They searched the rest of the camp, every collapsed tent and snow dug out, for any sign that someone human had been through. There were plenty of signs of animals having cleared the place out, but no sign of anyone human since the first time Avery's team had been through. Gradually, and with great reluctance, Calder got back on the plane. Jack took the opportunity to refuel before climbing back in.

“We should stop at the next base too,” Calder said as they took off. “Just to be sure.”

“It's a waste of time,” Jack said bluntly. “As was the hour we just lost. If you really want to find him alive, you can't afford to be going over every inch of this mountain with a fine-tooth comb.”

“I know, I know,” Calder scoffed. “It's pointless, right? We should just fly over the mountain once and if he doesn't send up a flare and spell out SOS in the snow with semaphore flags he's dead and we should give up.”

Jack took a deep breath through his nose, reminding himself Calder was going through a lot.

“Do you trust me?” he asked.

“What?” Calder stared at him uncomprehending.

“You keep saying you came to me because I'm the best,” Jack pointed out. “I've flown more rescues than you've done sun salutations. It is, quite literally, what I do for a living. So do you trust me or not? Do you believe I know what I'm doing, or do you think you're the one with the relevant experience here, Mr. Yoga Instructor?”

“He's my friend,” Calder tried to say, defensive. “I'm the one who hired you—”

“And if you hired an architect to build your house would you draft it yourself too?” Jack asked sharply. “Or would you let the expert do the damn job you hired him for?”

Calder fell silent, mouth a thin, unhappy line. He sat down.

“Thank you,” Jack said, exasperated. “I'll tell you what, the first time this rescue mission depends on who can do the best downward facing dog, I'll let you know.”

“You made your point.” Calder scowled at the floor, lines around his eyes tight with stress.

“Fine,” Jack muttered. “Great. We're going to spend the next couple of hours checking the slope. That all right with you?”

“You're the expert.”

“Damn right I am.”

The tension hung between them, palpable as a piano string pulled taut and humming. Jack shrugged it off and focused on flying, trying to ignore his guilt. Despite his speech, he knew he wasn't doing his best for Calder. He was just wasting time, waiting for the other man to give up. What right did he have to lecture anyone about trusting him?

They'd been flying passes over the vertical relief for a few hours by the time Jack's anger faded enough that he decided he should apologize. He'd been carefully avoiding the crevasse that still contained Dan's body, focusing on the higher elevations first. Calder had been silent since the argument, just watching over Jack's shoulder with cold resolve. Jack glanced up at him, struggling with the words and hating the flush of shame that went through him whenever he looked at the other man too long, half guilt for his most recent sins, half for what he'd done last night. He still couldn't seem to get it out of his head. Maybe it was better that Calder was angry with him. The sooner the other man moved on, the sooner Jack could forget this ever happened.

He had almost found the right words when the squawk of his radio caught his attention. He pulled up, sheering away from the mountain.

“What's up?” Calder asked, worried.

“Someone's trying to radio me,” Jack answered, fiddling with the radio dials. “This mountain kills the signal though. If I can get a little further out-”

All at once the signal snapped in.

“—severe storm warning over Mount St. Elias Boundary Peak Area,” the radio barked in stiff automation. “Air traffic in the area is advised to divert or make a safe landing immediately. Severe storm warning over Mount St. Elias Boundary Peak Area—”

“Shit,” Jack muttered. “Not again.”

The squall seemed to come out of nowhere, tearing up the steep slope with a fury Jack's super cub wasn't fast enough to outrun. He felt the first gale shake the plane like a rattle, all of the craft's tolerances shooting into the red at once. He scanned desperately for a place to put down.

“What's happening?” Calder asked, clinging to the back of Jack's chair as the plane bucked and shook.

“I have to get clear of the mountain and land or the wind is going to tear us apart!” Jack shouted. “Get back to your seat and strap in. This is not going to be my prettiest landing!”

“What about Avery?” Calder asked, not moving.

“What about Avery?” Jack replied, baffled. “Sit down! Your weight shifting around is throwing me off!”

“He's out there in this!”

“He's been out there!” Jack shot back, irritated by the distraction. “This is every day on Elias! Now sit your ass down or you're going to get us killed!”

Calder looked like he wanted to argue, but thankfully knew it wasn't the time. He strapped himself into his seat with quick, jerky movements, his hands tense and white knuckled.

The wind howled like a primordial beast that had their scent, their throat in its teeth, doing its best to shake them to death. The plane groaned, the creaking and rattling of its metal a staccato counterpoint to the wind's bass roar. Despite it, Jack could hear his blood pounding in his ears, the terrifying thrill of being so near to death like lightning in his veins. This was why he did this work, surviving the un-survivable by skill, wit and sheer luck. There was nothing else like it. But today the thrill was not so sweet. He didn't want to die right now. He didn't want to take Calder down with him. While any other day he lived to risk it all, today dying was just not an option.

He banked hard to get away from the mountain and the furious confusion of its winds, scanning the earth below him and his GPS for a sheltered spot to set down. Alarms were screaming as the wind wormed its fingers into every available crevice, doing its level best to tear the plane apart. Jack heard the shrieking metal sound of something giving way and knew his time was up. He was going down, one way or another. All he could do now was point his plane in the right direction and hope.

“Hang on tight!” he shouted back at Calder. “This is going to be rough!”

Calder put his head to his knees and his hands over his neck. Jack thought he might be praying. Jack had never been a spiritual person, but he could hardly blame the other man. He threw a prayer of his own up to whatever gods, ancestors or nature spirits might be listening. The rocky stone and snow rushed up toward the nose of his plane, a vortex of white and gray that flew at him so fast it could hardly be recognized. Accepting that he'd done all he could, Jack gripped the controls tight and closed his eyes.