The lights in the diorama room had been dimmed to simulate the Arctic night. Lasers projected a moving display of the northern lights on the ceiling. Standing alone in front of a life-sized diorama show- ing a seal hunt was a tall, well-built man with a shaved head. Dark sunglasses covered his eyes.

Gleason approached the man and said, “Dr. Barker, I'd like you to meet Kurt Austin. Mr. Austin is with the National Underwater and Marine Agency. You must know of it.”

“I would have to come from another planet not to know NUMA.”

They shook hands. Austin felt like his fingers were clutching a frozen side of beef.

“I hope you don't mind if I share our little joke,” Gleason said to Kurt. “Mr. Austin thought that the head of Oceanus was named Toonook.”

“Mr. Gleason explained that Toonook was not a man, but an evil spirit,” Austin said.

Barker stared at Austin through the dark lenses. “It's more com- plicated than that,” he said. “Toonook is considered to be evil in the Inuit culture. He is the embodiment of that clever light display on the ceiling. But like others through history, the people of the North wor- shipped the thing they feared the most.”

“Toonook is a god, then?”

“Sometimes. But I assure you that the head of Oceanus is very human.”

“I stand corrected. If it's not Toonook, what is his real name?”

“He prefers to keep his identity a secret. If you'd like to call him Toonook, feel free to do so. He has been called worse names by his competitors. He stays out of the limelight, and it falls upon his em- ployees to represent him. In my case, I work for a company named Aurora, which is a subsidiary of Oceanus.”

“What sort of work do you do for Aurora?”

“I'm a geneticist.” Austin glanced around the room. “This is a wide departure from genetics.”

“I like to get out of the lab. I suggested that Oceanus sponsor this exhibition. I have a direct interest in the Kiolya. My great-great- grandfather was a New England whaling captain. He stayed with the tribe and tried to stop the walrus hunting that led to its dissolution.” “Mr. Gleason tells me that the other Eskimos ran the Kiolya off because they were thieves and murderers.”

“They did what they had to do to survive,” Barker said. “I'd love to continue this discussion,” Gleason said, "but you'll

have to excuse me. I see an assistant who needs my attention. Please give me a call sometime, and we can talk at length, Mr. Austin.“ When Gleason was gone, Austin said, ”Tell me, Dr. Barker, what part of business is Oceanus involved in that would require the serv- ices of a geneticist?"