"But-" the young Eskimo started to say as he turned to follow the stewardess.
"Maybe I can help you," Henry Lightstone said in a neutral voice.
"Uh… you, are you Henry Lightstone?"
"I know a guy named Henry Lightstone. Any reason why he might know you?"
"Oh, yeah, right," the young man nodded as he quickly reached inside his jacket, unaware that Lightstone had almost delivered a takedown kick to his groin as he pulled a black folding badge case out of his pocket.
"I'm Special Agent Thomas Woeshack," he said, holding the opened credentials out for Lightstone's inspection. "Paul… I mean Special Agent in Charge Paul MeNulty was supposed to be back in the office by now, but we got a call this morning about somebody shooting at bears down around Skilak Lake. He was going to be flying by the area, so he asked me to come out to the airport and pick… uh, you up."
"Henry Lightstone," Lightstone nodded, relaxing and smiling as he accepted the eager young agent's firm handshake. "And this," he said, putting his hand on Marie's shoulder, "is my fiancee, Marie Pascalaura."
Thomas Woeshack smiled and shook her hand also. "Happy to meet you, too. Welcome to Alaska."
"It's nice to be on the ground again," she said.
Woeshack picked up one of the two carry-on bags and led the way out of the deboarding area.
"Man, I can't tell you how glad I am to see you," Woeshack said.
"Oh, really? Why's that?" Lightstone asked.
"Because MeNulty said that if I wanted to learn how to do undercover work, I'd have to wait until you got here to teach me." Woeshack smiled with bright enthusiasm.
"You're coming up here to teach covert work?" Marie asked, looking over at Lightstone with mixed amusement and disbelief.
Lightstone shrugged as he looked down at the young agent's hands. "As a start, if we're going to do any covert work within a hundred miles of this airport, you might want to ditch that sign and put your badge away."
"Oh, yeah, right," Woeshack nodded as he returned the badge case to his jacket pocket and stuck the crudely lettered sign in a nearby trash can.
"I can't believe it," Marie said, shaking her head in amazement. "You really are going to give it up, aren't you?"
"As it was explained to me by a wise fellow named Carl Scoby," Lightstone said, "once you accept a promotion to senior resident agent, the fun's over. Nothing but paperwork and headaches until you retire." He looked over at Marie and grinned. "Sound good to you?"
They took the stairway down to the lower level, entered a tunnel with red and blue neon tubes arched over the ceiling, took a short escalator back up to baggage claim, and then worked their way over to the third carousel.
"Speaking of fun," Woeshack said, "Special Agent in Charge McNulty-"
"It's okay to call him Paul," Lightstone interrupted. "He won't mind."
"Yeah, okay, that's sort of what he said, too, but I wasn't sure.."
"Paul's a real easy guy to work for. Just don't try to bullshit him too much and you'll be fine."
"I'll remember that," Woeshack said solemnly. "Anyway, Paul suggested that I take you two out for an orientation trip. I thought we might go down to the Kenai Peninsula, put you in one of the cabins, see some wildlife, and then maybe take one of the patrol boats out to do some lake-trout fishing on Skilak Lake." The young agent grabbed up the two larger bags that Lightstone pointed out. "He said you could either do that or sit in his office and do his paperwork until he gets back."
"Orientation trip," Marie Pascalaura said enthusiastically.
"Sounds a lot better than paperwork," Lightstone nodded agreeably as they started for the parking lot.
"Okay, we'll get you checked into the hotel and then, unless you want to rest up some, we'll head on out."
"We can rest up later," Marie said as she watched the two men toss the luggage into the back of the government Suburban. "I want to see my new backyard."
At the opposite end of the ground-level Anchorage Airport parking lot, Gerd Maas climbed into a van, tossed his duffel bag to the back, and pulled the door closed. He turned to Kimiko Osan.
"What has happened so far?" he asked.
"Aben and Mueller reported in two hours ago," she replied in a controlled, respectful voice. "Phase One and Phase Two were completely successful. The teams are currently repositioning for Phases Four and Five."
"Excellent," Maas nodded as his cold eyes surveyed the parking lot. "Tell me about Phase Three."
"Everyone is in position. They have been waiting for your arrival."
"What about our diversion?"
"We are monitoring his movements right now," Kimiko Osan said.
"Shoshin says that he has been alert and uneasy for the past few hours, as if he senses that we are out there."
"Oh?"
"But that is of no concern," she quickly added. "We can take him at any time."
"And the female?"
"There is no indication that she is aware of our presence or our movements," Kimiko Osan said. "She will be easy, I think."
"In most species, the female is often considered the most dangerous," Maas suggested with a slight smile.
"Yes, I have been told that several times," Kimiko Osan said with a straight face.
"And what about Mr. Chareaux? Has he been cooperative?"
"No, not at all. And because of that, it was necessary to be more explicit with our instructions."
"So I see," Maas nodded as he looked at the cut on Kimiko Osan's swollen lower lip. He had already noted the bruising on the knuckles of her lethal right hand.
"It is nothing," Osan said, holding her hands steady on the steering wheel of the van as she watched another group of travelers pass by.
"Of course," Maas agreed. "How badly is he hurt?"
"His internal injuries are of no consequence. He fought against the wrist lock, however, and hit his mouth on a rock when he finally went down. A front tooth was broken."
"Unavoidable?"
"He was very fast," she said matter-of-factly. "I did not see the rock until it was too late."
"The wrist is broken also?"
"I regret to say, yes."
"It had been my intention to handle Phase Three myself," Maas said.
"Yes, I understood that," Kimiko Osan said quietly, looking down at her lap, "I realize that I have failed you."
"Perhaps not," Maas said as he stared out through the spotless windshield in quiet contemplation. "As a matter of fact, I think that you may have provided me with a more interesting option."
Talking in his characteristically low and chilling voice, Gerd Maas outlined his plan for the modification of Phase Three.
"I would be honored to do my part," Kimiko Osan said quietly, still unable to turn and face the man that she alternately worshiped and feared.
"The timing would be critical," Maas said, struck by the irony that he would be entrusting his life to this small, slender young woman.
"Yes, of course," Kimiko Osan nodded, her eyes filled with pride as she finally turned her head and looked into the cold blue eyes of Gerd Mass. "I will not fail you again."
At three-fifteen that afternoon, Special Agent Thomas Woeshack turned off the Old Seward Highway onto Tudor Road, turned right into the first driveway, and then drove around to the rear of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's regional office building. There had been an early winter storm, but most of the snow had melted, leaving only sporadic patches of dirty snow and ice that made Marie Pascalaura shiver in spite of her warm coat.
"This is fall?" she said to no one in particular.
"Just wait until you see winter," Lightstone nodded.
"I've got to run inside for a minute and pick up some of my gear," Woeshack said to Lightstone. "Want to come in and say hi to Sally and Jennifer?"