ARCTIC BLUE

Jiminy Christmas.

(beat)

What do you want from me?

ERIC

Corbett ruined my two-way. Go to

my place on the Haul Road, tell

Anne Marie I'm okay and to sit

tight.

(CONTINUED)

147 CONTINUED:

NEFF

I'll go at dawn.

ERIC

Thanks. Don't tell anyone you

saw me.

After Eric goes, Neff closes his door and bolts it.

148 EXT. DEVIL'S CAULDRON - VARIOUS ANGLES - NIGHT

The temperature dips as the winds shifts and blows down from

the north. Another storm approaches. The temperate days of

last week seem ages ago.

Kenai, Neff, and other TOWNSMEN batten Devil's Cauldron down

for the STORM. Kenai is bundled up in the cold. The men

tighten guy wires on the radio tower, windmills and caches;

bring firewood indoors; close off unused rooms in the

general store and spa. Then Neff and Kenai split off from

the others.

149 INT. HOT SPRINGS SPA

Via a catwalk, Neff and Kenai climb up into the ceiling

struts above the partitioned cubicles in the spa to caulk a

roof leak with pitch. Neff is sullen from his conversation

with Eric. Kenai, however, is smiling at Neff.

NEFF

Why the smirk?

KENAI

Bet I could make some money

turning Ben Corbett in. Maybe

more for lettin' him loose.

(off Neff's flustered look)

I was up in my cache. Saw the

Northland man come talk to you.

NEFF

You're out of your greedy goddamn

mind.

KENAI

Corbett coming here stinks of

trouble. We should make the best

of it before it turns around and

bites us in the ass.

NEFF

Stay out of it.

150 INT. WILDER'S CABIN - NIGHT

Eric stirs a pot of beans on the cookstove. Corbett watches

from the cot in the cell.

CORBETT

Talk to that good-looking girl of

yours?

ERIC

You broke the radio, remember?

CORBETT

(smiles)

I'm sure she's fine. Seemed like

a clever kid.

Corbett sits up as Eric hands him a plate of beans.

CORBETT

(continuing)

You were real resourceful out

there. Got me thinking of this

perimeter man, froze all his

fingers one winter. So he hacked

the tips off and sharpened the

exposed bones. Gets along better

than ever. Yeah, maybe I

underestimated you.

ERIC

I liked you better frozen. You

didn't talk so much.

CORBETT

You're damn lucky, glimpsing this

country before it's ruined, gone

for good. You saw wonders you'd

only dreamed of. That alone

makes you different than the

sorry bastards back where you

came from, because you have

dreamt them.

Corbett sees he's hit a nerve with Eric.

CORBETT

(continuing)

Remember that demon in the gut?

Sometimes it's nothing more than

wondering if the so-called

civilized life has bred the balls

and brains out of you. That's

what you want out of this, isn't

it?

(CONTINUED)

150 CONTINUED:

ERIC

All I want want is you in jail --

A KNOCK at the door interrupts. Eric lowers the flame on

the gas lantern and peers out through a corner of the

cardboard in the front window. Frowning, he cracks the door

open and slips outside.

151 EXT. WILDER'S CABIN

It's Neff and Kenai. Neff looks guiltily at Eric.

NEFF

(explaining)

He saw you and Corbett come in...

KENAI

Dixie's waiting at the infirmary.

She'll put a splint on that

injured leg.

Eric is skeptical of Kenai's concern.

NEFF

Don't let him fool you. Real

reason he's here is to buy

Corbett's traps.

Eric looks at Kenai, then at Neff. Neff nods that it's

okay. As extra precaution, Eric handcuffs Corbett's right

wrist to the frame of the cot inside the cell.

ERIC

(to Kenai)

Okay. You can talk to him. But

I'll keep the keys with me.

152 INT. HOT SPRINGS SPA - NIGHT

Outside the wind HOWLS. Eric enters and walks into the

hallway connecting the bath partitions. A hand grabs his

arm. Startled, he turns around.

It's Dixie, wearing a threadbare flannel robe.

DIXIE

Earl says you get discount.

Twenty-five dollar.

Eric shakes his head -- typical Kenai. He gives her three

tens. She smiles and leads Eric toward the "infirmary."

It's actually a bath partition outfitted with an examining

table and a first-aid kit.

153 INT. WILDER'S CABIN - NIGHT

Neff paces nervously. Corbett smiles at him and Kenai.

NEFF

(apologetically)

Look, Ben, we don't want any

trouble. The kid's got the key,

and besides, he looks edgy enough

to use that magnum he's carrying.

CORBETT

Relax. I'll get loose in time.

KENAI

Any traps you don't want, I'll

pay cash money.

CORBETT

Guess someone should use them.

Open the bottom drawer in

Wilder's desk. My kit's in

there. Might as well unload

everything.

Kenai tugs on the drawer. It's locked. Undaunted, he

jimmies it open with a knife. Neff groans. Kenai goes to

throw Corbett the duffel bag, but Neff grabs it. He checks

for weapons, pulling out a hunting knife. Satisfied, he

hands Corbett the bag through the bars.

With his free hand, Corbett digs through his belongings:

clothing, freeze-dried provisions, jerky, paperback books.

He looks up and shrugs.

154 INT. HOT SPRINGS SPA - NIGHT

Eric's ankle is in a resin cast. His foot rests on a stool.

While waiting for the cast to set he soaks in the bathtub, a

hot towel draped over his face. Above him, on a wall

bracket, a closed circuit TV plays a war-surplus PORNO FILM.

