Skipper's Log. 18:00 Hours on August the twenty sixth.

"We've been AWOL for about twenty four hours now. When I woke up this morning I still heard the oh-six-hundred bell and could have sworn I was in my bunk at the base. It's a strange feeling, being a wanted penguin. I'm worried, yet determined. I'm scared but ready to fight. Part of me wants to give up and turn myself in, part of me wants to stay on the move. Regardless, we've got a long road ahead of us.

"Manfredi finally gave us the full story this morning. The Penguin Army that we had been a part of was legitimate, we were a fighting force destined to go to war eventually. Unfortunately, we had mostly been left in the dark about what we were fighting for and why. Manfredi explained that our leader, a corrupt penguin named Sargent Caspian Fishslader , was only using us to invade a small settlement in Antarctica. Apparently, there is a temple at that location that contains an artifact with more power than any other thing on Earth. That would not be much to worry about, but this Fishslader character wants to use the artifact to, in essence, bring the entire Earth to its knees. I'm not sure exactly how, but we can't let him get his dirty flippers on it.

"Manfredi mentioned that, in the briefing rooms, he had overheard their suggested plan of attack. It would lead us right through a small penguin settlement on the continent, which is unfortunately also Manfredi's home. He told us about his fiancee and child, and then told us what else had been said at the meetings. Manfredi had suggested to his superiors that they go around the settlement or merely pass through, as the inhabitants would not be hostile to them. Sargent Fishslader ignored him and instructed that every penguin found would be killed. Manfredi asked why, and Fishslader only said "We can't risk compromise."

"That was the night Manfredi said he was taken to be executed, because he continued to argue with Flshslader and the other superiors. He explained how he barely escaped with his life. He said he felt the wind of a bullet that flew right by his head. I don't know what it's like to come that close to dieing, and I hope I never find out.

"As for us, we're camped out in the woods only a couple hundred yards from the penguin fortress. We spent the rest of the day planning out a route of attack into the fortress, scrutinizing maps of the infrastructure that Manfredi had managed to snag before he left. Our plan is simple: get the work around the ranks that the men are only being used. We're headed straight for the briefing room where Manfredi says the radio system exists for the entirety of the establishment. Unfortunately, that puts us right in the belly of the beast.

"I asked Manfredi if he would kill the Sarge if he got the opportunity to. He didn't respond."

The Speed of Darkness

Chapter 28 – Conflict

The three penguins stood around Skipper awaiting his plans to rescue Kowalski and Phil.

Skipper had gone ahead for a little while to see what the dock looked like. At his feet were some bits of thread, rocks and a few pieces of paper that made a rough map of what the dock looked like. It was a large, wide dock used mainly for large shipping barges that carried goods overseas. Skipper began explaining the plan.

"I will enter the dock this way," he pointed to the south end of the dock, "where, if Sarge is where he said he'll be, will put me in plain sight of them. They won't try anything with me right off the bat because I have the information they need. If they see me alone, they might put their guard down.

"Rico, you will swim underneath the docks here," the leader penguin pointed to the northern tip of the dock, "and Private will take position on the deck of this nearby ship," he pointed in the open space, also north of the dock. "When I give the signal to you, Private, you will signal to Rico who will be in the water. He won't be able to see me, so make sure he can see you."

Private asked, "What is the signal, Skippah?"

"I will turn around, away from Sarge, and cross my arms. That's when you signal Rico and move in. Rico, I want you to climb the dock from the far end and flank the enemy." Private and Rico nodded. Skipper turned to Manfredi. "Manfredi, I want you to try your best not to be seen and sneak as close as possible to where I will be. When they come after me, I want you to be there to back me up."

"Skipper," objected the robotic penguin, "would it not make more sense for me to accompany you along the dock?"
"Negative," the leader responded, "Right now Sarge and his boys don't know that you exist. Think of yourself as a sort of secret weapon." Manfredi nodded in understanding, though Skipper could not help but catch a glimpse of disagreement in his movement.

With the leader penguin's plan set in place, the penguin team moved into their positions. Surprisingly, when the penguins arrived at the aforementioned dock, Sarge and his henchmen were nowhere to be found. Private and Rico looked around curiously, and Skipper reminded them to stay on their toes; the enemy could be anywhere. They agreed and moved to their positions, realizing the coast was clear for now. Manfredi used the time to fashion himself a small hiding place from a pile of rope and a few fishnets. Skipper felt confident; they had the advantage of surprise. Of course, he was still not sure if the other penguins were really going to show up, or not.

