Harboring a Secret

"Are you ready, Moth?" Colonel K asked his secret agent.

"Always!" came the stalwart reply.

"Excellent! Then best of luck to you!" Colonel K saluted her and his hologram flickered off. There had been a robbery just off the coast of Brighton and with Danger Mouse and Penfold handling a mission closer to home, that left Moth to go down south and clean up the mess there. But it was no ordinary robbery. It was a full-scale, highly elaborate raid. An underground crime syndicate had been working off the southern shore for years now and they had finally dared to stage an attack against one of the landing ships. This was not a one-off scheme or something a singular villain was plotting. This was an entire network of underground, organized crime. As such, Moth was not the only one going. Instead, she also had Dangers Camel, Hippo, Baboon, Zebra, Wallaby, Woodpecker, Antelope, Mongoose, Sloth, Ocelot, Cuttlefish, Sow, Hyena, Ewe, Polar Bear, Okapi, and Penguin coming with her. And even Professor Squawkencluck was coming along for the ride!

"While Colonel K assists Danger Mouse and Penfold, I'm coming with you guys," the hen said. "Colonel K decided that this operation is a bit more complex than whatever Danger Mouse and Penfold are doing, so he decided to spare me and send me along with you. He'll hold down the fort while I'm gone... Hopefully," Moth and the others could see it in Professor Squawkencluck's that she was a bit uneasy about leaving her lab to anyone that wasn't her, but at the same time, she agreed that this massive ship heist was a far bigger, scarier threat than whatever Danger Mouse and Penfold were facing. As such, she knew that Moth's team really did need all hands on deck, even if that meant taking her from her precious lab.

"Well, we're glad to have you along!" Camel extended a hoof. She received a wing in return.

"Well then, are we all ready?" Moth asked once the greetings and assignments had been given and received.

"Yes!" the rest of the group replied, then off they went. Because they were such a large team, though, a single Danger Car wouldn't suffice.

"But that's where I come in," Professor Squawkencluck gave her new team a wink. She pulled out a remote and clicked a button. Suddenly flying down from the clouds was a sleek, silver jet. Every jaw dropped while Professor Squawkencluck looked quite pleased with herself. It was quite a beautiful, powerful machine, even cooler than the Danger Car. No one wasted any time hopping in.

The jet was so fast that the team managed to reach their destination in just over 10 minutes.

"That must be a record!" Moth remarked in amazement as she and the team stepped back down onto the ground. For secrecy's sake, they had landed in a woodsy area a few miles away from the port where they would be working.

"The only thing faster than her is a rocket," Professor Squawkencluck replied with another smug smile as she patted the jet's door proudly. Then off they went, armed to the teeth and ready to explore.

The day was spent simply gathering data. While Professor Squawkencluck and Moth hung back and surveyed the port as a whole, the other agents took closer looks at certain areas. Dangers Hippo, Cuttlefish and Penguin explored the waters around the port, pretending merely to be a group of girlfriends out to swim in the bay like all silly young women did during the summer. Dangers Camel, Zebra, Wallaby, Antelope, Sloth, Sow, Hyena, Eve, Polar Bear and Okapi all scouted the docks and ships, pretending to be anything from innocent passersby to people working on the docks as legal government workers. Dangers Baboon, Woodpecker, Mongoose and Ocelot, meanwhile, dared to explore the ships themselves, trying to figure out which one was being targeted and why.

Woodpecker in particular was very useful for this part of the mission just because she was able to fit into small spaces totally undetected. Ocelot was similar in that regard, but she could not fly. Though what she lacked in aerial skills she made up for in finesse and flexibility. And Mongoose was in the same boat (literally and metaphorically) as her fellow, furry, four-legged friend.