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Description
The Ross Ice Shelf was a wide, flat plane of glacial ice, looming below the HMAS Sophia like a giant sheet of whiteness, with only the blue, frosty sea calmly lapping at its frozen shores. The Sophia's crew prepared to lower altitude, and gently descended through the cloud banks.

Everything below them was white, and the sudden glare was blinding.

“It hurts.” Koko murmured, removing his glasses in order to rub his eyes

“We expected as much,” Blushington sighed. “My dear, I think it is time to bring out the goggles.” Mrs. Blushington was already ahead of him, and was opening a small crate full of heavy, brass-and-leather goggles. Zara and Arthur, who were already wearing sturdy headgear, removed their own goggles from the bands if their hats, and settled them snugly over their eyes.

“Much better,” Fitzbattleaxe said with relief. “You, my man,” he thumped Koko's shoulder, "need to find a pair that will fit over your own glasses. Blush, old chap, do you have something in the box for our Japanese friend?”

“There are a couple of extra large goggles in here, one of them ought to serve.” He handed a particularly large pair to Koko, who gratefully attempted to settle them over his own glasses. It didn't work too well. His glasses felt pinched and bunched beneath the goggles, which now distorted his vision. He began to grow irritable.

Oddly, the only person there unperturbed by the new goggles was King Paramount , who adjusted them across the bridge of his nose like a pro. With his gloves, boots, his heavy fur-lined coat and fur hat, he may as well have been posing for the cover of a High Adventure Magazine.

“Is everybody here? Everyone who's planning to disembark?”

There was a group of travelers clustered together, dressed as warmly as possible – which was probably not warm enough, considering not one of them had any knowledge of just how cold a place Antarctica was, even in the summer. And January was a summer month Down Under.

Everyone wore heavy, fur lined boots, thick pants, heavy jackets lined with fur, and an assortment of head coverings. The goggles were an obvious must, and they also wore leather belts with copper hooks, latches and chains to which they had attached such things as compasses, pocket knives, and canteens. On this first trip out, only Koko insisted on bringing a brownie-like camera with the curious brand name of “Nikon”. Bringing home photos was not an option.

As the airship was anchored in place, the exploration party peered out the large window in delight, for below them, they were surrounded by scores of native penguins! Black and white, with red and gold highlights on their faces, the birds were enormous! They were also very inquisitive, and didn't seem to be the least bit afraid of the humans.

“Oh, I've got to go down and see them!” Paramount beamed all over. “You don't think they'll run away, do you?”

“I shouldn't think so,” Zara shrugged. “I don't believe they've ever had a reason to fear people. Just look at them. They are as interested in us as we are of them.”

“Then let's go, my intrepid friends,” Captain Corcoran took a deep breath, and two crewmen opened the inner doors of the compression compartment, then the outer door that let in the Antarctic cold. That first blast of frozen air was literally—breathtaking.

A half-dozen gloved hands flew to mouths and noses as temperatures only scantly above Zero hit them all square in the face, and their supposedly warm clothes only barely held back the cold.

“Well...we were warned,” King Paramount chuckled from behind his hands, but he had to blink his eyes for another reason. The flashbulb on Koko's camera went off twice! He was taking pictures.

For almost the first time on the fateful voyage, Koko's face opened up into an enormous and toothy grin! Scores of large Penguins, in all their black & white, wobbling cuteness, were approaching the humans with cautious curiosity, several of them making squawking noises as they bobbed their heads up and down, their pointy beaks as long as sabers, and their small, bright eyes fixed on the camera. One of them reached up and pecked the camera, just inches from Koko's fingers.

“They are wonderful!” He cried. “Is there a name for them?”

“No,” Captain Corcoran admitted.

“I think it would nice if Koko, here, gets to name them,” Paramount encouraged. “Mind you, they are several times larger than the little Paradise Penguins off the coast of Utopia, Very majestic.”

“I see!” Koko kept grinning, “Then...I'll name them Mikado Penguins. Doesn't that sound about right?”

“That's very good!” Paramount clapped Koko on the shoulder, jarring him slightly. “He'll like that, I'm sure.”

A couple of the huge birds continued pecking at the camera, and a third one started to grab at the Japanese-style head warmer, made of reed straw. “Ow! Hey!” Koko squealed, trying not to laugh. “You silly bird, let go!”

Paramount squatted down beside Koko, hoping for a better look at the big, bold penguins. “My goodness, you are indeed much bigger than our little penguins back home.” He reached his hand out, toward a small cluster of the birds, and they shrank back a few inches before the King opened his hand and they could see that there was something interesting. It was the remains of some of Miss Buttercup's cookies that he had stowed in his pocket for safekeeping, but this seemed a much more interesting thing to do with them. Sure enough, the penguins looked over the cookie scraps for a moment, then began snatching them up with their long, pointy beaks.

