Alex couldn't sleep. He was sore from the day's activities, he felt rotten for yelling at everyone, he missed Marty like crazy, and he couldn't get comfortable. If he lay on his sand couch facing into the hut, he could see Marty's disturbingly empty hammock. If he turned toward the wall, water dripped on his nose from a leak in the roof. The storm kept flashing, rumbling, and dripping, not improving Alex's mood at all.

I hate bad weather, he thought, turning over for the millionth time that night. Lightning flashed, illuminating Marty's empty bed.

"Okay! He's gone! I know! Quit rubbing it in!" Alex yelled at the storm.

He turned over. Drip. Drip. Drip.

Alex abruptly stood up and changed couches. He groaned; now he had a view of the bar counter with the zebra-striped stools and the sign that read, "Marty's". The zebra had left a half empty cup of fruit juice on the counter during the last party. It was still there, reminding Alex of all the things that were left unfinished between him and Marty.

Alex again stood up. He knew how to fix this. He walked over to Marty's hammock and sat in it. It held him. Smiling a little sadly, he proceeded to lie down in the hammock. This is pretty comfortable, the lion thought.

Finally, Alex fell asleep.

"Mr. Alex? Gloria? Melman?"

Alex woke up.

The sun was out. It was morning. Someone was yelling.

"Mr. Alex! Gloria! Melman! SOMEBODY!"

Alex's eyes flew open. He recognized that voice! He leapt out of bed and…got tangled in the hammock.

"Ow!" Alex hit the ground, flipped upright, and rushed to the door, "I'm here!" he called, flinging the door open and running out.

There was Cora, running down the beach, "Mr. Alex!" she yelled to the lion. She ran up to him, "So…glad I…found you…I've been…up all…night," she panted.

Alex was confused, "I thought you left on the boat!"

"I did," Cora answered, "but I…fell off…the boat…in the storm." The she eyed the lion, "Wait, how come you aren't surprised to see me…spotted?"

Alex shrugged, "What do you mean? You've always been spotted."

"Well, yeah," Cora said, "but…how did you know?"

The lion blinked, "I wasn't supposed to? I just thought you were muddy. I notice details!" Alex leaned closer to Cora, "And next time you cover yourself with mud to go undercover, I suggest you don't forget to put it behind your ears."

Cora blushed, "Oh."

"Um, Cora?" Alex asked, "How was Marty, you know, last time you saw him?"

Cora paused. She could tell from his eyes that Alex was truly worried about the zebra. She felt terrible, Look what I've done to these friends! She thought. Cora looked down sadly.

Alex misunderstood Cora's sad look. His eyes widened, "You mean…?" The lion looked totally grief-stricken.

"Oh, Mr. Alex, no…Marty was fine last time I saw him!" Cora corrected the misinterpretation, "At least…he was alive." She remembered the crate crashing into the side rails of the boat.

Looking relieved, Alex chided her, "Whew, you really scared me there!" He saw Cora's sad eyes, "Don't worry, we've got a boat, and we're going to find Marty."

Cora glanced around, "You've got a boat?

"Yep!" Alex nodded.

Cora suddenly felt a spark of hope, "Well then, let's go! We've got no time to lose! We have to catch up with the people before…" she trailed off, not wanting to upset the lion with the facts. I shouldn't tell him, he's been through enough! I hope he doesn't ask, I hope, I hope, I hope…

"Before what?" Alex asked.

"Um," Cora bit her lip, "nothing, Forget I said that!"

The lion's eyes darkened, "What are we up against? Cora, tell me the truth. Why did those guys take Marty?"

The spotted horse closed her eyes. Why did life have to be so difficult? "Those men…they capture wild animals illegally. Then they sell them on the underground market, usually to poachers."

Alex wasn't fazed by this info. If anything, he was more confused. "Poachers?" The only poaching he'd encountered had a lot to do with eggs.

"They kill animals, Mr. Alex!" Cora burst out, "They kill them to sell their skins and meat!"

The lion went pale. "What?" he choked, "That's disgusting!"

"It is," Cora said sadly, "And that's why we've got to hurry!"

Alex's blue eyes narrowed. How dare anyone try to hurt Marty! Those humans weren't going to turn HIS friend into steak! They would NOT get away with this! Alex's claws sprung out with a click. His tail lashed. Full of pent up angry energy, Alex began heading for the boat.

"Let's go." He growled.