The group stayed in their hiding places for some time as the sun began to set behind the tall buildings of the city. They cast long, ominous shadows on the dock where Skipper stood. He felt a yawn coming on but ruffled his feathers slightly to avoid doing so. His eyes continued to scan the edges of the dock the see if the enemy was going to arrive anytime soon.

Finally, as he watched the sun explode into a mass of fiery red colors, a dark looking penguin rounded a pile of boxes and waddled onto the dock. He walked slowly, and from what Skipper could see, was entirely alone. He also looked unarmed. Skipper gritted his beak slightly. His eyes shifted from to Private, who was skillfully hiding behind a low wall on the ship nearby, to Manfredi, who shifted slightly in his rope hiding place. He heard a small splash that could have only been Rico.

The penguin approached Skipper, stopping about fifty feet from him. He wasn't close enough to Manfredi to do anything yet.

Skipper stared at Sarge for a few moments. Skipper noted his left eye. The long scar had not been there the last time they had spoke. He briefly wondered if Manfredi had done it. From the corner of his eye, Skipper saw the robot-penguin shift again in his hiding place. Finally, Sarge broke the silence.

"Prudent as always, Skipper?" he said. Skipper recognized the penguin's voice, but at the same time it sounded like it had changed. It was almost as if it had grown darker with time. Skipper remained solemn faced.

"Looks like time hasn't been kind to you at all, Fishslader." he responded smartly.

Sarge chuckled, "I've been through a bit." Skipper's facade remained unchanged.

"Where's Phil and Kowalski?" he asked, not wanting to waste any more time.

"That was always like you, Skipper, straight to the point. You didn't give us any time to catch up!" The dark penguin slowly began moving to Skipper's left, keeping his distance and moving further away from Manfredi's hiding place. "I have just one question for you before I will return your soldiers to you."

Skipper gritted his beak hard. "No answers until my boys are back safe at the zoo."

"Ah, Skipper, good to see you have not changed a bit. Unmoving as always. It seems like I should have promoted you to Corporal instead of that idiot Manfredi..." The penguin took a few more steps away from where Manfredi was hiding but closer to Skipper.

"Why did you come alone?" Skipper responded, trying to focus on the matter at hand. "Where are your henchmen?"
Sarge held up a flipper, "I only wanted to catch up with an old friend alone. Is that such a bad thing?"
"I was never your friend," returned Skipper.

Sarge looked bewildered for a moment. "Don't you remember the time when Manfredi was appointed Corporal? He was very proud, wasn't he?"

"What are you talking about? That was the most stupid ceremony I ever saw. You didn't even pronounce his name correctly." Skipper said.

"Ah, but your one little friend... the younger of you three. What was his name? He corrected me, did he not?" Skipper saw Manfredi shift slightly again, though Sarge did not take notice of it.

"Johnson?" offered the leader penguin.

"Yes, yes! That little puffball of a penguin. I always remembered that he was the weakest of you three."

"What does this have to do with Kowalski and Phil?" interrupted Skipper, shaking his head.

"Nothing, really. Just wanted to share some memories with an old friend. Old teammates from the army, you know." Skipper stayed quiet. "Ah yes, Johnson... the youngest and weakest of beta squad. Naïve and stupid, to be honest..."

Sarges eyes shifted to Manfredi's hiding place for only a moment, but it was enough to give away that he was aware of the robot-penguin's presence. Skipper realized he didn't have much time left to act.

"... I still can't believe I got him to trust me. After all I had done," Skipper clenched his beak. "And in the end I still stabbed him in the..."

Suddenly Skipper heard a deep, shrill cry from his left. Manfredi had burst out of his hiding place and was charging directly at Sarge. From what Skipper could see his eyes were cloudy and tears were running down his feathered face.

"I'll kill you! I'll kill you!" shouted the enraged machine-bird. Clutched in his flipper was the crooked, rusty dagger.

"Manfredi, no!" Skipper cried, but if fell on deaf ears. He spun around and, forgetting the signal, waved his flippers over his head to try to signal Private. The specialist was no longer on the boat but Skipper only assumed that he had moved into action when he saw Manfredi charge.

