The two were exhausted, but still had a ways to go to push the car. It was still early enough not to worry about people flooding the zoo in a crowd, but Jo was nervous for other reasons. She knew nothing about car mechanics.
It was when Kowalski rounded the corner, followed by Private trying to keep up that she and Rico both stopped pushing the vehicle to see what all the fuss was about. She had half a mind of what had occurred but waited to see what the scientist had to say.
Only, the smartest bird kept his beak shut, looking back and forth at Rico and Jo. Private waddled up, terrified of what Kowalski would do.
"Rico, there's something you need to know." The brainy bird looked across the car at the other tall one, as Jo and Private shared a glance of their own. Jo could tell by Private's expression it was the news. Couldn't even last a day… though she trusted him and could also tell that he hadn't said anything on purpose.
The scarred bird looked down at Jo, before questioning the second in command. "About Jo?"
"Well, yes, actually." Kowalski glanced down at the car he had only just noticed was in pieces. "Ah! What happened to our car!?"
"Long story." Rico vocalized, before patting Jo on her head and shaking his own with a tired sigh.
"I could tell you what happened in about two-thousand words," Jo said, looking up at the birds as she held her flippers up like a shield to her heart. That's the gesture Rico had seen so often, and seeing it now made him face-flipper. Kowalski took note of it too before he responded.
"I'll give you twenty." He cut two zeroes off of two-thousand, as he didn't have much time to waste.
"One of the cutouts during my driving test ended up being real, so I swerved to save a turtle's life."
"I bet you'd rather save a life than worry about a hunk of metal!" Private smiled, looking up at Jo happily.
"Of course, but Skipper stormed off, leaving me to fix the car…" She sighed, and Rico nodded to confirm her story.
"Oh no." Kowalski shook his head, getting back to the topic at hand, er, flipper. "Anyway."
"Alice left the penguin information open," Private admitted, trying to give Jo a moment to prepare.
"Yes, the information that Joe is actually a female penguin." Kowalski was ready for the dramatic pause, but none came.
"Yup." Rico nodded, bobbing his head. "Jo, no e!"
"You knew?" Kowalski felt just as hurt as Skipper had this morning. "How long did you know?"
"How did you find out?" Private was astonished.
"Ka-blamo." Rico referred to the crash and coughed up the floral Ms. Perky accessory to give it back to Jo.
"I see. The doll accessory landing on Jo in the crash caused you to rethink her actions in a new context." Like a certain Sherlock Holmes, Kowalski made a very lucky deduction. Rico nodded, impressed.
"She had been trying to tell us all from day one." Private sighed, still upset that the whole team had made a plot based on suspicions when the truth was so prevalent.
"Well, we all know now, and as soon as I tell Skipper-" Jo, Rico, and Private all shared a look before she spoke up quickly.
"No!" putting her flippers out on the car to make a metallic slapping noise, she glanced back at their habitat before looking back to Kowalski. "Er- no, sir!" She thought of Skipper's decree that no should seldom leave her beak and felt embarrassed that she had uttered the word to each penguin now.
"Why not?" The highest bird in the bunch couldn't wrap his mind around this secrecy. "All four of us know now, and it's not like we don't allow women in our unit. There is no logical reasoning not to tell Skipper."
"I don't want to be treated differently," Jo said, before continuing. "I'm fine with being challenged and put through the wringer as the lowest rung, but after seeing how Skipper…"
"You do have a point." Kowalski did indeed understand, thinking back to some of the less than respectful terms he had squawked referencing the opposite gender.
"Vroom." Rico started pushing the car again, remembering their time limit before the zoo opened. Private started helping the two others push in the back, as Kowalski walked next to them, writing on his clipboard.
"So will you…?" Jo was getting antsy as they approached the garage port, leading to the base. Kowalski continued writing but glanced at the two who had decided to help her push the car and keep the secret.
"I needed to see the options." He had been drafting various scenarios, of which only two—5% of outcomes—didn't involve something bad happening to any of the men or singular woman. "Skipper is irrational when it involves the female of any species. Therefore, I have concluded that it is in our best and logical interest not to mention it."
Jo was in awe as she stopped shoving the car to turn to Kowalski. Conditioned by Private she thanked him by giving him a hug. Instead of hugging her back, he grabbed her shoulders to put some distance between them as the others turned to watch while pushing with their backs.
"I am still vastly your superior." He postulated, reminding her of her rank and keeping a professional boundary, unlike Private. "This is for the benefit of the team and Skipper, not just a favor for you."
