9     EXT. ARCTIC - NIGHT                                      9

               A faint glow from the fore cockpit window is the only
               illumination of the crashed shuttle under the light of the
               full moon.



        10     INT. SHUTTLE - NIGHT                                    10

               Finn enters the shuttle clutching a part in his hand.  

               He comes through the hatch not even bothering to close it
               behind him and moves directly for Ethan, pulling the cover
               back and grabbing him by the lapels.

                                   FINN 
                         Get up damn you!

               Ethan tries to shrug off the painkillers.  He squints hard
               not sure why Finn is yelling.

                                   ETHAN
                         What?

               Finn holds up the crimped unit he's been carrying.

                                   FINN
                         This!  Did you really think I
                         wouldn't find this?

                                   ETHAN
                         What!

                                   FINN
                         You removed a panel and crimped the
                         line, jacked the sensors!  You
                         sabotaged the ship so we'd crash!

                                   ETHAN
                         Yes.

                                   FINN
                         Why?

                                   ETHAN
                         Because I don't want to die.

                                   FINN
                         What?

                                   ETHAN
                         The first duty of any captive is
                         escape.  You know that!

                                   FINN
                         You're not a prisoner of war Ethan!
                         You're a convicted felon.

                                   ETHAN
                         Heading to my own execution!
                             (pause)
                         I did what any intelligent human
                         being would, I tried to escape.

               Finn stands spreading his hands out calling attention to the
               crashed shuttle they're holed up in.

                                   FINN
                         Good job!  Between the Arctic and
                         your broken leg it's a miracle
                         you're not already dead! 

                                   ETHAN
                         My plan relied on our roles being
                         reversed right now.

                                   FINN
                         Oh really?  So you could slog
                         across a thousand clicks of
                         drifting snow?

                                   ETHAN
                         I forgot about the density.  It
                         clogged up faster than I expected.

               Finn backs off to recompose himself.

                                   FINN
                         You forgot.  Right.  So what were
                         you hoping for Buffalo Commons?

                                   ETHAN
                         If necessary, preferably somewhere
                         in Westcan.

                                   FINN
                         They would've tracked you down in
                         seconds there!

                                   ETHAN
                         Not necessarily.

                                   FINN
                         People don't just disappear, Ethan,
                         particularly in Westcan.

                                   ETHAN 
                         Wanna bet?

               Finn looks at him, a sane man unable to comprehend another's
               desperation.

                                   FINN
                         You might avoid Hi-Rez Imaging but
                         you can't beat Biometrics?

                                   ETHAN
                         If I'd a gotten away.  I would have
                         stayed away.

               Finn is sceptical.

                                   ETHAN (cont'd)
                         There's a war raging out there Finn
                         and the enemy's not the New Soviet.

                                   FINN
                         It's not?

                                   ETHAN 
                         No.  It's power hungry bureaucrats,
                         and the super elite.  It's intel
                         groups operating on their own
                         agendas.  It's the very people
                         running the Network.

                                   FINN
                         We're the safest we've been in over
                         a hundred years.  If they get the
                         job done then more power to them, I
                         say. 

                                   ETHAN
                         So did I, until they got funny with
                         me.

                                   FINN
                         Funny?

                                   ETHAN
                         The problem with power Finn is that
                         those who have it fail to see value
                         in anything else.

               Ethan grows more somber as he speaks.

                                   ETHAN (cont'd)
                         They get you to compromise yourself
                         until they've got you under their
                         control.  Next thing you know
                         you're parachuting into a hostile
                         power without backup looking for a
                         missing contact who has already
                         sold you out for his own safety.

                                   FINN
                         Do you expect me to believe you've
                         been running Black Ops?

                                   ETHAN
                         Believe what you want.

                                   FINN
                         Black Ops are a thing of the past.

                                   ETHAN
                         Hardly.

                                   FINN
                         Imaging and biometrics keep
                         everything transparent.

                                   ETHAN
                         There are ways around them and the
                         people who build those systems know
                         that better than anyone.

                                   FINN
                         Maybe.

