*** 27 ***
If someone had asked and they had wanted to answer, they would have said that the forty-eight hours that followed after that revealing conversation with Blowhole had been like a dense fog inside their brains. They would have said that coincidence doesn't exist. They would have said that something avoided to tie loose ends. They would have said that they wished they could have stopped time forever on that Thursday evening for not letting it progress ever again.
On Wednesday morning it was the first warning. When they landed on the concrete island, the penguins were surprised when they saw everything unusually dark for the time it was. They looked at the sky: it was covered with very dark and threatening clouds. If they discharged rain there, it would surely be the biggest storm they had witnessed since they arrived at the zoo when they were fledglings. Kowalski had said that it was a simple squall, but it was worrying anyway.
Not much later Skipper saw a known pigeon flying over his head. Was there mail? Why didn't she stop there? He had a bad premonition. He knew something was going to get screwed up, but he couldn't guess what. His stomach was warning him too... and, when it did, it was always right.
The day was also unusually strange. Few visits, very few... but it was understandable too. And, instead, Alice's omnipresence. She was crossing once and again in front of them and staring at them as if she expected them to react in some way. They just smiled and waved, exasperating her. They were being nice to her... what else did she want?
In the evening it started to flash. Only the lightning flash could be seen in the clouds, and the penguins were still on the concrete island. Suddenly, a horrifying bang: all the sky lit up and the street lights switched off.
"The auxiliary power unit!" Alice yelled, and left running.
It was the moment. Without her intensive surveillance, eventually, they could sneak into the HQ. Not much later they could hear the sound of big raindrops falling against the fishbowl.
When Alice went back after activating the auxiliary power unit, she discovered that the penguins had disappeared. She said a swearing that the penguins received among laughter and hurrays.
.
A long time ago Johnson had bridged the auxiliary power unit to have light in the HQ if a blackout occurred, so they wouldn't have supply problems. Private switched the TV on.
"- o'clock news we'll speak about the drivers strike which has been called off this noon -"
Private changed the channel. He wanted to watch the Lunacorns.
"Don't bug me, Private!" Johnson complained. "That is for kids... and you're not a kid!" He took the remote control off him.
"Johnson, give him the control back," Skipper ordered.
"Why?"
"Because I say so."
"Are you in charge twenty-four hours a day?"
Both were face to face, with their flippers crossed and they stared at each other's eyes.
"One more disrespect and you'll leave the unit," Skipper said, not blinking and moving apart. He had more important worries than the fight on a remote control.
Johnson hissed. Private was looking at him with his beak open.
"What are you looking at, dwarf?" Johnson asked him with insolence.
"Being shorter than you doesn't give you the right to disrespect me," Private answered, staring at him.
Johnson half-smiled. "If you talk to me that way, I may have to reconsider you. It's about time you stopped behaving like a kid."
"I like behaving like a kid although I'm not."
Johnson looked around. Nobody was paying attention.
"You like Skipper to pamper you. Your interest is to be the apple of his eyes for not being scolded as I am and for being the leader when he resigns. You want him to trust you because I sass him, he thinks that Kowalski is crazy, Rico really is crazy, Manfredi is a hopeless case and Blake is troublesome."
Private lowered his stare. Partly, Johnson was right. He wanted to please Skipper. But he wasn't an arriviste or self-interested. He couldn't be, he was honest.
"I don't know what's wrong in being as I am," he replied. "Manfredi is that way too and -"
"Manfredi is a coward, an apathetic and a thug." Johnson didn't like to recognize it, but his best friend had some characteristics that he considered hateful. "Are you so?"
"I am innocent and naive," Private answered.
"Bollocks! I've seen how you look out of the corner of your eyes when you cover them. Your mind is as rotten as ours. Or worse, because the others don't hide what we are."
Johnson moved aside and left Private with his remote control. Spoilt child... some day he would unmask him in front of all.
.
It was still raining at the time of the rendez-vous with Blowhole. He was brief and direct:
"Hello, pen-gu-ins. Today I just wanted to greet you. I'll miss this... sleep well, my little pen-gu-ins."
Manfredi continued with his mantra: "It goes in one ear hole and out the other." He'd repeat it as many times as it was necessary.
"Kowalski... check tires, combustible, engine... today I do have a bad premonition," Skipper said.
Kowalski stayed alone in the garage for a while. Nobody interrupted him. Blowhole was watching him on Red Two's screen, and Red Two was concealing his discomfort. As soon as the light inside the garage switched off Blowhole moved aside and went elsewhere on his segway. Red Two opened his claw: he had been all the evening hiding a new intercom, recently stolen from the warehouse. There were many, he thought nobody would notice... but he had to configure it on the computer and to cancel the other one. He needed Blowhole far away.
"I'm going to moisturize... being a dolphin is a nuisance," Blowhole said, going away.
It was the moment. To transfer his data to the new intercom was fast. It was ready for another mission. Now he should cancel the other one... and there was only one way: to detonate it from a distance.
Done.
.
The new day came with rain. The sound of raindrops falling against the fishbowl had been a lullaby for some and an infernal litany for others. There wouldn't be many visits, but if they didn't want Alice to suspect they should go up.
There she was. Skipper thought he was being paranoid, but he could swear that Alice stared at them when she approached them. However, she didn't do it as many times as the previous day.