Skipper spun back around just in time to see Manfredi raise the dagger and try to stab Sarge with all of his force behind it. Sarge, who did not look surprised at all, simply parried the incoming blow. Manfredi was not expecting this and tripped, tumbling over himself and stabbing the dagger hard into the wood of the dock. Skipper moved to help his ex-teammate.

The robot-penguin was already back on his feet, however, and was charging Sarge again, this time without the knife. He curled his flipper into a ball and raised it over his head, attempting to smash it down upon his foe. Sarge smirked slightly and raised his own flippers over his head, blocking the seemingly powerful blow with ease and counterattacking Manfredi with a kick to the stomach. Manfredi wheezed and stumbled backwards. He clenched his flippers back into fists and charged one more time.

"Manfredi, that's not working!" warned Skipper, but Manfredi did not react to it. He pulled back his flipper and swung it at Sarge, who again parried the punch, but this time grabbed Manfredi's flipper and twisted him into a powerful arm lock. Manfredi yelped in pain.

"I'm happy to see you, too," wheezed the ex-sargent, out of breath from the engagement.

"I finally found you," grunted Manfredi, "and I am going to kill you for what you did to my loved ones."

"Save the sappy speeches, Manfredi," returned Sarge, "You aren't going to do anything right now." Manfredi yelped again and Sarge twisted his flipper tighter into the lock.

"You scream an awful lot like Johnson, do you know that?" continued Sarge. This enraged Manfredi even more and he let loose another deep cry. Skipper had now caught up to the two but stopped as Sarge's eyes made contact with his own.

"Skipper, stay where you are unless you want some bad things to happen to your other teammates as well." explained Sarge.

"What? We came here alone, just me and Manfredi," lied Skipper.

"Oh?" laughed the scarred penguin, "You might want to stop lying to me if you want everyone to leave this place with their lives, Skipper."

Just then, Sarge's henchmen, Thurgo and Geir, rounded a set of tall crates, and to Skipper's horror, dragged behind them two bound and struggling penguins. Private and Rico were tied together with rope and their beaks were wrapped in duct tape. Rico was making loud grunting noises. Thurgo had an evil grin on his face and Geir looked solemn-faced, but he held his rifle in his flippers. Skipper gasped as the barrel was aimed in his direction.

"Now that we're on common ground, Mr. Leader, would you kindly tell me what I want to know?" asked Sarge. Skipper was dumbfounded. How did they find Rico and Private so easily?

"I don't even know what you want to know." returned Skipper, unsure on how else to continue. He felt fear begin to rise in his throat and his heart was racing as he glanced at the rifle aimed at him.

"I'll help you with that." offered Sarge. "Two years ago three little, innocent penguin soldiers decided to go AWOL and take on an entire army of penguins. One was the leader, one was the diligent soldier, and one," he tightened his arm lock on Manfredi again, "was the lovable oaf. Now, these three little penguins managed to find their way into one little temple where an unimaginable power was being held.

"Now there is a certain way into this temple... one that involves a riddle with a certain answer. One that I could never figure out. Do you want to know what the moral of my story is?"
Skipper lowered his brow, knowing where this was going.

"'When three become one, the path to enlightenment will open and the sun will rise again.' What is the answer, Skipper?"

"I have no clue what you are talking about." Skipper lied, trying not to show his fear on his face. He was shaking slightly and could hear his heart pounding in his ears.

"Well, Skipper," continued Sarge, "A little birdy told me otherwise. One named Johnson."

"Skipper! Don't tell him!" Manfredi cried. Tears continued to streak down his face.

Sarge looked at the weeping penguin and leaned closely into his face, then whispered, "Johnson didn't tell me. And we know what happened to him..."

At that moment Manfredi managed to free a single flipper, and quickly used it to elbow Sarge in the abdomen as hard as he possibly could. Sarge let go of Manfredi's other flipper and stumbled back, clutching his stomach. Then, before Skipper could blink, Manfredi tackled the Sargent and began pummeling his face.

"Gier, do something!" Sarge shouted, attempting to deflect some of the enraged robot-penguin's blows. Skipper saw the rock-hopper point his rifle in Manfredi's direction. Skipper realized that he had an opening and charged the small penguin, knocking the rifle out of Geir's flippers before he had a chance to line up a shot. Unfortunately for Skipper, Thurgo was unhindered by this process and managed to land a powerful hit on the side of Skipper's head, dazing him and knocking him to the ground.

