Limbo Page #5

a plaster of Paris jungle.

The obvious next step, and

this is at the core of our proposal...

...is not bigger and better

facsimiles of nature...

...but nature itself.

Think of Alaska as one big theme park.

How'd we do?

Got a couple boatloads.

In three days?

They were running pretty good.

I kept a few out for the restaurant.

Oh, my God!

That's gorgeous!

That's great!

- Bobby!

- Jesus...

...look at this. You're all

where I left you six years ago.

Same barstools and everything.

Hey, Harm. Aud, you're looking good.

Somebody come in and

dust you off once a week?

How's the charter business?

I can't complain. I'm thinking

of bringing my Glacier Bay clients here.

"See Port Henry's wax museum.

Incredibly lifelike figures posed

in various stages of drunken stupor."

Set up a round

for these characters, Vic.

Just come up from Baja...

...chitchat the clients, lay

on the cerveza, harass the whales.

You like that?

I like not freezing my nuggets off

here all winter...

...waiting to see who

blows their brains out first.

You know Roscoe Karnes?

Roscoe with the voice box?

Blew his brains out February.

I rest my case.

Vic, I heard my brother's

been coming in here.

F***ing sellout!

He's over in the corner here, Bobby.

Jumpin' Joe, the man himself.

Hey, bro.

Heard they shut the pulp mill down.

Town smells better.

They said you were working for a couple

of button nibblers at Harm's old lodge.

How you been?

Terrific. Just terrific.

I just took a National

Geographic crew out...

...to do a piece on the sea lion

rookery before I come up.

I get a lot of repeat customers,

and computerized my navigation...

Teresa?

Teresa and the kids are cool.

Joaquin starts kindergarten this year.

Great.

Listen, someone said

that you were out fishing.

Frankie and Lou, they got

a boat, they got a license.

They asked me to go out, so...

Back in the saddle.

So to speak.

Sorry I couldn't make it

for the old man.

No problem.

I had clients.

Hollywood real-estate honchos.

Yeah, well, you couldn't make it.

I didn't have a ceremony.

I did some paperwork

and put up a headstone.

You got my check?

Yeah, thanks.

I called my mom to tell her about it.

How'd she take it?

Changed the subject.

Well, he was who he was.

Died in bed, man.

I always figured he'd freeze to death in

the parking lot outside of some joint.

You know the laundromat at Wrangell?

Where there's a shower?

The guys coming off the boats?

About three years ago, I was in there.

Got my soap, got my towel and back

in the steam, I see this old guy.

I say, "That is one

beat-to-hell human being."

The guy looks up and it's the old man.

That's the last time I saw him.

The Old Salt. The Old Prospector.

I tell my clients stories

about the old man.

Colourful sh*t.

The tour guide part of the job.

How he lost those fingers, and how he,

you know, survived the earthquake...

...and all those tidal waves

on that tender.

You heard them all.

The guy I was scared of

when I was little...

Nobody wants to hear about him.

Nope.

I gotta ask you a favour.

Me?

- Have I ever asked you for anything?

- What is it?

Well, I got a situation.

It's a finesse thing with a client.

I gotta pick him up at Skagway.

I need somebody to crew for me.

You always run your operation

on your own.

It's just for appearances.

It's a business deal, see?

I gotta impress the guy, so I gotta

look less like a captain and more...

Like an admiral.

Exactly. It's a milk run, and

since you're on the water again...

I've only gone out once.

Well, I can trust you.

I mean, this deal, this business deal,

it's sensitive. Word can't get out.

When would we go?

Day after tomorrow. I just gotta

put a couple things in motion.

I'll see if I can get off work.

You saved my ass, bro. I appreciate it.

You and me, we're...

Practically strangers.

No, we're the Gastineau brothers, man.

Half brothers.

Right.

Listen, I gotta run, bro.

I'm on a schedule here.

I'm at the south marina.

The Orca Princess.

Sunday morning, 7 sharp,

we catch the tide.

It'll be a blast.

Good evening. I'm Donna De Angelo,

and this is the Golden Nugget.

Well, I see some

familiar faces out there.

Welcome back.

There's the tide.

Is it with you? Are you plowing

into it? Is it slack?

Where's the moon in its cycle?

There's wind.

It can jump on you when you're

ducking in and out of the islands.

There's the size of the channel...

...the configuration of the bottom...

You still know all this stuff?

Yeah, as much as you can know it.

This isn't what I expected.

What did you expect?

I don't know.

Some guys, they live alone,

it can get...

I had the Health Department over this

morning. They sprayed the walls down.

You listen to a lot of different stuff.

That's good.

See a whole wall of the,

you know, Butthole Surfers, it...

You read books.

So you're either a nice, quiet guy

who lives alone, or you're...

...a serial killer.

I mean, my track record for consciously

choosing men is so horrendous that I...

If I...

...ever hooked up with somebody good,

it would be pure luck.

I'm being careful, okay?

Me too.

"'The Water Baby.'

The midwife knew at first look

it wasn't a normal delivery.

The newborn was cold

as it struggled and gasped..."

A little louder.

"The midwife knew at first look

it wasn't a normal delivery.

The newborn was cold as it

struggled and gasped in her arms...

...wet and cold with a bluish pallor

that didn't change...

...once she cleared its throat

with her finger.

It fought for air but

didn't open its mouth.

The mother, sweat-soaked

in her bed sheets...

...the father, video camera dropping

away from his apprehensive face...

...her assistant, on the phone

to the life-support unit...

...all seemed to move in a heavy

slow motion, as if underwater.

The midwife was halfway down the hall

with the baby before she noticed them.

A tiny, half-moon slit below each ear...

...lined with a deep crimson membrane.

Gills."

I never slept with a drummer.

Is that good?

Probably.

It probably indicates some level

of self-respect I've never fallen below.

So...

...ex-fishermen rate

higher than drummers.

Certain types of fungus

rate higher than drummers.

And what brings this up?

I don't know if my daughter's

a virgin or not.

Is she going out with a drummer?

No, I was just...

I don't know. Just thinking.

Well, have you asked her?

I don't wanna know that badly.

If I ask her if she needs underwear,

she considers it invasive.

She's been a major baby-sitter

since she was 13.

She wants her own money, her own room.

Independent.

You don't have any children, do you?

No.

But you were married.

I knew that.

It's a good thing you didn't

have kids to fight over.

So?

When's the last time you

were involved with someone?

About a year ago.

Someone from the pulp mill?

An aerobics instructor.

Not Corky.

You know her?

Yeah, she works at my gym.

So?

Who dumped who?

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