[Answering machine] Hey, Jer. It's Kate.
It's been a week. Just checking if you're home yet.
- Bye. - [Beep]
Jer, it's Kate again. Call me back. Bye.
[Barking]
[Thunder]
[Barking]
[Yelping]
[Whimpering]
[Man] Over here.
All right, the ocean has a mind of its own.
So respect the ocean. Stay alert.
Now, go on ahead and take the paddle like this, in both hands.
There you go. We're gonna do an even paddle,
- alternating blades. - [Honking]
Like that.
Hey, Al, will you take over for me?
[Jerry] Hey, what are you doing here?
Somebody told me Jerry Shepard was working at the kiddie pool.
I said, "No way. I have to see that for myself."
Is that why you're here? You're here to mock me?
I'm the chauffeur. Somebody else wanted to see you.
Brandy! Come here. Go see Jerry!
Wow.
- Look who's all grown up and beautiful. - She's smart too. Just like you said.
Is she? Let's see how well she's got you trained, then.
[Barking]
[Jerry] Go get it!
She's looking good.
But I'm still not sure what you're doing here.
Come on. You didn't return my calls. I got worried.
- I've been busy. - Oh, yeah, I can see that.
What about you? What have you been up to?
Nothing much. I'm seeing somebody.
- Really. - Yeah, I mean,
I'm not seeing him for long, but I kind of like him.
He's such the opposite of us. A complete head guy.
He's an engineer.
Like on a train?
Shut up.
- Yeah. - Good girl.
[Dog whining]
- Go, Brandy! - [Barking]
So I heard you pulled yourself off the McKinley expedition.
Listen, I know leaving the dogs was hard for you.
Well, it is what it is. There's really nothing to talk about.
Nothing to talk about? Jerry, come on.
I don't want to talk about it.
You can't just keep hiding out here, Jerry.
I mean, come on. Renting kayaks to nine-year-olds?
Well, what am I supposed to do then, huh?
Maybe you can help me out or something 'cause I'm not sure anymore.
You know what you're supposed to do? Let yourself off the hook.
It doesn't mean that you have to forget.
[Barking, howling]
He knows a dog person when he smells one.
Hey, Mindo.
- How you doing? Easy trip? - Yeah, it wasrt bad.
- Appreciate you seeing me. - My pleasure.
You're part of the family.
Here. I thought you'd like to have this.
Thanks. Come on in.
So, you came to apologize, hmm?
I just knew...
I just knew that you raised 'em.
You don't have to apologize to me. It's not about being sorry for anything.
What is it then?
Back when I was a young man,
my father ran a team of sled dogs up in the Yukon.
One summer he was out in the bush walking with six of them.
They came across a grizzly bear. Young, but big.
The first thing he did was maul my father within an inch of his life.
When he came to, he saw that two of his dogs
had been killed trying to save him. The rest were gone.
When he regained his strength, he went out looking for his dogs.
He said he had to.
You know why I told you this story?
Because I won't find my dogs.
The story's not about the dogs. It's about my father
honoring what the dogs had done for him.
Jerry, what's important
is finding that one thing that will truly put your heart at rest.
[Barking]
[Applause]
And now...
And now, ladies and gentlemen, please join with me
in welcoming and honoring the man who five months ago
brought back from Antarctica the first documented Mercury meteorite,
Dr. Davis McClaren.
[Applause]
- Congratulations. - Thank you.
Thank you very much. There are several people I wish to thank,
but first and most important, my family,
my son, Eric, and my wife, Dr. Eve McClaren,
for her patience as I travel around the world on these expeditions,
many of which could be better described as wild-goose chases.
[Crowd chuckles]
Um, I'd like to thank the university for its continued support.
I'd also like to take a moment
to thank the entire team at the NSF base,
without whom this discovery
and this scientist would not have made it home.
[Applause]
[McClaren] Thanks. Thanks. Excuse me one second.
- Thanks. - Yeah, thanks. Hey.
- There he is. - Yeah. Scotch, rocks, please.
The man of the hour. Congratulations.
Well, I'm glad you could make it. I wasrt sure you were gonna come down.
Yeah.
You know, about that...