Blake approached Skipper fearfully.
"Are you still mad at me?" she asked him.
"Not mad, disappointed," he answered.
"Well, I... I see you strange."
"You see me worried. I have a premonition since yesterday." Skipper stared at the horizon.
"About what?"
"About everything."
Blake looked at Skipper. The rain was soaking her face, which was good because she didn't want him to notice that she was crying. It was always the same... she was a weak cry baby. But... who would have endured with strength all what she had had to live? Didn't she have the right to be weak when she wanted to? She could be weak, she could be strong. She could be humble and apologize. Nothing was so difficult.
"I... I'm sorry if I've got you in trouble," she finally said, making Skipper turn towards her.
"All that is happening is something that has nothing to do with you, you don't need to apologize for that," he replied. "About yourself... the only one who is in trouble is you."
"Did you have to say it that way?" Blake asked.
"Which way? So things are: you've got yourself in trouble. I won't say what is not. If you want a shoulder to lean on it and cry, there you have Rico. If you want to confess your feelings to him, do it today... because you may not have another opportunity."
"My what?"
"Your feelings. For him."
Skipper went to the other end of the concrete island. Blake was thoughtful. How could she confess something that she didn't understand? That she was happy when she was with Rico? Yes, she knew that. Did she really have to do something with that? If that was okay... why talking about that? Would it change if she said something? And what would she say... if she didn't understand what she was feeling? And he wasn't going to say anything either... Better to continue sharing silences, it was how they understood each other.
.
As soon as the visiting time ended (some bonkers went on untimely days such as that), the penguins could hide in the HQ. They were fed up with the rain. But their spirits were as rainy inside as outside. Skipper wasn't the only one convinced that something was going to happen.
Rico was gathering weapons helped by Johnson and Kowalski was trying to anticipate options, although it was difficult having so few clues: he knew he would have to analyze the situation when it occurred and that he wouldn't be able to anticipate almost anything... and he hated that uncertainty. He commented some to Skipper, who thought that the best option was to get used to the idea that they would have to improvise, but at the same time he wanted to go as prepared as possible. Manfredi waddled, repeating "it goes in one ear hole and out the other", as if words had magical powers. If the others reproached that, he said that even a lie ends up becoming true if you say it enough times, and that he wanted to inject enthusiasm into the team. That was usually Private's task too, but after the argument with Johnson he wasn't in the mood. They all had noticed, but nobody had the adequate words because he refused to tell what was wrong with him.
That atmosphere was oppressive for Blake, so she went outside again. They reminded her that she would have to go to the garage when she saw light there. Blake had many things to think about and wanted to be alone. It was still raining, but she didn't care.
She looked at the horizon. She couldn't see where the Sun set, the clouds were a too dense curtain. She only saw darkness. She heard the tapping of insistent, hurtful raindrops over the surfaces. From time to time she looked at the garage, it was still dark.
"I'll have to face it..." she thought. "One day I'll be separated from them and there is that damned trial. And I'll be alone. They can do nothing. If they have to testify they will have to tell the truth. I don't want them to lie for me... And Blowhole... Skipper thinks that we'll have to fight against him very soon. I'm afraid... I have never been on a real mission. And I cannot go with Nell, I don't know where she is. And... and Rico... And Skipper... why has he told me that? I... yes... okay, yes, I like Rico! And he... aw, I don't know! But I cannot tell him. I cannot make him trust me if there are things I cannot tell him even if it's for his own good."
Suddenly, she felt that someone was grabbing her. The surprise didn't allow her to react.
.
It was the time. It had stopped raining, but the penguins used the tunnel. Kowalski opened the garage door and switched the light on. There were the six males, Blake would arrive soon.
Some music sounded... a bad sign. Blowhole had chosen again one of his disturbing instrumental songs because he had to say something important. If someone had asked him, Kowalski would have identified it as "Alpha" by Vangelis... but no-one wanted one of his lessons going nowhere. That symphony seemed especially chosen for getting on their nerves. Of course, the penguins weren't in the mood for appreciating its beauty.
"Hello, pen-gu-ins... I have a surprise for you. Get in the car! I'll wait for you in Coney Island, I'll give you directions along the way."
"All?" Private asked.
"All. Get ready... up together! Quickly!"
The six penguins crowded together in the car. That situation reminded them of how the circus' former owners fled. Rico would drive. They shot off the garage and went to their habitat.
"Blake!" Rico shouted, making a sign for her to get into the car.
But Blake wasn't there.
Rico jumped off the car and onto the concrete island. He got in the HQ shouting her name, more and more desperate. He revised the lab, the 13 levels, and checked that the hatch to the tunnels was shut tight... Blake wasn't there!
"Blake! Blake! BLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKE!"
Desperate, he went back to the surface.
"No Blake!" he shouted.
Skipper gave him his seat and sat on the pilot seat. Rico sat down breathing with difficulty, guided by his teammates. He was having a panic attack.
"Soldier, you're not fit for driving." He tried to calm him unsuccessfully. "Blowhole... I don't forgive you for this."
"What don't you forgive me?" Blowhole asked.
"Having taken Blake."
"It has been Red Seven, I swear." As a background noise, they heard the laughter of some of his minions.
Skipper started the car leaving the tires marked on the ground. When they arrived at Coney Island, what he would mark would be Blowhole's face.