My first night on base is a weird mixture of sweat and chills. I'm physically exhausted, but my mind is buzzing with the anticipation of starting on my work. I have so many ideas and things I want to accomplish during my tenure here. After a few restless hours of tossing and trying to quiet my mind, I finally give in to sleep snuggled tightly underneath a down comforter, my right leg sticking out so I don't get too overheated.

What feels like only moments later, I'm awakened by a sound. I'm not quite sure how long the noise has been going on because I managed to incorporate it into my dream. It's the same recurring dream I've had for the last year. I'm lying flat on the pavement with strangers hovering over me, looking concerned. I'm trying to speak to them but no sound will come out of my throat. I'm yelling out but no one hears me. Sirens in the distance are getting closer, and then everything fades to black.

My eyes pop open in a panic, frantically looking around. Not that I can see anything because it's pitch black in my room. The sound is muffled. I can't figure out where it's coming from.

The noise continues.

Now I'm sitting straight up in my bed and trying a little harder to focus. Realizing that the sound may be coming from underneath my bed, I stumble around, struggling to find the lightswitch. I'm a little disoriented in this dark, unfamiliar space and bump hard into the desk, causing a lamp and stack of books crash loudly onto the floor.

"Ow! Damn it!"

Feeling my way along the wall in the dark, I finally find the lightswitch. The incessant beeping is now royally pissing me off. Getting down on all fours, I peek under the bed and find the cause of my annoyance. It's an alarm clock that the last person who lived here must have left behind. The alarm was set for 5:15 a.m. Ugh! Removing the batteries from the clock, I fling them over my shoulder before collapsing back onto my bed.

There's a soft knock at my door.

"Uggggghhh, go away!" I grumble under my breath. My normal good-natured self doesn't exist at this early hour. It's probably Kenzi. Maybe if I ignore her, she'll go away.

Another knock, a little more insistent this time.

"Alright, alright! I'm coming, just a second." I answer the door, bleary eyed and a tousled mess. "For the last time, Kenzi, I don't have any Lucky Charms hidden in my room!"

It's not Kenzi.

It's the doctor, looking dreamy as usual. She even glows at 5 a.m. How can she be real? She's wearing a soft emerald green knit sweater, blue jeans, and holding two cups of coffee. That's nice. I'm staring at her brown leather boots. I really like them. Oh! Good God, it's Lauren! Standing at my door! It takes a moment for my sleep-addled brain to truly register the situation.

"Is everything okay?" she asks, looking as surprised to see me as I am to see her.

"Well, as long as you're not here to scavenge my secret stash of Lucky Charms-yeah, everything is okay. All good. Totally fine." I explain, casually leaning my shoulder against the doorframe.

I shiver as her eyes slowly drift down my body. That's when I realize I'm wearing only an old Metallica concert tee, which is barely long enough to cover up anything.

"Okay, good," She redirects her gaze back to my eyes. "I was just walking down the hall and heard some unusually loud noises coming from this room." She hands me a cup of coffee. "I was bringing this to a friend, but here, you look like you could really use it."

I'm shivering all over now, missing the warmth of my bed.

"Oh, thanks," I smile at her sleepily and accept the warm mug. "I could really get used to this kind of good morning house call, doctor."

I can tell she's concentrating hard not to let her eyes drift down again. Surely, she's not looking at me the way I look at her. Right? Maybe she just really likes Metallica? She smiles and looks down at the floor. I'm not sure, I think she might be blushing.

"Well, I better get going," she says after a long pause and turns to leave.

I just can't help myself-I watch her walk all the way down the hall, enchanted by the sway of those hips. And the fit of those jeans. I'm a little flustered when she turns back around and catches me staring. She waves at me sweetly and disappears down the stairs.

I think I'm really going to like my new job.

After the doctor's cup of liquid energy and a steamy shower, I feel almost human again. Dressed in a black v-neck sweater, jeans and black leather boots, I make my way down to the dining room. I'm poking around in some oatmeal and half a grapefruit for breakfast when Kenzi shuffles in, bundled up in zebra-striped pajama pants, bunny slippers and a black ski cap. She walks right past me and heads directly for the coffee pot.

After filling up, she slumps into a chair beside me. "Coffee. Get in me," she mutters. She props her head up with one arm, staring intensely into her mug and willing it to jump straight into her veins.

I know just how she feels.

