Minutes later, the launch pulled up to shore a few hundred feet from a river that emptied out into the harbor and Karla stepped out onto the gravelly beach. The middle-aged woman who had been waiting on the beach came over and gave her an unexpected hug.

“I'm Maria Arbatov,” she said, speaking with a Russian accent. “I'm so glad to meet you, Karla. I've heard many good things about your work. I can't believe someone so young has done so much.”

Maria had silver hair tied up in a bun, high, rosy cheekbones and a broad smile that took the chill out of the arctic air.

“I'm pleased to meet you too, Maria. Thanks for the warm welcome.”

Maria excused herself and supervised the unloading of some supplies that had been carried in on the boat. The boxes were neatly piled on the beach, where they would be retrieved later. Maria said there was nobody or nothing around to disturb them. Karla thanked the boat crew. She and Maria climbed a slight hill and hiked along the bank of the river. A path had been trampled by boot prints, suggesting that it had been the major traffic artery to and from the beach for a long time.

“How was your trip?” Maria asked as their feet crunched in the permafrost.

“Great. Captain Ivanov is a sweet man. The Kotelny regularly takes tourist groups around the islands, so my cabin was quite comfortable.”

“Captain Ivanov was very gracious to us as well when he brought the expedition in. I hope you didn't get too comfortable. We have done our best, but our accommodations are far more primitive than those on the ship.”

“I'll survive. How is the project going?”

“As you Americans say, do you want the good news first or the bad?”

Karla gave her a sidelong glance. “I'll leave it up to you.”

“First, the good news. We have gone out on several expeditions and collected many promising specimens.”

“That is good news. Now the bad?”

“You have arrived in the middle of a new Russo-Japanese war.”

“I wasn't aware that I was stepping into a combat zone. What do you mean?”

“You know that this expedition is a joint venture?”

“Yes. It's a consortium of Russian and Japanese interests. The idea is to share the findings.”

“As a scientist, you know that what's important is not so much what you find but how much credit you get for it.”

“Credit equals stature, career and, ultimately, money.”

“Correct. And, in this case, there is a great deal of money at stake, so it is even more important who will get the credit for our findings.”

They were about a half a mile from the beach and had climbed a low rise when Maria announced: “We are almost there. Welcome to Ivorytown.”