Alaska Adventure (4 page)

“I know all about Dr. Oliver Burke’s revolutionary research,” Dr. Wells interrupted, nodding. “He’s come up with some impressive results. Is your mother in the medical field, as well?”

“My mother died when I was ten,” Mariah said brusquely. As always, talking about anything the least bit personal made her fidgety. The idea of people knowing more about her than they had to made her feel vulnerable. In her eyes, it gave them an advantage.

Even before Dr. Wells had a chance to react, she continued, “I have two older brothers who are following in my father’s footsteps. Peter’s in his second year of medical school at Columbia University and Todd is a resident at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston.”

“And you, Mariah? Is that the direction in which you’re headed, as well?”

“I plan to go to medical school.”

What she didn’t add was, “If I get in.” She did think it, however. In fact, she thought about the uncertainty of her future all the time. Her father simply assumed she’d follow in his footsteps. As for her brothers, they’d been teasing her about how much better they were at just about everything ever since she was a little girl. In fact, Mariah was driven more by her determination to show her two big brothers she was every bit as good as they were than by wanting to impress her father. She was desperate to prove she was just as smart as they were, just as accomplished....

In fact, when her boyfriend, Kurt, had chosen to stay in California and attend college at UCLA, she’d actually been a little relieved. This way, she reasoned, she’d be able to fly home to see him during school vacations, but she’d be free to concentrate on her studies during the year.

“If it’s med school you’re heading for,” Dr. Wells was saying, “I’m not quite sure why this project of mine is of interest to you.”

Mariah’s heart began pounding. She didn’t want to admit she wanted something outstanding to add to her record, something to impress not only Dr. Lewis but also the admissions directors at medical schools like Harvard and Columbia. She didn’t dare say that a summer doing research in Alaska was just the thing to make her applications stand out. So she took a deep breath before answering, measuring her words carefully.

“What I want most is to become a doctor. But I believe that in order to understand the human body, it’s crucial to understand the whole natural world. We are, after all, just one small part of it, another piece in a huge, complex puzzle.”

“I see.” Dr. Wells was silent for a long time, staring at the stacks of papers and books piled up haphazardly on his desk. “Well, Mariah, I’ve already decided to include you in the project.”

Mariah’s mouth dropped open. But before she had a chance to decide whether she was glad or disappointed, she heard someone else come into the room behind her. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw a tall, muscular young man leaning in the doorway of Dr. Wells’s office. He was quite good-looking, with even features, a thick head of curly dark blond hair, and striking blue eyes.

He wore ripped jeans and a snug-fitting Mountainville University Athletic Department T-shirt. But what struck Mariah most was his arrogant demeanor.

“Hope I’m not interrupting anything,” he said, looking Mariah up and down.

For the first time since she’d come in, she felt self-conscious. Her expensive designer outfit suddenly seemed out of place here, a peculiar contrast to the jeans and casual shirts both he and Dr. Wells were wearing. In a nervous gesture, she pushed the row of solid gold bangle bracelets she was wearing up her arm.

Casting him the coldest look she could manage, Mariah said, “Dr. Wells and I are discussing this summer’s research project in Alaska.”

“Oh, yeah? What, are you covering this for the school paper or something?”

“Marian’s a biology major, too,” said Dr. Wells.

Trip laughed. “A regular Madame Curie, huh?”

She could feel her cheeks turning red—not from embarrassment, but from anger. The last thing she was in the mood for was some cocky science jock putting down women in science, falling back on the cliché of comparing her to the best-known female scientist of all time.

“Marie
Curie was a physicist, not a biologist,” she said sharply. “I thought everyone knew that.”

Dr. Wells cut in with, “I guess you two haven’t met before, so I’ll make this a formal introduction. Mariah Burke, this is Trip Raynor. Trip, Mariah. Trip’s a sophomore, Marian’s a freshman....” Dr. Wells shrugged. “Anything else you need to know, just ask.”

Mariah hesitated before reaching out her hand to shake. Trip responded by folding his arms across his chest, peering down at her through his brilliant blue eyes. “How’re you doing, Mariah?”

“Trip?” she repeated. “What kind of name is that?”

