three.

Okay.

Get some rest.

We start tonight.

Let's take them inside. It's cooler.

- Hold on.

- Let me take this.

If we do this, we'll be

cutting our lives in half.

We'll be drinking twice

as much water, Frank.

We don't have any other choice.

Why?

'Cause it's too early to give up, A.J...

and too late to do anything else.

I'm glad that you've finally

seen the light, Mr. Towns.

Hey.

Let's get one thing straight.

I'm not taking orders from you.

Get some rest.

Hey, Towns.

Thanks.

Are you kidding me?

I'd do anything to avoid

another hopes-and-dreams speech.

Okay, gentlemen, our-our first

task is to separate the wing here...

so

- so we can join it with the main fuselage, okay?

I'm gonna need some help.

- Make sure they're good and tight, Ian, eh?

- All right.

There you go.

You still got some of them old

muscles up there, don't you?

You guys need to be careful

when you step on the wing, okay?

Man, I thought this would be easy.

Hey, no coffee breaks.

That means you too.

You know, I liked him a lot

better when all he did was hum.

Yeah,you still got it.

Whoa! Aah!

- Watch what you're doin', man.

- You got it, Rod?

Hang on.

- On three,yeah?

- Let's do it.

One, two, three!

- There you go!

Yeah, baby! Yeah!

I'll be damned.

That's a start, Frank.

Oh, geez. Somebody turn out the lights.

- How much water did we drink?

- Too much.

And that's at night.

Two-eighths.

- Frank.

- Hmm?

You okay?

When I was out there,

when I found Liddle...

- Yeah?

- I saw something pretty weird.

What?

You know that poor son of a b*tch

that fell out of the airplane?

- Yeah?

- I found shell casings all around his body.

Looked like someone had been

using him for target practice.

Oh... sh*t.

Just keep that to yourself, all right?

I don't want to give 'em

anything more to worry about.

Here.

- Oh, yeah.

Hey, Patch.

How 'bout a nice ice-cold

double mint Frappuccino?

Screw that. How 'bout

a Bacardi and Coke?

Ahh. With a lot of ice.

- And one of'em little umbrella things.

- Yeah!

- How 'bout a hamburger with a lot of cheese?

- Whoa, whoa.

Hamburger, yeah. Cheese, mmm. I'm

tryin' to watch my figure, you know?

Yeah!

- One day.

- Yeah. Someday soon, man.

How's it going?

- Is everybody okay?

- Sammi!

Ah, geez.

Oh, my God.

Everybody here?

Oh, Christ.

Oh, no. Tell me that

wasn't all the fuel.

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