by Cliff Ryder
Here it comes, he thought.
She shifted from one foot to the other.
Oh, yeah. She's mine, he added to himself.
"You know, maybe we should start over," she said.
He tried not to smile in victory, but he knew he was failing when he saw her wrinkled brow.
"I wasn't saying that to be funny," she said.
"I know," he said.
She set her coffee on the counter, reached out her hand and said, "Tina Kanut, guide, trapper and on occasion not a half-bad dancer. And you are?"
Jason grinned and stared at her hand. He put his coffee down, as well, and put both of his hands on hers. He shook his head and she pulled her hand away.
"I could just leave you here," she said.
"You could, but you won't."
"How do you know that?"
"Pretty simple. You know if I was going to hurt you, I would have done so when I was already getting rid of the bodies. You also know that those were not nice men and that I was only protecting my backside. And finally…"
Jason paused, knowing that she wouldn't be able to go on without hearing the last and he did have so much fun with word games sometimes. In a life like he lived, the little amusements were all one sometimes had.
"Finally, what?" she asked.
"Finally I wasn't just protecting my backside. I was also protecting yours."
She pondered for a moment and then looked at him with renewed conviction. "You know, that's one of the few things you've said that I do believe."
"Why?" he asked.
"Because you slept out in the living room on the sofa instead of in the bedroom," she said. "If someone tried to come in during the night, you wanted to be between me and them, didn't you?"
He nodded, surprised that she had even noticed.
"I don't trust you," she said, her tone decisive. "And I don't think you've told me the whole truth. But what I need to know is if you're here to hurt someone. I'm not just taking you to any village. I'm taking you to my village. If you can't or won't tell me the truth about your purpose up here, I guess that's your problem, but I have to know that you're not out to hurt the people I care most about."
"Scout's honor," he said without hesitation. "I'm not here to hurt anyone."
She pushed away from the counter and started walking to her room, but stopped in front of him. Her hip brushed his as she said, "I bet you weren't ever really a Boy Scout."
Jason watched the way she walked, her flannel pants perfectly outlining her behind. "No," he whispered to himself, completing the old joke, "but I got kicked out for eating a Brownie or two."
* * *
Jason waited for Tina in the living room. She came out of her room with a bag in tow.
"How soon can we make it to your village?" he asked.
"It won't take too long — about a half day — but we need to talk to whatever local authorities are here first and turn over those weapons. I imagine that could see us here for an extra day."
"Why don't we take them along with us?" Jason suggested. "Then we can report them to the authorities in your village. You probably know them, and my timetable doesn't get held up. I'm on a bit of a schedule."
"You don't have any intention of giving those weapons over to the police, do you?" she asked.
"If you'll recall," he said, striving to keep his voice calm, "I didn't want you to bring them along in the first place. But the answer to your question is no. I don't have time to deal with local officials right now. You can believe me when I say that those weapons will get turned over to the proper authorities, more so even than the local cops, who would probably just sell them at the next police auction or keep them for themselves."
Tina didn't say anything, but Jason could tell she was considering what he said carefully.
"Not to mention," he continued, "that it's hard to run an operation like that without it drawing notice, especially in small towns or communities where everyone knows everyone else. The odds are good that someone pretty high up on the law-enforcement side of things around here is on the take, maybe even actively participating, and they are not going to take kindly to our taking away a large chunk of their bread and butter."
She tossed up her hands in surrender. "Fine, fine," she said. "But at the least, I want to talk to the local cops in my village. I know them, and I can't imagine any of them are involved. Fair enough?"
Jason nodded his head in agreement, while thinking about how he could stall her again on the issue once they arrived at her village.
"Can we go, then?" he asked.
"Sure," she said. "The sooner we leave, the sooner we'll get there. I'd hate for your timetable to be off by more than a minute or two." The sarcasm in her voice was cutting, but he ignored it.
Instead, he headed outside, gently pulling her along behind him. "Good deal," he said. He'd picked up his little motion sensors while she was getting ready to leave and had gathered his own things together. The ATVs were right where they had left them. The town was just beginning to wake up and Jason didn't want to get stuck answering questions about missing members of the local population. Before he moved the bodies, Jason had done quick scans of their fingerprints and took digital pictures of their faces. When they settled at the cabin he sent them to Room 59 via a satellite uplink from his PDA. The response had been fairly quick. All three had rap sheets that weren't far from what they had been caught at yesterday and two were from the village that they were currently situated in. Denny had sent a message asking for a mission update as soon as possible.
They warmed up the ATVs and were quickly back on the road. Jason was getting used to the cold. The sun was just beginning to peek through the slate-gray clouds on the eastern horizon. He was thankful that there was daylight available at all. In another couple of months, it would be perpetual night up here. On the other hand, that might have served his purposes better. In his experience, the environment could help or hinder a mission and there was little predicting what the weather was really going to do from one day to the next. Up here, it could change in a minute, so he knew it would be wise for him to keep an eye on the weather.
