Sergeant Rice was right, Emily acknowledged inwardly as she guided the plane into the hangar, home again, There were some nasty cross-currents up there. It had been a tense journey home from Gretchen research base as her plane occasionally bucked over the cross-currents and slipstreams, but long years of training helped her to keep on course and she'd arrived back at McMurdough with nothing more than frayed nerves.

"Emily!" Katie was there to greet her with a hug as she pulled the duffel out of her friend's hands and slung it over her own shoulder. "You look bushed – no pun intended," she added as Emily threw her a sarcastic glance, "but hey, good news! Captain Mitchell says you're free next weekend and I have another drop to make at Victoria… what do you say? Want to come?"

Emily rolled her eyes. "I suppose I might as well go and meet this boyfriend of yours… just to see if he's all you say he is. And maybe I'll get some peace after this."

"I doubt it," Katie laughed. She sighed and her eyes focused on something far away. "He has his own team of dogs – he's the only one with them on this side of the coast, too."

Emily grinned, knowing that her friend had a weakness for huskies. So did she, actually. Huskies, in her opinion, were the most beautiful creatures on earth. "So… are you in love with him, or with his dogs?" she teased lightly.

"Oh, I'm most definitely in love with him," Katie assured, boxing Emily's shoulder. "Now, let's get inside… I didn't save you any pizza, but I've got a mean dish of classic spaghetti and meatballs whipped up for you – American-style this time."

"Here we are," Katie announced as she brought the plane to a stop and killed the engine. Both girls removed their headsets and dropped to the ground, Emily coming around the front of the plane to join her friend.

A dark-haired young man poked his head out of the bunkhouse, looking around for the source of the now-quiet engines. His dark eyes lit up. "Crazy Katie!" he hailed, sprinting out, while trying to pull on his coat at the same time and failing to do it correctly. Emily found it rather amusing. He stopped as he got closer, his eyes traveling over Emily's red-blonde hair, eyes hidden behind her dark glasses, and trim, athletic figure. One eyebrow went up. "Who's this? I haven't seen her around before."

"I'm Emily Hawkins. Katie and I room together and we both are pilots," Emily introduced herself, sticking out her hand for him to grasp and shaking it firmly.

He looked surprised at the strength in her grip and cleared his throat before grinning broadly. "I'm Charlie Cooper – resident cartographer, navigationalist, and…" he indicated the standing snow plow, "runway paver."

Thinking this was Katie's boyfriend, Emily looked expectantly at her friend, but Katie was glancing around, obviously scanning for someone. The approach of a silver-haired older gentleman drew Emily's attention away from her friend and he introduced himself as Andrew Harrison, the base's director. The older woman with him was Rosemary. He greeted Katie warmly and they talked easily and made light conversation.

Rapidly losing interest, Emily leaned into the plane to check the fuselage and the pressure and temperature gages, keeping an eye out for any unusual weather patterns in the area. She also checked the log for upcoming flight schedules and rummaged through the hold for anything interesting. She was in the midst of this activity when Katie's voice pulled her out of her thoughts. "Emily, this is Jerry… my boyfriend."

Emily spun around to greet the man who'd come up and put his arms around Katie's shoulders, but she froze when her eyes rested on his face. Jerry Shepard removed his ski goggles as Emily whipped off her sunglasses to get a clearer look. It can't be, she thought. But there he was: the same blonde hair, the same fathoms-deep blue eyes, the same thousand-watt smile. Involuntarily, her lips pressed into a thin hard line as she took his outstretched hand. "Jerry Shepard," she said coolly, "I didn't expect to see you here."

"Emily," he said, his voice flat and emotionless, his expression impossible to read. "It's been a long time."

Katie's beaming smile evaporated to be replaced by a confused frown. "You two know each other?"

"Yes, we –" Jerry began.

"We've met," Emily interrupted in a clipped tone.

Jerry opened his mouth to say more, but a dark look from Emily made him reconsider and drop the issue. Clearing his throat a little awkwardly, he turned to a long line of beautiful huskies that Emily had failed to notice in the shock of seeing Jerry again. "Well," he said in a forced voice, "Official introductions." He started at the end of the line with a handsome gray and white malamute. "This here is Shadow, and the red one's Buck. They're our two malamutes. This one," he pointed to an all white dog with ultra-blue eyes, "is Shorty, and the one next to him is Jesse – she's retiring after this season." Emily greeted each dog as Jerry introduced them, removing her gloves so that they could smell her hands. Jerry moved to the next two. "These are the twins – Truman and Dewey – they don't get along very well yet. And up here, we have Old Jack – also getting along in years – and this here," he crouched to kiss the nose of a stunningly beautiful brown-accented, silver-tipped female husky, "is my main girl, Maya."

Emily instantly fell in love with the lead female and as she knelt in front of Maya, the dog sniffed her face and lightly licked the tip of her nose. "She likes you," Jerry commented, smiling genuinely for the first time.

Without looking back at him, she kissed the husky's muzzle and remarked coolly, "At least one of you does."

"Ouch, Cooper remarked, "That was a low blow."

Jerry nodded grimly before turning to Katie. "Let's go inside and warm up. Rosie will have some hot cocoa and rolls waiting for us." He unhitched all the dogs and whistled sharply between his teeth. "Come on, kids, inside!" He slipped an arm around Katie's waist and guided her indoors, followed by all the dogs. Except Maya. She hung back, walking beside Emily as the pilot entered the bunker, a fact that pleased Emily immensely.

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