Chapter One: Arrival
"Just set it over there." A red-headed zookeeper named Alice said. She wore a yellow T-shirt and green baggy shorts with at least six pockets. Her outfit was completed with lace up boots and a green and yellow baseball cap. Her tone suggested she didn't like her job very well, but she needed the money. She was directing two men in the same outfits carrying a medium sized crate into the storage area. When the three humans finally left, four penguins belly-slid into the area.
A short, flat-headed penguin known as Skipper stood in front of the three others.
"Kowalski, analysis." He commanded a penguin much taller than himself.
The tall penguin walked over to the wooden crate and licked, measured, and kicked it. After kicking it he hopped around holding his webbed foot in his flipper. It's a wonder he didn't get splinters on his tongue from licking the crate. Kowalski quickly recuperated, after realizing that the whole team was staring.
He cleared his throat, embarrassed, and stood tall to look important. He was a lieutenant, after all.
"It's treated and hard to tell what it's made of but if I could guess I'd wager that it's a wolverine." Kowalski said.
A penguin almost as tall as Kowalski and with a feather Mohawk named Rico thought and answered, "Ooh! Platypus! Platypus!" His answer for most transfers.
The shortest penguin, Private, who was a bit chubby spoke up too, "What if it's a badger?!"
The little guy had a fear of badgers for some odd reason.
Skipper requested a crowbar and Rico up-chucked it for him. The penguin dug the metal bar into the lid, and ripped the nails out from the boards it held together. The inside was dark, with a water bottle on the wall and plenty of hay for bedding. There was a fur ball in there that moved only when the animal breathed. It appeared to be a sandy color with pointed furry ears and a really short tail.
"Oh, a bobcat." Skipper said, relieved it wasn't a lemur.
"Bobcat?" Private asked.
"Yes, a feline that lives in the upper United States and in Canada. They have large feet and live in snowy mountain areas. Their diet includes hares, birds, and many rodents." Kowalski replied, mostly to show off his knowledge.
"Kowalski, when we get back to HQ, put a quarter in the show-off jar." Skipper said sternly.
Kowalski grumbled something about his punishment angrily and then got quiet again. They put the door back on so Alice didn't suspect anything and left. The new resident would be put in its habitat later. There was nothing else the penguins could do here anyway. They headed back to their habitat. Since the zoo wasn't open yet this morning it was simple to slip back into their home without being spotted. They each hopped over the green fence that kept the visitors from jumping into the pen. The penguins landed on a small, fake, concrete island in the center of chlorinated blue water.
In a corner of the island was a tin bowl that usually had a blue salmon in it. But that fishbowl wasn't just to keep food off of the ground. It covered up a secret entrance to a lair that the penguins used for top-secret operations. From the entrance there was a ladder beside four slots carved into the wall where the penguins slept. Beside the bunks was a door where Kowalski had his science lab where he invented on his downtime. (He was pretty smart for someone who couldn't read.) Then, in the corner beside the door was the T.V. and stereo. In the middle of the room was a table with cinderblocks for legs where the penguins ate and played cards. Across from the ladder were about three steps covering a potion of the lair, leading up to a periscope where Skipper checked on what happened outside.
Skipper instructed his team in training on the island.
"Punch and kick and flip…" this went on with many different commands in a rhythm until the zoo opened.
Alice opened the gate and a group of kids burst through. The children screamed happily and scattered to the different habitats. A couple of teachers and chaperones followed them, trying to round them up for the tour.
"Oh boy, a field trip!" Private said and happily hopped about.
"Just smile and wave, boys." Skipper said confidently.
The children gathered around the penguin habitat cheering when Skipper and his team started their adorable high jinks. Soon the "Feed the Penguins" booth was empty and the habitat was full of fish. But the blissful moments came to an end when the field trips were all over and the zoo closed its gates.
"Good job today men." Skipper complimented.
Alice walked by their habitat with the crate from earlier and struggled with how heavy it was. The penguins followed hiding in bushes being careful not to let Alice see them. They finally came to a rather large habitat with plastic grey mountains painted white on top and white powder to imitate snow. There was a cave in the back for shelter. Alice walked into the habitat and laid the crate down at the entrance of the cave and walked out.
After they were sure she was gone Skipper, Kowalski, Rico, and Private slipped into the habitat and waddled to the crate to welcome the newcomer.
"Hello?" Private called into the crate.
A glowing green eye opened in the darkness and Private was scared and stepped back. The other eye opened in the crate and a sudden flash of sandy brown and there was a cat standing behind them.
The bobcat was just a kit. It was a female, maybe six to eight months old. Her eyes sparkled in the orange evening light. She was a very furry cat, with a white mouth.
"Hi, my name is-"
"Are you a spy, bobcat?" Skipper questioned before the cat could finish her sentence.
"I'm sorry, I'm not a bobcat or a spy, and I'm a Canadian Lynx. My name is Sandy." Sandy said as polite as possible.
"Ah, that's just what you want us to think!" Skipper accused and pointed.
Sandy looked to the other three penguins for support but only Private looked like he would be of any use.
"Now, I seriously don't know what you're talking about. If you could please just tell me where I am I'd be grateful." She smiled, accidently showing her scary predator teeth.
"Predator!" Kowalski yelled in fear and all of the team hid behind a bush and peeked out from the sides.
Sandy's ears laid down flat against her head. Her whiskers drooped and she gasped in horror. She knew something like this would happen.
"Oh, I'm so sorry guys! I didn't mean it! Honest!" Sandy paused then said, "Um, so, what are your names?"
The penguins looked at each other still shaking.
"I'm Skipper, and this is my team, Kowalski, Rico, and Private." Skipper introduced pointing to each penguin as he said their names.
"Pleasure to meet you!" Sandy said happily.
"W-welcome to the z-zoo, S-sandy!" Private said, shivering behind the bush.
