I was having a strange dream. Marlene had begged Skipper to play out the nursery rhyme "ten in a bed". So with usual military precision he'd lined up the ten of us… him and her, Rico and Private, Julien, Maurice and Mort, Phil, Mason and myself… and was instructing us all to roll over on his mark. I'd just been rolled out when the scream woke me up.

Naturally I jumped into position before my mind had actually woken up so the first thing I really heard on waking was Skipper announcing a 'code red'. Obviously he was concerned about the noise but I didn't have time to figure out what was going on before he was leading us all out of the HQ. I only figured out why he was so concerned when I realised where we were heading.

If I'd had any doubts about how concerned he was they were dispelled when he asked me for an analysis. He only gets so regimental when he's emotionally involved in a mission. I complied with the rather pointless refresher purely to help Skipper focus.

I took the opportunity to take some notes while Skipper asked Private for his opinion. Another sign that he's rattled. Ordinarily he'll make an immediate decision on what the problem is… and even if it's the wrong one he'll stick by it unless we can prove it otherwise. Generally it involves a scheme of Dr. Blowhole's.

I was only half listening to their discussion but I was surprised to hear Marlene declare it was only a fright. Interesting. She sounded like all she wanted was for us to go away and leave her alone. Yet previously she'd been happy to see us, and particularly Skipper. I fear I may have made a mistake in telling her Skipper's secret.

Then he went and called her a 'helpless victim' and she got unusually angry. Perhaps she's upset because I led her to believe he still has feelings for Lola. That might explain why she resents being a damsel in distress for someone who she doesn't believe might have feelings for her. I was curious to continue this line of reasoning but typically Julien interrupted.

Naturally his presence will throw off any interactions between Marlene and Skipper, so any observations I make now will have to take that into account. Still her reactions show she's definitely put out by our presence. She's clearly not thinking rationally since we're the only ones in this zoo qualified to deal with a situation like this.

Skipper naturally has fallen back on his training to help him deal with Marlene. He assigned us routine exercises and I had to abandon my clipboard for my sonic equipment that Rico regurgitated for me. Rico can be incredibly useful… of course he can also be something of a hindrance. Scanning for weird noises with him in the room is like looking for grass in a field.

Marlene then suggested that the sound was ghostly which prompted the tiny lemur to think it was a ghost. I had to wonder if Marlene was simply trying to imply it was out of our league. Naturally I don't believe in such things but I wasn't about to let Marlene shift the mission out of our flippers. I checked my notes and found the previous occupant had disappeared… in mysterious circumstances. Marlene told us he'd been… transferred. And we all know what that means.

Julien then declared he could make the spirits go away. Possibly this is connected to his knowledge of the Sky Spirits. I was curious to see if his solution would be a similar ritual to the one he suggested in Africa. Thankfully it wasn't. Turns out he only intended to dance. Big surprise there. Knowing him he could be all night so we left.

Back in the HQ, Skipper decided we should stay on alert and he took the first watch while we went back to bed. I suspect he wouldn't have been able to sleep anyway. But as it was, none of us slept for long until we were woken again.

This time I was prepared and had my equipment ready as soon as we landed in Marlene's habitat. The readings were off the chart! When I told him Skipper suggested I get bigger charts. One day I'll have to explain. Marlene interrupted though to ask if we ever knocked. She doesn't appreciate speed is often of the essence in our missions. She also hadn't changed her mind about our helping her and she tried to physically drag me and Private out.

Before we could slip out of her grasp, Julien reappeared. Naturally he and Skipper started arguing. Skipper does get unusually possessive when Marlene's involved. The fight ended when Skipper thought to call on Rico though. There's nothing like a stick of dynamite to convince someone it's time to leave.