An announcement is made over the intercom for all staff to gather in The Commons for a short meeting. Kenzi guzzles her coffee down and refills her mug before we make our way over. At the pace she's moving this morning, we'll be lucky to make it there by lunch. She doesn't seem to be bothered at all that's she's still in her pajamas.

There's a long corridor connecting the two buildings so thankfully we don't have to go outside to get from one place to the other. There are metal lockers lined up all the way down one side of the hallway. On the other side, all along the wall, workers and tourists have signed their names with black sharpie pens, a historical marker of everyone who's ever been brave enough to venture here. There's also a portion of the wall dedicated to photos of all the staff that has worked at Palmer over the years. All the pictures look alike to me, people standing in a row, bundled up in bulky orange arctic coats and hats. You really wouldn't be able to tell any of the teams apart if it weren't for the plaques underneath.

Staff meetings are held in the library and media room in The Commons. There are walls lined with books and movies, and plenty of sofas and chairs for everyone to sit in. At the front of the room there's a large movie screen. A projector is currently shining the Palmer Station logo on it. For the first time I get a look at all 37 of my colleagues congregated in one place. It's an interesting mixture of people. You can practically smell the science in the air.

"It's like a Bill Nye convention in here." Kenzi whispers loud enough that I'm sure everyone can hear, even though we're standing in the back of the room.

Trick starts the meeting off with updates on the week's weather forecast, current NSF grant opportunities, and upcoming expedition information, complete with an impressive media presentation.

"I know I signed a lot of paperwork, but holy crap, is this some sort of a spy network?!" Kenzi asks excitedly.

"NSF, Kenzi...not NSA. We're geeks, not spies," I reply.

"Correction: you're geeks. I'm a journalist."

"You're right Kenz, those bunny slippers really set you apart."

I'm happily soaking in every detail of Trick's presentation when the screen changes to a picture of Kenzi and me. He stops suddenly and points to us, and all eyes in the room turn around to look our direction.

"I want everyone to please give a warm welcome, Dr. Bo Dennis and Kenzi-uh, just Kenzi. We're excited to have them both join the team."

Everyone in the room claps and whistles.

"Bo comes to us from California State University with a PhD in Marine Biology and Environmental Science, and Kenzi is a photojournalism student from Columbia University. She will be documenting all activities here at Palmer." Trick pauses for a moment. "Well maybe not ALL activities, but all fields of research will be involved in the project, so please be polite and cooperative when you see her coming around with her camera."

The meeting is adjourned and many of the team members come over to shake our hands and introduce themselves. I notice Dr. Lewis isn't here, and my mind wanders back to our morning conversation. I wonder where she was headed so early. I wonder if anyone here is the "friend" who was supposed to get that coffee.

"Wanna take bets on how many of these guys have MacGyver tattoos?" Kenzi nudges me back to the present with her sharp elbow.

I roll my eyes extra dramatically, just as Evony walks up. Terrible timing seems to be my trademark. I hope she doesn't think I was rolling my eyes at her. As usual, she doesn't start off with any pleasantries but gets right to her point. "Are you ready to see your lab?"

I'm so excited, I almost want to grab Evony and squeeze her. Almost. "Absolutely! I could hardly sleep last night because I'm so ready to get started."

"Well, then, follow me."

Evony leads me to the wall of lockers first, pointing out which one is assigned to me. It's filled full of gear: arctic boots, hats, gloves and one of those heavy hooded orange parkas made especially for sub zero temperatures. There's already a name patch sewn on mine that says 'Dennis.'

Next we head to the Biolab and down a hallway of offices and laboratories.

"After much consideration and carefully reviewing the lists you have sent over the last few months, we decided to create two separate work spaces for you," Evony explains. "I hope this will accommodate all your needs, but of course, let me know if there is anything you feel might better suit your research. We still have plenty of NSF funds leftover, but this will hopefully get you started on the right track."

We stop at the end of the hallway. Evony unlocks the door, and we enter into a huge room about the size of a high school gymnasium. There are large metal work tables covered in shiny new lab equipment lining the walls. Rows of shelves stacked with supplies, much of it still in boxes and unopened. There are six empty aquarium tanks in the center of the room, just waiting to be filled with sea life. Everything is sparkling and new, and so perfect it's making me feel weak in the knees.

"There's a state of the art ventilation system in here, and the tanks have been configured so you can precisely regulate salinity, and temperature. Oh, and there's also a clever filtration system that will pump directly back out to the bay. Over here, is the refrigerated room where you can run your experiments in controlled climates."