Cora followed, a bit frightened at Alex's transformation from concerned cat to furious lion.

Alex was angry. His mind flashed a picture of the last time he'd seen Marty. The zebra had looked terrified down to his core. Alex knew he'd felt the same way. No one had the right to do this to him and his best friend! They would pay…

The lion felt a wild savageness inside…the same one that had nearly caused him to eat Marty only a couple of weeks ago. But this time it was different.

This time, Alex was in control.

And he hoped, for the humans' sake, that Marty was still all right.

When he and Cora got to the boat, the penguins were just finishing preliminary checks on the big vessel.

Cora looked up, "That's your boat? It's huge!" She gaped at the ship. It must've been ten times larger than the humans' boat!

"That's the boat!" Alex said with a feral grin.

Gloria and Melman approached them from the direction of the huts.

"Cora? What are you doing here?" Gloria asked, surprised. Then she noticed Alex's behavior.

"Alex, did you eat breakfast?" Melman asked nervously.

Alex smiled a little less wildly, "Don't worry, guys, it's all under control. My control."

Gloria shook her head, "What is going on?"

"I'll explain later." Alex told Gloria. He called up to the penguins, "Are we ready to go?"

Skipper patted the ship, "We are green for launch."

Alex took that as a yes and leapt for the staircase the lemurs had built for them, "Then let's move out!"

Cora, Gloria, and Melman hurried up after Alex.

"Weigh anchor!" Skipper ordered, "Start us up!"

The huge engines started and the boat lurched backward off the beach.

Alex took a deep breath of the sea air. Today, he would find Marty, and everything would be right again.

Skipper called to Alex and Cora from the cabin staircase, "What is our destination?"

"Kenya, to the north west!" Cora yelled back, "And step on it!"

The boat made a slow turn and plunged ahead, north of west.

Alex sighed, watching the beach of Madagascar disappear from view.

They were finally on their way.

Once again Alex found himself pacing nervously. How far away IS Kenya, anyway? He wondered, does this boat go any faster?

"Alex, would you sit down? You're making me sick!" Gloria shut her eyes.

"Me too," Melman's voice said. He had been standing that way, head over the side of the ship, the entire ride.

Alex sat down, "Sorry. Shouldn't we be there yet?" The lion was ready for action, and tired of riding on this ship.

Cora sighed at him, "Mr. Alex? Kenya's pretty far away from where we were on Madagascar. Just be glad that the penguins know how to read maps."

Alex nodded. "Alex," he said.

"What?" Cora looked confused.

Alex slowly looked at her, "Call me Alex. Only the lemurs call me 'Mister Alex'."

"Okay." Cora blinked, a surprised smile lighting her face, "Alex."

Alex tried to return the smile. She's not so bad. And she really seems to care about Marty.

In the ship's cabin, Private suddenly got excited. "Skipper! Skipper! I see the boat! The humans' boat!" he smiled.

Skipper nodded slightly, "Good work, Private. Kowalski! Adjust heading and correct for turbulence. Reduce velocity to vessel approach speed. Operation Zebra Rescue has just begun, boys."

The penguins hi-fived and Rico blew the horn.

On the deck, the four mammals jerked up, surprised at the loud blast. "They must see land!" Alex cried. They all rushed to the boat side railing to see. Cora smiled, "No, even better. That's the boat! The one that Marty's on! I'd recognize it anywhere!"

Gloria looked relieved. Cora looked angry and relieved. Alex looked worried, angry, and relieved. Melman looked green and relieved.

Alex grinned, staring at the smaller boat as they came closer and closer. Marty was nearby!

On the smaller boat, the men heard the blast of the large boat's horn.

"They've found us!" the boss man yelled paranoidly.

"But sir!" the dumb-looking one pointed, "That's a cargo ship, not a police boat!"

The boss man roughly grabbed the dumb-looking one, "That's what they want you to think, you idiot! They're Feds! Their whole business is deceiving people!" He let go of the dumb-looking man and yelled at the others, "Get those crates hidden! Pull out those fishing nets! And get our engines up to full throttle! We may be able to outrun them!"

Men scampered like frightened rodents to carry out the man's orders.

Marty yawned and peered out of his crate. He saw the huge boat that was approaching the "fishing boat" and grinned. I recognize that boat. He thought, Help is on the way!

Then everything went dark as some men threw a big blanket over Marty's crate.

On the cargo ship, Alex began warming up, stretching his legs and punching the air. Whatever happened on that boat, he would be ready for it!

