Synopsis of The Serengeti Plane, Book One: Take Off
The Serengeti Plane, Book One: Take-Off; is the first of the Serengeti Plane trilogy.
A new aircraft dubbed “The Silver Albatross” is on its maiden flight from the Serengeti Plain, Tanzania, to London, England.
The Silver Albatross is, well, a little different. Everything about it is different: from the materials used in the aircraft’s make-up, to the way in which it was constructed and its crew that ‘man’ the metallic tube. This flight is a major breakthrough for the pilots and the Consortium that funded the new airline, not to mention the implications for the many species of animals, birds and aquatic animals around the world. The eco-friendly design of the plane was sketched and created by kangaroo engineers, and all the passengers and crew are animals of one sort or another. For the Captain and his recently hired Co-pilot, they are about to finally realise their joint dream of animals flying animals, hopeful that they can finally level the playing field with man, and in doing so increase all their chances of survival through mutual cooperation.
All of the creatures aboard this flight from the Serengeti have their own reasons for going to England: the lioness wants to find love; the tiger, cheetah and leopard are flying over for a poker tournament, and the erudite crocodile plays the villain in the new bond film (to offer a few insights). There are another eight passengers on this flight, too (a flamingo, giraffe, parrot, gazelle, chameleon, elephant, zebra and a hippo) as well as three crew members (a German Sheppard, a Bavarian hunting hound and a British bulldog) who also have their own very different motivations for making this maiden voyage through the high, wispy clouds of Africa and Europe. Each of them is fighting a battle between their natural animal instincts and their humanised character traits on board a flight with an array of conflicting pressures from both worlds (of man and beast). The definition between prey and predator is quickly blurred when the mask of humanity is worn.
The main character of this series of books is the penguin Co-pilot by the name of Patchy. He is an ex-fighter pilot ace, who took the job after a ‘physiological engagement’ that led to his decision to leave the Norwegian Air Force (which, at that time was serving as part of a U.N. mission in Iraq). Also in the cockpit is an intelligent fox, the Captain. His name is of Dickie. While the pilots and the Consortium want the airline to be a success ferrying customers to tropical destinations, free from the oppression of man, there is a mysterious prisoner at the back of the plane that threatens to derail that dream; this the revolution – with his own. There is also a stowaway in concerts with the prisoner, placed there to help implement an ambitious escape. The prisoner – and chief antagonist to the whole tri-trilogy – a General, who we discover is the leader of the newly founded A.L.F. movement which has visions grander than his colossal frame. He plans to escape and continue his warped plans against the humans. The only thing standing in his way is a plane full of animals, innocent animals, that he won’t think twice about destroying to achieve his mission. The flight is bumpier than anyone expected.
Book one ends with a chapter from the sequel – Book Two: Broken Wings.
A new aircraft dubbed “The Silver Albatross” is on its maiden flight from the Serengeti Plain, Tanzania, to London, England.
The Silver Albatross is, well, a little different. Everything about it is different: from the materials used in the aircraft’s make-up, to the way in which it was constructed and its crew that ‘man’ the metallic tube. This flight is a major breakthrough for the pilots and the Consortium that funded the new airline, not to mention the implications for the many species of animals, birds and aquatic animals around the world. The eco-friendly design of the plane was sketched and created by kangaroo engineers, and all the passengers and crew are animals of one sort or another. For the Captain and his recently hired Co-pilot, they are about to finally realise their joint dream of animals flying animals, hopeful that they can finally level the playing field with man, and in doing so increase all their chances of survival through mutual cooperation.
All of the creatures aboard this flight from the Serengeti have their own reasons for going to England: the lioness wants to find love; the tiger, cheetah and leopard are flying over for a poker tournament, and the erudite crocodile plays the villain in the new bond film (to offer a few insights). There are another eight passengers on this flight, too (a flamingo, giraffe, parrot, gazelle, chameleon, elephant, zebra and a hippo) as well as three crew members (a German Sheppard, a Bavarian hunting hound and a British bulldog) who also have their own very different motivations for making this maiden voyage through the high, wispy clouds of Africa and Europe. Each of them is fighting a battle between their natural animal instincts and their humanised character traits on board a flight with an array of conflicting pressures from both worlds (of man and beast). The definition between prey and predator is quickly blurred when the mask of humanity is worn.
