Octonauts Q&A

The Captain

The Captain, for maybe the second time in his life (can't forget the Caves of Sac Atun) was looking genuinely terrified. Maybe absolutely petrified was a better description of the polar bear's current emotions. He sat back into the plastic chair, resisting the encouragement of his crew or questioners.

"Oh come on," said Amy, tired of the crew's reluctance to answer simple questions. "There's nothing that bad for you. I can attest to that. In fact, your section is quite easy. There shouldn't be any fuss about it."

The Captain chewed his lip for a moment. Crash tilted his head.

"I can guarantee that Amy's questions are easy and fine. Mine? We'll come to them when the time is appropriate. Here have another slice of cheesecake."

Captain Barnacles gratefully accepted another slice (it truly was delicious) and shrugged his shoulders, trying to keep the words 'easy and fine' ringing in his head as long as possible.

"Right," smiled Amy, adopting a cross-legged position on the bean bag. "Question one. What inspired you to be a Captain?"

The Captain shrugged, clearly happy there wasn't anything too personal in there.

"I was with Natquik one day, when we heard a great honking sound. Turned out to be a large ship. Little did I know at the time, but that was actually a famous exploration crew. But when I saw the way the crew worked so seamlessly, I was inspired. When I saw the Captain stop the ship to help some sea creatures, I was captivated. When I saw them sail bravely on to the horizon, I was confident in who I wanted to be."

Amy and Crash blinked.

"That's very... Inspirational, actually. How old were you?"

"I had just started with Natquik... So... nine?"

"You knew you wanted to be a Captain at the age of nine?"

"Yeah... I guess..."

Crash and Amy shared one of those 'hmm interesting' looks.

"Well, thank you for answering that one. Question 2. Is it annoying for you because you often work in hotter climates than polar bears are usually okay with handling?"

The Captain grinned and gestured down at what he was wearing, his usual blue Captain's suit that covered his entire body except for his head and paws.

"A little masterpiece of Tweak's," he said, to the engineer's immediate smile. "This suit keeps me at the right temperature in any climate. How else would I be able to go to the Sahara as a polar bear? My helmet also gives me colder air than the others so I'm usually okay."

"Same for Peso," Tweak added. "They've both got a lot of identical suits."

"And we're very grateful for them," smiled Peso.

"I'll skip the next question," Amy frowned, looking down at her sheet of paper. "I think I've already asked that one. Sort of. Yeah, whatever. Moving on to the final question from me. What were you feeling when you heard you would become Captain. Stressed? Something else?"

The Captain chewed his lip.

"That's a brilliant question. When I first received the letter from Inkling--yes email didn't exist back then--I opened it and I sat down trembling. I guess you could describe it as extreme shock, I guess. Then I was excited. I was jumping up and down and thinking about all the things I would do as Captain. Then I was nervous. All the things I would have to do as Captain. I was nervous that I wouldn't be a good leader."

"Of course that's normal," said Dashi encouragingly. "But you are a good leader. You're an awesome leader."

"I couldn't have chosen better," announced the Professor.