*** The box ***
* Everyone has seen it. You go to visit a relative and you see it there, on the table: that round metallic box, so beautiful, with that idyllic image and that inscription: "Danish Butter Cookies". You open it expecting to find those sweet pastries piled in their doilies... and instead you find thread bobbins in different sizes, colors and materials in the best-case scenario or a shapeless multicolor mess of tangled threads, full of knots and impossible to untangle. There, it is where innocence dies. *
.
It was Friday, February 25th 2005, before dawn. Skipper received the letter before the others woke up. He opened it expecting a routine communiqué from the agency. Well... it wasn't exactly that.
He had to go to the agency headquarters in Seattle. They had entrusted him a mission without his team.
He went into the HQ and took his personal effects in a small suitcase. Then he woke up Rico and Kowalski. He felt the reflex to wake Private too before remembering that he was in Texas.
"I have to go to the agency. I have been given a mission," he just said.
"Don't we have to go?" Kowalski asked.
"At first, you don't. It doesn't say it's a solo mission, but for now I have to go alone." Skipper saw concern in Rico's stare. "Don't worry, I' be here soon."
And he just went to the airport. He knew that Rico and Kowalski would be okay.
.
The agency headquarters, as well as the HQ, was underground. Although the plane had taken off later than what Skipper would have liked, the journey took place without a hitch. Skipper arrived in the afternoon and went in as though he was at home, right to his superior's office. Once the door opened he felt that his determination vanished. There she was.
Skipper was a young novice officer, and Madeleine was... Madeleine. Skipper was able to keep cold blood in the most dangerous missions, but he got very nervous every time he saw her. Her beauty was unquestionable: a female out of the ordinary, with a dense silver plumage and black shiny eyes, a reflection of an overwhelming intelligence and personality.
"I was waiting for you, Skipper." Madeleine's voice made Skipper's legs shake.
Skipper extended a trembling flipper and gave Madeleine the letter. "This... I have received this." He smiled clumsily.
"I have a mission for you in Denmark. Sit down and I'll explain what you'll have to do."
Skipper sat down and observed Madeleine while she was taking several folders out of a filing cabinet and placed them on her desk. She was the perfect female and both were alone in the office. Skipper felt how his heart sped up. Would he be able to tell her anything?
"Madeleine," he said making her stare at him. "Would you... like to..."
"Yes?"
"Explain to me what this mission consists of."
"That's what I was going to do," she replied opening one of the folders.
"But... if you explain it... I don't know, out of here..." Oh, Skipper, she will tell you no. Do you ever listen to yourself?
Madeleine got closer to him and stared at him very closely. Skipper held his breath.
"Are you asking me for a date?"
"What?!" Skipper didn't expect that answer. He had blushed under his thick plumage. "Eh... well..." the brave Skipper spoke. "Yes. A date. With you. Tonight."
Madeleine smiled. Skipper knew that Madeleine didn't use to smile. He felt special.
"Okay," she said giving the folder for him to revise its contents. "A professional date, remember that I'm your superior."
It was a small disappointment for Skipper.
"But it something else comes up..." Madeleine concluded winking at him.
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh... Skipper was in the clouds. He had to go to the ground to learn about his mission.
"What if we go out for a walk and I bring you up-to-date?"
"Eh?"
Skipper hadn't noticed, but it had been a while that his stare was lost and it wasn't on the reports.
"Have you understood anything of what is told here?" Madeleine asked him.
"To tell you the truth... not much." Skipper looked at her. "Sorry, I'm a bit distracted."
"Come with me and I'll explain it to you."
.
Both penguins were strolling in a not very crowded park. It was soon, but it had already got dark and, frankly, it was cold. A bit of cold was good for Skipper to focus.
"I think I can listen to you now," he said after some minutes.
"Okay. As you'll have seen in the report, you must travel to Copenhagen due to an issue related to Greenland."
"And why not to Nuuk?"
"Greenland is not an independent state, so there are issues that are addressed directly in the continent."
"A continent which is much further than ours for them," Skipper added.
"I know where you're going, and if that's your attitude it would be more logical Greenland belonging to Canada than to the United States."
"And how could it end depending on such a far... and small country?"
"And with a population ten times smaller than the one in that far and small country," Madeleine corrected. "A small summary: Greenland was the homeland for many peoples since Prehistory, but they were scattered and not much is known about them. The first Europeans to arrive were the Norse at the end of the tenth century, Does Erik the Red ring the bell?" She saw Skipper nodding. "The Norse and the Icelanders colonized part of the island, while elsewhere other peoples went on living and arriving, such as the Dorset and the Thule."
"Thule?" Skipper showed a sudden interest. "The continent?"
"No, Skipper. You know what -"
"That's the official theory. There's surely some hidden file talking in detail about the continent."
"Thule is the name of a people related to the Inuit, at least in this case. Nothing else." Madeleine noticed that Skipper was disappointed. "Besides, it doesn't matter because we're talking about more than one thousand years ago."
"Well, go on telling me. You know I love History." Skipper lowered his voice. "But... it's not what I like most."
"We'll talk about it later."
"Okay. Go on."
"In the thirteenth century, Greenland already belonged to the Kingdom of Norway, and in 1380 this kingdom and the Danish united. Soon later it was part of the Kalmar Union when Sweden joined them. This ended in 1523 due to internal disputes that ended up in several wars."
