35. helicopter pilot. likes chess. hates the cold. the pay is good.
poor little son of a bitch. you're starting to lose it, aren't you?
cheating bastard.
we got any more of those electronic chess things down in supply?
what for?
craziness.  this is goddamn insane.
it's against regulations to go up this time of year!
so, i don't want to end up crawling around with them when we go down.
what are you talking?! he's had two months training in those choppers!
what is it out there, anyway? forty- five knots?
and the horse you rode in on. sixteen for how long?! you can't predict this time of year.
anybody in there?!
come to help you!!
give me a hand.
hey, sweden! you okay?
sweden?!
come on, copper.
hey, sweden!!!
norwegian of the month, doc. harmless.
holy shit.
portable video unit.
anything?
what are you doing?
it's getting late. hurry it. i'm going to check the last few rooms.
copper, come here!!
careful. it's about to go.
little ice core drilling.  some seismology.  glaciology.  same old shit we do.
just listen.
decanite? thermite charges?
what in.
clark.
dogtown's going nuts. take care of it.
i'm going to shoot.
clark? where are you? clark!
childs, you got the torch? you get your ass in here!!
torch it over there!
screw the dogs!! torch it!!
don't let up, childs!
screw it, i'm going up anyway.
so what do you make of it?
no chance it could have been some new kind of test craft?
look, i'm just guessing.
so it crashes, and this guy, whoever he is, gets thrown out, or walks out, and ends up freezing.
yeah, they dig him up and cart him back. he gets thawed out, wakes up and scares the shit out of them. and they get into one hell of a brawl.
i don't know how. because he's different than we are. because he's a space guy. what do you want from me, anyway. go ask blair.
and the horse you rode in on, fuchs. light it up.
fuck history. at least we're going to live to be an old bunch of assholes.
i ain't going anywhere in anything over forty knots, garry.
all set.
to us.
now go easy on me, esperanza. i'm just a beginner.
aw shit.
sorry, hon.
never any damn ice around here.
now in mexico.  tahiti.  they got ice.  they got ice coming out of their ears.
as he makes his way down with the aid of the steadying ropes. the clanking louder now. he senses the direction.
at the bottom near the main compound. the sound has stopped. he looks around in the near blackness. a beat.
what's.
he smashed one of the choppers up good. childs, go check the other one and the tractor.
too damn dangerous.
no, wait a minute. the fuse box.
look blair, maybe you're right about this. but we've got to be rational. we've got to talk this over. i'm unarmed and i'm coming in.
if you're right we've all got to stick together.
and mainly ours.
leave a bit of an opening so he can see out.
how you doin', old boy?
know what you mean, blair. trust is a tough thing to come by these days. just trust in the lord.
what?
they couldn't have gotten that far in this weather.
i am going after them.
get these things out of supply and meet me over by the snowmobiles.
palmer, how long would it take you to strap those big four-cylinder carburetors on?
then get a move on. childs, come with me.
that's good enough.
let's load 'em.
steadying his binoculars, while childs drives, spots something up ahead. the vehicles slow down and come to a halt. something lies just ahead of them in the whiteness, in the middle of the dog tracks.
maybe dinner.
i know.
probably the next meal.
where these tracks headed?
let's move.
turn back if you want.
where's your buddy, boy? huh?
let that thing fly, childs. don't let up until he's ash.
childs!!
stay back!!
how the fuck do i know?!
torch them!!
he's gone already! do it!
well, you can believe it now.
nauls found this yesterday. it's ripped just like the clothing on the norwegian we brought back. the same thing was happening to bennings' clothes when it got to him. seems these things don't imitate clothes. just flesh and bone.
size large. what do you wear, clark?
so do i. so do most of us.
doubt if it got to more than one or two of us. but it got to someone. somebody in this room ain't what he appears to be.
copper thinks they swallowed pieces of it during the fight.
was it broken into?
well, who's got access to it?
would that test have worked?
who else could have used that key?
could anyone have gotten it from you?
put it away, sanchez. just put it away.
maybe it should be someone a bit more even-tempered, childs.
any objections?
from what we know this thing likes to go one on one. so we stick together as much as possible. in two's and three's.
we got morphine, don't we.
well, we keep them loaded. stash them here in the rec room and watch 'em twenty-four hours.
right. half of us awake at all times.
can you think of any other tests?
also.  when this thing turns.  it turns slowly at first. i think we can handle it in that state. but if it ever got to full power.  from what i saw of that norwegian camp.  well, i just don't know.  it would probably take it an hour or more to get like that. so no matter what anybody's doing, we all return to this room every twenty minutes. anybody gone longer than that.  anybody trying to leave.  we kill 'em.