Last time I saw you,
I tried to make my problems yours. I shouldn't have done that.
But it was hard to accept that I couldn't get back to the dogs.
So, where are you with all of that?
Uh...
Actually, I'm heading to New Zealand later on tonight.
So, you found a way back down?
Part of the way. I'll make it to Christchurch
and if you hang out there long enough, usually you can find a ride south.
And if you don't?
Well, it's, uh, like you said to me the day that storm came in.
You gotta take chances for things you care about.
[Man] Davis?
Yeah, yeah. Just... I'll be right with you.
Go ahead, get back to the party.
I wanna come in and say congratulations once again.
- Sure. Thanks for coming. - You're welcome.
- Give my best to your family. - I will. And good luck, really.
Thanks.
Enjoy the evening.
- Sitter says he's been down since 8:00. - Oh, great.
Which means he'll be up at 5:00. [Chuckles]
Hey, little man.
[Sighs]
[Grunting]
[Whimpering]
[Barking]
[Seal growling]
[Roaring]
[Barking]
[Growling]
[Whimpering]
- Hello. - Hi.
Is your boat for hire?
- For what? - I gotta get to McMurdo.
[Chuckles] Not a chance, mate. It's a fishing boat.
Looking for someone, you know Bailies?
- Yeah. - It's just up there. It's a bar.
- All right, thanks. No chance, huh? - Not in hell.
You want me to take you to Antarctica in the dead of winter
on a 70-foot fishing trawler?
Mm-hm. And I can pay you. Not a lot, but everything I have.
I'm sorry, mate. Everybody is looking for a cheap ride out to McMurdo.
Basically, my boat's a margarita blender.
First chunk of ice we hit, we'll break in half.
I've seen your boat. We can make it.
- I'm desperate. You're my last option. - No one in their right mind
will take you in anything but an icebreaker.
Excuse me, sir. The lady at the bar bought you a drink.
No way. Excuse me.
What are you doing here?
Ah, some guy needed a cheap pilot for an expedition
and I'm always cheap in the off season.
- Yeah? - Yeah.
- Good to see you. - It's good to see you too.
- So, where are you going? - [Cooper] Same place I'm going.
What the hell?
- What's up, Jer? - What's going on, buddy?
- Hey, buddy. Aw! - How you been?
- Nice to see you. - I missed you.
Same here.
What's really going on? What kind of expedition is this?
Uh, that'd be an NSF expedition.
Yeah, I had a trip that was cut short.
It turns out I got a couple of weeks of grant money left and, uh...
- Uh-huh. - So here we are.
You're the man. You are the man.
How long you think it'll take you to pack?
- You know me, I'm always packed. - Well, this way.
Yeah! Yeah.
Let's go! Let's go!
Come on in, boys.
- Whoo! - This is crazy. I never expected this.
Sometimes you gotta raise your expectations.
- Cooper, how you doing? - I'd rather not talk.
- OK. - Thanks.
[Whimpering]
Polarsyssel, this is helicopter Lima-November-Oscar-Mike-Bravo
requesting to land on your vessel.
[Man] Roger, Lima-November-Oscar-Mike-Bravo.
- You're clear to land. - Here we go, boys.
- Hey. - Hey.
I thought you might like some company.
Sure.
[Sighs] It's a good night for stargazing.
[Jerry] Shooting stars mean good luck, right?
Jerry, you know,
this may not be easy, what we find.
I know that.
But whatever we find, the dogs deserve this trip.
I'm glad you're here, Katie. And I owe you one.
You owe me for a lot of things. This is not one of them.
No, I'm serious.
You always understood why I had to do this.
Careful, Jerry.
You're starting to sound like a grownup.
What about that conductor friend of yours?
- He's an engineer. - Oh, yeah.
We're not seeing each other anymore.
That's too bad.
Shut her down, Mr. Hansen. Let's go take a look.
[Engines revving down]
What do you make of that?
It's not good.
[Indistinct chatter]
[Captain] The ice is six feet about here.
[Man] The ice is deeper than we thought.
I guess we shouldn't be surprised, given the winter we just had.
Come halfway around the world and we can't make it the last 100 miles.
Sorry, mates.
I guess now is last call for a great idea.
