Sacred Ground. Alex Archer

pleasure.” He gestured to the room. “Anything else you want to see here?”

      “You’re finished with whatever we came in for?”

      “I simply wanted to introduce you to the town. Figured it would be a nice way to ease you into things.”

      “Ease me into things.” Annja pursed her lips. “You’re just full of contradictions, aren’t you?”

      “How do you figure that?”

      “Because you basically kidnapped me earlier at our meeting. And now you’re talking about slowing down.”

      “Well,” Derek said. “I was sort of under orders not to let you back out of the arrangement. Not to give you an opportunity to say no. That kind of thing.”

      “I see.”

      “But now that you’re here in town, well, it’s different, isn’t it?”

      “If you say so.”

      Derek checked his watch. “We’re not going any farther today anyway.”

      “So, we’ll stay here tonight?”

      “Yup. Got us set up with reservations at the town inn. It’s just down the street.”

      “And what time will we be on the road tomorrow.”

      “Early as we can.”

      Annja nodded. “All right. Let’s go.”

      Outside the welcome center, the wind had picked up, making Annja’s face instantly feel as if it was baked leather. “I’m going to make a moisturizer company rich off of me,” she muttered.

      Derek smiled. “Believe it or not, you do get used to it.”

      “If you say so.”

      They slid back into the vehicle and the driver gunned the engine before shooting down the road. As they drove through the town, Annja spotted a number of kids out walking with their parents.

      “It amazes me what human beings can put up with,” she said.

      “It’s just one of those things, right?” Derek said. “If you don’t have the option to move elsewhere, you simply adapt. I think it’s our greatest strength. It’s what will someday enable us to colonize another planet.”

      “And hopefully treat it better than we’ve done with this one.”

      “Ouch.”

      Annja glanced at him. “Don’t worry, I won’t get preachy with you.”

      “Thanks.” He shrugged. “It’s not like I don’t care for the planet. It’s just that I’ve had to reconcile my work with my beliefs.”

      “And the bank account won, huh?”

      “Sure did.”

      “I’m sure you must sleep easy at night.”

      “I sleep well knowing I’ve taken care of my children.”

      Annja looked back from the window. “You have kids?”

      “Two of them. A boy and a girl. Eight and ten. Great kids. They live in California with their mother.” He shrugged again. “We’re divorced. She didn’t approve of my line of work.”

      “What does she do?”

      “She’s an advocate for Greenpeace,” he said, laughing.

      “Wow, how the hell did you two even get together in the first place?”

      Derek smiled. “I wasn’t always a corporate lackey. Before I sold my soul I was a lobbyist for the environment on Capitol Hill. We met at a luncheon or a dinner or something in Washington. We were young. Idealistic. We had plans at one point to start a utopian community in the Canadian wilderness.”

      “So, what happened?”

      “I came north to scout a location and somehow fell in with the mining corporation. They appreciated my zeal for causes near and dear to my heart. I thought Canada would be the best place to raise our children. The government at the time in the U.S. was something of a joke.”

      “Your wife didn’t want to move to Canada?”

      “Nope. Turns out she was still a bit of a patriot. She insisted that we raise the kids in the States.”

      “And around that time, the corporation got their hooks into you—is that about right?”

      “Yes. They offered me a public-relations job helping them get government approval for a project that didn’t pan out. I figured they’d let me go once it became obvious that we were digging in the wrong location. But that didn’t happen. Instead, they recognized what I’d been able to do for them and they promoted me.”

      “They must have seen something they liked,” Annja said. “One of those lucky breaks in life, huh?”

      “Well, it came with a big pay raise and now I get to spend lavishly on my kids, much to the dismay of their mother. But I don’t get a lot of time with them, so it’s my prerogative to do what I choose with my money. And, like I said, it helps me sleep at night. If anything happens to me, they’re set for life.”

      “I suppose that’s what it’s all about, huh?”

      “Anything for my kids,” Derek said. “Absolutely.”

      Annja nodded and went back to looking out the window. “I wouldn’t know about that yet.”

      “Kids?”

      “Yeah. Maybe someday.”

      “You’re attractive. I don’t think you’ll have a problem finding a husband if that’s what you want.”

      She glanced at him. “Did your files tell you about my personal life, as well?”

      Derek grinned. “Our information tends to be very complete. We need an accurate picture if we’re going to commit serious money to working with a certain person.”

      “I’m not sure I’m all that crazy about how much you seem to know about my life.”

      “It’s nothing personal, Annja. We take this approach with everyone we work with. The corporation is very concerned about the people it lets in on its secrets. News of this drill site isn’t even something that most people know about. At least not yet. Once we strike pay dirt, it will make headlines.”

      “There’s that much riding on this?”

      ““Even more,” Derek said. “If our figures turn out to be correct, and there’s every indication they will, then this mine will make Ekati look like a lemonade stand.”

      “Colorful.”

      “We think we could double their annual yield,” Derek said. “If not triple it.”

      “A billion dollars a year.” Annja whistled. “That would be impressive.”

      “With a substantial bonus for everyone involved.”

      “Even a contractor like me?” Annja asked.

      Derek shrugged. “Just do your job and get us the clearance we need from the Araktak elders. At that point, anything’s possible. Even for a contractor like you.”

      Annja nodded. “I’ll remember that.”

      “Please do. But just as certainly remember that you’ve only got four weeks. After that, no one wins. Least of all you.”

      3

      The SUV came to a stop in front of a long, squat building with a wooden sign twisting about in the stiff wind. Annja could just make out the name of the inn as The Breton. “This is where we’re staying?”

      Derek nodded. “I imagine it will