"Will you tell me more about this?"
"Maybe later," Madeleine answered winking at him. "I'll go on. Apart from this there were Icelandic settlements too, but they left due to the Inuit and the climate."
"The climate? Not that Iceland's one is wonderful."
"Greenland's had been warmer until the Little Ice Age, in the fourteenth century. They also say that they might have left due to the pirates."
"That's more interesting," Skipper commented.
"I knew that'd call your attention. But, talking about them... with the discovery of America -"
"A very Eurocentric way to say it, don't you think, Madeleine?" Skipper stopped waddling. "Discovery of America... on the part of whom? The ones already living in America knew it since the beginning. Or were they floating in limbo? I may be Antarctic, but I feel myself American. And -"
"And, anyway, Erik the Red's arrival would have already been a discovery of America."
"That's also true. Well, Madeleine... go on telling me."
"Yeah... The Danes went back at the beginning of the seventeenth century, at a moment when the Europeans were trying to expand around the planet." Madeleine noticed Skipper's gesture of annoyance. "They looked for their old settlement to claim the island. They didn't find it, but they started to send merchant and religious expeditions. At that moment Denmark and Norway were the same kingdom, and that ended in 1814. With the Treaty of Kiel the old Norse colonies became Danish."
Skipper started waddling again. "Then, we'll mediate in some kind of disagreement between the Danes and the Norwegians."
"No," Madeleine replied. "To begin with, that already happened in 1931 and things didn't change. Then it was the Second World War and -"
"And the United States occupied Greenland so that Germany couldn't, as they had already occupied Denmark."
"That's right," Madeleine said. "The important thing in this case is that during the war Greenland's governor held more power due to the circumstances, and he managed the island supplying from the United States. And that put an end to the situation of isolation that Greenland had been experiencing until then."
"I suppose there's where we'll intervene," Skipper said.
"Not exactly. It's not an issue between Denmark and the United States. Actually, our job will be to guarantee neutrality in an issue between Denmark and Greenland. It would be frowned upon if we didn't show impartiality in this issue."
"Then I don't understand why we are going there."
"Now I'll tell you the rest," Madeleine replied. "Until then, Greenland had only traded with Denmark. The new situation made them feel less dependent on the Danes and more open to the rest of the world. In 1950 someone decided to apply the Danish Welfare State there and in 1979 they were given the home rule."
"But the United States had wanted to purchase Greenland not long before," Skipper reminded.
"Yes, precisely for that reason you'll have to show neutrality. There have been and there will be attempts. There is also the air force base in Thule, the Project Iceworm -"
"But it's abandoned."
"I know, but it's not normal for a country to keep missiles in another country's land, right?"
Skipper didn't reply.
"It all is in the past and we don't want another Cold War," Madeleine said.
"But we don't get involved in the humans' geopolitical issues," Skipper reminded her.
"In this case we are, because that project left a latent environmental threat and, if it was restarted or copied, the consequences for fauna would be terrible. There is a lot of toxic waste that might reach the sea if it was left uncovered. And, besides, there are all the maritime conflicts related to the Northwest Passage, with five countries in dispute."
"The United States, Canada, Denmark, Norway and Russia," Skipper listed. "Quite something!"
They had just arrived at the agency again. Madeleine made Skipper a gesture to go in with her. Out of prudence, none of them said anything while they were going through the corridors towards Madeleine's office. Once they were inside, Madeleine asked Skipper to sit down on a couch with a gesture and she went on talking.
"At present we are at this point: Greenland has home rule for its internal issues, but Denmark is which controls foreign affairs, security and natural resources. Three things that, as you see, have a lot to do with Project Iceworm." She saw Skipper nodding. "And the other things that I've told you are historical facts or declassified intel, but there are things that cannot be told in the open air."
"And which are they?"
"We've been sent filtered information saying that Greenland is preparing a self-government referendum for accomplishing it during the next years. If aye won, Greenland in the future may become totally independent from Denmark."
Skipper nodded, but he said nothing.
"It's for this reason that our agency is going to intervene. If Greenland achieved its independence, it would be at the mercy of the interests of a lot of countries, the United States among them. For this I insist so much on neutrality: bias might unchain an international conflict."
"I wouldn't mind if the United States got that island," Skipper admitted.
"Keep on dreaming then: our mission is precisely to make it difficult."
"Well..." Skipper said with a smile, "I like difficult things."
"Then I have one for you. Try to say this: Rigsfællesskabet."
"What's that? Won't I be saying a blunder?"
"No, don't worry. It means The Unity of the Realm." Madeleine saw perplexity in Skipper's stare. "It's how the Danes call Denmark, Greenland and Faroe Islands together."
"Can you repeat it?"
" Rigsfællesskabet."
"You go too fast, Madeleine."
"Okay, look at my beak." Madeleine got a bit closer to Skipper. "Rigs."
"Rihs."
"That ar a bit more French, ge not as strong."
"Rigs."
"Ferres."
"Fe-"
Skipper couldn't end pronouncing it. Madeleine had put her beak against him catching him by surprise. Skipper closed his eyes, feeling unimaginable things. It had been something unimaginable for her too.
"I like learning things about Denmark with you," he said in a mocking but at the same time suggestive tone.
"Then," Madeleine said approaching him even more, totally invading his sovereign space, "you will love the lesson that I was keeping for you about the Kalmar Union."