Island in the Sky Page #3

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I'm sorry, Rene. Close the dang window.

- Wake up, Fitch!

- I am awake.

Them army maniacs want us at the field.

- They ain't got no sense of time at all.

- They said it was important.

Something's wrong,

I can smell it a mile away.

I'm gonna quit this business right now.

I'm gonna get me back down to Carolina.

I'm gonna get me a big old mule

and I'm just gonna plow...

the living tarnation out of that countryside.

When did you say you were leaving?

This morning.

Yes, sir, this very same morning.

Moon, here.

Willie.

I hate to call you now.

Hello, my little kumquat!

What's on your mind?

Darling, I did so want you

to have these few days at home.

You'll have to talk louder. I can't hear you!

The field's been calling.

They want you to come right away.

Tell them you couldn't find me.

I think you'd want to go, Willie.

They said Dooley was down.

Throw some shirts in my bag,

will you, sweetie?

My longies, my G. I. Shoes and some socks.

I was going to fry you

such a beautiful chicken tonight.

Take it easy, sweetie. Now, just take it easy.

Everything's going to be all right. Bye.

Bye, Willie.

Mike!

Willie!

Come here!

All right, listen, you monkeys,

simmer down now a minute.

Daddy's going bye-bye in the sky.

But you just got home.

Yeah. You can get home all right, can't you?

Sure. We can take the streetcar,

we got four bits.

We're loaded.

All right, now, pay attention.

Wrap yourself up real good and warm

so you won't catch cold.

- Take care of Mommy, won't you?

- You bet your life.

I'll race you across.

We'll give you a head start now, Mikey.

You get right over there.

You ready?

Get on your mark...

get set, go!

You ready?

Get on your mark...

get set, go!

Wandering a little far from camp,

aren't you, Bub?

Looking for meat.

- Did you see anything?

- No.

No tracks, even?

Nothing but snow.

Did you see any different kind of wood?

This stuff we got won't burn.

The sap's frozen inside.

So is my face, maybe.

There's no feeling, Daddy.

Think maybe I should put some snow on it?

No, I don't think that will do any good.

We'll get back to the ship.

We'll put oil from the engine on it.

That may help.

You'd better stay out of the weather

for the next few days.

I don't understand it.

I'm warm in the sun

and there isn't any wind.

It's probably 40 below here.

We've got to be careful, real careful.

What are we gonna do if a wind comes?

We'll rig up some kind of a lean-to

down there.

Murray is scared, I think.

Keeps on talking about his wife and kid.

I guess maybe it's a new kid.

I'll talk to him.

Of course, there's nothing

to be scared about.

Only a few thousand miles of snow

and ice and sleet.

And silence.

You can almost hear it.

This is an awful country, Daddy. I'm scared.

We're a long ways from home.

We'll get out of this.

As soon as the sun gets up enough,

we'll take a shot with that octant.

Then we'll know our latitude, anyway.

Do you honestly think

that's gonna help us any?

We gotta try, Frank.

We gotta try everything.

I've been thinking about that food.

Maybe we can stretch it to seven days.

Of course we got to keep eating

on account of the cold.

And then what?

It will just be cold.

Come on. We'll fix that face of yours.

Dooley, there's something I've got to talk

to you right now about...

- before it's too late, maybe.

- Yeah?

The boys think you did a great job

getting us down even here.

Thanks.

They want you to know

that anything you say from now on goes.

You know what I mean?

Yeah, I know what you mean.

It better start pretty quick!

Remember the batteries, skipper.

If you use up the batteries starting

the engine, I'll never get anything out.

All right. Forget it.

So we got no generator?

How many times can you put out

with what power we have left?

Hard to say. Three or four short messages.

Maybe less. It just depends.

Give me that pad.

I'll tell you what. We'll try this right now.

You send that message three times

and no more.

Should I send it right now?

Send it loud and clear, boy.

They've got to hear it.

Now we only know...

that from about 2300 hours...

Dooley, from a position

on the St. Lawrence River...

proceeded on a northwest course.

We don't even know that for certain,

as some event a few moments later...

may have caused Dooley

to change his course.

If I might suggest, sir,

the fact that Dooley is a civilian...

might allow us to presuppose...

Look, if Dooley said he was going to fly

northwest, he'd do it.

But we don't know that, Mac.

We've got to go on what we know

before we can authorize a proper search.

Now, we do know that Montreal

got a bearing on Dooley around midnight.

Unfortunately, it was only third class.

But it did indicate that at that time...

he was somewhere in the vicinity

of Lake Manawan.

Just here.

You can see that from there on north,

the map is very sketchy.

Most of it is marked "unexplored."

Is that the latest map?

I'm told that it is. Right, Lieutenant?

Yes, sir. I've filed

an urgent -9W605 requisition...

to Washington for any additional data.

In quintuplicate, I suppose?

According to fuel figures received

from Greenland on Dooley's departure...

he should have had four or five hours'

gas when he was over this area.

If he went on to the end of his supply...

that means he would be down

approximately...

400 to 600 miles north of Lake Manawan.

Whatever the case...

you can easily see that if Dooley went on

to the end of his fuel...

he is in a very unfortunate position.

When do we start looking for him, Colonel?

As soon as the others get here.

Stutz, Moon, J.H. Handy, and Stannish

will be here tonight.

Why wait for them? Dooley is freezing.

To prevent any dissipation of effort.

I didn't ask you.

I think it would be unwise to use anyone

but experienced weather pilots.

We do have ships to spare at the moment.

We might start a relay system

when the others get here.

We still have a lot of gear to round up.

If I might suggest, sir...

since no directive of any kind

has been received from Washington...

possibly, it would be better for a...

If we proceed through channels.

Can we count on taking off

in four hours, Colonel?

No.

Be back here, ready to go, in two hours!

Mark.

I don't understand it.

It just doesn't make sense.

It's colder in this ship than it is outside.

According to that there,

we ought to be having hot coffee...

in Bangor, Maine, Paris or Vladivostok.

They're all on the same latitude.

I always get the same answer.

I didn't think it would work.

Cuts out any stars

we might want to shoot tonight, too.

I keep wondering if it's me.

It's so cold I can't think.

Sure, it's the cold. It's so cold

that octant's got pneumonia.

Our time could be wrong, too.

Fine machinery just won't work

in these temperatures.

But a navigator should know where he is.

I don't. I'm sorry.

You're sorry?

Is it your fault

if the sun isn't where it's supposed to be?

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