Chapter 9: Secret Weapons
"Are you absolutely sure they won't immediately kill SJ?"
Bloom, Sergeant, SJ, Commander, and Fidèle were all in HQ by themselves, continuing to brainstorm the plan.
Sergeant shook his head at Bloom's question. "No," he answered matter-of-factly. "Blowhole is just like his father. If he does want to kill him, he'll want to do it in his lair. He'll want it broadcasted live to send a message to everyone in the world that the last of our hope is being stomped out."
SJ nodded in agreement. "But Sergeant's team will have already broken me out before he gets the chance . . . right?" he asked, looking expectantly at Sergeant.
Sergeant straightened. "SJ, many years ago I made a promise to your father that I would never let anything happen to you. I may not have been here these past couple of decades, but I'm here now. And if Blowhole wants to get to you, he'll have to go through me first."
SJ nodded, feeling comforted by Sergeant's words. He could tell why his father trusted him. He was so confident, and was the reason these RAB camps even existed. He had spent the past two and a half decades building the rebel army. Blowhole would have no idea what hit him. He couldn't help but feel his father would be proud of Sergeant too.
Bloom seemed unconvinced, but nodded. "I hope you're right."
Fidèle leaned against the table. "I used to work directly under Blowhole myself. I know how he feels about his father's enemies. Sergeant is right. He's far too arrogant to let an opportunity like that pass by."
Commander rubbed his chin in thought. "I honestly think this could work," he mused. "I think the five of us make a good enough team. SJ being the captured one leaves the rest of us to stowaway on the plane. But how do we get on without being noticed?"
Bloom perked up. "SJ can help with that," she said.
SJ looked in her direction. "How so?"
"As you're moving to the plane, do something to distract them. We'll only need sixty seconds. While they're distracted, we'll sneak in through the landing gear," Bloom explained.
Sergeant nodded. "That's a good idea. I'll get my inside man ready to help us get off the plane without being caught."
Fidèle took out a notebook and made some notes. "All right, I have our plans mapped out. There's only a few more details to hammer out. First, what the plan for getting SJ caught will be. Second, when do we begin?"
As if on cue, Sly walked into the tent and stood at attention. "Commander," he stated. "Permission to speak."
"Granted," Commander responded.
"We have the information you wanted from Evans," he responded. He had been working on interrogating him for days. It was easy to hypnotize people to do things, but it was much harder trying to get information from them. They'd eventually had to resort to torture.
"Ah, he's finally cracked, eh?" Commander said with a smile. "Good timing. What do you know?"
"We know that he was in the jungle because Blowhole ordered him to hunt down SJ. He wants him alive," Sly answered.
Sergeant smiled a knowing smile. "I told you so," he told the group. "Anything else useful?"
Sly shook his head. "No. If Blowhole knows about SJ's true identity, he didn't tell Evans about it."
"How did you hide my identity anyway, Sergeant?" SJ asked.
Sergeant turned back to him. "I'm not sure how long it'll last, but my man on the inside wiped your file as soon as it came through. If Blowhole tries to look into it he'll be met with a blank slate. My hope is that it'll be a shock to him when you get 'caught.'"
SJ nodded. "How do you stay in contact with your man on the inside?" he asked, rubbing his chin in thought.
"We use very outdated technology to communicate, technology I encrypted myself. It would've been so much simpler if we could have technology like this at every base, but we feared if Blowhole caught wind of it he could use it to his advantage, so we only use it between us. They're called flip phones. My inside man and I can talk from any location in the world. It's quite handy."
SJ tapped his chin. "Your man on the inside will be a valuable asset to this plan. What's his name, so that I can know who I'm looking for?"
"His name is Julien," Sergeant responded. "He's a gray ring-tailed lemur. He most certainly will be crucial to the success of this plan. I'll contact him as soon as possible."
"Perfect," Commander cut in, "and I think I have a plan on how to get SJ caught. Sly, is he a red?"
Sly nodded his head. "Yes, he is loyal to the Overlord."
Commander nodded. "We'll hypnotize him into bringing SJ back to the Madagascar sector. He has direct orders to bring SJ alive. And he's a red band, so I won't feel bad about Sly hypnotizing him into offing himself after getting him onto the plane."
"We can't hypnotize him to help with the plan in NYC?" SJ asked.