Skipper had just suggested we leave too when I stopped him. It's clear to me now I shouldn't have interfered before and I have to do what I can to put things right. And right now that means getting them happy to stay in the same room. And despite her angry reaction, I'm sure Marlene's just plain scared and would really like our help. That hypothesis was confirmed when she agreed to us staying over with nothing more than a roll of her eyes. Skipper of course agreed readily to stay and watch over Marlene. And again he took the first watch. He hasn't slept in hours but we could hardly argue with him.

For the third time that night I went to sleep only to be woken by a hideous noise… though it was oddly familiar… and didn't disturb Marlene this time. Skipper had to wake her. Her face when she saw it was him was very telling. However he left it to me to explain to her what had happened.

"It appears that the ghostly death rattle is coming from your own respiratory system." Rico nodded his agreement while Private seemed impressed, though I'm not sure why. Surely it was obvious?

Marlene didn't understand. She must have been foggy from sleep. Rico did an uncanny re-enactment for her… though he did cuten the noise a bit. No need for Marlene to be told she sounds like a chainsaw. She wasn't having it though so Skipper played back the actual noise for her. A bit harsh perhaps but undeniable.

Skipper was happy the case was solved but Marlene insisted it wasn't. I was afraid they'd start arguing when a real deathly moan echoed through the habitat. Temporarily forgetting trying to get Skipper and Marlene to forgive and forget, I got out my equipment and began tracing the sound. Rico followed me as I tracked it to a rug. I'd never heard of a haunted rug but then Rico pulled it away to reveal the sewer.

Skipper tried to raise the manhole cover but it didn't budge. And suddenly I realised why Marlene was asking me about adhesives the other day. Naturally it was no real problem. Rico never has any trouble gaining access anywhere… as long as you don't mind a little collateral damage. The force was strangely amplified by the confines of the sewer and the manhole cover blasted into the roof. I'd just begun to calculate the forces required for that while Skipper and Marlene rushed forward to investigate and I'd just reached the horrifying conclusion too late.

I wasn't quick enough to warn them the force was insufficient to keep the cover up. It fell back onto them and they were lost from sight. Poor Private was concerned but Rico quickly laughed it off. Skipper's tough. And he'll take care of Marlene.

But it meant I was left in charge. What would Skipper do? Well, he'd ask me for options. So, I came up with options. I was relieved that the others seemed willing to listen.

First we needed to find a safer route in. Sure Rico could blast it again but without sufficient calculations what would stop us from being trapped as Skipper and Marlene had been? Our priority was to get them out… not to get trapped with them. Rico and I led the way and tried following our noses. It's not hard to smell the sewer. It leads out of a tunnel on the far side of the habitat.

Then it was simply a case of trying to find them before the ghost could… and working out how exactly one stops a ghost. Luckily they were making enough noise to lead us right to them. It sounded ghastly and I was worried we might arrive too late. Then we saw a huge alligator. Whether it was the monster or not, it was between us and Skipper.

Rico coughed up some rope and we went into action, just as Skipper taught us to do. Rico took on the head, I took out it's legs, and Private took care of the tail. Skipper told us we were tardy but there was a definite tone in his voice that showed he was proud of us none-the-less. Even better, I noticed he and Marlene shared a particular look.

Back in her habitat we left them alone while we talked to Roger (the 'gator). It really was fascinating hearing about his experiences… however I noticed Skipper and Marlene were unusually quiet. So I took an opportunity to sneak over and give him a prompt. After all, he'd just saved her life. On Private's TV programmes that's always when the girl falls into the guy's arms.

"Lucky break you went down there to rescue Marlene, isn't it Skipper?"

"Actually Kowalski, I didn't so much rescue Marlene as… well let's just say the next time I find myself caught in the swirling currents of raw sewage I hope that Marlene is at my side."

I was amazed. He's clearly fallen for her more completely than I could ever have anticipated. I waited for her to realise but she didn't seem to get it. She thought it was sweet but seemed to forget this is Skipper. And he'd basically just told her he'd trust her with his life. Could he make it any more obvious he loves her?