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After eating and picking up a portion of food in a to-go container, Jenko returned to Tuska's apartment to find the women in a much different state than he had left her in. Now she was fully dressed in a tight fitting shirt and shorts that he recognized as sled pulling attire and fervently staring at a large map that she had draped over a table in her kitchen. She didn't even seem to notice the other husky come in even after he knocked loudly and called out her name. Only when he ventured in and tapped her on the shoulder that she seemed to snap out of her focused daze.

"Oh, I didn't hear you come in," she said and rubbed at one of her eyes with a palm. It was almost a bit of a shock because he was wearing entirely different clothes than the last time she had seen him.

"Heh, I tried to be loud, I guess you were really concentrating," he said and offered the food container to her. She graciously accepted it and began digging in with a provided plastic fork. "So what is this?" he continued and leaned over the map.

"It's a topography view of the tundra between here and Feighlow," Tuska explained through a mouth of food. That aspect became obvious as Jenko looked over the mostly barren expanse and the mountains that made up a partial lane towards Feighlow from the airport. There were fresh markings and numbers from a red pen that laid uncapped nearby. The husky squinted his eyes as he realized that they were simple math scribbles that corresponded with longitude and latitude points. Finally there was a long red line going from Feighlow towards the mountains but veered off to the side going towards the airport.

It didn't take long for Jenko to understand what all of this meant and he glanced up to Tuska with concern in his eyes. "You're going to go out in the blizzard to find them," he said, less of a question and more of a shocked realization.

"I have to. I think I know where they might be," she said after quickly finishing her food, tossing away the container, and washing it all down with a hastily filled glass of water. She came back over to the map and pointed down at it. "Kojak is a very smart and able bodied dog, he would have known to follow these mountains. When the mountains stop he would have known to go straight south and he would have eventually ran into Feighlow by accident. That goes to say that returning he would simply have to follow North until he caught sight of the mountains again and would have just followed them back to the airport," she explained while tracing her finger across the map, signifying the path she believed he would have taken.

"But the winds have been strong and coming from the East," she continued, now tracing her finger along the red line that she had drawn out. "What I hypothesis is that Kojak was blown too far West coming back and he missed the mountains. It wouldn't have taken more than a day's worth of sled pulling for him to realize as such. From there he would have known that continuing North would put him on a path to run into the airport, but I think he has gone much too far to the West and he has now missed his mark again." Her finger was now out in the middle of the tundra near the airport but on a skewed path that had it farther West.

"This is where I suspect I'll find them. If Kojak is smart he would have set up a camp and stayed in one spot to wait out the blizzard," she said after straightening her back and folding her arms in front of her. Jenko was nodding along as he followed her logic and when he looked up to her he found that she had leveled a stern gaze to him.

"I'll go alone if I have to. This is a mission that is every bit as suicidal as the one that Kojak went on. So it's with that in mind...I'd like to ask for you to join me, but I strongly suggest that you don't." Tuska's ears splayed against her head and her shoulders fell. Now she refused to meet his gaze. The other husky's eyebrows lifted in surprise but in truth he knew it was coming from the moment he saw the map. Her plan was obvious to him the second before she began speaking a single word.

"Are you kidding? You couldn't keep me out of this mission even if you begged," he said excitedly.

Tuska was taken aback by the enthusiastic attitude and it was clear that she was fighting herself. Was she meant to feel remorse or exultation? "We could both die out there. There's nothing keeping us getting blown off course and getting ourselves hopelessly lost in the tundra the very same as Kojak. It's a suicide mission."

"You're being too hard on yourself." Jenko pointed down at the map where she had circled the area of where she thought Kojak was in. From there he pointed over to the Legend that gave a measurement of distance. "Kojak is less than thirty klicks South-West of where we are. We can go out, search the area, and follow a compass back. Even if we are blown off our course we would most certainly run into the airport again. If not, the blizzard is only set to last three more days. If we gather enough supply and a sled of our own we could wait out the storm and return under clear skies."

Now it was Tuska's turn to nod her head. "I had thought the same, the unfortunate part is that because I'm not a team leader anymore I can't rent a sled and use airport supplies for this kind of a mission. We'll have to steal everything and slip out without anyone finding out what we're doing." She looked him in the eyes again and silence stretched out between them.

"Well, if that's what we have to do then we'll have to do it," he said nonchalantly.

Tuska gave a heavy sigh as if she had been holding her breath. "I don't know if I should be so happy that you're so okay with stealing stuff for the mission."

"It's a necessary evil," he said with a shrug. "So when will be start?"

"Right now will be best. The garage and store rooms will have been left alone by now with it being so late." Tuska grabbed a bag that she had gathered a couple of essentials that she thought would aid them that the store room wouldn't be able to provide and slung it over her shoulder. "You ready?"

"More than I've ever been!" he barked. Tuska nodded and took the lead, pushing her way out of her apartment with Jenko staying tight on her heel. The hallways were empty save for a few unsuspecting people that wandered around consumed by their own business. None of them cared to pay the slightest mind to two huskies that were out and about.

The two stepped into an elevator and rode it down to the basement where the storage rooms and garages were. When they finally arrived they found themselves in a cold area that was devoid of light and personnel, just like Tuska predicted. While there were a few guiding lights that cast their path in shadows and amber florescence they still needed more to properly navigate, but they didn't want to turn anything on because it would most certainly raise considerable suspicion. As such Tuska took out two small LED flashlights and handed one to her companion. Together they shown them around sparingly and only to avoid obstacles that might give them away.

They navigated their way to the garage first, a large open space that was filled with bulldozers and various other equipment meant for expeditions and to clear away snow from the airport runway. To the far side of the garage the duo found sleds stacked on top of each other on racks but for the time being that wasn't their focus. Instead they rushed to the store rooms.

Trying each door handle told that they were all locked, but Tuska expected as much. From her bag she withdrew a small lock picking kit that had been used quite a bit in her youth when such a thing had piqued her adolescent interest. But the years had been unkind to the tools, as several of them were missing and those that remained were dulled, bent, and rusting. Still, it was the best she could do, and so she began to work right away on the closest door to her.

Jenko stood nearby and acted as a look out as the woman toiled away, urgently trying to remember the techniques she had used in the past as she desperately wiggled a lifting hook to get the tumblers in place. Despite Jenko's vigilant effort towards his sole role as watchman the two were still snuck up on. The newcomer came on without a single sound, having trailed the two since they had gotten in the elevator.

Read the full chapter here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/warmth-in-arctic-20729018