                                   ETHAN
                         And those people are working with
                         Intel groups, compromising the
                         security of opponents while
                         increasing the integrity of
                         themselves.

                                   FINN
                         If it protects the status quo then
                         what's the problem?

                                   ETHAN
                         Easy to say until you're suddenly
                         on the naughty list.  Then your
                         only option is getting off the
                         registry, and yes!  There are
                         people right now who aren't on the
                         registry and some are ex-military.

                                   FINN 
                         I don't believe you.

                                   ETHAN
                         Fine.  Don't.  It doesn't change
                         anything.  Not until they recruit
                         you.  And they will.

                                   FINN
                         How can you be so sure they even
                         know who I am?

                                   ETHAN
                         Because I lit them on you a year
                         ago.
                             (pause)
                         You've been approached three times
                         already and you're not even aware
                         of it.

                                   FINN
                         I have not been approached.

                                   ETHAN
                         Sure you have.

                                   FINN
                         I would have noticed.

                                   ETHAN
                         They don't come right out and say,
                         "hey, wanna join a top secret
                         organization?"  They're more subtle
                         than that.

                                   FINN
                         I'm not stupid, I would recognize
                         even a subtle invitation.

                                   ETHAN
                         Apparently not but you have been
                         approached, recently and you know
                         how I know?

                                   FINN 
                         Pray tell.

                                   ETHAN
                         Your next assignment.  Peacekeeping
                         in Buffalo Commons, right?

                                   FINN
                         Yes.

                                   ETHAN
                         You just finished Special
                         Operations training Lef-tenant. 
                         Why are they wasting you on
                         Peacekeeping?

                                   FINN
                         A variety of skill sets are needed
                         on every mission.

                                   ETHAN
                         Special Ops in Peacekeeping?  No
                         way.  You're being capped.

                                   FINN
                         Absolutely not!

                                   ETHAN
                         You're being capped because at some
                         point someone tried to recruit you
                         and you turned them down.

               Finn thinks about it.

                                   ETHAN (cont'd)
                         You might not remember it, the
                         meeting would have been very low
                         key.  Maybe just a conversation
                         after an exercise you completed
                         that went really well or very
                         badly.  Maybe there was someone
                         present you didn't know.  A suit. 
                         A quiet person.  Maybe they asked a
                         few questions.  How would you
                         handle this?  What would you do
                         about that?

                                   FINN
                         So?

                                   ETHAN
                         I knew it.  You've been capped. 
                         Well, don't worry Lef-tenant,
                         they'll come again.  You'll get
                         another chance in six months or so. 
                         You watch.

               Finn starts to rise, by his expression Ethan knows he doesn't
               buy it.

                                   ETHAN (cont'd)
                         You still don't believe me?

                                   FINN
                         Do I have any reason to?

                                   ETHAN
                         It's the truth.  You have my word.

                                   FINN 
                         The word of a man convicted of
                         treason and murder.

                                   ETHAN
                         The first round in a battle for
                         freedom.

                                   FINN
                         You didn't kill an opponent Major! 
                         You gunned down our commanding
                         officer and you did it in public.

                                   ETHAN
                         I had to.  I had to make sure the
                         message got through.

                                   FINN
                         That's the first time in the
                         history of the Network that's
                         happened.

                                   ETHAN
                         It won't be the last.

                                   FINN
                         Why?

                                   ETHAN
                         Because the real enemy is closer
                         than you think.

               Finn leans back. Not convinced.  Ethan is fatigued.  He
               starts bundling up, laying back as best he can as the final
               exchange is passed between them.

                                   ETHAN (cont'd)
                         Look, you don't believe me now.  If
                         you're lucky you never will.  But
                         one day you might and then you'll
                         know it's what I had to do.

                                   FINN
                         Had to?

                                   ETHAN
                         It was the only way to stem the
                         tide.  It might have saved us all. 
                         But if not... at least it bought us
                         time.

                                   FINN
                         It's not going down in the books
                         that way.

                                   ETHAN
                         I know.  I knew that going in.
                             (pause)
                         That was the hardest part of it.

