Ghost Ship Page #20

A beat as they consider this.

EPPS:

Other than the obvious, there's

nothing wrong with him that I can

see, not on the outside.

DODGE:

Then what the hell happened to him?

Another beat as they hold there.

MURPHY:

Just before I heard him yell there

was somebody on the radio.

EPPS:

Greer?

MURPHY:

I don't know. No. Not Greer.

Somebody.

Another long beat as they think about this.

MURPHY:

It was a man's voice. Repeating some

sort of children's rhyme. I don't

know, it didn't make any sense. You

didn't hear it?

DODGE:

Not me.

Another beat as this sinks in.

EPPS:

(looking to Greer)

He needs a doctor.

MURPHY:

I'll call us in. Dodge, see how many

signal flares you can scrounge up.

(to Epps, meaning

Dodge)

Keep an eye on him.

INT. ARCTIC WARRIOR - PILOT HOUSE - NIGHT

A gas lantern sits on the map table illuminating Murphy as

he holds the radio mic.

MURPHY:

(to radio)

United States Coastguard, United

States Coastguard, United States

Coastguard. This is tugboat Arctic

Warrior whiskey alpha sierra bravo

four zero niner two. Over.

No response.

MURPHY:

(to radio)

United States Coastguard, United

States Coastguard, United States

Coastguard. This is tugboat Arctic

Warrior whiskey alpha sierra bravo

four zero niner two. Over.

Again, no response. He holds there, then finally:

MURPHY:

(to radio)

Mayday. Mayday. Mayday. To any vessel.

This is Arctic Warrior. Arctic

Warrior. Arctic Warrior. Whiskey

alpha sierra bravo four zero niner

two. Last known position one seven

four west, five seven north. I am

afloat and drifting. Require

immediate medical assistance for one

person, possibly comatose. I am a

one hundred twenty foot civilian

tug, hove to at port bow of disabled

passenger liner Chimera. I repeat,

Chimera. Over.

Only the desolate WHITE NOISE OF EMPTY AIR COMES BACK.

INT. ARCTIC WARRIOR - CREW QUARTERS - NIGHT

Greer lies unconscious as Epps looks on at him. The door

comes open and Murphy steps in.

MURPHY:

How's he doing?

EPPS:

Same. Any luck?

MURPHY:

No. I'll try again later.

A beat as they look on at Greer.

INT. ARCTIC WARRIOR - CREW QUARTERS - NIGHT

Murphy and Epps sit at the galley table. Epps reads the log

book Murphy found in the radio room.

EPPS:

(reading it)

They're dead in the water that

morning. Four hours later the

captain's relieved of his command.

And that evening they issue a general

SOS.

MURPHY:

Possibly false. Hence the IMA record

of being lost at sea. I don't think

mutiny's out of the question here.

DODGE:

(taking a seat)

On a passenger ship in 1953?

MURPHY:

If they knew what they were carrying.

EPPS:

You're saying they mutinied for the

gold?

MURPHY:

If they were close enough to shore,

they probably figured they could get

away in the lifeboats.

EPPS:

Only something must've gone wrong.

DODGE:

Yeah, way wrong.

A beat as they consider it.

DODGE:

So. I got a question. Just from a,

you know, purely technical standpoint.

We call the Coastguard. Coastguard

shows up. What exactly is the plan?

MURPHY:

How do you mean?

DODGE:

Well, they're gonna be asking a lot

of questions. About us. About those

bodies. About the gold. Seems like

we oughta be prepared is all.

MURPHY:

I guess the best strategy's just to

tell them the truth.

DODGE:

Yeah, well. The truth is one thing.

When there's more than a few hundred

million dollars involved, that's a

whole new deal.

MURPHY:

What do you propose?

DODGE:

For starters, getting that gold off

the ship. What they don't know about

isn't gonna bother them.

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