Flight of the Phoenix Page #3

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Blew in in the middle

of the Mongolian desert?

Said he was taking a year off

work, hitching around the world.

He was supposed to fly out a few

weeks ago. His ride never came.

He's been stuck with us ever since.

Not bad.

- That's the last one.

- All right.

Well, we got a decent amount of water.

We each drink a pint a day...

that gives us enough for about 30

days, if we don't exert ourselves.

Which I'm guessin' wasn't a

concern with the rest of this crew.

I don't see you breaking a sweat, stud.

- Hey, chef.

- Yo.

Chef, how are we doin' on food?

Well, the good news is that

besides the powdered eggs...

all the food's been

canned in water or juice.

The bad news is, it's all

peaches and hearts of palm.

Well, that buys us a couple extra days.

Ain't that just great news.

So how screwed are we?

Pretty screwed.

Where are we?

Somewhere around here, in the middle of the

Yol Valley, 200 miles west of our course.

- We're still in Mongolia?

- Nah.

I think we're in China.

Just over the border.

Wouldn't suppose there'd be a Four

Seasons Hotel out here, would there?

Langhu, a few hundred miles

just due south of here.

Well out of walking range.

I could make it. I could walk to Langhu.

I'm in good shape. I

ran three marathons.

In a row, I hope.

Have you walked in the desert before?

I hiked in the Mojave

with my girlfriend.

This isn't the Mojave.

This is the Gobi. And let me warn you,

July is the hottest month in the Gobi.

You will be taking a pint of

water, and you'll sweat 10.

I'll just go by night.

You'd have to. But how

would you keep your course?

A compass.

Beyond these dunes, we are

surrounded by Altai Mountains.

And they are mostly magnetic rock.

Have you ever seen a compass dance?

What about this map?

I'll just take this map.

How old is that map, Captain?

Too old, the way the sand

shifts around here all the time.

And Captain Towns's calculations

could be off by 20 percent.

- No offense. I'm not saying that they are.

- None taken.

But even if the captain

is one percent in error...

and you march 300 miles by the stars...

you'd miss Langhu, and you wouldn't

even know it was there to miss.

You'd be walking in a circle.

- You're

right-handed? - Right.

That means your right leg's more developed

than your left. You take a longer step with it.

You'd be walking in

a left-handed circle.

You know what? Forget it,

all right? Y'all win, okay?

This isn't about winning or losing.

This is about staying alive.

Hey, Rod?

Hmm?

You don't-

You don't think the suit was right...

do you?

That I jinxed us or-

Don't worry about it,John.

Just try and get some sleep.

Maybe I should save this.

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