ARCTIC BLUE

ERIC

(hard)

I'll get you there all right.

Eric takes Anne Marie to the rear module, leaving Wilder

with his prisoner.

CUT TO:

49 INT. THE TURTLE - LATER THAT NIGHT

A bottle of Eric's Scotch sits almost empty on the table

beside Wilder. Wilder dozes in a chair facing Corbett.

Corbett is awake. He contorts his body to bring his

handcuff chain under his feet and get his hands in front of

him. He eyes Wilder's .357. It's in a lefty Sam Browne

holster. No way to take it without waking Wilder.

Corbett stands and inches toward the door. As he pulls it

open, the insulation makes enough NOISE to stir Wilder.

Wilder gets up and pushes Corbett back into his chair.

WILDER

Goddammit, I don't need this

aggravation. I'll shoot you,

Ben. Bank on it.

CORBETT

I don't want to hurt you, Sam.

WILDER

I'm not too old to knock the snot

out of you!

CORBETT

Nothing personal.

Wilder's mind clears enough to realize that Corbett's hands

are in front of him. He reaches for his .357. Corbett

butts into Wilder's midsection with his head. Amazingly,

Wilder stays on his feet.

Corbett hurries back to the door. Wilder lunges,

bull-determined to hold onto him. Corbett smashes Wilder

across the face with his clenched hands. Wilder goes down

hard, hitting his head on the table, and stays there.

Corbett instinctively kneels to see if Wilder is still

breathing. But then, hearing MOVEMENT in the rear module,

Corbett flees.

50 INT. THE TURTLE - REAR MODULE

Eric is pulling on his pants.

51 INT. THE TURTLE - FRONT MODULE

Eric rushes in. The outside door is open and Wilder lies on

the floor. His holster is empty. Anne Marie comes in and

crosses to Wilder.

Eric pulls a floor trap door open and digs through the

company-issue equipment, coming up with a huge Remington

bolt-action bear rifle. Unfamiliar with weapons, Eric tears

open a box of shells and fumbles to load the rifle.

52 EXT. THE TURTLE

Corbett is trying to start Eric's Scout.

Eric fires a loud warning SHOT from the Turtle doorway.

ERIC

You want to try that handgun

against this rifle, go ahead.

Corbett sits in the Scout for a long moment, weighing his

odds. He takes his hands off the steering wheel...

Eric SHOOTS again, this time SMASHING the side-view mirror

and window next to Corbett's head.

Still handcuffed, Corbett gets out of the Scout. Holding

the .357 gingerly by the butt, he puts it on the hood of the

Scout.

CORBETT

Some day you might have to face

me without a gun.

53 INT. THE TURTLE

Eric leads Corbett in. Anne Marie is cradling Wilder's

head. She's crying. Eric looks at Wilder. There is blood

coming from his ear and he's fading fast.

WILDER

(thickly)

Fetch him back?

(Eric nods)

Don't let him walk...

Eric nods again. Wilder holds his gaze on Eric, then simply

stops breathing.

(CONTINUED)

53 CONTINUED:

Eric is stunned. Quietly, Corbett sits down. Clutching the

rifle, Eric sits on the floor and glares at Corbett.

CORBETT

(softly)

Does he have people?

ERIC

(after a beat)

A daughter in Oregon.

CORBETT

Send him down to her. There's

money in my duffel bag, back at

his cabin.

Corbett's benign attitude is chilling.

ERIC

I better call in.

He turns the shortwave radio on. It SPARKS and burns out.

The remainder of the liquor has been poured inside it.

ERIC

(continuing)

Thought of everything, huh?

CORBETT

Surviving is what I know --

ERIC

-- Killing is what you know.

(to Anne Marie)

Pack some food while I prep for

the flight.

(off her look)

I'm sure not gonna let him go.

Covering Corbett with the rifle, Eric handcuffs him to the

sturdy metal bracket of a wall unit.