Skipper's vision cleared and he got up. He saw Geir picking up his rifle and Thurgo running quickly to help Sarge. Skipper again moved to attack the small rock-hopper, but this time his punch was blocked by his more-ready opponent. Gier then dropped his rifle, and without saying word, attacked Skipper, using a variety of punches and kicks. Skipper, being well versed in hand-to-hand combat, easily blocked the blows and used an opportunity to trip the small penguin.

Meanwhile, however, Manfredi had been pulled off of Sarge by Thurgo and was now attempting to land a few hits on the large penguin, who, though he was big, managed to block all of Manfredi's rage-filled punches and kicks. Sarge was dazed and slowly got up now that he was free of his attacker.

Skipper used the moment of time while Gier rolled to get up after being tripped to run and grab the penguin's rifle. Skipper had remembered using rifles like this years ago during his time with Manfredi and Johnson, and though this was an older model, it was like an old glove to him. He quickly lined up a shot directed towards the small rock-hopper penguin, causing him to jump behind a nearby crate for cover.

Manfredi, however, managed to land a few hits on Thurgo who stumbled and was stunned for a minute. The robot-penguin knew that his opponent's guard was down and hit him with a powerful roundhouse to the chest. Thurgo fell back a few feet, coughing for breath.

Manfredi then turned his attention on Sarge, who had made his way to the other side of the dock and was now working his way back to where the fighting was. He held a strange, black device in his flipper that he must have produced from one of the crates there.

Skipper was rounding the crate that Geir was hiding behind, trying to force him out from his cover. He had the rifle held against his shoulder and was peering down the sight. To his surprise, however, the rock-hopper was no longer behind the crate. Before Skipper could even think where he went, however, the small penguin landed on his back, having jumped off a tall crate behind the leader penguin. Skipper was knocked to the ground and the rifle rolled out of his flipper. However, he quickly rolled over, forcing the smaller penguin off of him.

Manfredi had made his way over to the knife that was still imbedded in the wood of the dock and yanked it out. Then he charged toward Sarge, who smirked at his enraged scream. Skipper, who had now recovered from Geir's sneak attack, caught a glimpse of his friend's charge. All to quickly, however, Sarge held up his strange device, Skipper heard a sound of electricity, and then the air went quiet for a moment. Manfredi shook violently. He had a look on his face of shock and surprise before he fell to the ground, unconscious. Skipper had seen this weapon before: it was a tazer.

In the meantime Geir had recovered his rifle and was now aiming it at the defenseless Skipper. Rico and Private were still bound and Rico was struggling helplessly against the tightly knotted rope. With Manfredi now unconscious, Skipper was out of options.

Sarge now strolled casually over to the leader penguin, having handed his tazer to Thurgo. Skipper noted the rusted dagger Manfredi had been holding in his flipper only a minute ago. Sarge was now twirling it with his flipper, being careful not to contact the blade.

"Now that everyone is quiet and happy, you can tell me the answer to this little riddle, I hope?" Sarge gestured to the two bound penguins and the unconscious Manfredi.

Skipper lowered his brow angrily. "You'll never get the information out of me."

"Ah Skipper. So determined and confident." Sarge now stood only an arm's length from the flat-headed penguin. "Do you know how bad I want this information?"

Skipper said nothing. "Let me tell you what I had to go through to get here," continued the ex-Sargent.

"After you blew up my base and left me trapped inside to die, I had to get started again from scratch. First I busted out of that prison you left me in, utilizing little Johnson as a means to escape. He was so gullible, offering the one way out to me. Thought I would return with help sometime." Sarge adjusted his eyes to look directly into Skipper's. "I liked the way he gurgled when I stabbed him..." Skipper shivered. Sarge began pacing around, a small smirk upon his face.

"After I got out of that mangled metal mess, I began looking for someone to help me, some allies if you will. I was lost in Denmark, not sure where to begin. I ran into Geir in one of the tiny penguin settlements on the coastline. In his possession he had one of my older models of rifles,

something I knew he could have only gotten by sneaking into my base. He was willing to go with me though, but I can't say I know exactly where his loyalty comes from." Geir didn't even move his eyes from Skipper, but nodded slowly, as if in approval.