"Yes, sir." She stated, trying not to sound too upset at the cold reaction.
"Speaking of favors…" The scientist continued walking, and she regained her place to push the car she'd crashed. "Once you finish repairing this damage, see me in the lab for an assignment."
"That's not a favour then, it's an order!" Private corrected, a bit miffed at Kowalski.
"Precisely." The haughty bird went back to finish the calculations for the mission ahead. Private and Jo looked to Rico who gave them a shrug as the port opened.
The group made it inside just in time, and the sophisticated officer did his part by pushing a button to close the port as the zoo opened. Inside the garage, Rico slipped to grab tools for repair, when Private tapped his arm.
"We can't worry 'bout that now. It's time for the feeding." Private and Rico started to slip off, Jo following just behind them. Kowalski had continued down the tunnel.
"The feeding?" Jo questioned as they slid.
"It's when we do our cute and cuddly routine to earn fish from the zoo visitors!" Private was looking forward to it.
"Fiiish?" Rico nudged Jo as they were almost finished with the length of the tunnel. Private noticed her questioning look and filled in the context.
"Rico wants to know if he can take your fish." Private sighed. "Whatsit come to, ignoring then stealing from a woman-"
As if to slap the bird instead of the other three penguins nearby the little Brit, he smacked into the door. Jo reached out, helping the small bird get back up before nodding yes to Rico.
"Fiiiiiiish~!" He sang, beautifully.
Skipper heard the door open, finding himself belly to the ceiling on a top shelf in the lab as he struggled with dangerous electrical wires. Blast, he hadn't expected his men to be back so soon. Only, it wasn't soon.
The device Kowalski had made for him to keep time had busted during the crash, stating the same time ever since. He hid the wiring behind a tile and rolled off the shelf, lightly slapping a beaker that had dared wobble and teeter on the ledge.
Their Captain came through the lab door, and the five birds met in the center of HQ. The second in command flipped through the evidence on his clipboard, but the others rushed everyone up and out, getting Skipper up to speed on the new time.
Above, it was a wonderland as the guests surrounded the exhibit, bags full of delightful fish to replace the keeper's feeding and make money for the zoo. The men each had a different style of performing.
Private waddled around, holding a flipper to his beak as his tail feathers wagged endearingly. Rico ramped off of the feeding dish in order to do a dive. Skipper swam on his back like an expert, in sync with the rhythm of the ripples Rico had made. Kowalski bobbed his head, before hopping down to a lower ledge and flapping his arms, pleading with the guests for a meal.
Jo was left to think of a new way to move, and she flopped down to the ledge, sliding around the plateau before rolling gently into the cascading waters. Porpoising next to Rico, he nodded, moving in front as a fish was tossed her way.
This routine continued, and she was losing stamina. Now she understood some of the more questionable stances they had trained for. It wasn't all about fighting, their sense of style had to be practiced to maintain.
"Get ready to fall in line up top." Skipper caught up with the pair in the water, clueing the rookie into the final step in the feeding.
Following Skipper and Rico, Jo launched from the water with a strong push of her webbed feet. The five then wagged and smiled, waving their flippers as the audience bestowed a rather large pile of fish to conclude the public feeding.
The crowd dispersed, and the penguins began savoring their haul. Rico nudged a few tuna towards Jo, wondering why she wasn't eating. What kind of penguin wouldn't be able to tell types of fish apart?
Closing her eyes to avoid looking at the unprepared food, she swallowed them carefully since the scales were rather dangerous if pointed the wrong way.
When the coast was clear, they took the rest of the food down the hatch, saving it for later. Kowalski returned to his abandoned evidence, and the three enlistees watched the officers converge.
Skipper saw the others that had yet to be given orders since the change of today's plans. He addressed them as he and Kowalski stood under the stark light in the center of the room.
"Rico, make sure Joe fixes that car. I want it back up and running ASAP." Skipper said, and the pair saluted and started on their way before Skipper glanced at Private. "Why don't you join them? Show that newbie who's boss." The young Corporal finally had someone else below him in rank, and the leader wanted him to remember his earned place in the team.
"Aye-aye Skipper." Private lingered for a moment before looking at Kowalski, an action shared by the two others as they waited for the littlest penguin to come along.
It's all there, documented in some way on that clipboard, and they knew it came down to the choice the straight-laced scientist made now. Kowalski felt their eyes on him even after the tunnel door closed.