The sun had set, and it was time for action. "Everybody set?" Skipper asked.

We all checked our equipment for the umpteenth time. "Yup!"

"We shake on my count….NOW!"

We all started to shake the soda bottles strapped onto our backs. The trophée exploded, and we rocketed into the air. "Yahoo!" I yelled. "This feels great!"

Skipper smirked at me. "This is what flying feels like."

I grinned back at him. Our relationship had gotten better and better, much to the relief of the other penguins. "We were made for this!" I said.

I rolled over in the air. "Why didn't we do this before?" I was slightly hurt that they had never told me about the "jetpacks."

"They are only for emergencies," replied Skipper curtly.

I shrugged the explanation away. "It's awesome to fly."

Kowalski flew over beside me. "I am working on better jetpacks. One day, we'll be able to fly whenever we want."

I looked over at him. "Better make it haut, retour au début priority 'cos I can't wait!"

"Ready position!" Skipper's call was heard par all of us.

We lined up on to both sides of him –Private and I on the left, and Kowalski and Rico on the right. In a formation similar to those of migrating birds, we swooped down one par one and neatly landed on the building suivant to Animal Control Supermax Facility.

We took off our jetpacks and lined facing the building. Both Skipper and I took out the binoculars. "We're clear of guards," I stated, looking through them.

Now that we were on a mission, all tension between Skipper and I had disappeared. We both knew that our arguments could be saved for later. "Security is tight," a dit Skipper.

"I see a minute transition with the cameras. We have an approximate 3.5 secondes of coverage," I continued.

"See any cover?" asked Kowalski.

Private's face was serious. He knew that this was an important mission. Many animaux were at stake. "There's a door leading somewhere, but I'm not sure if there are any cameras in there," I replied.

"It will have to do," determined Skipper. "It's the best option we have."

"So we'll have to slip past the lasers and get into the room before the cameras spot us?" clarified Private.

I glanced at him. "That's the idea, yes."

Private looked at me. "How are we going to do that?"

I thought about it. "There's no way we can all fit into the room before the cameras see us. There might be a way we can do this in shifts, though."

"Explain," ordered Skipper.

"I go in first," I said. "It'll be simple enough. One par one, we all have plenty of time. When the cameras switch again, Kowalski comes. I open the door for him. As he is in the air, Rico jumps. He enters the room before the cameras look. When the suivant change comes along, toi and Private go."

"It could work, but what are we going to balançoire, swing from?"

I mentioned for him to use his binoculars. "Do toi see that pipe hanging down?"

"Yes," he nodded. "This could work."

"So we won't need the plunger shoes?" asked Kowalski.

"No," I answered. "We didn't count for cameras when we planned this."

"It'll take longer, but the chances for error are reduced," a dit Skipper. "Let's do this! Rico, grabbing hook!"

Rico hacked up the required tool and handed it to Skipper. After aiming carefully, Skipper shot the rope. We all slid after him and landed safely on the ledge. Private looked down. "It's a long way down," he noted.

"Just don't look down," I replied.

When the cameras' 'blind spot,' was turned on us, Kowalski quickly cut the glass, and I jumped in. Counting the secondes in my head, I closed the door just as the cameras turned again.

The rest of the process went smoothly. After Skipper hopped in, we grouped up again. "We're in a storage room, but I see an air vent over there." I pointed up. "We can use that to get to the other rooms."

Skipper groaned. "Air vents are such a cliché!"

I turned my gaze to him. "It's always the clichés that people don't remember to look at."

We stacked on haut, retour au début of each other. Skipper opened the latch, and we all slid in.

******************************

Nathan: Come on, who doesn't like flying?

Me: Depends how

Nathan: What do toi mean?

Me: If you're just flying with the wind in your feathers, then I l’amour flying. If it's in an airplane, then not really.

Nathan: Okay...