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for y'all!" She bent over the planter tub and, cursing loudly, shoved it out the door. She poked her head back in and said politely, "Nice to meet y'all, Katherine.
    Welcome to the Prudhoe Hilton. Toni?"
    "Yes, Ann?" Toni said meekly.
    Ann looked from Toni to Kate and back again. "Never mind." Toni smiled.
    "Call me later."
    The door slammed shut and naturally banged open again immediately. By now both Kate and the philodendron were used to it and barely flinched.
    The man caught the door on its backswing. He wore insulated bib overalls, heavy boots and carried a parka. He had a thin face with sharp features and intense dark eyes. Those eyes widened when they saw Kate, but before either of them could speak Toni had risen to her feet and come around her desk, hand outstretched. "Otto. How nice to see you again."
    He took her hand automatically, shaking it with his eyes still fixed on Kate, his expression hard to read. It wasn't male speculation of female availability, nor, Kate decided, was it the instinctive withdrawal of one race from another, she'd seen that too many times not to spot it on sight.
    "Otto Leckerd, meet Katherine Shugak. Katherine's our newest roustabout.
    Katherine, this is Prudhoe Bay's resident archaeologist."
    "It's Kate, actually, not Katherine," Kate said, patiently for her. So that was it. She hadn't seen that look since college and Anthropology
    101, no wonder she hadn't recognized it for what it was.
    "Shugak." He affirmed her judgment with his first words. "You're Aleut."
    It wasn't a question, but she nodded. Before she could dodge back out of the way he raised a long-fingered hand tipped with grimy fingernails and turned her head to examine her profile. "Classic. With those cheekbones and that forehead you'd have to be from the Aleutians. With a name like Shugak, maybe Kodiak?"
    Being viewed as a specimen by a potential collector was not a new experience and never a pleasant one. Kate removed her chin from Leckerd's grasp. "Actually, my family comes from the Kanuyaq River and Prince William Sound."
    "World War II relocation," he said instantly, and it galled her no end that he was right. Still, she was interested. "What's an archaeologist doing in Prudhoe Bay?"
    "The Eskimos used to have a summer hunting camp on Tode Point. It turns out it used to be a place the local tribes met for kivgiq, a--" "A dance celebration," Kate said, "yes, I know. Interesting. I'd like to see it while I'm up here, if I may?"
    An odd expression Kate couldn't quite define flickered across Leckerd's face. He hesitated, exchanging a glance with Hartzler, who said smoothly, "Oh, I don't see why not, Otto, do you? It really is the most interesting place, I'm sure you'll enjoy it."
    Beneath her dewy-eyed gaze and dimpled smile Otto Leckerd forgot Kate's existence. They shook hands but to Kate's inquisitive eyes the prolonged gesture seemed more of a caress than a greeting. When she saw Toni's thumb brush Otto's wrist, and saw Otto come to attention like a setter on point, all alert and aquiver, she was sure of it.
    "Did your people make it up all right?" Toni asked him, turning the question from prosaic to intimate with the twist of a vowel.
    He nodded dumbly without releasing her hand. To Kate's critical eye he looked perilously close to drooling.
    With a husky little chuckle Toni disentangled herself. "Where are they, in the lounge?" She had to repeat the question. "Is your crew in the lounge, Otto?"
    Otto shook himself like a setter coming out of the water. "Yeah, they're in the lounge."
    Toni beamed at him. "How nice. Shall we pick them up and get some lunch?" She tucked a companionable hand into his arm and they strolled into the corridor, Kate a forgotten third bringing up the rear. "I have a tour this afternoon, would your people like to come along? I don't believe any of them have been to the Slope before, have they?"
    The corridor opened onto the first floor of the main module for the Base Camp, and Kate was surprised