The door CREAKS open and Dixie comes in. She impassively

checks his cast -- which is interesting, as she's now

wearing panties, clog shoes and nothing else. Eric takes

the towel off his face and sits up, astonished.

DIXIE

I wash your back for you. You

will like it.

Before Eric can protest, the door OPENS again. It's

Meyerling. He snaps his fingers at Dixie to shoo her and

she scurries away.

(CONTINUED)

154 CONTINUED:

MEYERLING

I hate to interrupt playtime, but

why the hell are you caught up in

a local matter when I gave you

express instructions to the

contrary?!

ERIC

Cut the shit, Leo. I might need

your help...

155 EXT. CHUKFOKTULIK, ALASKA - NIGHT

Consisting of a handful of sod-roof cabins, mostly bars,

Chukfoktulik is a way station in the coniferous forest,

sixty miles southeast of Devil's Cauldron.

156 INT. TRAPPERS' JEEP

With the seats pushed back, LeMalle peels the town's lone

WHORE out of her parka. He's got the motor running for

warmth. Her gold tooth glints in the light from the

building next to them. The locating screen on the beat-up

radio beacon receiver bolted to the dash GLOWS

phosphorescent green.

WHORE

They got nice beds upstairs,

honey.

LEMALLE

I'm standin' guard duty.

Besides, rather spend the room

money on sloppy seconds.

Over the sound of LeMalle's exertions there begins an

insistent succession of BEEPS. The Whore looks over

LeMalle's shoulder at the locating device.

WHORE

Hey, Tiger --

LeMalle turns and immediately loses interest in the Whore.

Pushing her off of him, he blows the jeep's HORN three

times.

157 INT. HOT SPRINGS SPA - NIGHT

Eric and Meyerling are in the middle of an argument.

ERIC

...I won't let a killer walk!

(CONTINUED)

157 CONTINUED:

MEYERLING

Alleged killer.

ERIC

What does this matter to you?

MEYERLING

(sneering)

You can't see past your lousy

little assignment, sniffing

around the pipeline. The few

voters there are in this district

look up to Corbett, and I'm not

about to alienate them.

ERIC

I should release Corbett because

you want some votes?

MEYERLING

This miserable wilderness is a

state of the union. Policy's

made here the same way as in the

civilized world: at the ballot

box. That's the beauty of it --

these icebox cowboys are living a

century too late. Get them on

your side, it's like buying

Manhattan for beads. With a

handful of votes you control the

greatest frontier since white men

stumbled onto the New World.

ERIC

Some day these people'll wake up,

and you'll be the first one

they'll run out of here.

Eric's attention turns to a rhythmic INTERFERENCE on the TV

screen. There are three short bursts, followed by three

long bursts. Something about it is very familiar.

Scowling, he sits up.

ERIC

(continuing)

Shit...

(to Meyerling; distracted)

Do what you have to. So will I.

Eric climbs out of the water and pulls his pants on.

158 INT. WILDER'S CABIN - NIGHT

Kenai sorts through the tangle of Corbett's traps. The

door bursts open and Eric hobbles in. Gun drawn, Eric

unlocks the cell door. He rips Corbett's shirt open.

Looking around, he sees Corbett's duffel bag sitting by the

cot. Digging through it, he finds at the bottom of the bag

an ELT with a small red LED flashing on it.

Furious, he flings it against the wall, smashing it.

159 INT. TRAPPERS' JEEP - CHUKFOKTULIK - NIGHT

The green dot on the screen and rhythmic BLEEP go suddenly

dead, just as Viking Bob and Mitchell run up to the jeep.

LEMALLE

Northwest. Devil's Cauldron.

LeMalle dumps the half-naked Whore out onto the snow.

Viking Bob starts the jeep and they roar off.

160 INT. WILDER'S CABIN - NIGHT

Eric shoves Kenai and Neff out the door.

NEFF

What's wrong?

ERIC

Just stay out of my face until

I'm gone!

He slams the door. Corbett smiles his Cheshire smile.

ERIC

(continuing; picks up ELT)

Emergency transmitter? What

happened to signal mirrors or

two-tone smoke fires?

CORBETT

Lets us watch each other's backs

over a wide area. Only thing

messed me up this time was

getting arrested in the baths.

ELT was in my duffel bag, not

around my neck where it should've

been.

ERIC

No way they'll find you on a

five-minute signal. And no way

-more-

(CONTINUED)

160 CONTINUED:

ERIC (Cont'd)

they'll get here in eight hours

in this weather, unless they're

right around the corner.

CORBETT

They haven't disappointed me yet.

161 EXT. DEVIL'S CAULDRON - DAWN

Fat, dry snowflakes pour through the still air. Gloomy

clouds hang immediately overhead. Visibility is ten feet;

the temperature is below zero.

162 INT. WILDER'S CABIN

It's 5:30 AM. Sitting at Wilder's desk, Eric pries the tops

from some bullets and dumps the gunpowder into a styrofoam

cup. He rings the top of the cup with bluetip matches, then

seals it with masking tape. Watching him from the cell,

Corbett smiles.

CORBETT

Flashbomb, eh?

Eric doesn't answer. He pulls on a heavy overcoat of

Wilder's. Putting the unused bullets back in Wilder's desk,

Eric finds Corbett's .44 magnum. He puts it and some

speedloaders full of .357 hollowpoints in his pockets.

163 EXT. / INT. DEVIL'S CAULDRON - MONTAGE

Eric hobbles across town to the hot springs under cover of

the early hour and heavy snowfall. He paces out several

circuitous routes from the rental cabins to the airstrip at

the edge of town, pausing now and again along the way.