After arriving at the hotel, everyone has their own 'agenda'.

Some choose to do Anchorage night sightseeing and maybe try local cuisine.

Some choose to relax at the four stars hotel and enjoy the facilities that the hotel offer.

But Ros still has something important to do.

So no longer after they all arrive at the hotel, Ros accompanied by Gerald walks to a bar where she already made an appointment.

(Picture above is just for rough imagination. Your own imagination may be more correct to describe the situation)

Time at the wall clock is already 8 pm, but in Anchorage in springtime, the sun is still up the horizon.

Entering the bar still like in the daytime, Ros asked the waitress there which one is Mr. Tucker, the one that she has an appointment with.

The waitress kindly calls Tucker, and Tucker kind of recognizes Ros, maybe because Ros's face is 'searchable' on the internet.

"Good afternoon Ms. Rosamund, first time in Anchorage?" Mr. Tucker kindly opens the conversation.

"Indeed yes I do. What a lovely city. Please just call me Ros. And this is my partner Gerald."

"Nice to meet you Mr. Gerald, and this is my assistant Toby."

Yes, Mr. Tucker is not alone, he is with his assistant named Toby, just a younger version of Mr. Tucker.

So just a common formality thing they all introduce each other with a handshake.

"So you just two of you Mr. Tucker? I thought you will show up with your full team?" Ros asked.

"No... There is plenty of hired-able workers that I can find right away. But first of course, ehm, sorry to say directly to the point mam, it all will depend on how much fund you are willing to spend on us, mam. Well, you know it doesn't mean I try to be rude, no... Just well, It is rougher to make a living in Alaska mam, I hope you can understand." Tucker said.

"Yes sure, I can understand, no hard feeling. So..." Ros said while pulling out an official envelope from her bag. "I think it will be written in there, it is officially the offer from Zomaftec."

Tucker open the envelope and read the official paper inside.

Quite unhappy with what is written inside the temporary contract paper, Tucker does a whistle.

"Wow, it is quite tight," Tucker said.

"I know, I also already negotiate with them, but because of one and many reasons that are the fund that they agree to a budget for the worker team," Ros said.

"So how many workers that you need mam?"

"I think... Seven is the minimum... I guess."

"Seven?! With this tight budget, do you want seven? Wow... I think we need a little bit of miracle here mam." Tucker said shocked hearing the number of workers that Ros asked for.

"Why? Is it impossible?" Ros asked.

"Well, living expenses here are rising mam, and the job offers also increasing. So with that tight budget, I think it will be really hard to get seven experienced workers. Even the newbies can get a better offer than that budget for seven people." Tucker explained.

"But, well... we will see tomorrow... I try my best mam." Tucker said.

"Yes, please help us, Mr. Tucker." Ros pleaded.

After that, they do hospitality chit-chat for a while. By discussing the detail of the job, like what time they need to prepare tomorrow, where the area of Alaska they going to come to, etc. With all of that information hopefully, Tucker can predict and prepare the equipment that they need to prepare, etc.

***

The Parallel Story of Jeff.

But what is more interesting in that bar actually, there is a man with his own 'amazing agenda' present there to do his expertise.

You (the reader) need to remember this unique person from now until the end of the story because his parallel presence with the main story antagonists will bring an amazing 'story explosion'. So this is my sincere suggestion from now on, put your attention to every 'The Parallel Story of Jeff'.

Well, that man's real name is actually no one knows. He just named himself Jeff...

Yes right,

As you see in the picture information, he is an artifact thief. And really good at it also.

Maybe he has an inhuman superpower, which is: 'the no presence existence'. Or maybe we are the ones that lack the empathy to observe 'weak' people around us.

So yes, many people ignore him, his existence is kind of unimportant everywhere. That is why he can be here and there without anyone noticing.

Even everyone will don't care about his real name after he introduces his name just as Jeff.

So that is Jeff...

The person that already awaits in the bar that night, drinking his draft beer alone at the bar counter.

It is a secret how come Jeff can know that there will be an artifact hunt in that area. He always has a secret way how to get that information.

So the same thing happens now at the bar.

He already knows that there will be an Archeologist woman named Rosamund who will meet a work contractor named Tucker in that bar at that time.

So in fact that he comes earlier to that bar, trying to find the most strategic chair to seat and to hear-stealing information and no one care about that. Maybe everyone just thinks he is just a homeless person that comes to get a cheap beer that is too wasted time and energy to be noticed.

Well yes, he orders the cheapest beer, it is true.

...

So after Tucker and Ros finish to talk each other,

Ros and Gerald back to their hotel, meanwhile Tucker and Toby stay in the bar and sit at the bar counter, right beside Jeff...

"So tomorrow at Anchorage Port at 9 am, if they are interested in the job, they can wait there for us. You post that OK?" Tucker gives a command to Toby.

And Toby with his smartphone typed that information.

Later he posts it to the 'board' so everyone that looking for a job can see the job opportunities and decide by themself.

"Ah don't forget to post about the salary. I don't want to spread 'false hope', just the way it is." Tucker said again.

"Yes already, the amount is like we calculate just now right?" Toby asked.

"Yes. Just that much. Nothing we can do. It's the offer from the sponsor." Tucker said to make sure.

And just like that, Jeff already gets the information that he needs.

So maybe tomorrow,

we will see what will happen in the port.