“A nickname. My real name is Charles Edward Raynor ... the Third.” He shrugged. “Ever since I was a kid growing up in New York City, everybody forgot about the first three names .. . and concentrated on the fact that I was ‘the Third.’ “

“Oh, I get it,” Mariah observed dryly. “Triple.”

“Bright girl,” Trip said to Dr. Wells.

“That’s enough, Trip,” the professor cut in.

Mariah was tempted to launch into a tirade on exactly what she thought of arrogant young men like him who built themselves up by putting other people down— especially women. But she remained silent, not wanting to leave Dr. Wells with a bad impression.

Instead, she said curtly, “Dr. Wells and I will be finished soon.”

“Hey, if you two are talking about the trip to Alaska, count me in.” Trip had come into the office, sitting down on the edge of the metal desk.

Slowly the meaning of his words sank in. “Don’t tell me you’re—

“Grizzlies and black flies, here I come.” With so much ease and confidence that someone who didn’t know better might have thought this was
his
office, he planted his sneakered foot firmly in the middle of a vacant swivel chair.

Mariah looked at Dr. Wells pleadingly. Perhaps she’d simply misunderstood....

“That’s right,” the professor said. “Trip’s part of the field crew.”

“Sounds like it’s you and me, babe,” Trip said lightly. Ignoring the icy look Dr. Wells cast him, he added, “Have you made your final decision about who else is coming?”

“There’ll be five of you.” After spending a few seconds rummaging around the mound of books and papers on his desk, Dr. Wells retrieved a piece of paper. Referring to it, he said, “In addition to you two, I’ve got a freshman named Laurel Adams on board—”

“Never heard of her,” Trip said loftily.

Mariah stiffened. “I have.”

Not only had she heard of Laurel Adams, she’d spent the entire year secretly competing with her. When Laurel was the only freshman picked to work on Dr. Ames’s research project, Mariah was furious.
That
was an honor that would have impressed even Harvard Medical School.

“The daughter of one of my colleagues here at the university is also coming along. Her name is Cassandra Davis.”

Trip frowned. “I don’t remember any Cassandras in any of my science courses.”

“She’s taking mostly liberal arts courses.” In response to Mariah’s raised eyebrows, he added, “But I’m confident she’ll be a valuable contributor to the project.”

“Who’s number five?” Mariah asked, anxious to move on.

“Russell Corcoran. He’s—”

“Oh, no!” Trip groaned dramatically. “Not Nature Boy!”

“Nature Boy?” Mariah repeated.

“That’s our nickname for him. He’s the kind of guy who’s perfectly at home in the woods but has a hard time carrying on a conversation with anyone of his own species.”

“It’s true that Russ is sharp when it comes to science,” said Dr. Wells. “He grew up on a nature preserve, where his father was the station manager.”

Mariah just shrugged. “Sounds like a pretty mixed bag, if you ask me.”

“We’ve got a good cross section,” Dr. Wells agreed. “I think it’s going to work out well. When we combine everyone’s strengths and weaknesses, we should end up with a nicely balanced group.”

“Wait a second.” Trip was counting on his fingers. “We’ve got Russ and me ... and three
girls!”

Mariah could feel her blood boil. “What’s wrong with that?”

“Gee, Dr. Wells, isn’t that kind of unfair? I mean, going off to Alaska to do research is an incredible opportunity. Why are you wasting it on so many girls? Speaking realistically, how many of them are actually going to go ahead and become real, working scientists?”

Mariah opened her mouth, ready to launch a tirade against this Neanderthal whose ideas sounded as if they were rooted somewhere back in the nineteenth century. But before she could get the first word out, Dr. Wells interrupted, his voice soothing but firm.

“Trip,” he said, “it’s important that we get one thing straight, right from the start. The six of us are going up to Alaska as a
team.
We’re going to be working closely together, every step of the way. That means we’ll be relying on each other. Things are going to come up all the time, things none of us can anticipate. We’re going to have to look out for each other—not only to make the project work, but also to make sure all of us come back home at the end of the summer, safe and sound.”

Trip’s reaction was a casual shrug, accompanied by the offhanded comment, “Whatever you say.”