"Geir and I made our way around Europe for the next year, presumably while you were making your way to America. We picked up Thurgo while in Paris, seeing if we could find any clue as to where you went. He was a bit of a sewer lover; stayed with the local gators."

"They were me mum and dad... adopted of course," added Thurgo.

"Anyway, our first clue to your whereabouts came about six months later while waiting in the air shafts of an airport to ride in the luggage compartment of a plane to Egypt. I spotted you on a show on the television; a nature show mentioning that new penguins had just moved into Central Park zoo. You looked tired, sick, and like you hadn't eaten in weeks. They talked about how they had found you in a subway station, and had no clue on how you got there.

"Needless to say we didn't board that plane to Egypt. It took longer than I had liked to get to you, we even found our way to Jamaica accidentally on a shipping barge that had a change of route. Now however, we're here, and although I no longer have my army, I've got you right where I want you.

"Skipper, I didn't want it to have to go this way..." Sarge turned his back to Skipper and began walking towards the bound Private and Rico. "But since you won't cooperate, I'll just start killing off your friends one by one until you talk."

Skipper gasped. "No, you can't do that!"

"Can't I?" In a flash Sarge rose the knife above his head and then drove it down at a cowering Private. The small penguin whimpered and tried to move away from the knife, though he was still bound.

"No!" shouted Skipper, falling to his knees in desperation. He heard Private yelp through his gag and expected the worst. When Sarge moved out of the way, however, he saw Private alive, though he had a three inch gash across his face that was already beginning to bleed. Private's eyes welled up and he was screaming, and Rico began to struggle desperately against his restraints again.

"That is your warning, Skipper. Do not test me." Sarge tossed the knife from hand to hand. "Now, will you tell me?"

"I... I..." Skipper choked with fear. He knew if he told Sarge the answer to the riddle it would spell doom for the rest of the world. Sarge would get his hands on the Sun and it would result in him gaining the ultimate power... Earth's life energy. If he didn't speak now his friends would be killed. If he tried to save them he would be shot and they would all die. Wait, he thought, they won't kill me because I know what they want to know. If they kill me, they'll never know. He knew it would give him a little bit of free will to attack, as Gier would not shoot him... at least not fatally. There was no way he could take on three penguins though, and would probably be immobilized in no time. That would make Sarge more angry and result in him loosing his patience. Skipper didn't know what to do.

"So, are you going to tell me now, or does this little one need a premature death?" Sarge pointed the dagger in Private's face, causing him to struggle and scream through the duct tape.

Just then, Skipper looked up. To his surprise, a brown figure was on top of a stack of crates, struggling with an even taller stack of crates. Trying not to give away that she was there by looking directly out her, Skipper noticed that it was Marlene! For a moment Skipper wondered how she even got here... but was thankful to see her. She was going to tip the heavy crates on top of the unsuspecting Thurgo and Sarge who were standing side by side. Unfortunately, however, Private and Rico would also be squished if she tipped them now.

Fortunately she acknowledged that Skipper now knew that she was there. She pointed toward Private and Rico, as if gesturing him to move them out of the way when she tipped the crates. Skipper nodded slowly, and Marlene nodded, waving. Unfortunately, Sarge had finally noticed that Skipper was no longer focused on him.

"What are you looking at?" he said, spinning around. Marlene dashed behind the stack of crates and managed to not be seen.

"Nothing." said Skipper, now more confident, "So what was the riddle again? I seem to have forgotten."

Sarge spun back around. Marlene moved back into position, nodding in Skipper's direction that she was ready to topple the crates. "'When three become one, the path to enlightenment will open and the sun will rise again.'"

Marlene began pushing the crates as hard as she could. Skipper saw them come dangerously close to falling, and decided it was time to make his move. Without speaking, he bolted towards Sarge and Thurgo, not even afraid that Gier would attempt to shoot him in the back. Sarge looked confused for a moment but then reacted accordingly to Skipper's charge. He attempted a sweep kick to knock Skipper off of his feet, but Skipper foresaw the move coming. He jumped off his front foot and cleared Sarge's kick, front flipping and somersaulting when he hit the ground on the other side. Sarge spun around, enraged.