[Cooper] Simonetta.
Simonetta who?
His imaginary Italian girlfriend. Come on, not now.
An iceberg, all right, broke off from an ice shelf.
It blocked the route that the Adelie penguins take for their fishing waters.
- I'm not seeing the relevance. - Horses, doc. Rein 'em in.
Now, I needed to map the new route so researchers could find 'em.
While I was following them, they led me right past the Italian base...
...where one Simonetta Pirelli
whipped me up a mean cup of hot chocolate.
- Come on, what are you talking about? - Step into my office.
Our base is too far for the helicopter to make it there, right?
But the Italian base is, like, half the distance.
- The young mars right about that. - Still leaves us short.
Right, right. Hold on. See,
all field bases have the same basic stuff, right?
But the Italian base is equipped with the Lamborghini of snowcats.
I'm telling you, this thing is like a rocket.
So we take one of these snowcats to our base, do what we came to do,
blow out of Dodge.
And this way, I get to spend a little less time flying.
No offense, Katie.
[Cooper] Huh?
All right, let's go.
[Barking]
Ah! Ah!
Ah, there it is! [chuckling]
The keys are in number two. The shovels are around the side.
We gotta dig this place out.
[McClaren] It's hard.
Sweet.
[Engine turning]
[Honking horn]
- All aboard! - [Katie laughs]
Nice snowcat, Coop.
What?
Not bad, huh, Jer?
Well, what do you want me to say? You're the man?
That'd be nice.
OK, you're the man.
You are indeed the man, Cooper! You are the man!
Grazie, Geraldo. Grazie.
And as for you, Crazy Katie,
you know all those ridiculous flights you put me through?
Yeah.
Payback is a dish best served cold.
- Cooper, I think that's "revenge." - [Engine revs]
[Snoring]
[Whimpering]
It's Old Jack.
We came all this way and they didn't even make it off the chain.
They got off.
They got loose!
[Barking]
Come on, kids!
Come on!
Come on, Max!
[Shouting]
[Chuckling]
Hey!
[Cooper] Hey, Buck!
Hey, Buck.
[Jerry] Max, what you been doing?
- OK, not the face! Not the face! - No! You look so beautiful.
OK, chill, boy! Chill, boy, not the...
[Jerry] Good boy, Max. Good boy, Max.
[Laughing]
- Yeah... - [Jerry] Told you we'd come back.
Look at you guys. Huh?
Shorty, come here.
Not the... Hey, Jer! A little help over here.
A little help.
Hey, Buck! Leave him alone! Get over here!
Whew! Thank you, Jer!
Good boy, Buck.
Shadow, Truman, Max and Shorty.
Man, I don't believe it.
Good boys.
My five lucky stars.
Almost perfect.
Let's go home, kids. Come on.
[Barking]
[Katie] This should be enough to get us home.
- [McClaren] Give me a hand with this. - [Cooper] OK.
[Grunts]
- All right, Shorty, up! - [Barking]
Good boy! Come on, Shadow, let's go.
Come on, buddy. Come on, let's go. Get in the back.
Come on! We're losing light here. Party's over, come on.
All right, Max, come on, buddy.
[Whimpering]
- Wanna ride up front? - Have it your way.
Let's go. Up front. Ride with me.
Come on, buddy. Jump up.
[Barking]
Max! Max!
Max!
[Barking]
Maya.
Aw, Maya.
Come on now.
You did good.
You did good, Max. Good boy.
You brought her home.
I'm sorry, girl.
Maya?
Hey.
There's my girl.
You're OK.
How's my best girl doing, huh?
Good girl, Maya. All right, let's get you home, OK?
Let's get you home.
Coop. Coop.
- She gonna be OK? - Yeah, she's gonna be fine.
What do you say, Coop? Let's fire her up and get out of here.
Yes, sir. I'll just make room for one more.
[Jerry] All right.
Give me a hand here, Katie. Let's get her in.
[Katie] Come here, Maya. [straining]
- [Jerry] Got her? There you go. - [Katie] I think so.
All right, Max. Let's go, buddy.
Come on. Good boy.
How's your girl?
She's good.
[Barking]
All right. Here we go.