Tina had mentioned to him that they would follow a road to the next village, and Jason kept waiting for it to appear, but it soon became apparent that her idea of a road was more like a vague path with some barely visible tire tracks tracing a route of some kind between the vast jumbles of rock they were crossing. Clumps of brown autumn grasses did little to brighten the landscape. The ATV bounced roughly, jarring his tailbone with each bump.
He thought about his guide. She wasn't like anyone he'd ever met. A beautiful distraction for sure, he reminded himself, watching her maneuver her vehicle around the worst of the bumps.
He hoped he could finish the mission and get out of here sooner rather than later. What his life didn't need right now was an additional complication…and women were always complicated.
6
After a couple of hours, they arrived at a small weatherworn wooden building that must have been a frequent stop for travelers along this route. Jason was more than happy to be off the ATV. While he'd traveled via almost every kind of transportation known to man, those experiences didn't make riding the ATV over rough terrain any more comfortable. He went to the small fire pit in the corner and found it stocked with dry firewood, tinder and kindling. He made quick work of getting the fire going and soon had the chill gone from the air.
The only furniture in the shack was a small wooden picnic table with benches. Tina opened her pack and pulled out a couple of cans of soup, popped off the tops and set them on the small grate by the fire. It only took a couple of minutes for them to heat up. She added a couple of apples and a plastic package of crackers. She removed the soup cans from the grate and put them on the table, then handed him a spoon. "Eat up," she said.
Jason couldn't have been more happy if he had been served a five-star meal.
"So how did you get into being a guide?" he asked between bites. "You mentioned you
r grandfather back at the hotel, but you're obviously bright and capable. Have you ever thought of leaving here?"
"You mean go be someone's gofer and live in the big city?" she asked.
"No, I didn't mean it like that, honest. I'm just…curious."
"I started hunting and fishing when I was a little girl. Of course, as a teenager there was nothing that I wanted more than to get away from my village or any other village up here. My parents died when I was ten, and my grandfather raised me. He indulged in my every whim and so when I said I wanted to go to the big city he was heartbroken but supported me anyway. My grandfather is a man who lives and respects our past and the roots of our culture.
"Anyway, I went to New York. I earned my degree and started working. I got to see and do quite a bit, but after a couple of years, I realized I hated my job. I hated the life I was living — or, more accurately — wasn't living. I went to the top of my apartment building one night and realized that while I might be closer to the sky way up there, I sure as hell couldn't see it. I started missing home. So I quit and came back here, but instead of working for someone else I started our guide operation," she said.
"You? I didn't know you owned the company. I thought the CEO was some guy named Tanuk."
She laughed. "Tanuk is my grandfather. He taught me everything I know about how to do this part of the job. His position is advisory, and he's a very wise man, but he's mostly a figurehead. Still, he's the head of my family and I would not dishonor that by acting like I could have done this all on my own."
Jason realized he'd never really had that kind of connection with anyone. As far as he was concerned his roots only went as far as the file that was sealed when he was eighteen. There were times, like recently, where he desperately wanted to have the foundation that she was talking about. He shook his head, trying to chase away the longing that was starting to fill him.
"What about your family?" she asked. "Do you have any clues besides your last name?"
"Not really," he said. "But I'm not here for that anyway. Maybe someday I'll come back up here and see what I can find out. I can't afford to get caught up in personal stuff when I'm on a deadline."
"So you don't have any family at all?" she asked, the tone in her voice one of sorrow.
"Just me," he said. "But that's all I've ever needed anyway."
"No man can stand alone forever," she whispered, unconsciously echoing Denny's words.
"Maybe not," he said, gruffly. "But he can try."
* * *
They traveled another three hours before Jason began to see signs of life. As they rounded a small hill, avoiding a cluster of bone-white boulders, he saw the first cabin. Soon, more buildings appeared and Tina brought her ATV to a halt.
"Home," she said, pointing to the village at the bottom of the hill that was made up of buildings lined up in a jagged row that followed the edge of the water, but were far enough back that the occasional flooding wouldn't bother the residents.
Some of the buildings looked as modern as anything in Anchorage, but others showed they were from a forgotten era. Jason raised an eyebrow when he realized that at the far side of town there were a large number of tents erected. His gaze followed the line of tan canvas tents until they disappeared behind a low hill and went out of sight.
"What do you make of that?" he asked, pointing to the row of tents.
"Those tents belong to people who live on the outer rim. They come here to barter and trade for supplies before winter really sets in. Once it does, they have to make do with what they have. They are a beautiful people, living almost entirely off the land and staying close to their traditions."
She guided him to a small cabin on the outskirts of town. It wasn't nearly the size of the one that they had stayed in the night before, but was large enough to suit his needs. Jason set his bag on the sofa and surveyed the room. There was only one door in or out, and there was a woodstove instead of the roar of the fireplace.
"So, will this do?" she asked. "There's plenty of wood laid in, and the kitchen is stocked, too."
"Should be just fine," he said. "Where's your place?"
"Her place," said a deep voice from behind them, "is with me."
