The sky was bright over Nome the next day. Nearly the entire town had gathered behind the church, where the race would begin. Sunlight gleamed upon the silver wings of the bush plane, where the pilot sat ready to take off. Across from the plane, Mr. Simpson was checking that every dog was ready. At the head of the team, Steele stepped into his harness, puffing out his chest confidently as the musher gave him a pat on the head.

Nome's postman, Mr. Connor, was in the center of the crowd explaining the race to the townspeople. The sled team and the bush plane would make the journey to White Mountain, exchanging their mail bag for another. Whoever returned to Nome first would win. If the dogs won, they would keep their jobs. If the plane won, the pilot would take over the job.

Balto sat by the sidelines with Jenna, Dixie, and Sylvie. He watched solemnly as the mail team barked excitedly around Steele, bubbling with confidence. Kodi caught Balto's eye once, but immediately looked away. He's angry with me. Angrier than ever.

"Aw, cheer up Balto." Sylvie looked at him sympathetically. "Kodi'll come around."

Her pomeranian companion, Dixie, gave a sniff. "Yeah, he'll see that Steele is positively terrible!"

"I hope you're right," Balto muttered. Jenna leaned against him reassuringly.

They watched as Mr. Connor fired the starting pistol, and Mr. Simpson raised his voice. "Mush!" The dogs took off with the sled, Steele in the lead kicking up slush and snow behind him. Beyond them, the plane engine rumbled.

"Good luck, Kodi!" Jenna called as they neared, but the red husky ignored her and pelted by. The townspeople cheered and bid them farewell and wishes of luck. Balto watched until the sled team vanished into the mountains and the plane soared overhead into the distance.

Mel and Dipsy joined them, Dipsy chewing on beef jerky. "You think they've got a chance?" She mumbled. "I've heard good things about that Steele guy."

"I've heard a lot of bad things too!" Mel whimpered and sank onto to the snow, covering his head with his paws. "That dog's up to no good, I tell you!"

Dipsy sighed. "I love your optimism, Mel."

The crowd had begun to disperse. Jenna looked at Balto, who hadn't moved. "Come on, Balto." She said quietly. "All we can do now is hope for the best."

"I can't just sit around and wait for them to return." Balto looked down thoughtfully. I need to prepare... I need to find someone who knows Steele... He looked over his shoulder into town. And I know some dogs who know him better than anyone.

***

"So Steele wants to get back at me by turning Kodi against me." The sun was setting now, casting long shadows across the buildings. Between two of them, Balto sat across from three malamutes: Kaltag, Nikki, and Star.

The trio had once been members of Steele's sled team and had joined him in bullying Balto about his wolf lineage. But after Steele refused to let Balto lead the lost team home, they realized just how horrible Steele was and turned against him, accepting Balto as lead dog and admiring his endurance and bravery. Though Balto wasn't very close with them, he considered them friends and felt that the feeling was mutual.

"Steele ain't the job saving type," Nikki grunted.

"Yeah, he's up to no good!" Kaltag added sharply. "He's the most selfish, disgusting, dishonorable, unappealing-"

"I think he wants to win the race, or he wouldn't have damaged the plane!" Star interrupted brightly.

Nikki and Kaltag flashed him a confused look. "Huh?"

"Damaged the plane?" Balto echoed, his ears flicking forward with wary interest. "Star, what do you mean?"

Star blinked his round eyes at him. "Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you guys. Late last night, I saw Steele sneaking around the plane. I think he did something to the side, this weird golden stuff started dripping out."

While Kaltag and Nikki exchanged startled looks, Balto quickly rose to his paws. "Show us where this happened," He urged.

Star led the three of them behind the church where the race had begun just hours earlier. The area was now empty, the snow full of shoe and paw prints. They headed to the spot where the plane had been parked, and Star sat down, pointing with one skinny paw. "It was there, Balto," He said.

Balto scanned the snowy surface, but saw no "golden stuff". Only a set of indentations left by the wheels of the plane during take off.

"Are ya pulling our leg, Star?" Kaltag growled. "There's nothing here!" He raised his paw to hit him, and Star threw his paws over his head.

"Hold on..." Balto narrowed his eyes as he studied the snow. Beside one of the tracks was a small mound of snow, just slightly uneven with the rest of the surface. He felt his companions watching him as he crouched and reached out with a paw, gently swiping the extra snow aside. He continued doing so until the mound was gone, and he had uncovered a layer of snow stained with golden brown liquid, seeping into the frost.

"See! I told you!" Star piped up.

The little malamute looked relieved when Kaltag lowered his paw and stared at Balto's discovery. "What is that stuff?" He exclaimed.

Nikki crouched beside Balto and sniffed at the tainted snow, wrinkling his muzzle in disgust. "Ugh, it's fuel!"

"Fuel?" Balto echoed, not having heard of such a thing.

"Yeah!" The large brown malamute sat up, narrowing his eyes at it. "It's the stuff that makes that dumb metal bird fly."

Balto stood and studied the patches of fuel, his blood turning cold as he realized what Steele had done. "Oh no..." He breathed.

"What?" Kaltag sounded puzzled. "It's only a little. That bird must be loaded with the stuff!"

He didn't respond immediately, his mind spinning as he grasped this horrible reality. Steele had damaged the plane, wounded it. Like a dog would leak blood, the plane was leaking fuel. Only the man-made object could not scab over its wounds. It would lose fuel until it had no more, and then...

"The plane is leaking fuel!" Balto turned to his wide-eyed companions. "Steele will do anything to win. He knows as well as I do that dogs have no chance of outrunning a plane. So he's cheated, that's what he's best at! That plane is going down. And he doesn't care if the man in that plane dies if it means he wins the race."

"Whoa!" Nikki's eyes widened, and Star gasped. "Oh no!"

"No one will find that plane for weeks after it crashes." Balto's mind raced as he took in the urgency of the situation. "Let's get out there and follow it." His thoughts darkened with worry. "Maybe we'll run into the mail team too." He turned to the trio. "Are you with me?"

The three looked at one another thoughtfully, then turned their attention to Balto. "You've got it, Balto. You're our lead dog, after all." Kaltag nodded.

Balto blinked gratefully. "I'll get Jenna." He turned his head and stared into the distant mountains, knowing that somewhere out there, Kodi was racing with his new idol, and an airplane with only a matter of time left before it fell from the sky.