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Cessna's shadow fled across the silent frozen tundra. It leaped from marshlands to dirty snowdrifts and across the rafts of floating ice that nudged the desolate shoreline of the bay. |
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Sean McCarthy, the pilot, reached down to a valve between the forward seats to change fuel tanks. He worked the hand pump gently until the pressure steadied. He glanced over his shoulder at Anna, his expression reflecting the amusement he felt under the circumstances. |
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Anna Neville was watching her husband search the shore of the bay. His dour, narrow face was intent as he held the Maxxum 7000, ready to shoot. She held the Hasselblad with their longest lens because her eyes were better than Jake's and she could quickly frame a telescopic shot. Many things were wrong with their marriage, but a lack of professional skills was not part of the trouble. They were a husband-and-wife team of photographers, one of the best. The fact that they had not slept in the same bed for two years was irrelevant. |
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They were searching for a caribou herd, a big one. Sean said he had seen one near Eskimo Point. Jake was sure that this herd would prove his contention about the Keewatin coast being contaminated with waste from American nuclear power plants. |
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The Nevilles had flown the Northwest Territories with McCarthy before. Sean was the best bush pilot they had ever worked with. He also had been Anna Neville's lover. |
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Jake knew, Anna thought. Almost certainly he knew. |
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But he had insisted on hiring Sean again. Sean was professional. If Sean said there was a herd on the move down the south shore of the bay, they would find it. To Jake, first in importance was the work. The correct political view followed close after that. It didn't matter to Jake about Sean and Anna. That could wait to be settled, until it was over. Jake always outwaitedand outwittedAnna's lovers. |
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Immediately below the flight path lay a stretch of ice-free tundra; to the east, hard daylight burned through a thickening over-cast. A silver sky reflected on the water of open polynyas |
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