The Most Dangerous Mission
Chapter 2: Greener Pastures
    The volgende morning at early hours, Skipper couldn’t sleep, and he knew why too. He found himself drifting along the corridor to Kowalski’s bunk. He stood there a moment before hesitantly opening the door and going inside.
    “Yes, Skipper.” Kowalski raised his head from the tafel, tabel where he fell asleep on a pile of all his experiment parts. His eyes drooped from exhaustion, but Skipper didn’t really care that he was interrupting anything right now.
    “Well, u aren’t going to do it, are you?”
    “Do what?”
    “Like u don’t know, soldier. Your visitors?” he reminded Kowalski. “You aren’t really considering deserting the military, are you?”
    He didn’t answer directly and cast a forlorn glance down at his work table. “I don’t really know. The psychological emotions are too difficult to comprehend and distribute at this time.”
    Skipper did not understand. Was that a yes?
    “But there is nothing to consider. What the universiteit offers is not for you. Science is a waste of time, and giving up your important position here is not benefiting anyone no matter what Page and Riley say,” Skipper insisted.
    “You just don’t understand.” Kowalski muttered quietly.
    “What was that? I understand this perfectly. I know u want to desert me for a universiteit u know nothing about!”
    He flinched slightly under Skipper’s wrath, but got the courage to speak. “How do u know? Have u ever asked me if I wanted to go?”
    “No, and I shouldn’t have to. Soldier, what is wrong with you?” Skipper demanded. How could Kowalski want to leave me?
    “You disrespect my interests. u are letting your own emotions get in the way of what someone else might be feeling,” Kowalski explained. “You think u can answer for me, but u can’t because maybe u don’t know me as well as u think u do.”
    Skipper was shocked. He could only gape at the insubordination he just heard. What could he say? There was nothing to say.
    “You are only thinking of yourself,” he concluded.
    Skipper narrowed his eyes and was tempted to smash everything on that table. It would serve Kowalski right for talking to him like this. “I will have u banned from scouting missions for a month,” he threatened.
    “Do what u want. I do not really care. u can not control every aspect of my being.”
    Skipper stormed out of the room, slamming the door shut behind him, a torrent of raging emotions boiling inside him.
    Rico scurried across the hall, coming up eagerly to say hi with a new weapon he had been playing with.
    “Get out. I am not in the mood,” Skipper growled.
    He cocked his head, looking confused.
    “LEAVE!” His voice was of blistering fury and Rico ran for his life and dived back into the mess hall, leaving him along with his rage. Skipper sighed. There would be plenty of time to regret doing that later.
    “I can’t believe that traitor, thinking he can just abandon me. This is an outrage. That is at the top, boven of the lijst when it comes to ruining a life.”
    Skipper found himself talking to no one in particular. He normally did that when he had problems, and talking them out seemed to make the situation less troublesome. “Kowalski also zei that u do not respect his ideas. Yeah right. I would never disrespect my crew.”
    Even less convincing.
    He wandered along until he entered the one place he seldomly visited, but enjoyed meer than anywhere else in his base. He went inside and found the one inhabitant of the room, a pinguïn very small in size, and still on the down feathers.
    Skipper called this little recruit Private.
    Unfortunately Private was sleeping right now, but he still wouldn’t pay much attention to his words even if he was awake. At this stage in life, he had the attention span of a Rico.
    Private looked so cute while he was asleep, Skipper thought.
    Back to your problem. Kowalski wants to desert you. How could u forget?
    “What am I going to do?” he moaned. “Maybe I do disrespect my crew.” He remembered the recent time when he barbequed Kowalski’s experiment without a care in the world, and the look of disappointment on his face when he realized it was too far gone to be fixed.
    “All right. So I made one mistake. Now Kowalski is going to leave me over that?”
    Private zei nothing, but rolled over in his sleep.
    “I thought so, young private. I messed up bigtime. And get this. Kowalski totally stood up against me. Why would he do that to me? Kowalski has always been a doormat I can wipe my feet on and never have it say anything. And now this?”