They both turned to see an old man standing in the doorway. He balanced his weight on his cane, pulling himself up to his full height, and doing his best to give off a sense of strength and intimidation.
"Grandfather," Tina said, "this is Jason Siku. He's the client I went to pick up in Anchorage."
She walked over to kiss him fondly on the cheek. He shared her eyes, but if he'd once had the same vibrant spirit as his granddaughter, time and the harsh roads he'd taken in life had worn it down to a nub. Still, he held the same air of confidence Jason had seen in many tribal elders. What he lacked in energy, he most likely made up for in hard-won wisdom.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, sir," Jason said. He moved closer to the old man and extended his hand.
Tanuk had a firm grip despite his age, and his dark, leathery skin had been weathered by the tough environment as much as by age. A small tattoo was inked at the base of his thumb, and though there was something familiar about it, Jason couldn't place it. He made a mental note to try to figure it out later.
He took Jason's hand and pulled him closer, his eyes staring at him intently.
"Siku," Tanuk said. "You must be related to Jesse. You look just like him."
Tina snapped her fingers. "You're right, Grandfather! He does look like Jesse. I've been trying to put my finger on why he looked so familiar. It never crossed my mind to consider someone right here in the village."
"Jesse?" Jason asked.
"He lives here," she said. "I'll be sure and introduce you. Maybe he's a long-lost relative or something. Now that I'm aware of it, you two really do look alike." She shook her head. "I can't believe I didn't put it together before. I'm supposed to be the observant one."
"Or maybe," Jason replied, thinking that running into a potential family member would only make this mission more difficult, "you could just show me around the village a little and then we can get some rest. There are a lot of areas I need to look at that could be of interest to my company."
Tina paused briefly, then nodded. "Sure. I'll meet you outside in ten."
Tina locked arms with her grandfather as they walked down the steps. The hard edge that he was coming to know in Tina's personality all but vanished as she walked along with the man who'd seen her through so much of her life. Once again, the thought crossed his mind that the choices he'd made in his life were causing him to miss out on other things, maybe things that were more important than he'd realized.
Maybe this might be the place to find those things, he thought. He shook his head. All of that would have to wait. The mission came first.
Maybe the difference between working for the CIA and Room 59 was that by their nature, Room 59 missions held the potential for more distractions and complications. Quite often, his previous work could have been boiled down to travel here, kill this dictator, come home. Repeat as needed. There were never personal aspects to the missions because it was never personal.
While he was waiting for Tina to return, Jason grabbed his GPS gear and some other equipment and put it all in a weatherproof backpack. He also changed clothes, opting for long silk underwear and multiple layers to try to stave off the cold a little better. He didn't know how long he'd be outside, but he absolutely needed to find a clear spot to set up the drop for his other equipment. His contacts would be expecting the signal and it would be a lot easier to handle in the little bit of daylight that was left rather than having to stumble around in the dark.
He left the cabin and found that Tina was waiting outside, but Tanuk was nowhere in sight.
"You must be tired," she said. "We can do this first thing tomorrow if you'd like."
The dusky horizon showed there was little time left to get the bearings he needed. He shook his head. "Just a quick tour so that I have a basic idea of
the landscape and we'll call it a day," he said. "Timelines, you know."
"You keep mentioning this timeline," she replied. "If you shared it with me, I might be able to help you reach your goals."
"Unfortunately, I don't know the exact details myself quite yet. I'll get more information as I go along. The biggest hurry right now is just getting started. Once I do that, I'll know more from there."
"Still not willing to share the details?" she asked. She made a soft tsking noise. "You know, my grandfather believes that it's unhealthy to keep everything bottled up inside, but, hey, it's your life." She gestured in the direction of the coast. "Let's take a little walk that way, so you can at least avoid falling into the ocean."
"Well, I don't think I need that much hand-holding," he said. "I can usually tell if I'm at a waterline."
"The waterline isn't the problem," she said. "It's the tundra grasses." She pointed to the small peninsula-shaped fingers of grass that pointed out into the ocean. "The water slips beneath the tundra grasses, eroding the soil beneath but they look safe enough. It's hard to tell where the solid ones are versus the ones that are little more than plants on top of a thick layer of muck until it's too late. Some of them are actually quite deep."
"Deep enough to get swept away in?" he asked.
"Not usually," she said. "But what can happen is that the ground basically turns into quicksand, or even a sort of natural cement. It can leave you stuck out there all night and as you might imagine, it can get downright chilly before the sun comes up. Here, let me show you."
They walked up a slope at the center of the village. People waved and called out greetings to Tina as they walked past, but like any other small village he'd ever been in, they were uncertain of strangers and said little to him. They finished the short climb and came upon a beautiful view of the ocean. The cove below them was empty, waiting for the evening tide to roll in.
"When I was a little girl," Tina said, "my dad would take me down there to dig for clams. We would wade out in the mud up to our hips with little shovels and buckets, searching out our dinner. Look over there." She pointed to one edge of the cove.
