Sacred Ground

“Only some?”

“I’ve never been on an archaeological excursion.”

“Make some time,” Annja said. “Come and join me on this one.”

“I hate the cold,” Derek said.

Annja smiled. “You’re kidding.”

“I wish. It’s the one part of this job that I struggle with on a constant basis. If there was any way to do this from the warm beaches of Fiji, I’d be a much happier man.”

“I guess not, though, huh?”

“No.”

“The rest of my payment will be transferred in four weeks?”

“Or upon completion of the job, whichever comes first. If you finish in two weeks, you get a fifty percent bonus.”

Annja leaned back. “Mighty generous of you.”

“Not my decision, actually, but I’ll pass it on. Remember what I told you, that we’re in the time-is-money realm. My bosses want this thing to move ahead quickly. I hope we can count on you.”

“If you had any doubts, I wouldn’t be here, would I?’

“Nope.”

Annja stood. “All right. I’m in.”

“Excellent.”

“I’ll need a week to get my stuff together and gather up what I’ll need to make sure I’ve got the necessary tools—”

“We leave right now.”

“Excuse me?”

Derek smiled. “Whatever you need, we can pick up on the way. Inuvik has a number of good locations to pick up supplies.”

“I wasn’t planning on this happening so quickly.”

“But I know for a fact that you always manage to land on your feet, even in the most surprising situations.”

Annja frowned. “I don’t like working this way.”

“Consider it a show of good faith. You indulge us in this little matter and we’ll make sure you have whatever it is that you need.”

“Okay, but if I don’t have my supplies, I walk away and keep the advance.”

“Done.”

Annja looked at him for a long moment and then nodded. “All right.”

Derek held out his hand. “Welcome aboard.”

Annja hesitated and then shook his hand. “I hope I meet your expectations accordingly.”

“I know you will.”

He guided her out of the hotel lobby and toward the front door. Outside, amid the swirling snow, Annja could just make out the blackened windows of a big SUV. Exhaust issued from the tailpipe.

“Been waiting long?”

Derek shrugged. “Things tend to freeze a lot faster up here. We keep engines going when we can.”

“How very environmentally friendly of you.”

Derek let the barb roll off his back. “Look, Annja, I know you said you tend to live in the past.”

“But—?”

“Keep the future in mind. Four weeks, to be exact. That’s the maximum amount of time I can allot you in this assignment. Anything more and we come in. And then all of that history—whatever happens to be left—gets ground up under our drill bits.”

2

The ride to Inuvik was spent with Annja praying that the heavy tires on the SUV didn’t blow out as they drove over portions of highway, sections of hard gravel and even dirt road. She thanked the inventor of shock absorbers many times during the ride, but even still, when she finally arrived at the Inuvik Welcome Center, Annja found herself massaging her buttocks.

Derek didn’t look as if he’d fared much better. “The last time I rode up here, it wasn’t that bad,” he said.

“Maybe you guys could chip in for a highway reconstruction project. Throw a few million at them to pave the entire expanse for the sake of butts everywhere.”

Derek laughed. “I’ll talk to my superiors about it.”

Annja glanced around. Thick snow coated every exterior surface. Her breath seemed to stain the air in front of her face and then drop to the ground already frozen. “Just how cold is it?”

“Right now?”

“Yeah.”

“About thirty below.”

Annja sighed. Back in the deep freeze. She had visions of her expedition to Antarctica. But that had been to dispute the existence of an alien race. This was far simpler. Her job was to get in and help the local tribe relocate their sacred relics out of the mining company’s drill site.

There couldn’t be much danger in that, could there?

She grinned in spite of the cold, feeling her skin almost crack as she did so.

Derek noticed the expression on her face and nodded. “Maybe we should get inside.”