Commander shook his head. "Hypnosis isn't perfect. It'll likely wear off after a day or so. We don't want him reporting back to Blowhole about what we're doing or the location of our base. Sly, get Toni to whip up something special for him to take after the plane takes off."
Sly saluted and headed out of the tent to carry out the orders.
Fidèle nodded approvingly as the plan came together. "Parfait. Now we just need a deadline."
Sergeant stood up straighter. "We should plan to move out in T minus fifteen days. That will give us enough time to train, contact the proper parties, and prepare Evans for hypnosis."
Commander nodded. "Sounds like a plan," he said as the others also nodded their agreements.
SJ shifted nervously. He hadn't realized it would be happening this soon.
The rebellion was starting.
— § —
Word spread quickly throughout the Madagascar camp. Sergeant quickly set to work notifying Julien of the plan as well as the NYC camps. The camps all over the world worked together to notify each other of the fact that the rebellion was on the horizon and to be ready. Sly worked to hypnotize Evans under their control and Toni worked on a poison for him to take after they were through with him. The whole camp was in a training frenzy as everyone trained twice as much to prepare for the oncoming rebellion.
Sergeant interrupted SJ's training one morning to bring him to HQ.
"What's this about?" SJ asked.
Sergeant looked at him sorrowfully. "It's Julien. He's asked to speak to you."
SJ's eyes widened. "Really? Why?"
Sergeant guided him toward the small device on the table, which SJ assumed was a flip phone. "I think he should be the one to tell you."
Sergeant hit a button on the cell phone. "All hail the king."
There was silence for a moment before another voice, one with a Jamaican accent, came back through.
"You didn't see anything," the voice replied.
Sergeant smiled as the code phrases were successfully transmitted. "He's here with me," he responded.
"Really? I can't believe this, can I hear his voice?" the voice called back.
SJ leaned toward the phone. "I'm here. I'm Skipper's son, SJ."
There was a long silence before the voice came back, this time shaky with tears.
"I can't believe it. I'm so glad you're okay. I knew you would be safe in my old country. You sound just like my old pen-gu-in buddy. Your father would never admit this, but we were the best-est of friends."
SJ smiled sadly at the pain in the voice. "And I can't believe anyone from my father's life is still alive. Thank you for saving me when I was a baby."
"Think nothing of it, my flightless nephew. Your uncle has told me of your plan. I can assure you I will be there. This has been going on for far too long. I don't think I can ever recover from all the killing I have had to do during my time undercover."
Sergeant and SJ exchanged a frown.
Sergeant leaned forward. "We're well on our way. Just be prepared. Over and out."
"Out and over."
The line went dead and Sergeant turned the unfamiliar device off. After a few moments of silence, SJ spoke.
"We should get back to training. There's much to do."
— § —
Blowhole surged forward in his Segway. Once he got to the elevator, he took it all the way down, past the basement into one of the secret levels that was meant for only the highest security personnel.
Through the dim lighting of the hallways, he pressed on determinedly toward the cell at the very end. Using an eye and flipper scanner as well as a code, the door panel slid open and the barred door behind it clicked unlocked. He moved into the room.
"Has our prisoner cracked yet?" Blowhole asked his General.
"Not yet," Major General Julien responded. "He's definitely a tough one."
In the chair, with his graying feathers and dark, empty expression, Rico lifted his head up slowly until his eyes met Blowhole's, blood dripping down the side of his face. He had been locked in that cell for over two decades. His stomach had been emptied of its inventory, and a lobster henchman came down to feed him once a day. The restraints on his feet, flippers, and abdomen kept him held in place. His chair was also bolted to the floor and sitting on a pressure plate. If he tried to escape, the room would explode, its steel walls being strong enough to contain the blast and anything that would be left of Rico. Julien stood next to him, blood on his paws. He had managed to buff up some since his time training with Blowhole's army, and sweat dripped down his muscled arms.
Rico's hard stare barely fazed Blowhole. Blowhole had the upper hand here, and a lowly geriatric penguin would not make him doubt himself.
"I'll see if my henchmen have perfected my father's old invention. If Rico won't submit willingly, we'll have to force him."
"Your illustrious Overlord Emperor Blowhole," Julien addressed him, "permission to ask a question."
"Granted," Blowhole responded.
