OPERATION: Главная SWEET HOME
CHAPTER TWO
~ Unthinkable ~


“Wait until Ты see this one, guys,” Kowalski сказал(-а) as he pushed yet another videotape into the VCR. “It was one of my Избранное episodes in my younger years.”

“Kowalski, how many episodes of ‘Bill Nye the Science Guy’ do Ты plan to Показать us this morning?” Skipper then asked his first lieutenant. “He seems like a nice guy, I’ll give Ты that, but there are probably other things that we should be doing this morning.”

“Like what, Skipper?” Private inquired.

“I’m not sure, Private,” Skipper replied. “Some days Ты find the missions, some days the missions find you.”

How right he was.

“Oh, no! This can’t be happening to me again,” Marlene suddenly burst into the HQ, crying, and declared. “You guys have got to help me. Skipper, I need you. Kowalski, Rico, Private, please help me!”

Skipper turned to see Marlene by the doorway, and he could tell immediately that something major and awful had just happened to her. He wasn’t sure what it was that had gotten her so upset, but before he could find out what was wrong, he knew he had to quickly calm her down.

“Marlene, hand me your paw,” Skipper requested as he stood up and walked over to her.

Marlene then put her right paw forward, which Skipper took and held between his flippers. Almost instantly Marlene stopped crying; he had a remarkable calming effect on her. In part, it was because he touched her; in part, it was just Marlene knowing that Skipper cared.

“Thanks,” Marlene smiled as she took her paw back.

“Don’t mention it,” Skipper replied as he motioned for the others to come over. “Now take a deep breath and tell us what got Ты so shaken up.”

“Oh, just one of my worst fears come true,” Marlene stated. “I’m going to be uprooted from this place I’ve begun to call Главная and transferred to another zoo.”

Kowalski, Rico, and Private gasped as they waddled over, but Skipper just shook his head.

“Unacceptable,” he declared. “If Ты don’t want to leave this place, Ты never have to. No humans will ever ship any of us out of here -- Ты certainly remember how we showed them when they tried closing the zoo, don’t you?”

“Yes, but this time it’s different,” Marlene responded. “This time they’re just targeting me. If the zoo had closed, I would have been sad, but I probably would have ended up someplace new with at least a few of Ты guys; this time, however, I’ll be all alone.”

“Well, Ты won’t be if I have anything to say about it,” Skipper declared. “Though I had thought and had hoped that Ты would never be threatened like this, I promised Ты that I would prevent Ты from being taken away, and the Skipper always keeps his word.”

Marlene then began to smile a faint smile, but she stopped when she noticed that Kowalski seemed to have a question.

“What’s your intel, Marlene?” Kowalski asked. “How do Ты know that you’re being transferred?”

Marlene then began to tear up a little again, but she still managed to provide an answer for the team’s options man.

“Alice was outside of my habitat this morning with two men who had clipboards,” she responded. “She pointed at me, she used the word ‘otter,’ and she insisted that she could have everything arranged to have me shipped out on Thursday. So barring intervention by Ты guys или a miracle, I’ll soon be shipped out to–”

“Well, if it’s the Bronx Zoo, we could get Ты out of there easy,” Private spoke up.

“I’m afraid it’s not so close by, Private,” Marlene сказал(-а) sadly. “They want to put me in St. Louis.”

“That’s 961.42 miles, I’m afraid,” Kowalski commented.

“That may be true, Kowalski, but Marlene’s not going anywhere,” Skipper declared. “If we were able to successfully send an obnoxious walrus spy packing, we can certainly devise a way to keep an otter.”

“Uh-huh!” Rico agreed.

Kowalski and Private nodded, also agreeing to be a part of the mission. Skipper then turned to Marlene.

“Penguins can do anything, Marlene,” he said. “Go on back to your habitat and try to relax while we strategize on the best way to pull this off. We’ll let Ты know later what the plan is.”

“OK,” she replied as she began heading for the door.

But as the penguins then began to walk in the opposite direction, Skipper thought that he heard Marlene begin to cry just a little bit again. He then thought it might be best to have a private word with her to reassure her that everything would be OK.

“Marlene, before Ты leave, come with me for just a second,” Skipper сказал(-а) as he turned around and motioned for her to follow him behind a shelf.

Marlene followed, and as soon as she got Далее to him, Skipper lifted up a flipper and wiped the tears off Marlene’s face.

“There’s no need for that,” he сказал(-а) as he looked into her eyes. “I’m going to need Ты to be strong so we can all work this out, OK?”

Marlene nodded.

“All right,” Skipper whispered as he held his flippers open, “now give me a hug.”

Marlene smiled and felt comforted as she reached out and complied.

“You know, a lot of people think that the zookeepers and administrators run this place, but they don’t,” Skipper stated as he continued to hold onto her. “I do, and I will not allow Ты to be taken away. Marlene, Ты are both my friend and my mission -- failing either one is not an option.”

“Knowing Ты the way I do,” Marlene said, “I wouldn’t expect it to be.”

Moments later, Marlene let go of Skipper and exited the пингвин habitat. Skipper then assembled his men around the таблица to devise a plan of action. It was actions that spoke louder than words, after all, and the time to act was now.

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