He saw the smaller boat speed up a little. He smirked. They couldn't outrun this big ship with their little fishing boat!

Sure enough, Alex heard the big ship's engines get a little louder as they pulled even with the fishing boat.

"This is the Skipper speaking. You are holding one of our citizens hostage. In violating certain intercontinental treaties…" Skipper's voice came from over the ship's loudspeaker.

On the "fishing boat", the "fishermen" held their hands up as amplified penguin squawks flooded the air around them, "What's that awful noise?"

The boss man tried to yell over the squawks, "Pay no attention! It's some kind of auditory torture or mind control!" He glared all around, "Remember! If they board us, we're all fishermen!"

"…prepare to be boarded! Repeat! Prepare to be boarded!" Skipper finished his lengthy speech.

Alex helped lower the gangplank they'd built in Madagascar across the two boats. Unable to wait a second longer, he bounded across it. Gloria, Melman, and Cora looked at each other, and then bounded after Alex.

As soon as Alex was on board the smaller ship, he began looking around, "Marty! Where's Marty?" He grabbed a nearby man by the shoulders and shook him, "What have you done with my friend?" he cried.

Cora stepped in, "Whoa, Alex! Stop it; they can't understand a word you're saying!"

Alex let the terrified man go. "Oh," he said, looking dazed.

The lion-shaken man ran up to the boss man, "They're real monsters!" he cried, "About fifty of them! All hairy, with teeth like knives and eyes like lasers! And they speak in some foreign language with growls and squeaks!" The man quivered, "one jumped me! I managed to fight it off, but…we don't stand a chance, sir!"

The boss man made a decision. "Everyone get into the cabin!"

Alex's keen hearing picked up a muffled sound coming up from a huge pile of fish nets.

Fish. Fish. Fish.

Forget about that! Alex told himself sternly, Save Marty!

He pushed the delicious-smelling nets aside and found a heavy blanket underneath the nets. The blanket was calling his name!

"Alex! Under here!" the blanket said.

Alex blinked. He yanked the blanket away, "Marty?"

Under the blanket was a crate. In the crate was the guy that Alex was afraid he'd never see alive again.

"Marty!" Alex yelled, pulling the crate toward himself with the excitement of a kid opening a present. He found the latch and pulled at it.

"Alex!" Marty yelled back excitedly, trying to help Alex.

Alex paused to pat his friend through the crate slats, "Don't worry, buddy. I'll get you out this time!" Alex's claws scratched at the latch.

"You better believe it!" Marty cried happily, "But what about the lemurs?"

"What about them?" Alex asked, not thinking about anything besides freeing Marty.

The zebra's eyes looked around, "The ones in the other cages!"

"We'll take care of them!" a female voice said. It wasn't Gloria's voice.

Marty shouted, "Cora! You're okay! Man, now I am definitely a believer in good luck!"

Cora just smiled as she, Gloria, and Melman set to work freeing the lemurs. Gloria pulled off the nets and blankets, Cora kicked open the crates, and Melman ushered the lemurs to the gangplank.

Alex struggled with Marty's latch.

"Try your teeth!" Marty suggested.

The lion said nothing as he hooked a claw through part of the latch and pulled. The rusted latch moved a little.

"I think I've figured it out!" Alex yelped happily.

"Uh oh, guys, we've got company!" Gloria said, glancing toward the cabin.

Cora looked up from the last crate, "Oh, no!"

The boss man stood just outside the cabin door, staring at the animals with a deadly look in his eyes. He pulled something out of his jacket, "I'm glad I had this stashed in a cupboard." He held up a gun. The gun was a lot smaller than the ones that Cora had thrown overboard, but judging from the way the man wielded it, size made little difference.

Alex's heart pounded. There was nowhere to run. For the first time ever, Alex was genuinely afraid for his life.

This must be what it feels like to be the hunted. Alex thought, This is how Marty feels when he is near a predator.

Gulping down his fear, Alex stood tall, protecting the crate that contained his best friend. If he was going to die, at least Marty would have a chance.

"Alex! What's going on?" Marty asked, unable to see.

Alex imagined how sad Marty was about to be, "I'm so sorry, Marty!"

"About what?" Marty asked again, "C'mon, what's happening out there?"

Alex didn't answer. He stared straight into the human's treacherous eyes. Neither lion nor man blinked. The man's fingers twitched. Alex closed his eyes.