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He shrugged. “Better. I just saw something I would never have believed unless I witnessed it with my own two eyes.”
“I could offer to pry them out of your head if it helps you forget what you just saw.”
He chuckled. “I’d hate for that to happen.”
“I’ll bet.”
“That was something quite impressive.”
Annja frowned. “And yet, you don’t seem the slightest bit surprised. Why is that?”
Derek shrugged. “Impressed? Yes. Surprised? Nope. But I thought I already explained to you that our information was good.”
“You did,” Annja said. “I didn’t expect that you’d gotten word about my…talent.”
“Is that what you choose to call it?” Derek smiled. “I’d call it something utterly amazing.”
“Of course you would. Anyone would. Unless they happened to be burdened with the thing.” Annja sighed.
“How does it work?”
“I don’t even know. I’m still working all of its rather unique functions out. Every time I think I know what it’s fully capable of, it has this nagging ability to surprise me.”
“Well, you just used it to save our lives. So I suppose a hearty thank-you is in order.”
“You’re welcome. And you can thank me by not mentioning this to anyone else. And if you have to file a report about me, I’d appreciate you stating that the rumor of its existence is just a silly myth. That you saw nothing out of the ordinary during our entire time together.”
“Why would you want me to do that?”
Annja stopped him. “Because if there’s one thing I definitely do not need, it’s any publicity. I’d much prefer to just live my life and do what I do without being sentenced to a freak-show existence for the remainder of my time on the planet.”
Derek looked at her and then nodded. “I guess I can understand that. I thought you might be one of these people who would want to milk it for everything it had.”
“Not even remotely close.”
Derek smiled. “It’s cool. Your secret is safe.”
“So, who leaked the information to you about it?”
Derek shook his head. “I’m not sure, actually. And before you go accusing me of holding out, I am telling the truth. We gathered our data on you from a variety of sources. Some of it was from reliable outlets, background checks, that type of thing.”
“And others?”
“From less tangible sources. We comb the Internet to compile what we hope is an accurate picture of our subjects. Sometimes the material we turn up is decent. Other times it’s pretty bogus.”
“In this case,” Annja said.
Derek nodded. “We got lucky, all right.”
“I’d be curious to know where that particular nugget came from. Any chance you keep a record of the Web sites you comb on file somewhere?”
“Yeah,” Derek said. “I can hook you up with the information once we’re done up here. Consider it a parting bonus if you want.”
“Thanks.”
“Forget it. Call us even for saving our lives.”
“I will.”
They walked back to the truck just as Godwin was putting away the tools. He looked up as they approached. “We’re all set to go.”
Annja sighed. “Good.”
Godwin looked out around them. “What happened to the truck?”
“Detour,” Annja said. “I don’t think we’ll be seeing it again.”
“Ever,” Derek said.
Annja slid into the front seat and closed the door. Godwin and Derek got in a moment later and Godwin gunned the engine and then slid the vehicle into Drive.
He eased the truck forward. Annja pointed out ahead of them. “I’d steer a little bit over to the right if I was you.”
“Why so?”
From behind her, she heard Derek say, “I’d do as she suggests, Godwin. Trust me.”
Godwin nodded and steered the truck over to the side. But even as they passed the location where the truck had gone through the ice, Annja had trouble seeing where it was exactly. The water had already frozen over and showed little sign that there had been a massive hole there previously.
Annja shuddered. Whatever the case, whoever had been behind the wheel of that truck, they were no longer a threat to them.
And that was fine with her.
Derek had the map open again. He traced his finger along the ice road and then jabbed at a spot on the map. “We should be pretty close, guys.”
“The sooner the better,” Annja said. “I really don’t like traveling this way. Big trucks that want to run us over, cracks in the ice, and this forever-white landscape. It wears on a person.”
“I think it’s kind of beautiful,” Godwin said. “Of course, I’m a bit biased.”
“I thought you hated the cold,” Derek said.
“I do. I meant from inside the warm truck it looks kind of beautiful.” Godwin grinned. “But I’d still rather live in Hawaii any day of the week.”
“We’ll keep that in mind in case we open up a diamond mine in Maui,” Derek said.
Annja smiled. The rush of tension that had plagued them with the giant truck and the ice fissure seemed to have evaporated. They were left with the feeling that they would soon be off the ice road and back on to firm ground. Frozen though it was.
Annja took a deep breath and tried to relax her body. She closed her eyes and took several deep breaths. She felt good. And she marveled at how warm using the sword had made her. Maybe it was a side benefit of it. Still, she wasn’t sure that she’d felt that way when she wielded it back in Antarctica.
Was it possible that the sword was capable of learning?
She frowned. That would mean that it had its own intelligence. And if that was the case, then was Annja ever really in control of it?
Or was she simply being possessed?
