getting paid very much to do it; however, Dunder wasn�t depressed. On the contrary, he was fairly happy, because he was stamping those endlessly endless amounts of papers to the beat of a peppy song on K-CAPE radio, broadcast out of Cape Suzette. Work always seemed to go faster when he was listening to K-CAPE.

�Grey skies are gonna clear up,� sang the Gandrews Sisters over the radio in jazzy, three-part harmony; �put on a happy face...�

When he heard the patter of Colonel Spigot�s little feet in the hallway, Dunder quickly turned the tuning knob. Listening to anything except State Programming was a capital offence in Thembria.

The man over the radio said in a no-nonsense voice, �This is K-BORE, Thembria�s Glorious People�s Radio Service. If you listen to anything else, you will be shot. Here�s Boris with the weather.�

In the bored tone of a man who had related the same forecast day in and day out for the past ten years, Boris droned, �Today - cold, cloudy, chance of snow. Thursday - cold, cloudy, chance of snow. Friday - cold, cloudy, chance of snow.�

A new announcer said dramatically, �Now, onto another exciting episode of the Glorious Colossal Thembrian People�s Court. Today, the condemned are charged with stealing official Thembrian government ice shavings.�

Colonel Spigot stormed across the room and flipped off the radio. �What are you doing, Sergeant Dunder?� he snapped irately.

�Stamping the official DD-D5-AS forms with the official Wednesday stamp like you told me to, sir,� Dunder replied, continuing to stamp papers methodically.

�Forget what I told you to do, and do what I�m telling you to do.�

Dunder stopped; the hand holding the stamp halted midair. �What are we doing, Colonel Spigot, sir?�

Spigot glanced around furtively. Grunting, he stood on tiptoe to lean over the desk, but it was too tall. He could barely see over it. Instead, he walked around it until he faced Dunder. He whispered, �We�re looking for spies.�

�Spies, sir?� Dunder�s eyes grew wider.

�Shh!� Spigot clapped a paw over Dunder�s mouth. �Spies are everywhere! Do you want them to know that we�re looking for them?�

With Spigot�s hand still over his mouth, Dunder shook his head.

�Follow me, and be quiet!� he shouted, his voice reverberating in the cavernous room. After a nervous, furtive glance around, he hissed, �If those spies know that we�re seeking for them, they�ll go into hiding.� Spigot marched out of the room with Dunder trotting meekly behind.

Meanwhile

On the other side of Thembria�s capital city, Baloo and Kit were unloading their shipment of pink lawn flamingoes at the Ministry of Lawn Ornaments.

Baloo picked up an unwieldy box almost as tall as himself and staggered down the back hatch�s tailgate. �I�m tellin� ya, Kit, we keep draggin� these same birds back an� forth. One of these days, I�m gonna mark one somehow an� prove it to ya.�

�If you say so, Papa Bear,� Kit said with an amused smile. He secretly thought the drastic temperature shift from hot to cold was wreaking havoc with Baloo�s head. He once again bent over his clipboard, scribbling on a big pile of official Thembrian shipping/receiving forms.

Actually, Baloo was correct. The lawn flamingo trade was a vicious cycle in that the Thembrians painted the birds blue and sold them to Usland for fifty cents. Accordingly, Usland repainted them pink and sold them back to Thembria at a dollar apiece. Who knew that lawn ornaments could be the cause of a power struggle between two countries?

When the Colonel Spigot and Sergeant Dunder passed the Sea Duck, Kit watched them rummage through the boxes of flamingoes. Wondering why they were searching through boxes containing pink flamingoes, the boy called out in a friendly manner, �Hey, Dunder, what are you looking for?�

Dunder sauntered over to the cub. �Hi, Kit. The colonel and I are looking for spies. Oops! Shouldn�t have told you that. It�s top secret,� he said, glancing nervously in Spigot�s direction. �I might be sent to a firing squad, or something worse.�

Kit hid a smile, thinking,Thembrians and their crazy schemes. �Don�t worry. Your secret is safe with me.� The cub winked, gestured as if he zipped his lip, and returned to filling out official Thembrian paperwork.

Just as Kit had flipped to the twenty-seventh page of the first set of forms, Molly�s agitated voice came unexpectedly over the Sea Duck�s radio. �Higher for Hire to Sea Duck. Come in Sea Duck. Can you hear me, Daddy? Kit? Anybody? Mommy�s in labor, and we�re going to the hospital right now!�

Dropping the clipboard, Kit sprinted to the cockpit and picked up the microphone. �I�m here, Molly,� he said breathlessly.

No answer.

�Molly?�

Nothing but static.

The boy dropped the receiver and ran through the cargo hold to where his father was trying to lift the box onto a conveyer belt. �Baloo!�

�What?� Baloo turned around - box and all - but couldn�t see the boy over the gigantic box.