look for shoes, too. and burned cloth.
just keep looking.
how's it going?
gotchya.
move it, palmer.
start taking apart those snowmobiles next, huh?
what's happened?!
yeah!
well, let's get down there.
what?
oh, shit! well, hang on!
where's sanchez?
who.  who is that?
sanchez? hey, who.
we going to make it?
screw the flashlights. where the hell were you?
anybody see fuchs.  or hear him? huh?
that storm's going to start ripping any minute -- so we don't have much time.
we've got to find fuchs. when we find him -- we kill him.
if he's one of those things, we've got to get to him before he changes.  nauls, you and childs and i'll check the outside shacks.
sanchez, you and palmer search the inside.
cut the bullshit.  okay, sanchez, you come with us. norris.  you stay here.  any of them move -- you fry 'em. and if you hear anything, anything at all you let loose the siren. we all meet back here in twenty minutes regardless. and everybody watch whoever you're with. real close.
let's move.
hey, blair!!
has fuchs been out here?
have you come across fuchs?
we'll see.
couldn't be possible. must have weighted a ton and a half.
open up!
hey, somebody! open up, it's me, macready.  . come on, damn it.  the towline snapped. been crawling around like a seal out here.
where is everybody?! i'm half frostbit!
what's going on out there?
what are you doing?
what clothes?
someone's trying to mark me, you bastard.  trying to frame me.
anyone messes with me -- the whole camp goes.
put those torches on the floor and back off.
back way off.
where's the rest.
so help me i mean it!!
anybody touches me.  we go.
go untie the doc. get him in here. bring the others, too.  from now on no one gets out of my sight.
so you sweethearts had yourselves a little trial. i just may have to kill you on general principle, nauls.
ever occur to the jury that anybody could have gotten to some of my clothes and stuck them up.
i'm a real light sleeper, childs.
and if anyone tries to wake me.
get out of the way!!
a little test.
i'm sure a lot of you already know.
palmer, you and copper tie everyone down. real tight.
for your health.
damn if i won't.
then i'll have to kill you.
i mean it.
tie up clark, too.
norris looked pretty dead, himself. bullets don't kill these things.
now copper, you tie palmer up.
we're going to draw a little bit of everybody's blood.
watching norris in there.  gave me the idea that maybe every part of you bastards is a whole. every piece of you is self-sufficient, an animal unto itself. when a man bleeds it's just tissue. but blood from one of you things won't obey. it's a newly formed individual with a built-in desire to protect its own life. when attacked, your blood will try and survive -- and crawl away from a hot needle say.
now you.
slide it back here.
now step way back.
i guess you're okay.
i didn't think you'd use that fibrillator on norris if you were one of them.
watch them.
now i'll show you what i already know.
we'll see. let's try clark.
palmer now.
thought you'd feel that way, garry. you were the only one who could have gotten to that blood plasma.  . we'll do you last.
copper!!
perspiring profusely, his hand trembling slightly, prepares to continue the test. he heats the wire.
blair.
everything that's been missing.
smart s.o.b. he put it together piece by piece.
anyplace but here.
but he ain't going to make it.
forget about childs. he's over.
it'll come. it needs us. we're the only thing left to imitate.  give me a hand.
you and nauls got to block off the west side bunks, the mess hall and the kitchen.
chance we got to take. we got to force him to come down the east side to the door we got rigged.
i'm going to blow the generator when you get back. he'll have to come for us -- or freeze.
we've got portable heaters -- we'll last longer.
hold it.
sodium cyanide. we place them between our cheeks and gums.  this thing can't imitate anything that's dead.
if it gets a hold of you -- bite down.  they're supposed to be fast and painless.  now move.
looks good.
what are they doing out there?!
got to get to the generator.
the generator!
calm down and get in your position.
little over two hours.
then we go after him.
wait.
okay, creep! just you and me now! be on your toes! we're going to do a little remodeling!
chime in if you know that words, old boy.
plows through several more rooms before ending up in the pub area. he backs it up and retrieves a bottle of liquor from the bar.
you like whiskey? come on, join me for a drink. be good for you. grow fangs on your chest.
damn it, ran out of gas.
sweetheart, it's going to get mighty cold in here soon.  you better make your move.  i mean, hell, i'm only one person.
i know you're bugged because we ruined your trip, right? spiffy little toy you had there.
but your real hang up is your looks.
atta boy. i know you're around.
come on, sucker.
i think so.
yeah. i got it. pretty mean frostbite.
not the only one.
neither will we.
maybe we shouldn't.
maybe we shouldn't make it.
if we've got any surprises for each other -- we shouldn't be in any condition to do anything about it. you play chess?