I just stand there with wide eyes, completely speechless.

"Is everything okay? Do you like the Aquarium?" Evony inquires, with a hint of concern at my lack of reaction.

"I-I don't even know what to say. This is just amazing. More than I could have imagined. It's perfect."

"There's more."

"Really? More?"

She leads me through some double doors on the far side of the Aquarium. It's a smaller room set up with an astounding number of computers, monitors and printers.

"This is your computer lab. You should have everything you've asked for. I really had to pull some strings to get your lab connected directly to satellite. I think you made a strong case for it in your correspondence, which I was able to use in my requests."

"I can't believe it. Are you serious?"

"Yes, very serious. Nobody has ever tracked penguin colonies in that way before. The NSF was all over the idea. I'm going go, and to leave you to it now, so you can get started. Once you get settled in, maybe in a week or so, I will ask for volunteers to help assist you with your work when they have extra time. Here at Palmer, we're all committed to helping each other and working together. In other words, there are no Lone Rangers here."

She turns to leave.

"Wait...Evony?"

"Yes?"

I don't really know what to say so I just throw my arms around her in an awkward hug. "Thank you. For everything." She's clearly flustered by the gesture, and I wonder if I've already managed to overstep boundaries on only my second day here.

Evony clears her throat, and quickly pulls away. "You're welcome. Just don't get any ideas about me being soft. Do your job, work hard, and you and I will get along just fine."

The next week goes by in an absolute blur. I've been keeping myself so busy in the lab, going through all the boxes and testing the equipment, that I barely stop to eat or sleep. I'm itching to get actual food samples from each colony into these aquarium tanks. Things are going well and I'm settling in to my new surroundings, but now I'm starting to run on fumes. After I run just one last data report, I want to stop by Evony's office to give her an itemized list of a few things I'm still going to need. Knowing it takes quite a while to get supplies to this remote facility, I want to do it tonight before I go to bed.

Standing in front of Evony's office door, I pause a moment before knocking. I'm honestly hoping she's not there because I'm tired and really not in the mood to be sociable right now. Maybe I'll just slip the list under the door instead.

Just then, Lauren opens the door, looking exhausted and frustrated. She looks at me, startled, and then grimaces a little. "Evony's all yours. I was just leaving." She brushes by me in a hurry, before I get a chance to respond.

Sheepishly I enter the office, feeling like I unintentionally walked into something.

Evony, her eyes closed and her fingers massaging her temples, wearily says, "I think you made your point, Lauren. It's over. I get it. I'm not into begging."

I stand there, wondering if I should sneak back out and knock. "Uh, Evony? I'm so sorry. It's Bo? Bo Dennis?"

Evony's eyes snap open. A fleeting look of shock turns into her usual superior gaze. "Bo. Yes. Right. I'm sorry I haven't been by to check on you lately. Is everything alright?"

"I was just about to ask you the same thing. I'm sorry if I interrupted something important."

"Oh, that?" Evony waves her hands dismissively. "I keep asking Dr. Lewis to reconsider a very attractive and available and really, let's face it, perfect...um, very technical...medical study that probably wouldn't interest you, Ms. Dennis. The doctor turned me down. This time, at least. I can be very persuasive, and she may feel differently tomorrow...about the medical study. What can I help you with?" She looks at me expectantly.

I want some help understanding just exactly what's going on between Evony and Lauren, because I'm not buying the whole lame "medical study" explanation.

Instead, I smile brightly. "I wanted to give you this list of items I'm going to need eventually. It's not a big list, but I wanted to give you a heads up. Also, I need to get sufficient water, guano, and krill samples from each of the different colony sites, and near the port, while the weather's still relatively calm. Will I need to get snowmobile training from Dyson or….?"

Evony thinks for approximately half a second. "It makes more sense to have Dr. Lewis take you. She already flies the Polar Betty each morning to conduct her own research. I'll make sure she knows to take you with her. How does Thursday morning sound for your first foray?"

"Perfect." I hear the response come out of my mouth, but all I can think about is how perfect Lauren looks in her flight gear. My temperature rises and my stomach lurches at the thought of spending hours alone in a helicopter, with the intriguing and beautiful Dr. Lewis. I turn around to leave, excited for Thursday to get here. I'm going to have sweet dreams tonight.

"Oh, and Bo? Take Kenzi with you…"