“They are truly marvelous,” he said softly, his voice filled with wonder. “Just look at their feathers. So sleek and dense. I wonder if they'll let us touch them?”

“I wouldn't try it if I were you,” Fitzy came up behind him, rather slowly. “They seem to be rather...pushy.”

Whatever the reason, a section of the flock had waddled past their visitors and were marching in circles around the airship's gondola. It was amazing and disturbing at the same time, but the travelers were quite fascinated.

“I say, it is quite cold here!” Fitzy shivered a little and wrapped his arms around his chest. “No wonder these penguins have it all to themselves.”No one else with any sense of sanity would live here.”

“Live here? No,” the King shrugged, “No, but it is certainly exciting to have paid a visit.”

Koko was too busy focusing on the penguins. It was true that some of them were almost as tall as he was -- but he had quite lost his fear of them. Fuzzy gray chicks clustered together a short distance from their parents, bonding among themselves, and paying scant attention to the little man with the flashing wooden box.

He was growing bold now. The intense Polar cold seemed almost insignificant as he waded and hopped through the sea of black and white feathers, dodging the sharp beaks of an annoyed few. Several yards behind, Paramount was watching with a wide-eyed, open-mouthed grin. “ZARA!” he called, “Come look!!”

Her dainty white boots crunched on the ice as she walked towards her father, and she was grateful that there was no wind blowing. Her nose twitched. “Ugh...what is that smell?”

“Penguin poop!” Paramount said flatly.

“Bird droppings,” Arthur echoed as he followed closely behind her. “Look – they're everywhere. Its a sea of birds.”

“An ocean of birds.” Paramount nodded.

Koko turned and called back, “Look at them all! Aren't they capital?”

“How many birds do you think there are?”

“I don't know. Maybe thousands in this one flock. It's like a city.”

“Reminds me of when we first arrived on Utopian shores.” Arthur said quietly, his eyebrows furrowing. “That's a disturbing thought.”

Zara and Paramount both turned their eyes in his direction at once.

“I mean...these birds are innocents. They have never seen human beings before in their lives. What must the Utopians have thought when they first laid eyes on Britains?”

Paramount grinned wryly. “Do you want to know the truth? They thought much the same as these penguins do.”

And while they talked of deep, philosophical matters, none of them noticed that Koko had wandered deeper and deeper into the flock.

Description
The Ross Ice Shelf was a wide, flat plane of glacial ice, looming below the HMAS Sophia like a giant sheet of whiteness, with only the blue, frosty sea calmly lapping at its frozen shores. The Sophia's crew prepared to lower altitude, and gently descended through the cloud banks.

Everything below them was white, and the sudden glare was blinding.

“It hurts.” Koko murmured, removing his glasses in order to rub his eyes

“We expected as much,” Blushington sighed. “My dear, I think it is time to bring out the goggles.” Mrs. Blushington was already ahead of him, and was opening a small crate full of heavy, brass-and-leather goggles. Zara and Arthur, who were already wearing sturdy headgear, removed their own goggles from the bands if their hats, and settled them snugly over their eyes.

“Much better,” Fitzbattleaxe said with relief. “You, my man,” he thumped Koko's shoulder, "need to find a pair that will fit over your own glasses. Blush, old chap, do you have something in the box for our Japanese friend?”

“There are a couple of extra large goggles in here, one of them ought to serve.” He handed a particularly large pair to Koko, who gratefully attempted to settle them over his own glasses. It didn't work too well. His glasses felt pinched and bunched beneath the goggles, which now distorted his vision. He began to grow irritable.

Oddly, the only person there unperturbed by the new goggles was King Paramount , who adjusted them across the bridge of his nose like a pro. With his gloves, boots, his heavy fur-lined coat and fur hat, he may as well have been posing for the cover of a High Adventure Magazine.

“Is everybody here? Everyone who's planning to disembark?”

There was a group of travelers clustered together, dressed as warmly as possible – which was probably not warm enough, considering not one of them had any knowledge of just how cold a place Antarctica was, even in the summer. And January was a summer month Down Under.

Everyone wore heavy, fur lined boots, thick pants, heavy jackets lined with fur, and an assortment of head coverings. The goggles were an obvious must, and they also wore leather belts with copper hooks, latches and chains to which they had attached such things as compasses, pocket knives, and canteens. On this first trip out, only Koko insisted on bringing a brownie-like camera with the curious brand name of “Nikon”. Bringing home photos was not an option.

As the airship was anchored in place, the exploration party peered out the large window in delight, for below them, they were surrounded by scores of native penguins! Black and white, with red and gold highlights on their faces, the birds were enormous! They were also very inquisitive, and didn't seem to be the least bit afraid of the humans.