54 EXT. CACHE, ALASKA - (MOVING SHOT) - NIGHT

Viking Bob approaches in his station wagon on a narrow dirt

road. The huge night sky all but smothers the weak light

from the town up ahead.

Cache seems a mistake -- a jumble of unpainted buildings in

the middle of a big nothing, twenty miles north of the

Arctic Circle. Still, it's more animated than Devil's

Cauldron. There are a hundred permanent residents, several

taverns and a three-store, fly-in shopping center.

(CONTINUED)

54 CONTINUED:

Even though it's the middle of the night, people roam the

streets, drinking and socializing. With only a couple feet

of snow on the ground, this is still summertime. Under

storefront awnings, drunken INDIANS sleep on the concrete.

Viking Bob cruises the main drag, looking for the other

trappers. He spots their jeep in front of a

dangerous-looking saloon called the "Bear Sign Inn."

ANGLE WITH VIKING BOB

as he parks and gets out of his station wagon. He hears a

familiar VOICE around the side of the building.

LEMALLE (OS)

C'mon, girl, talk to me,

negotiate with me...

55 EXT. CACHE - ALLEY

Drunk, LeMalle stands in an alley with a bored, acne-scarred

Oriental PROSTITUTE. He weaves and leers, his hand stuck

inside her blouse.

VIKING BOB

LeMalle. We got a problem.

Where's Mitchell?

LEMALLE

Goddamn! Viking Bob! Mitchell's

inside, boring bastard...

Grumbling, Viking Bob separates LeMalle from the Prostitute

and drags him by the collar out of the alley.

CUT TO:

56 INT. BEAR SIGN INN - NIGHT

Meyerling's campaign posters cover the walls. Many have

been pulled down and muddied underfoot by the drunken crowd.

In a booth covered with grafitti, Mitchell squints and works

on his scrimshaw. LeMalle, somewhat sober, eats a plate of

muktuk -- whale blubber. Viking Bob pours him more coffee.

MITCHELL

(to Viking Bob)

...Ben never sent a signal.

VIKING BOB

Musta never got a chance to

-more-

(CONTINUED)

56 CONTINUED:

VIKING BOB (Cont'd)

activate. Wilder's aiming to

take him to Fairbanks, we can

count on that much.

MITCHELL

Meaning he'll need a plane.

VIKING BOB

Closest planes for hire are here

in Cache.

MITCHELL

Hang on...

(to LeMalle)

Remember that Cessna we saw at

the pumping station on the Haul

Road? Belongs to the guy they

got patrolling the pipeline.

LEMALLE

There you go. Wilder's always

chummy with the fuckin'

Bambi-lovers.

VIKING BOB

It's a long shot.

MITCHELL

You got a better idea?

57 EXT. HAUL ROAD - THE TURTLE - DAWN

Wisps of light cut across the cold blue sky.

Eric comes out of the Turtle, leaving the front door ajar.

He throws a knapsack of supplies into the back of the Scout.

58 INT. THE TURTLE

Corbett's right hand is still handcuffed to the wall unit.

Terrified about being alone with Corbett, Anne Marie

cautiously puts a cup of coffee in front of him.

CORBETT

How long have you been up north?

ANNE MARIE

(after a beat)

Six months.

CORBETT

Can't be. Too keen a sense of

this place in your pictures.

(CONTINUED)

58 CONTINUED:

ANNE MARIE

Six months this time. I was born

in the Aleutians.

CORBETT

Your people Alaskan?

Anne Marie doesn't want to talk to a killer, but Corbett is

so soft-spoken and charming that she answers despite

herself.

ANNE MARIE

My dad was a Navy doctor.

CORBETT

Knew you had no native blood,

even with your dark hair. Blue

eyes give you away. My wife had

blue eyes.

ANNE MARIE

Had?

CORBETT

She's dead.

ANNE MARIE

Oh.