As for Mariah, at the moment she was less concerned with whether or not the research team was going to work together harmoniously than with Dr. Wells’s comment about coming back home at the end of the summer, safe and sound. Involuntarily her eyes traveled across the room to the poster hanging above the professor’s desk.

“Alaska,” it read. “The Last Frontier.” Mariah swallowed hard. She only hoped that being part of this research project wouldn’t turn out to be a mistake, offering more adventure than the daughter of a prominent Beverly Hills plastic surgeon could stand.

Chapter Four

“Okay. Let’s run through the list one more time, just to make sure we haven’t forgotten anything.” Dr. Wells stood outside the run-down Bio Department van. The van was parked near the loading dock of the Life Sciences building and surrounded by so many suitcases, backpacks, sleeping bags, duffel bags, coolers, and other assorted items that it was hard to believe everything would fit.

“First item: fish traps?”

“Check,” called Trip, crouched inside the van.

“Coolers?”

“They’re over here,” Laurel replied, glancing over from where she was standing, next to a pile of gear sitting in the parking lot beside the van’s open-door side.

“Scintillation vials, collecting bottles, thermometers, dip nets, Van Doren water sampler?”

“Got those, too,” Trip reported.

Cassie stood on the edge of the parking lot, her hands jammed deep inside the pockets of her nylon jacket as she watched. She knew she should volunteer to help. But ever since she’d arrived ten minutes earlier, she’d stood off to one side, squinting in the early morning June sun. She told herself she was waiting for someone to tell her what to do, since she didn’t want to be in the way. In truth, she was nearly paralyzed by the gnawing in the pit of her stomach. At that moment, she would have given anything to be back home in her own bed.

Her mind was reeling. It’s not too late to back out, she thought. I don’t care what my parents think. I don’t care what Dr. Wells thinks. I can’t go through with this….

“Hey, Cassie!” Dr. Wells suddenly called. “How about bringing your stuff over? We’ll start packing it into the van.”

Glancing over in his direction, she saw that the professor was offering her a friendly smile. “Okay,” she returned.

But before she had a chance to lean down and pick up her overstuffed duffel bag, a dilapidated car turned off the main road and into the parking lot, then headed over in their direction. For the moment, packing up the van was forgotten. Dr. Wells strolled over to greet whoever it was who’d arrived.

“Russ! Good to see you!”

“Hope I’m not late, Dr. Wells. Dwight had a little trouble getting his car started.”

“No problem—especially since we can’t leave without him.” Leaning his head in through the open window, Dr. Wells added, “Thanks for volunteering to drive the van back from the airport, Dwight.”

Cassie watched as Russ Corcoran, the fifth student member of the research team, climbed out of the front seat, then dragged a canvas duffel bag and a sleeping bag out of the back. She hadn’t yet had a chance to form much of an impression of Russ. At the planning meeting Dr. Wells had held a few weeks earlier, there hadn’t been much opportunity for the members of the project to get to know each other. They’d been too busy listening to Dr. Wells brief them on the trip ahead.

There had been so much to take in! Cassie had felt out of place and overwhelmed as she’d watched the others scribble page after page of notes. She was still having trouble believing that she was a part of all this. Even at that meeting, she hadn’t been able to take in the fact that she was really headed for six weeks in Alaska. According to what Dr. Wells was saying, she, like the others, would be roughing it in a log cabin on a lake in the middle of nowhere, collecting samples of fish and insects, looking out for different varieties of birds, scouting around for wildflowers....

It was all part of the study he was doing on one of the larger lakes southwest of Anchorage, on a piece of land called the Kenai Peninsula that jutted into the Gulf of Alaska. He was trying to answer the question of why some lakes have rooted plants in them and others have plankton, a form of free-floating algae. The two were in competition, he’d told them. The weeds took the nutrients out of the lake, making it impossible for plankton to grow. The plankton, in turn, blocked the sunlight, making it impossible for plants to grow. The question Dr. Wells was trying to answer was whether or not there was any particular property of the lake that determined which won out. In order to do that, it was necessary to take a “biological inventory” of the lake, determining all forms of plant life and animal life that lived in and around it.

“All right, Cassie. Let’s get those bags of yours into the van.”