Kit ran to the other side and tugged on Baloo�s elbow. �Papa Bear!�

�What, Kit?� Baloo turned his head the other way.

Giving up on making eye contact with his father, Kit said, �Molly radioed that Mom�s in labor.�

THUNK went the box that Baloo was carrying as it dropped to the floor. He spun on his heel and began shoving boxes out of the cargo hold as fast as he could. �Becky�s in labor? Cargo or no, we gotta go!�

Spigot�s ears perked up when he heard the so-called secret code word. He charged up to the two bears. �I�m Colonel Spigot. Perhaps you�ve heard of me. I�m going to have to detain you for questioning.�

�Yer gonna hafta take a rain check on the questions, Spiggy. We�ve gotta fly back ta Cape Suzette ASAP. My wife�s in labor.� Baloo stepped around the short colonel.

�Guards! Arrest these bears at once!� Spigot shouted. Four heavily armed, brawny warthogs dragged Baloo and Kit to prison.

�Aw, man, what did we do this time?� Baloo cried.

An Hour Later

Baloo sat alone in a pitch-black room, tied hand and heel to a metal, straight-backed chair. Upon entering the prison, he and Kit had been separated. Kit had been taken to a holding cell whereas Baloo had ended up here - wherever here was. He�d been wrongfully imprisoned, he was freezing, the �Big Guy� was rumbling, and his wife was in the hospital. No wonder he was grumbling angrily as he attempted to wriggle out of the ropes. �Gotta get ta Cape Suzette. Gotta get ta Becky. Stupid Spiggy! Knew I shoulda stayed home today.�

Suddenly, a door slammed open and a bright light shone directly into Baloo�s eyes. It took a few minutes for him to accustom himself to the blinding light. �Hey, what�s the big idea?� Through the spots, he could see the dark outline of a small form.

�Silence, you! I�ll ask the questions!�

�Oh, great,� Baloo groaned, �it�s Spiggy.�

�Spigot! Where were you at 10:00 PM on October 5, 1902?� the colonel snapped, staring the baffled pilot in the face.

Baloo shrugged as best as he could. �I was only two years old. Don�t remember what I was doin�. Probably sleepin�.�

�A likely alibi. That�s what all spies say.� Spigot waved his riding whip at the bear.

�Spies?� Baloo snorted. �You think Kit an� me are spies? We�re just cargo pilots droppin� off yer silly pink flamingoes.� Once again, he tried to twist out of the ropes that constrained him.

�Pink flamingoes?� Spigot paced around the room, deep in thought. Abruptly, he stopped in front of Baloo. �Ah-HA! Suddenly everything is clear. The flamingoes are a brightly-colored distraction so that you can desecrate our Great Patriotic Flounder statue without us knowing it. Everyone knows that flamingoes are blue, not pink!�

�What!� Baloo cried in amazement. A crafty look crossed his face. �Yeah, ya guessed it, Spiggy, an� after we take yer flounder, we�re gonna steal the Leanin� Tower of Pizza. It�s a plot ta take over the world one monument at a time.�

�I knew it! And, I, the brilliant, magnanimous, yet humble, Spigot, am the first to uncover your dastardly plot! I�ll be famous! I can see the front page of the Glorious People�s Newspapernow - General Ivanov Spigot Stops Spies� Crime Spree.� He chortled gleefully to himself, imagining big things in his short head.

Baloo rolled his eyes. �Aw, who cares about yer stupid fish an� yer birds. My wife�s in labor.� He hopped in his chair across the room towards the open door.

�The secret code word!� Spigot blocked the door with his short frame. �Admit it, Baloo. You are a spy.�

�The only thing I spy is a quick exit. Why doncha torture someone yer own size, Spiggy? I�m outta here.� Baloo plowed right over the colonel and hopped down the hall.

�Dunder-her-her! Catch...him! Oh...� Spigot moaned weakly while he lay, a crumpled mass, on the floor.

At the prison cell...

�So, �labor� really, truly means that your mother is having a baby instead of code for �destroy the Great Patriotic Flounder statue�,� Dunder said slowly.

�You�ve got it!� Kit sighed in relief. He impatiently tapped his fingers on the bars of the cell. After thirty minutes of trying to explain the simple situation, the thick-headed, big, grey warthog finally understood.

�You�re not spies?�

�Never have been.� Kit smiled innocently.

�Then you shouldn�t be here.�

�Nope. Baloo really needs to get back to Cape Suzette. Can�t you get us free, Dunder? Please?�

�Well...I do have access to the keys, but it�s against Thembrian regulations to release a prisoner without filing forms 1234 dash 5 stroke 6 and 9876 dash 5 stroke 4 in triplicate. One in General Gaol�s in-box and two in the High Marshall out-box. Signed and stamped by all the proper authorities. It�ll take months, maybe even years.�

�Years?� Kit squeaked, leaning wearily against the bars. He wondered how old he would be when he finally got out. Twenty? Maybe

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