Yeah, he said into it, yeah, I know, but I need you now. Whatever they‘re paying you, I‘ll double it, just get here tomorrow. Mutt trotted forward and shoved her head beneath his free hand. He looked down, saw her, and then looked around for Kate. Okay? Good. I‘ll see you on Thursday. Gotta go. He pressed a button. Hey, Mutt. A rough scratch behind the ears had Mutt‘s tail wagging. Hey, Kate. Hey, George. She nodded at the device. Is that a satellite phone? He looked at it, too. Yeah. His expression was somewhere between proud and sheepish.

She raised her eyebrows. Just like downtown.

Listen, Kate, he said, I‘m glad you‘re here. I need to talk to you about something.

What?

We need cell phone service in the Park.

You been talking to Dan O‘Brian?

Who? No, I been talking to everyone, and we‘re all saying the same thing. Kate had a cell phone. She‘d bought one in Anchorage a couple of years before. It worked in Anchorage. It didn‘t work in the Park. She tried to remember when she‘d seen it last, and came up blank. I‘m sure that as soon as AT&T figures out how to make a cell phone system pay for itself in the Park, they‘ll be knocking at the door. They are knocking, he said. Didn‘t Demetri tell you?

No. Other than the quick glimpse she‘d caught at the café the day before, she hadn‘t seen much of Demetri lately, and never long enough for serious talk. This time of year he was usually up at his lodge in the Quilak foothills, getting ready for the summer influx of fly-in trophy fishermen. She wondered, not for the first time, what the lodge was pulling down every year. Demetri had had some big names up there, names even Kate, lacking satellite television and Internet access, recognized, including movie stars, rock bands, business moguls, European royalty, Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, and those among the rich and famous whose main purpose in life seemed to be getting on the covers of Usand People. Clients in those zip codes didn‘t go anywhere on the cheap.

George flapped his hand in front of her face. Hello? Anybody in there? ACS Alaska told Demetri that they‘re working on a plan to put a cell tower in every village along the river from Ahtna down to Chulyin, and from there hopscotch them overland to the mine. He held up his sat phone. I can‘t keep up with the business on this thing, Kate, everybody I need to keep in touch with has a cell phone. Behind them the Beaver roared down the runway and lifted ponderously into the air, on a heading south-southeast.

A four-wheeler with a tow hitch was pulling the Otter out of the hangar. She had seen neither four-wheeler nor driver before. Impressive.

You have no idea, he said. Can‘t hardly find Otters anymore, single or twin. Everybody‘s got them working, there just ain‘t any for sale. I had to fly to fucking Finland in February to find this one.