“Oh, I've got to go down and see them!” Paramount beamed all over. “You don't think they'll run away, do you?”

“I shouldn't think so,” Zara shrugged. “I don't believe they've ever had a reason to fear people. Just look at them. They are as interested in us as we are of them.”

“Then let's go, my intrepid friends,” Captain Corcoran took a deep breath, and two crewmen opened the inner doors of the compression compartment, then the outer door that let in the Antarctic cold. That first blast of frozen air was literally—breathtaking.

A half-dozen gloved hands flew to mouths and noses as temperatures only scantly above Zero hit them all square in the face, and their supposedly warm clothes only barely held back the cold.

“Well...we were warned,” King Paramount chuckled from behind his hands, but he had to blink his eyes for another reason. The flashbulb on Koko's camera went off twice! He was taking pictures.

For almost the first time on the fateful voyage, Koko's face opened up into an enormous and toothy grin! Scores of large Penguins, in all their black & white, wobbling cuteness, were approaching the humans with cautious curiosity, several of them making squawking noises as they bobbed their heads up and down, their pointy beaks as long as sabers, and their small, bright eyes fixed on the camera. One of them reached up and pecked the camera, just inches from Koko's fingers.

“They are wonderful!” He cried. “Is there a name for them?”

“No,” Captain Corcoran admitted.

“I think it would nice if Koko, here, gets to name them,” Paramount encouraged. “Mind you, they are several times larger than the little Paradise Penguins off the coast of Utopia, Very majestic.”

“I see!” Koko kept grinning, “Then...I'll name them Mikado Penguins. Doesn't that sound about right?”

“That's very good!” Paramount clapped Koko on the shoulder, jarring him slightly. “He'll like that, I'm sure.”

A couple of the huge birds continued pecking at the camera, and a third one started to grab at the Japanese-style head warmer, made of reed straw. “Ow! Hey!” Koko squealed, trying not to laugh. “You silly bird, let go!”

Paramount squatted down beside Koko, hoping for a better look at the big, bold penguins. “My goodness, you are indeed much bigger than our little penguins back home.” He reached his hand out, toward a small cluster of the birds, and they shrank back a few inches before the King opened his hand and they could see that there was something interesting. It was the remains of some of Miss Buttercup's cookies that he had stowed in his pocket for safekeeping, but this seemed a much more interesting thing to do with them. Sure enough, the penguins looked over the cookie scraps for a moment, then began snatching them up with their long, pointy beaks.

“They are truly marvelous,” he said softly, his voice filled with wonder. “Just look at their feathers. So sleek and dense. I wonder if they'll let us touch them?”

“I wouldn't try it if I were you,” Fitzy came up behind him, rather slowly. “They seem to be rather...pushy.”

Whatever the reason, a section of the flock had waddled past their visitors and were marching in circles around the airship's gondola. It was amazing and disturbing at the same time, but the travelers were quite fascinated.

“I say, it is quite cold here!” Fitzy shivered a little and wrapped his arms around his chest. “No wonder these penguins have it all to themselves.”No one else with any sense of sanity would live here.”

“Live here? No,” the King shrugged, “No, but it is certainly exciting to have paid a visit.”

Koko was too busy focusing on the penguins. It was true that some of them were almost as tall as he was -- but he had quite lost his fear of them. Fuzzy gray chicks clustered together a short distance from their parents, bonding among themselves, and paying scant attention to the little man with the flashing wooden box.

He was growing bold now. The intense Polar cold seemed almost insignificant as he waded and hopped through the sea of black and white feathers, dodging the sharp beaks of an annoyed few. Several yards behind, Paramount was watching with a wide-eyed, open-mouthed grin. “ZARA!” he called, “Come look!!”

Her dainty white boots crunched on the ice as she walked towards her father, and she was grateful that there was no wind blowing. Her nose twitched. “Ugh...what is that smell?”

“Penguin poop!” Paramount said flatly.

“Bird droppings,” Arthur echoed as he followed closely behind her. “Look – they're everywhere. Its a sea of birds.”

“An ocean of birds.” Paramount nodded.

Koko turned and called back, “Look at them all! Aren't they capital?”

“How many birds do you think there are?”

“I don't know. Maybe thousands in this one flock. It's like a city.”

“Reminds me of when we first arrived on Utopian shores.” Arthur said quietly, his eyebrows furrowing. “That's a disturbing thought.”

Zara and Paramount both turned their eyes in his direction at once.

“I mean...these birds are innocents. They have never seen human beings before in their lives. What must the Utopians have thought when they first laid eyes on Britains?”

Paramount grinned wryly. “Do you want to know the truth? They thought much the same as these penguins do.”

And while they talked of deep, philosophical matters, none of them noticed that Koko had wandered deeper and deeper into the flock.