He stood as she reached the table and offered his hand. “Jason Siku,” he said, keeping his handshake firm and businesslike. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“Hi, Mr. Siku,” she said. “Tina Kanut. It’s nice to meet you, too.”
A sexy voice, too, Jason thought, then forced himself to business. “Please, sit down.” He resisted the urge to pull out her chair.
They both sat, and he signaled the waitress, who came over and took their drink orders. Scotch on the rocks for him, and a soft drink for her. They made meaningless small talk until the drinks arrived, then turned to business.
“So,” Tina said. “The agency told me that you were looking for a native guide, all the way up to the Bering Strait. That’s a long haul from here.”
He nodded. “Yes,” he said. “My thought is to fly to Nome, then head up along the coast.”
She considered this for a moment, then said, “That makes the most sense, but it’s not an easy trek, Mr. Siku. There are only a few roads leading out of Nome, and even those only go a short distance. After that, it’s ATVs and hard work.”
“I can handle it,” he said. “I’ve traveled all over the world in some of the roughest country this planet has to offer.”
Tina laughed quietly. “I’ve heard that before, too,” she said, then changed tack. “What are you looking for specifically?” she asked. “I might be able to save you a lot of time if I know what you’re after.”
“Nothing in particular,” he said. “The company I work for does detailed, computer-based mapping, combining physical inspections, satellite imagery and aerial photography. They send me out in advance of the regular team so I can get the lay of the land, let them know of any problems the ground team might encounter before they arrive.”
“You don’t work for an oil company, do you?” Her tone was one of pure suspicion.
“An oil company?” Jason asked, honestly perplexed. “No. Pretty much I’m a what-you-see-is-what-you-get kind of guy. Why would you think I work for an oil company?”
“No reason,” she said, her voice filled with doubts.
“Look, Tina,” he said. “I need a guide and you’re who my company arranged for. The agency says you’re the best. I’m not sure where all your suspicions are coming from, but I can assure you that I only want to tour the region and head back home.”
“My suspicions are pretty well founded,” she said. “You wouldn’t be the first native or half native who’s come up here, working for one of the oil companies and looking to exploit my people.”
Jason chuckled in sudden understanding. “Well, you’re right about part of that, anyway,” he said. “Yes, I’m half-Inuit. But I grew up in an orphanage and I don’t know much at all about my biological parents, where they live or anything else. To be honest, I don’t really care. I’m just here to do a job and go home.” He let his tone turn more serious. “I don’t have any interest in doing anything other than my scout survey job, and then I’m gone.”
“Siku is a common enough name, but there is something vaguely familiar about you,” she said. “I just…” She sighed deeply, then straightened. “Never mind. And please excuse me. I’m sorry, Mr. Siku. I don’t mean to come across so defensive. There are a lot of unscrupulous people in the world and a few of them have turned their eyes to this part of the world, hoping to cash in on the natives. I don’t take jobs that will put them in danger or leave them exposed to more problems than they already have.”
“Call me Jason,” he said. “And don’t worry about it. I’d rather you be up-front about any concerns you might have now than have to get a new guide along the way. Good ones are hard to replace and the agency said they were sending me the best. I’m not here to search out my family or take advantage of your people in any way.”
She nodded, and then said, “They are your people, too, even if you don’t know them.”
Her words struck a chord with his own thoughts of the previous weeks, but he knew that family would only be another distraction during a difficult assignment. “Maybe,” he said, “but I’m afraid that I’ve never really seen it that way. And while this trip might present an opportunity to search out my family, I am here for business.”
“Fair enough,” she said. “I’ll be your guide. When do you want to leave?”
It was Jason’s turn to smile. “Not so fast,” he said. “Now it’s my turn to ask some questions of you.”
“Of course,” she said. “What do you want to know?”
“How long have you been a guide?” he asked.
“I started doing wilderness guide work with my grandfather when I was sixteen,” she said. “So…almost twenty years now. Usually, I work with groups wanting to see native villages or the national parks and wildlife, but I’ve done other types of tours, too.”
Jason nodded. “Such as?”
“A lot of corporate folks think that they can make a lot of money if they find the right angle,” she said. “For a while, they were willing to pay me really well to tour them around and prove how wrong they were.” She laughed. “I stopped when I realized that they were never going to go away. The hunger for land and cheap, exploitable labor never ends. That’s why there’s so many mining operations up here—but at least they tend to pay well, even if the work is backbreaking and dangerous.”
“Fair enough,” he said. “What kind of challenges can we expect on our journey?”
“That depends,” she replied. “You’ve picked a good time to come up here. In early fall, the temperatures are decent and the wildlife hasn’t gotten really hungry yet. We’ll stay in the villages whenever we can. Aside from panic, do you know what kills most people wandering around in the wilderness?”
He shook his head.
“Lack of awareness,” she continued. “People don’t pay attention to what’s going on around them—the way the ice might be cracked or weak in certain areas, signs of dangerous animals, that kind of thing. Up here, it pays to be observant.”
“You might be surprised how many parts of the world that rule applies to,” he said. “Still, I’ll make a point of remembering.” He laughed. “Of course, I make a living by being observant, so perhaps we’ll do just fine.”
“I haven’t lost anyone yet,” she said. “Is there anything else you’d like to know?”
Signaling the waitress, Jason said, “Just two things. What do you want for dinner and when do we leave?”
“We can catch a flight to Nome tomorrow,” she said. “Alaska Airlines has several flights a day.”
“And dinner?” he asked.
She smiled and once again he was struck by her attractive appearance, which didn’t seem to match her job. “I’m going to have dinner with some friends tonight, Jason. Then I’m going to get some rest. I’ll pick you up tomorrow morning and we’ll go to the airport.”
“You’re not going to let me buy you dinner?” he asked, disappointed. The company of a beautiful woman made almost every mission more bearable. No strings, just temporary pleasure.
“No,” she said. “I wouldn’t want you to think it was my tip. Usually those come after the work.”
“I was just being friendly,” he protested. “Nothing wrong with having a bite of dinner together, is there?”
“Actually,” she said, “there is. I don’t socialize with my clients. I don’t get personal with my clients. I take them where they want to go, show them what they want to see, keep them safe and send them on their