What kind of trouble are the new mine guys getting up to? Other than trashing the old mine, that is.

Nothing big, at least not yet. Chickenshit stuff, drunk in public, reckless driving, trespassing, coming on too strong to the local girls, who aren‘t used to it. And whose parents definitely aren‘t used to it.

Drugs?

Some, but picayune so far, retail, not wholesale. He grinned at Kate. We got the only aspiring wholesaler last year. The grin faded. That‘ll change, though. Young men and money. Recipe for recreational drug use.

Kate, when are we getting cell phone service in the Park? Dan said. Kate was taken aback by this abrupt change of subject. How the hell should I know?

Since you‘re the Lady High Everything around these parts these days, is how. I hear thirty-six villages in the Y-K Delta have cell phone service now and they‘re expecting to add another fifty-nine villages between Dillingham and Barrow before the end of next year. What the hell‘s the holdup with the Park?

Do you really want to be that much in touch with the rest of the world, Dan? It‘s either that or the rest of the world passes us right on by, Kate.

Let them pass, Kate said.

Dan looked at Jim and spread his hands. What‘re ya gonna do?

Jim, who had already had this conversation with Kate, more than once, kept his mouth shut.

Did you hear Global gave the school a grant for a satellite link and a computer for every kid?

I heard, Kate said.

Starting this fall, every kid in Niniltna Public School is going to be online. They could hear the envy in Dan‘s voice. He would have a lot easier time holding on to employees if he could offer them Internet access on the Step.

I heard, Kate said.

Dan grumbled. You heard, you heard. Probably get cell phones in the Park just about the time the rest of the world is upgrading to communicators with a universal translator.

Geek, Kate said.

Luddite, Dan said.

Children, Jim said, keeping it mild. Play nice.

Dan looked at Kate‘s mulish expression and decided he‘d pushed things far enough for one day. The seed had been planted. Now time for some fertilizer. How about a cup of coffee and a doughnut on the Parks Service?

I don‘t know, Kate said, although she recognized it for the peace offering it was. She‘d been charged by bears before and suffered the same adrenaline rush followed by the subsequent enervation and the same onset of ravenous hunger. The only remedy was massive caloric intake. Laurel‘s packing them in these days. You think we can get a seat?

They opted to walk down the hill, and had to jump out of the way of a four-wheeler being driven too fast by a young man clearly inexperienced in its operation, with three whooping friends hanging precariously off the back.

I didn‘t see that, Jim said, and neither did you.

A booth emptied out in the Riverside Café as they walked in. They scooted into it just ahead of a couple of young men Kate had never seen before. Mutt‘s unblinking yellow gaze might have had something to do with the perceptible pause in their rivals‘ step. She waited for her humans to take their seats, and then trotted past them. Kate turned to see Auntie Balasha, who was sitting alone at a corner table with bright fabric draped over the other three chairs. She was making change out of a gray metal cash box for a young man holding a recycled grocery bag. Through the thin plastic of the bag Kate could see more bright fabric.