The main character of this series of books is the penguin Co-pilot by the name of Patchy. He is an ex-fighter pilot ace, who took the job after a ‘physiological engagement’ that led to his decision to leave the Norwegian Air Force (which, at that time was serving as part of a U.N. mission in Iraq). Also in the cockpit is an intelligent fox, the Captain. His name is of Dickie. While the pilots and the Consortium want the airline to be a success ferrying customers to tropical destinations, free from the oppression of man, there is a mysterious prisoner at the back of the plane that threatens to derail that dream; this the revolution – with his own. There is also a stowaway in concerts with the prisoner, placed there to help implement an ambitious escape. The prisoner – and chief antagonist to the whole tri-trilogy – a General, who we discover is the leader of the newly founded A.L.F. movement which has visions grander than his colossal frame. He plans to escape and continue his warped plans against the humans. The only thing standing in his way is a plane full of animals, innocent animals, that he won’t think twice about destroying to achieve his mission. The flight is bumpier than anyone expected.
Book one ends with a chapter from the sequel – Book Two: Broken Wings.
Preface of Book One
Thursday, 10th August, 2009: somewhere on the Serengeti Plain, Tanzania; just after breakfast.
At the end of a dirt track lay a new spit-polished wooden hanger with a gleaming control tower and a small, but densely packed passenger room. Here the passenger's awaited news of their departure. The heat was both stifling and malign. Then, as suddenly as the temperature rises on a vertical thermometer enticing the mercury to the hilt, a fast-waddling penguin clutching his unsettled sombrero accompanied by a hurrying fox stumbling as he grasped his flight plans in his paw, appeared individually from the east of the terminal. They torpedoed towards the dormant aircraft that beset the view from the passenger room, where the customer's of this flight stood, waiting, queuing and sweating in the African heat. Large pools of perspiration gathered at the base of the larger species as the smaller ones panted vigorously. The flamingo wasn’t amused; the parrot was in a flap, and the giraffe was depressed - for she was the only one that could view what wasn’t happening on the runway, periodically raising her head above the parapet like a wannabe tyrant of the Greek past. Meanwhile, a vibrant coloured crocodile told an anecdote: the lioness blushed with embarrassment - the colour much like the flamingo permeated her stony face - whilst the predators snarled with bemusement. The zebra in contrast blended in with his new surroundings - the chameleon didn’t. During which, the elephant was the only passenger not needing to be reacquainted with his lost luggage. The gazelle stood at the back of the line awaiting the confines of a flying nightmare full of his natural hunters. All around the airport stood predatory human journalists ready to ambush and succor any misadventure, all eager to get a quote for their broadsheets and tabloids.
The stewards stood at the door in between the passenger's and the plane. Ten minutes before they received a call informing them that the academics of the flight where not going to make the journey due to their lecture on climate change running over in Nairobi. There, behind a dull-grey plastic paneled 'help desk', they awaited for the captain to inform them that they could begin the procedure for boarding the flight. As they waited, the terminal lights flickered; a bungling empty luggage carousel jolted; a nefarious looking, greasy, sneaky little jackal selling fake ID’s and passports was ominously probed by 'special' constables which were at the new airport for a very particular reason. The fliers-to-be were still waiting to begin their respective journeys with only the announcers’ plum Zimbabwean-English apologies to fill the motionless vacuum.
“Passengers waiting for flight 4609 bound for London, England are unfortunately delayed. We apologise for the inconvenience. Please stand by for further announcements. Thank you.” The reverberating crackling then died leaving an air of frustrated silence.
“Delay?” A malevolent and scathing voice cried out.
“The plane is outside for Christ's sake. I can see it on the runway. There's only one bloody flight out of here and this is the first! How can there be a delay?” For all the hostility and violence in the passengers voice, his angst cooled immediately like the negative of a wet photograph does as the announcement sound track was summoned into the acrimonious atmosphere. A bing bong sound ricocheted around the waiting room as the intercom awoke once more to smite the spirits of the beleaguered.
“This flight is delayed due to the absence of the luggage and cargo. Thank you.” The update was as uninformed as it was unwelcome. The succinct proclamation was on the cusp of causing a ruckus.
Moment's after the announcement, both obstacles to the aircraft's departure arrived. On a trailer slowly pulled by a beefy Rhino named Poncho, sat the luggage of all the passengers. Noteworthy perhaps, were the two muscular dove's who were assigned with the task of transporting what seemed to be a prisoner in the center of the trailer. This was the special cargo that the captain and the airline had been waiting for. The captain and the head steward met about the aircraft to conduct their final checks of the cabin and to start with the loading of the luggage. That's when they noticed a fleet and darkened mongoose leaving through the rear of the aircraft - his tail betraying his identity.
“That was a little odd.” Said the captain.
“Ja, I vould say zo. Vearing a balaclava in zhis heat. It's a bit excessive for zhis time in ze morning, ja. And it really did not go vith the sneakers he vas vearing.” But, nothing more was thought of it.
“Hey, Poncho,” the captain called out.