               Ethan closes his eyes.  Finn watches him a while
               contemplating what his old friend has said.  Mourning how he
               came to this stage in life.

               As he sits there we hear the gently increasing sound of waves
               crashing.  At a certain point the sound becomes quite audible
               and gets Finn's attention.

               He cocks his head listening to a noise that should be
               hundreds of kilometers away. 
               He turns toward the cockpit viewport and sees a faint
               colourful glow.  He rises, moving closer and then seeing the
               light through the open hatch he moves to it.

               There is an oddly colourful glow along the ice but the source
               is coming from ahead of the shuttle.

               Finn climbs through the hatch.



        11     EXT. ARCTIC - NIGHT                                     11

               Finn turns to face the sky ahead of the shuttle and is
               stunned.  Before him, across the dark curtain of night is the
               aurora borealis northern lights.  

               High charged plasma displays of ions impacting the magnetic
               field of the Earth and interacting with each other more and
               more as the concentrations grow denser here at the poles.

               As the waves of energy move the sounds of crashing waves
               grows in intensity.  It is a most phenomenal display.

               Finn looks around the sky to see how far it stretches and
               whether it's moving behind him or elsewhere and then he
               catches, out of the corner of his eye, a far and distant
               moving light.

               He turns, the Aurora to his back and cups his eyes staring
               off into the distant blackness.  He quickly reaches into his
               pocket for a small, thin, pair of Binoculars which he brings
               up and views through.



        12     EXT. ARCTIC - VIEW THROUGH BINOCULARS - NIGHT           12

               A click and the image zooms on a vehicle moving above the
               Arctic surface at quite a distance.

               Another click and the image is flash zoomed in ten times. 
               It's definitely a craft.

               Another click and we can almost read the REGISTRY NUMBER on
               the hull of the craft.  It is definitely a friendly vehicle.



        13     EXT. ARCTIC - NIGHT                                     13

               Finn pockets the Binoculars and then reaches inside the
               shuttle.



        14     INT. SHUTTLE - NIGHT                                    14

               Finn quickly grabs the COMM BOOSTER unit.



        15     EXT. ARCTIC - NIGHT                                     15

               Finn stands up, activates the Emergency Communicator.

                                   FINN
                         Rescue one-seven-one-niner-five. 
                         This Lef-tenant Finnegan 27 clicks
                         off your starboard side.  Come in.

               Nothing but digital static comes back over the unit.

                                   FINN (cont'd)
                         Rescue one-seven-one-niner-five. 
                         Do you read?

               Again nothing but the digital static.  Finn stops, thinking,
               forcing himself to think quickly.  He looks up at the
               Shuttle, pockets the Emergency Communicator and rushes toward
               the downed craft.



        16     INT. SHUTTLE - NIGHT                                    16

               Finn reaches inside the still open hatch and pulls open some
               panels foraging for a flare.  Nothing.  He stops, quickly
               trying to further his thought track.  Nothing.  He exits the
               craft.



        17     EXT. ARCTIC - NIGHT                                     17

               Finn glances down range at the dot still moving across the
               night sky.  He turns, looking at the Shuttle for some clues,
               some suggestions.  Nothing.  Then...

               Finn moves around the front of the craft looking for a
               specific hatch.  He comes to the underside just back of the
               cockpit and finds the panel he's looking for.

               He quickly keys in the access code which has enough power to
               pop the cover but not enough to roll it back.  Finn pulls his
               Military issue knife and jams it inside forcing the cover
               open.

               Carefully he removes a small missile from the tube.  He
               cradles the missile as he moves back around the topside of
               the craft holding it up in what little light is available to
               read the side label.

               The label is a variant of the WHMIS label with icons
               identifying the units yield and type.  Finn's critical
               concern is that the unit is neither Nuclear or Micro-Nuke.

               Satisfied he won't destroy them both he starts off across the
               icy plain lugging the Missile as carefully as he can.

               A fair distance later, the lit tent on the horizon, Finn
               stops and places the Missile gently on the snow.

