CHAPTER 1
Stop That Egg!
In the not-too-distant past . . .
Skipper. Kowalski. Rico. Private. They are penguins, but niore than
penguins. They are an elite unit. Soldiers. Heroes. Saving penguins who
have been kidnapped froln zoos and aquariums all over the world from
bad guys. But like other heroes before theln, these penguins came from
humble beginnings. They were hatched in the frozen wasteland of
Antarctica, where they waddled and played with the rest of the young
penguins.
In those days, it was just Skipper, Kowalski, and Rico. When they
weren’t frolicking, they spent endless hours marching in long lines.
Luckily, a docuinentary crew was there to capture it all on fihn.
“Does anyone even know where we’re marching to?" young Skipper
asked his friends.
Four adult penguins waddled past them.
“VVho cares?” asked the first one.
“I question nothing!" announced the second.
“Me too!" added the third.
“Me too!" finished the fourth.
But Skipper did care. There had to be lnore to life than marching in line.
He craned his neck to look up ahead, but all he would see were lnore
penguins.
“Well, fine,” Skipper said. “We’ll just fly to the front of the line and see
for ourselves. Kowalski, Rico, engage aerial surveillance!"
The two penguins stood on tl1ei.r tiptoes, flapping their short wings as
hard as they could. Kowalski gru.nted_ Rico’s face tluned red froln the
effort. But they didn’t budge.
“Skipper, we appear to be flightless!" Kowalski reported.
Skipper held up his flippers_
“Well, what’s the point of these?" he asked angrily.
Rico, the silent lnelnber of the group, looked thoughtfully at one of his
flippers_ Then he slapped one of Skippe1’s flippers with it in a high-five.
Skipper’s eyes widened.
“I/Vhoa! I like it!" he exclaimed. “Hey, this could be our thing! What are
we gonna call it? Let’s call it the, uh _ _ _ the high-une!”
Suddenly a large white egg rolled into the penguins, knocking theni
over. It rolled away as they got back on their feet.
“Hey! Anybody see that? Tl1at’s an egg! Is solneone gonna go and get it?’
Skipper yelled.
The nea.rest adult pengui.ns stopped. They looked at one another
nervously. “We can’t do that,” one replied.
“Well, why not?” Skipper asked.
“It’s a da.ngerous world out there," a.nother penguin explained. “And
we’re just penguins. You know, nothing but _ _ _ cute a.nd cuddly.”
“Yeal1, why do you think there a.re always docun1enta.ry crews filming
us?" a penguin asked.
Another penguin sluugged. “Sorry, kid. We lose a few eggs every year.
It’s just nature.”
“Rigl1t, natu.re. I guess that makes sense,” Skipper replied, but then his
eyes na.rrowed with steely detern1i.nation_ “Something _ _ _ something deep
dovm in my gut tells me that it makes no sense at all. You know what? I
reject nature!