CORBETT

Had some good years. Met her in

'66. She showed up one day in

Coldfoot. No one knew her. One

Sunday morning, she marched into

a bar and announced she was

available as a wife to the

highest bidder. Didn't work out

in three months, she'd return the

money and leave, no hard

feelings.

(off Anne Marie's amazed

look)

My bid was eight thousand

dollars. Beautiful girl.

ANNE MARIE

How did she..?

CORBETT

I was gone, in September, laying

traplines. She went to our cache

for some meat. Got mauled by a

bear. Tore open her skull.

-more-

(CONTINUED)

58 CONTINUED: (2)

CORBETT (Cont'd)

Might've lived if she got help,

but the exposed part of her brain

froze.

Anne Marie shudders. Smiling good-naturedly, Corbett looks

around, spotting the package Anne Marie's new dress came in.

CORBETT

(continuing)

What about you -- why come back?

Classy girl like you seems more

suited to the finer things.

ANNE MARIE

That's why I left, moved to

Washington. When I met Eric I

was doing day shoots -- products

and fashion, mostly. Pretty

dull. Eric was teaching college,

and then he got the job with

Northland Oil. We wanted to stay

together, so we talked them into

funding some wilderness

photography... and here I am.

As she's talking, the Turtle ROCKS slightly. She looks out

the tiny window.

HER POV - THROUGH WINDOW

Eric is putting Wilder's body inside an enclosed storage

compartment built flush into the side of the Turtle.

BACK TO SCENE

Horrified, Anne Marie turns away.

CORBETT

You should know something.

ANNE MARIE

I don't want to talk any more.

CORBETT

Wasn't my intention to hurt

Wilder. I'm telling you the

truth. I liked the man. I only

meant to get loose... to survive.

Your cheechako boyfriend better

understand that.

(beat)

Listen, I've got some money put

away --

(CONTINUED)

58 CONTINUED: (3)

ANNE MARIE

-- Don't ever think you can buy

Eric off, Mr. Corbett --

ERIC (OS)

-- Cheechako?

Eric comes in, none too thrilled about Anne Marie chatting

with Corbett.

ANNE MARIE

(translating)

Outsider.

He carefully stuffs Wilder's magnum in his belt and ignores

Anne Marie's disparaging look as he does.

ERIC

(to Corbett)

Let's go.

ANNE MARIE

Wait a second.

59 INT. THE TURTLE - REAR MODULE

Anne Marie leads Eric out of earshot from Corbett. Eric

keeps a cautious eye on him.

ANNE MARIE

Maybe you should drive him into

Devil's Cauldron, let them decide

what to do with him.

ERIC

(reassuringly)

Fairbanks is a three-hour flight.

I'll be back by dinnertime.

Realizing he's determined, she sighs and kisses him.

ERIC

(continuing)

Be careful, okay?

ANNE MARIE

That's my line.

CUT TO:

60 EXT. HAUL ROAD & FELDSPAR CREEK - DAWN

Eric and Corbett drive toward the deserted pumping station.

They cross over a prefabricated steel portal bridge spanning

a fast-running creek.

61 INT. SCOUT - (MOVING SHOT)

The wind whips through the shot-out wing window. Corbett's

handcuffs are lashed to the seat frame with sturdy nylon

rope.

62 EXT. PUMPING STATION

The pumping station consists of three corrugated steel

buildings. The largest is an airplane hangar.

Just beyond the hangar is a narrow blacktop landing strip

running parallel to the Haul Road.

63 INT. SCOUT - ANGLE THROUGH WINDOW - (MOVING SHOT)

Eric pulls up to the hangar. Suddenly, LeMalle steps out

from behind the building.

64 EXT. PUMPING STATION

LeMalle recognizes the International Scout. He swings his

rifle up to stop it.

Eric slams it in reverse and SCREECHES back around the

hangar.

MITCHELL (OS)

Aim for the tires!

LeMalle FIRES as the Scout rounds the corner. He hits a

fender, doing no damage. Angry, he runs after the vehicle.

65 INT. SCOUT - (MOVING SHOT)