“Can you give me and the head steward a hoof with this suitcase. It weights a ton; someone must have packed bricks in it.” Poncho gave the heavy and stubborn piece of luggage the final push using his powerful head forcing it to careen up the ramp.
The prisoner was transferred; the doves dismissed, and the rear hatch was sealed from the inside. After the checks had been completed, the captain retired to his cockpit. The head steward meanwhile returned to the passenger waiting room and began to usher the animals aboard the flight as he checked their tickets and passports.
At the end of a dirt track lay a new spit-polished wooden hanger with a gleaming control tower and a small, but densely packed passenger room. Here the passenger's awaited news of their departure. The heat was both stifling and malign. Then, as suddenly as the temperature rises on a vertical thermometer enticing the mercury to the hilt, a fast-waddling penguin clutching his unsettled sombrero accompanied by a hurrying fox stumbling as he grasped his flight plans in his paw, appeared individually from the east of the terminal. They torpedoed towards the dormant aircraft that beset the view from the passenger room, where the customer's of this flight stood, waiting, queuing and sweating in the African heat. Large pools of perspiration gathered at the base of the larger species as the smaller ones panted vigorously. The flamingo wasn’t amused; the parrot was in a flap, and the giraffe was depressed - for she was the only one that could view what wasn’t happening on the runway, periodically raising her head above the parapet like a wannabe tyrant of the Greek past. Meanwhile, a vibrant coloured crocodile told an anecdote: the lioness blushed with embarrassment - the colour much like the flamingo permeated her stony face - whilst the predators snarled with bemusement. The zebra in contrast blended in with his new surroundings - the chameleon didn’t. During which, the elephant was the only passenger not needing to be reacquainted with his lost luggage. The gazelle stood at the back of the line awaiting the confines of a flying nightmare full of his natural hunters. All around the airport stood predatory human journalists ready to ambush and succor any misadventure, all eager to get a quote for their broadsheets and tabloids.
The stewards stood at the door in between the passenger's and the plane. Ten minutes before they received a call informing them that the academics of the flight where not going to make the journey due to their lecture on climate change running over in Nairobi. There, behind a dull-grey plastic paneled 'help desk', they awaited for the captain to inform them that they could begin the procedure for boarding the flight. As they waited, the terminal lights flickered; a bungling empty luggage carousel jolted; a nefarious looking, greasy, sneaky little jackal selling fake ID’s and passports was ominously probed by 'special' constables which were at the new airport for a very particular reason. The fliers-to-be were still waiting to begin their respective journeys with only the announcers’ plum Zimbabwean-English apologies to fill the motionless vacuum.
“Passengers waiting for flight 4609 bound for London, England are unfortunately delayed. We apologise for the inconvenience. Please stand by for further announcements. Thank you.” The reverberating crackling then died leaving an air of frustrated silence.
“Delay?” A malevolent and scathing voice cried out.
“The plane is outside for Christ's sake. I can see it on the runway. There's only one bloody flight out of here and this is the first! How can there be a delay?” For all the hostility and violence in the passengers voice, his angst cooled immediately like the negative of a wet photograph does as the announcement sound track was summoned into the acrimonious atmosphere. A bing bong sound ricocheted around the waiting room as the intercom awoke once more to smite the spirits of the beleaguered.
“This flight is delayed due to the absence of the luggage and cargo. Thank you.” The update was as uninformed as it was unwelcome. The succinct proclamation was on the cusp of causing a ruckus.
Moment's after the announcement, both obstacles to the aircraft's departure arrived. On a trailer slowly pulled by a beefy Rhino named Poncho, sat the luggage of all the passengers. Noteworthy perhaps, were the two muscular dove's who were assigned with the task of transporting what seemed to be a prisoner in the center of the trailer. This was the special cargo that the captain and the airline had been waiting for. The captain and the head steward met about the aircraft to conduct their final checks of the cabin and to start with the loading of the luggage. That's when they noticed a fleet and darkened mongoose leaving through the rear of the aircraft - his tail betraying his identity.
“That was a little odd.” Said the captain.
“Ja, I vould say zo. Vearing a balaclava in zhis heat. It's a bit excessive for zhis time in ze morning, ja. And it really did not go vith the sneakers he vas vearing.” But, nothing more was thought of it.
“Hey, Poncho,” the captain called out.
“Can you give me and the head steward a hoof with this suitcase. It weights a ton; someone must have packed bricks in it.” Poncho gave the heavy and stubborn piece of luggage the final push using his powerful head forcing it to careen up the ramp.
The prisoner was transferred; the doves dismissed, and the rear hatch was sealed from the inside. After the checks had been completed, the captain retired to his cockpit. The head steward meanwhile returned to the passenger waiting room and began to usher the animals aboard the flight as he checked their tickets and passports.