He opened his mouth to say something, but before he could speak he heard the creaking of the crates overhead. They began to fall quickly, full of heavy ropes, chains, and sails. Skipper had already pulled his two teammates out of the way of the falling crates and smirked as Sarge looked at him. To Skipper's surprise, however, Sarge managed to roll out of the way of the massive crates, only barely, as they smashed on the ground. A large sized rope flew out of one of the larger crates and whacked him across the face, though, and he fell over, dazed. Thurgo had also managed to get out of the way in time, though he now was stuck under a very heavy coil of rope and net.

"Skipper, catch!" Marlene shouted from the top of the crate she was standing on. Skipper looked up just in time to catch a box cutter that she had tossed his direction. He extended the sharp razor and began freeing Private and Rico.

"Geir!" shouted Sarge, having regained his bearings. The rope had left a trickle of blood running down his beak. "Shoot her!" he pointed to Marlene.

Skipper couldn't see the small rock-hopper as the wall of fallen crates now stood between the two, but he still heard the gunshot when the small penguin pulled the trigger. Thankfully, however, Marlene was able to duck down into a small opening on the crate she was standing on and the shot missed.

Meanwhile, Skipper had freed Rico and Private's flippers and was now working on carefully cutting off the duck tape around their mouths. He cut off Private's first, who quickly spat out a balled up piece of cloth and took in a few gasps of air.

"Thanks, Skippah," said the round penguin, "I thought I was a goner for sure!"

"Save the conversations for later, Private, we're not safe yet." returned Skipper, working on Rico's bound beak. However, the large penguin screamed through his gag and ripped away from Skipper, just in time to block a powerful blow from Sarge directed at Private, who flinched. Rico countered with a powerful kick, knocking sarge back.

"It's over, Fishslader," observed Skipper, "You don't have your henchmen with you and you're outmatched three to one." Sarge scowled. "Now, where are Kowalski and Phil?"

Sarge didn't say anything, and instead walked over to where the crooked dagger was now laying on the ground and picked it up. Oddly enough, he raised it over his head and held it there. Rico had now freed his beak and attempted to move forward, but Skipper held him back, knowing that charging the ex-Sargent would be a foolish idea.

Suddenly, there was a shrill cry from Skipper's right. Sarge grinned evilly and Skipper saw Gier on top of Marlene's crate holding her mouth shut with one flipper, and in the other he had a pocket knife pressed against her windpipe. Marlene was struggling frantically but Gier was surprisingly strong and held her firmly in place.

"Skipper you were always too overconfident. You always think that when you won the battle, you won the war. Now, again, however, I've got you right where I want you." Private moved slightly toward Marlene, his flippers clenched into fists, but Gier tightened his grip on the otter and she screamed loudly through his flipper. Private froze. "If any one of you tries something tricky she dies." instructed Sarge. Skipper clenched his beak shut.

"Now, Skipper... all I have to do is lower my arm here and Gier will slit that silly girl's throat." Sarge was still smiling. Marlene had ceased struggling and was now whimpering quietly. Skipper could tell how scared she was. Damn! Thought skipper, how could I have let another friend get taken so easily?

Sarge cleared his throat, "Now tell me the answer to the riddle. Unless perhaps you've forgotten it again?" Skipper looked around. To his fear, there was no way out of this one. If he didn't give Sarge what he wanted now, Marlene was going to die. Skipper looked over to Private, who was holding a flipper to his face, that was still bleeding. Sarge wasn't playing around. Gier's face was as solemn as ever; he showed no appreciation for Marlene's life.

"Skippah, what's the plan?" whispered Private, "He can't be serious about killing Marlene..."

Skipper turned to Private and merely shook his head. He had thought the same thing about Fishslader when they had invaded that small village in Antarctica. He had no problem ordering others to kill innocents. Skipper redirected his attention to the ex-Sargent. He had no choice but to tell the madman.

"The three mirrors." he said, calmly.

"What?" Sarge said, looking slightly surprised.

"There are three, large, rotating mirrors in front of the temple. You need to rotate all of them so they reflect the evening sun onto the door."

"Oh? Is it that easy?" questioned Fishslader.

"Not exactly. The sun doesn't stay up for long and moves fast, so you need three individuals, one controlling each mirror. No one person can move all of them in time."

