Sacred Ground. Alex Archer

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.”

      “Good idea.” She glanced back at their driver, who seemed to be paying more attention to the vehicle than to them. She turned and followed Derek inside the welcome center.

      She passed a display showing a map of the area. She stopped Derek. “Will we be working out of the town here?”

      He shook his head. “Nope. This is just our waypoint. We’ve got a temporary camp set up closer to the drill site. I mean the future drill site.”

      “Right now, it’s still sacred Inuit land.”

      “Araktak, to be accurate. They’ve been around these parts for—”

      “A thousand years, you told me.” Annja nodded. “I’m sure they’ve got an incredible history.”

      Derek frowned. “I wouldn’t know. They’re not one of the larger tribes in the area. They’ve remained incredibly independent despite the efforts to unify the smaller tribes into a larger one for the purposes of government help and education. I don’t think there’s a lot known about them.”

      “Interesting.”

      “It might be another coup for you.”

      Annja frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

      Derek smiled. “I know you’ve had a number of interesting discoveries in your time. Things you’ve had the good fortune to stumble across before anyone else. Perhaps the Araktak can be another jewel in your crown of accomplishments.”

      “Maybe,” Annja said. “I wouldn’t be looking at it as a way of one-upping my peers, though.”

      “Of course not,” Derek said. “It would just be another one of those nice things that some people have happen.”

      Annja frowned as she watched him walk away. What was his deal? She’d noticed he didn’t wear a wedding ring and although he seemed young, she could see the first streaks of gray hair marking their invasion at his temple. She estimated he was probably around forty. He seemed in good shape, and despite his avowed hatred of the cold, it hadn’t seemed to bother him too much when they’d been outside.

      Maybe he’s used to it by now, she thought.

      The display told Annja that Inuvik was small, only about three thousand people in total. It hadn’t been much of anything before 1979, but now it functioned as something of a gateway to the Mackenzie River and beyond into the Beaufort Delta, which bordered the Arctic Ocean.

      Derek reappeared behind her. “The main function of the town is to act as a staging area for truckers to haul loads up to the refinery projects on the delta. Once the river freezes, they actually drive across the frozen water to reach their destinations.”

      Annja frowned. “You’re not serious.”

      “I absolutely am.”

      Annja shook her head. “You’d never get me driving over ice like that. One wrong move, if it’s not thick enough and you could go right through and never be seen again.”

      “Very true. Many truckers have lost their lives to it, but then again, up here, it’s the only way to get things done.”

      “I hope you’re not going to tell me that the drill site is located anywhere near this frozen river.”

      Derek smiled. “Would you want to back out if it was?”

      “Very possibly.”

      “And what about all that money?”

      “Money’s nice. Living is nicer.”

      Derek grinned. “Well, don’t worry about it too much. The drill site lies inland, lucky for you.”

      Annja heaved a sigh of relief. “Thank God for small favors.”

      Derek eyed her. “You don’t strike me as someone afraid of much, especially a little frozen river.”

      “The frozen