               He then begins to chip away at the snow digging a flower pot
               pit with the Military Knife.  Then he grabs the missile and
               gently lowers it, nose down, into the ice pack.

               He pulls the label away, turns the dial screw to open the
               cover and then starts coding the missile active and setting
               the detonation time.

               Before concluding this he rises and cups his hands peering
               off into the distance, pulls his binoculars out again and
               confirms the search craft is still in sight.

               Finn touches the final activation and then rushes away.  Back
               toward Ethan and the downed Shuttle.

               Of course by this point he's already weary and the attempt to
               race across the snow again, even though he's not burdened
               with the missile, isn't easy.

               Finn looks over his shoulder as he runs thinking the unit
               must almost be ready to explode by now and that he probably
               didn't set enough time for it.

               He falters at the half way point, rises and continues, intent
               on clearing the blast zone.  Finn can see the shuttle up
               ahead and ideally would like to get behind the damaged craft
               before...

               The torpedo reaches zero and explodes.  The flash frame booms
               out from the center and knocks Finn over then covers him in a
               blast of debris, shrapnel and snow.

               As the smoke clears Finn, laying face down on the snow pack,
               stirs and then slowly rolls over looking at the rising plume
               of smoke and flame.  He finally starts to breathe again, even
               coughing.  His Emergency Communicator CHIRPS.

               Finn pulls it out and through the static he hears a voice.

                                   RESCUE (V.O.)
                         Boost your gain Finnegan.

               Finn follows instructions, the signal gets somewhat clearer.

                                   RESCUE (V.O.) (cont'd)
                         We're converging on your location
                         Lef-tenant.  We'll be there in a
                         few minutes.

               Finn rises starting toward the shuttle with some urgency.

                                   FINN
                         I've got injured.  I need Medical
                         Evacuation.

                                   RESCUE (V.O.)
                         Roger, we're Medivac capable.
                             (pause)
                         ETA is five minutes.

               Finn relaxes.

                                   FINN
                         Understood.

               Finn closes off communication as he continues back for the
               shuttle.

                                                          CROSSFADE TO:



        18     EXT. OVER ARCTIC - NIGHT                                18

               The RESCUE SHUTTLE moves off accelerating quickly away from
               the frozen wasteland.



        19     INT. RESCUE SHUTTLE - NIGHT                             19

               A MEDIC works on Ethan, checking his vitals in the back of
               the Rescue Shuttle.

               Finn is sitting there, bundled under a warm blanket and
               cupping a hot beverage while watching this.

               From up front a dark suited woman climbs through the
               umbilical to the cockpit and crouches behind Finn's left
               shoulder.  She is COOMBS, an early 30's corporate type.

                                   COOMBS
                         Nice flare Lef-tenant.

               Finn half glances back and nods.

                                   COOMBS (cont'd)
                         Ironic isn't it.
                             (pause)
                         Rescuing someone sentenced to
                         death.

                                   FINN
                         It's barbaric really.

                                   COOMBS
                         Quite.
                             (pause)
                         So.  You're off to Buffalo Commons?

               Finn glances back at her.  No reaction from Coombs.

                                   COOMBS (cont'd)
                         A clever chap like you should be
                         doing something more interesting,
                         don't you think?

               Finn grips his hot mug for comfort shaking off a chill as he
               responds off the cuff not really thinking about what Coombs
               has just said.  Finn will glance at Ethan at the tail end of
               his line and linger on the last word.

                                   FINN
                         They say it's the hottest summer
                         down there in years.
                             (pause)
                         I'm actually looking forward to it.

               As Finn speaks this last bit Coombs nods and slinks back into
               the dark recesses of the umbilical toward the cockpit.

               Finn suddenly puts what Ethan was saying together with what
               has just been happening and turns quickly to get a good look
               at Coombs.

               Coombs is already gone.  Finn allows a sly grin to creep
               across his face.  He then nods slightly as he looks at Ethan.

                                   FINN  (aside) (cont'd)
                         Subtle indeed.



        20     EXT. RESCUE SHUTTLE - NIGHT                             20

               The craft continues off into the distance.

               FADE TO BLACK.

 
               THE END