The voice on the phone was familiar.

"Mom?" Marlene asked as she held the phone to her ear.

"Yes, sweetie, it's really me," Marlene's mother, Lynne, replied.

"I can't believe it's you, after all these years," Marlene responded tearfully. "I thought I'd never get to hear your voice again after you and Dad were transferred away. Where ever did you go for so long?"

"We were never kept in one place for very long," Lynne answered. "We kept being shipped from zoo to zoo, aquarium to aquarium, sanctuary to sanctuary. At each new habitat we arrived at, your father and I kept holding out hope that maybe you somehow managed to get transferred there yourself so that we might finally reunite, but our dream never came true. We eventually figured that you just never left Monterey, so we were quite saddened when we arrived back to learn that you–"

"Wait, you and Dad are back in–" Marlene broke-in.

"Yes, sweetie, we're back in California," Lynne replied. "After all of our transfers around the United States and Canada, we've finally made it back home again. Evidently this may also be our last transfer; I overheard one of the zookeepers saying that they're thinking about finally letting us retire."

"I've got to come out to see you," Marlene then stated. "Just give me a few days to prepare and–"

Lynne chuckled.

"Child, you just can't leave the zoo," she said.

"No, I can – I've done it before," Marlene replied. "I know these guys – they're the greatest."

"Marlene, we desperately would like to see you again, too," Lynne continued. "But we're close to 3,000 miles apart. It was a miracle that we were even able to find out where you had gone through the grapevine and then get a call out to you."

"Mom, I love you, and I'm not going to let you slip away," Marlene replied. "I will come see you; I have to."

Lynne smiled.

"You were always determined ever since you were a pup," she said. "If coming here is something you must do, then Godspeed to you, Marlene."

"I'll be there as soon as possible," Marlene said. "Give Dad a hug for me, OK?"

"Will do," Lynne replied. "Take care of yourself and stay safe. Goodbye, honey."

"Bye, Mom," Marlene said, hanging up the phone.

And with that, the conversation Marlene had only dreamed of having was over in what seemed like a blink of an eye. Two minutes just wasn't long enough to even try to catch up on the past 12 years.

Marlene leaned against the wall of her cave for a few moments as she tried to process what had just occurred. She wanted to be certain that she wasn't having a dream after all.

Minutes later, Marlene left her habitat and strolled over to the penguins' HQ. Upon arrival, she moved the penguins' fish bowl out of the way and descended the ladder to enter the base, unannounced as always.

"Guys, I need to get to California," she said, no sooner than her feet had made contact with the floor.

"Sure thing, Marlene," Skipper replied as he looked up from playing chess with Private. "And while I'm at it, do you take your coffee with cream or do you prefer it black?"

"Huh?" Marlene wondered.

"Well, I just figured that if we're here to serve your every whim, you know, why not throw in a cup of java?" Skipper replied.

"Skipper, this isn't just some ordinary request," Marlene continued as she walked up to him at the table. "I just got a phone call from my long-lost mother, whom I haven't heard from since she and my father were transferred away from me at my old aquarium in California. That was 12 years ago. They've finally made it back to Monterey, and I told my mother that I would come out to see them. Please help me – I really miss my family."

Skipper moved a bishop two places and then sighed.

"You know what, Marlene? I completely understand why you want to go out to California," he replied. "I think the boys and I can all relate to you; we've all been separated from our biological families at one time or another, too. I've said in the past that I don't have a sister, but since I haven't seen my parents since '93, who knows if that's even true anymore?"

"So you'll help me?" Marlene asked.

"Indeed," Skipper replied. "I think I know just the way to get us to California."

"Us?" Marlene wondered.

Skipper smiled.

"Hey, Kowalski, take over for me, will you?" he called over to his first lieutenant as he stood up and motioned toward the chess board. "As for you, Marlene, come with me."

As Kowalski waddled over to continue the game with Private, Skipper led Marlene over to the wall of the HQ which Private's first prize fish was proudly displayed on. Skipper then grabbed the trophy fish's dorsal fin and pulled it toward himself. A panel of the floor then dropped out below their feet, sending Skipper and Marlene sliding into a secret underground room – though Skipper preferred to call it a hangar.

There, Marlene's eyes widened.

"Feast your eyes on this baby," Skipper then said as he placed a flipper on the only object in the room besides him and Marlene. "This magnificent aircraft is a hybrid of modern engineering and the technology that won us the Second World War. We started with the basic body design of the classic Vought F4U Corsair, but reconfigured and widened the cockpit to now accommodate two, side-by-side. Along with a few other tweaks and modifications, many of them classified."

"Impressive," Marlene said as she looked at her reflection in the plane's shiny blue paint and began to touch it.

"Hold it, Marlene," Skipper said as he suddenly reached out and held Marlene's paw back. "I don't want any prints on the finish."

"You're kidding me, right?" Marlene replied sarcastically as she brought her paw back down to her side.

"Anyway," Skipper continued, "as you can probably tell, our plane is substantially smaller than the original Corsair. Not that I couldn't fly the 33-foot, 2,000-horsepower model, I might add. But our penguin-sized edition is small enough to both slip past most radar and keep the FAA off our backs."

He then smiled and looked at Marlene.

"Flying 10 hours a day, I'd estimate it would take me around three days to fly you to California," he said. "That is if you don't mind having some extra baggage along for the ride."

"No, I don't mind," Marlene replied. "I mean, that sounds wonderful. You'd really do all this just for me?"

"Well, that and we've been meaning to give the plane its first test flight," Skipper replied.

"Say what?" Marlene exclaimed.

"I'm only kidding," Skipper chuckled. "We've already used Rico for a test pilot. And between you and me, he was actually a bit disappointed that the plane didn't crash. He mumbled something about the 'Crash Test Dummy Credo,' but I didn't ask."

"Well, Skipper, I can't thank you enough for this wonderful opportunity," Marlene continued. "When do we leave?"

"How about tomorrow morning?" Skipper suggested. "Unless you need more time to pack your lip gloss and all that stuff."

"I don't wear–" Marlene began.

"I know, and you don't need it, either," Skipper chuckled. "Forgive my ill attempt at humor. So anyway, is tomorrow morning at 0700 hours good for you, Marlene?"

"I'll be here," Marlene answered.

"Excellent," Skipper replied. "Tomorrow we fly."

Thank you for reading the first chapter of "East of Nowhere." I hope you enjoyed it and will return to read my story all the way through. The major action will begin in Chapter 3 – trust me.

As is typical when I write multi-chapter stories, I am publishing subsequent chapters on a scheduled basis. There are nine chapters remaining, and I will be publishing a new one every two days until the story is complete.

To assist you with being able to follow my story, these are the dates on which I will publish new chapters: March 3, March 5, March 7, March 9, March 11, March 13, March 15, March 17, and March 19. I am a man of my word – I will publish new chapters on those dates without fail, with technical difficulties the only possible exception.

Thank you again,
-GrandOldPenguin
Tuesday, March 1, 2011