    Skipper was feeling a little guilty now. How could he let this happen?
    “Don’t forget what u zei back there. That really helped.”
    Wasn’t the point of talking things out was so that Skipper could feel better about himself? The meer he talked the meer he was pointing the finger of guilt at himself. As leader of the team, the big cheese, he was supposed to be made of steel, never be wrong. Here was an exception.
    He was wrong.
    That was why he couldn’t convince himself it was all Kowalski’s fault. It was his own fault, and he couldn’t deny it.
    Skipper watched Private sleep and backed out of the room slowly with new intentions. He wanted to tell Kowalski he had to stay before he was gone.

    Skipper had wanted to pull Kowalski over many times during the last few days and tell him everything he was feeling, but it was harder than he thought to slikken all his pride and say something so inferior to his lieutenant.
    “Page and Riley are leaving now,” Marlene called. “Come on. Let’s toon them off.”
    Oh right. They were still here. Recently Skipper had avoided them ever since they got here, loathing them for trying to take Kowalski away from him. At least they were leaving now, and would take their offer for a scholarship away with them.
    “I will make sure they get out of here safely,” Skipper answered and followed the otter outside. The two reddish brown foxes were waiting with their poccessions.
    “Skipper.”
    He whirled around and saw Kowalski standing there, eyes downcast.
    “What…what are u doing here?” Skipper stuttered.
    “I have decided to go with them. I would like to study at the universiteit of Medical and Physical Sciences.”
    He was at a loss for words. “But-You can’t leave, Kowalski.”
    He dragged along a small bag of his stuff, some of which Skipper recognized as the gifts he had gegeven Kowalski for the holidays.
    “Yes, I can. After all, u think I am a waste anyway. u think my science will get me nowhere in life.”
    “I didn’t say that,” he objected. A total lie.
    “You did.”
    “But I thought u were my friend.”
    Kowalski reached in the bag and pulled out the calculator Skipper had gegeven him years geleden for his birthday, and looked at it lovingly before handing it out to Skipper. “You are my friend, and u always will be. Nothing will ever change that, but my mind is made up.”
    Skipper could hardly bring himself to take the precious calculator, and it almost slipped out of his flipper when he grabbed it. “I can’t take this.”
    “Please. It is of my utmost pleasure to leave u with one of my belongings,” Kowalski insisted.
    “I can’t believe u are actually leaving. I thought u were happy here,” Skipper said.
    “I am, and these years have been some of the best in my life, but change is fated to happen like a wolf stalking a caribou. The caribou can not escape from it until the wolf tears out its guts and-“
    “I get the idea,” Skipper interrupted, trying to shove the horrible image away. “Why are u doing this to me?”
    “I am not doing anything. I am only following my desires. Is that a bad thing?” Kowalski tried to look into Skipper’s eyes for any form of understanding, but found nothing.
    “No, u are being selfish. u think u can just abandon the military and me to go off and play with alchemy. Well, think of all u are leaving behind. What do u call that? Just leave. Get out of here if this life isn’t good enough for you.” Skipper didn’t know where this sudden anger surged from. Maybe it was the returning of the special little calculator he had searched half the world for, of how Kowalski looked at him with the sympathy like he was really sorry he was leaving. Well, he couldn’t be of else he would stay.
    “Skipper, I-“
    “I don’t even want to hear it,” Skipper snapped and turned away. “I’m not in for excuses.”
    Kowalski walked over to Page and Riley who watched the whole scene in silence. His steps gave away his crushed feelings, but his mind was made and he didn’t turn back.
    Marlene zei her good-byes to Kowalski, and he accepted them gratefully. But he did take frequent glances in Skipper’s direction, waiting for him to say something to, but he didn’t.
    “I know this does not mean much right now, but I wish the best of luck to you,” Kowalski murmured.
    “You too,” Skipper zei without making eye contact. Still through the corner of his eye he could see the lithe foxes dart away, and the meer forlorn and reluctant Kowalski that followed them.
    Skipper threw the calculator in a drift of snow and walked away.