That didn’t sound particularly enticing to her. Good or evil, possession meant that she didn’t have any measure of control.
“You okay?”
Annja snapped her eyes open and glanced at Godwin. “Sorry, must have drifted off there for a moment.”
“It happens,” he said. “All this white. Snow blindness. It can make you crazy after a bit.”
Annja sighed. “Yet you don’t seem to be affected by it.”
“My father made sure I knew how to deal with it.”
“Did he, now?”
“Sure. He taught me a lot of stuff.”
“Like how to recognize the assassin’s dagger.”
Godwin glanced at her. “Yes. That, too.”
“Interesting.”
“Is it?”
“I think so.”
“We all have those aspects of ourselves that seem mysterious to everyone else, but aren’t necessarily.” Godwin winked at her. “We all have our secrets.”
Annja glanced back at Derek, but he was still studying the map. Had he said something to Godwin?
She looked back at Godwin but he was already peering out of the windshield again. “We should be just about there.”
Annja followed his gaze. Up ahead she thought she spotted something red amid all the white. “Is that the sign for the turnoff?”
Godwin shrugged. “Could be.”
Derek perked up. “Are we there?”
Annja pointed. “That looks like a sign to me. What do you think?”
Derek leaned forward. “Slow down, Godwin. We don’t want to miss the turnoff and keep driving for hours on end. I don’t think Annja would appreciate that very much, would you?”
“No, I wouldn’t.”
Godwin slowed the truck even more and then they saw the small piece of plywood tacked to a metal pole jutting out of the snow on the side of the ice road.
“Erop,” Annja said. “I guess this is our exit.”
Godwin wheeled the truck around and they turned to the right. Annja noticed that the road gradually climbed higher in elevation. She looked at Derek. “Am I right in thinking that we are no longer driving over frozen water?”
He smiled. “You’re right. We’re on dry ground again. The ice road is a thing of the past.”
Annja glanced back at the frozen Mackenzie River and shuddered. She hoped Derek was right—that it really was a thing of the past.
9
Thirty minutes of hard, bumpy driving brought them into the tiny town of Erop, a collection of a few buildings, a gas station and two restaurants. It looked more like a refueling point than anything else, its identity marked by whatever or whoever moved through the place.
“Let me out,” Derek said. “If I don’t get to a bathroom after all that bladder beating, I’m done for.”
Annja could sympathize. The drive to Erop had been a constant bouncing and sinking over a road that could only just be called that. She headed for one of the restaurants while Derek headed for the other. Godwin drove on to the gas station, saying he would fill up and get a replacement tire for the one they’d lost.
Ten minutes later, they were back on their way. Derek bought them all sandwiches, which they gratefully demolished and Erop fell behind them, a slightly pleasant memory for the basic human comfort it had offered up and nothing more.
The road twisted through the frozen countryside and then after another thirty minutes, broke out onto Hendrick’s Highway. Godwin gave up a little cheer and steered the truck onto a paved road for the first time that day.
“Hooray,” Annja said. “The mark of civilization.”
“For someone who spends so much of her time in the past,” Derek said, “you sure seem ready to put the past behind you.”
“Bad roads are bad roads,” Annja said. “And there’s nothing of interest to be found on them. Plus, my butt was taking another beating back there.”
“Just so long as you don’t start thinking that where we’re headed is any more civilized, because it’s not.”
“I realize that,” Annja said. “But it doesn’t change my mind about being relieved to be off that road.”
Godwin grinned. “I feel the same way.”
Hendrick’s Highway was a two-lane road, and even though the asphalt had seen better days, the stretch proved to be a welcome change from both the ice road and the roller-coaster ride of the road to Erop. The SUV’s tires all seemed in decent shape and Godwin had managed to procure a spare tire, just in case they should run into another rock jutting out of the landscape.
Annja felt good for the first time all day. An hour of driving would take them to their turnoff and then they could finally get to where they were going. Getting to the dig site was always the hardest part. Annja could put up with a lot of stuff, but she was often impatient when it came to actually reaching the destination. She liked getting there already.
She didn’t kid herself. The events of the morning and the run-in with the giant truck didn’t make her feel especially good about what might be waiting ahead. The incident in the steak house was still fresh in her mind and she turned all these events over in her mind, trying to figure out what could be going on in the frozen tundra that surrounded her.
If people weren’t happy with what was going on with the Araktak, there’d be no telling what they would do to keep the company from completing its deal with the tribe. That meant Annja might have to use the sword again.
And that was something she didn’t really want to do.
Godwin turned the SUV suddenly and looked embarrassed. “Sorry, almost missed the turn.”
“You all right? I can take over driving for a while if you want,” Annja said.
He shook his head. “It’s no problem. I was just yawning, that’s all.”