"'When three become one'..." Sarge pondered, still holding his flipper over his head. Marlene looked relieved that Skipper had told, but Geir still held her tightly.

"You have what you want, now release my friend!" instructed Skipper.

"Well I have to be sure you are not lying to me, Skipper," commented Sarge, "It would be a tragedy to make it all the way to Antarctica only to find that you gave me the wrong instructions."

"I didn't lie to you,"

"Ah, but you have all the reason in the world to lie. There is only one way to make sure a man is telling the truth, Skipper," said Sarge, "and that is to break him."

Suddenly the penguin lowered his arm swiftly, pointing the knife directly at the ground. Gier acknowledged the movement, tightening his grip on the pocket knife and getting ready to slice Marlene open.

"No!" shouted Skipper, and his heart sank knowing there was nothing he could do.

` However, to everyone's surprise, a large net landed on Gier moments before he could carry out his orders and knocked him over, allowing Marlene to stumble away, coughing from the penguin's tight grip.

"Wahoo! I got him!" came a familiar voice from over the other side of the crate. It was Alice!

"Quick, escape plan Alpha-Delta. Move!" shouted Sarge. He quickly made his way over and began freeing the trapped Thurgo, while Gier sliced his way through the net that had landed on top of him and made his way off the crates. The three of them then swiftly made their way to the boat that Private had previously been using as a lookout.

"Boys, stop them!" cried Skipper, not wanting Sarge to get away freely.

They began pursuing the other penguins down the dock, but Gier opened fire with his rifle, and although it was only random blasting, it caused Skipper, Private and Rico to jump behind crates for cover. Gier continued to fire and move backwards until he ran out of ammo in his current magazine, then raced up the gangplank to the ship. When he was on board Sarge knocked the plank into the water and Thurgo freed the heavy ropes that secured it to the dock.

Although Skipper, Rico and Private moved quickly, they were too late. The ship was already too far from the dock to be boarded and there was no way they could climb onto it from the water.

"So long, Skipper," shouted Sarge from the dock of the boat. "And you had better hope for that penguin and monkey's sake that you were telling the truth!" Then, Skipper heard the boats motor start turning and it quickly began moving away from the dock.

Skipper thought for a moment. Sarge's last comment made him think that Kowalski and Phil were trapped on the boat! Not only did Skipper give Sarge the information he needed to continue his plans, but he also was unable to rescue his two friends. It had been the purpose of the whole operation. Skipper had failed.

He was broken from his thoughts, though, by the sounds of two people climbing over the crates. He spun around just in time to see Alice and another, balding man, hoist themselves on top of the crate. In Alice's hand was a large net gun that Skipper recognized from her use of it around the zoo.

"Did those penguins just steal that fishing boat?" pondered the balding man.

"Who cares," returned Alice with a grunt as she stood up on the crate. "those weren't our penguins, and our animals are all right here."

Skipper lowered his brow angrily. "Skipper, c'mon!" Marlene, who had now joined the small group, urged. "There's an opening to the sewers in the water just under the dock." She tugged on his flipper and he obeyed. He signaled Rico to help him lift the heavy Manfredi into the water. Manfredi was large but the two of them were able carry him. Then, when the five of them were in the water, they were able to support him until they were safely in the opening on the sewer tunnel. Just as they made their way inside, Alice and Mr. Green poked their heads over the side of the dock.

"They got away," Mr. Green said, pulling out one of the small monitors and switching it on, "into the sewers it looks like. Shall we pursue them?"

Alice rubbed the side of her net gun. "Yes, but from a distance." Mr. Green looked confused. "Didn't you see that little one I got with the net right before he was about to slit my otter's throat?"

"Yes, but..."

"Penguins don't do that, Andy, regardless of how much fighting they are capable of. They don't steal fishing boats either. There is something bigger going on here. Something to do with that part robot one and that other one that looks just like my 'leader' guy."

"Don't you think it's over now, though? I mean, those other penguins got away on that stolen boat. Who knows where they are going?"
"My penguins do."

~Author's Note~ I was on a trip where I had some free time but no internet, so I figured I'd write this chapter. It's been eight months since my last chapter, so I don't expect any of my regulars to be around, but if you enjoyed this chapter and want more, send a review or a message my way. I'll be happy to continue, though I don't expect to release another chapter for a few months.