"What do you need the old penguin for, your highness? My understanding is that you were saving him for a rainy day as you and your illustrious father before you stated to me."
Blowhole grinned. "I'm afraid I can't give you all the details at this time, my ring-tailed General. You don't have that kind of clearance. I can tell you that he is about to become extremely useful in taking down someone extremely important."
Major General Julien nodded and let his eyes fall respectfully to the floor. "Yes, your majesty."
"In the meantime," Blowhole said as he turned to leave, "have you tried waterboarding?"
Julien shook his head. "No, sir."
Blowhole grinned and chuckled. "Try that next while I try to figure out the hold up with the invention."
Julien saluted and then bowed low. "Yes, sir, your highest majesty, sir."
Blowhole laughed as he exited the room, the door sliding shut behind him. Julien turned to Rico and knelt down in front of him. He couldn't speak to him as there were microphones in the room and cameras watching, so he met his eyes and stared into them for a long time. Rico knew that Julien was doing what he needed to do to survive – and to help take down Blowhole in the end.
He had joined Dr. Blowhole because he knew the other option was total enslavement, and at least from his position he could try to help get valuable intel that could be used to end Blowhole's reign. He preferred to be king, not this. But he'd had to do a lot of maturing and hardening over the years in order to be effective enough to gain Blowhole's trust. Even if he helped overthrow Blowhole, the things he'd done would haunt him forever.
After their silent understanding, Julien turned to the table at the right side of the room. Using the spigot on the wall, he filled a bucket with water. Grabbing a thick towel, he turned back around and held it taut between his paws.
Rico and he met eyes again, silently coming to an agreement they only knew about in their minds.
"Well," Julien said, "let's get started."
Rico's vision went black as the towel was pulled around his face.
— § —
Hanne paced back and forth in her office. Blowhole still hadn't told her his plan on how he was going to find out where SJ is or how to capture him. She wasn't sure anything short of his father would motivate him. If it were up to her, she'd just set fire to the jungles of Madagascar and smoke them out. But Blowhole said he wanted to have more tact.
She sighed and sat at her desk, checking for any alerts. So far, nothing. She put her face in her wings in frustration, propping her head up on her desk by her elbows. There was a knock at the door and she inhaled deeply as she regained her composure.
"Enter," she said loud enough for whomever it was to hear.
The door opened and a chimp slave entered holding a tray. "Your lunch, miss," she said, holding the tray up.
"I'm not that hungry right now," Hanne snapped, "put the tray on the coffee table, Lulu."
Lulu complied with the request and stood up straight, trying to keep her tired knees from buckling beneath her from years of slavery. She had shared a zoo with Hanne's father before Blowhole's takeover, and was taken as a slave after.
"Anything else, miss?" she asked.
Hanne waved her wing. "No, get out of my sight."
Lulu turned on her heel and started for the door, but stopped when Hanne's voice called out again.
"Wait," she said suddenly, "actually there is something else you can do. Send a message to Emperor Blowhole. Tell him to tell me what's going on by sundown or I'm giving orders myself. He'll know what I mean."
Lulu sighed softly and left the room, closing the door behind her. She hated sending messages back and forth between the two highest ranking individuals in the world. She often got caught in the crossfire whenever the other said something they didn't like. They always took it out on her. She would've tried to escape, but Phil was one of the prisoners that had been taken during the Rising. They let her down to the dungeon to see him once a month to keep her in line. She didn't want to be the reason he was hurt or killed.
As she walked, Major General Julien came walking out of the elevator down the hall, blood staining his paws. He'd been going down to the dungeon almost daily, but she had no idea what he was doing. She didn't have that kind of clearance. As he passed, he continued wiping his paws off on a towel, and he met her eye for a brief moment. She had no idea whether or not he was truly working for Blowhole or if he was acting as a double agent. On one hand, the way he looked at her sometimes made her feel like she saw something others didn't see. On the other, he was able to kill on command for Emperor Blowhole. There was never any hesitation. You'd think someone that didn't want to be doing what he was doing would at least hesitate. But maybe he was a good actor doing what he had to do to survive.
Either way, she kept her nose clean for Phil. He was the only one left from her previous life, and she had to hang onto that.
— § —
Quote: "Too long a sacrifice can make a stone of the heart. O when may it suffice?" ~William Butler Yeats
