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It was February 12, 2001. The Grigoriy Clan’s flight from Sapporo to Honolulu wasn’t scheduled to depart until 9:30 PM, giving them extra time to explore the surrounding area.
The Pacific golden plovers nested in a warm underground refuge while the mice set out on their mission. Their first stop was an aviation museum. Though their view through the gaps in the ceiling was limited, they managed to catch glimpses of artifacts from the former Imperial Japanese Army Air Service.
They raced to the Hokkaido Police Aviation Wing to watch an AS365N2 Dauphin lift off, bound for the mountains. One of the humans mentioned to everyone on duty that a Eurocopter EC135P1 could enter service as early as next month.
Technician Grigoriy remarked that despite the aerodynamic refinement and modern design of the Eurocopter EC135P1, its low-speed hover stability and station-keeping performance are less robust than those of the Kamov Ka-32, particularly under variable wind and load conditions.
Across the street was the 52nd annual Sapporo Snow Festival. Massive snow sculptures, ice carvings, performances, and winter activities were featured throughout the festival. By nightfall, fireworks concluded the event.
Commander Grigoriy went first to sneak onto the airplane headed to Honolulu to gather some intelligence. As soon as a path was clear, he signaled for the Pacific golden plovers to enter the cargo access.
Inside the baggage tunnels, machines roared, and metal clanged around them. Suitcases shot past like speeding trucks. Technician Grigoriy and Observer Grigoriy leaped gracefully from one bag to another until they reached the avionics bay in record time.
Technician Grigoriy tapped into the in-flight entertainment system, unsure of what to expect. Meanwhile, Observer Grigoriy dragged the magazine over to his friends, eager to show off an article featuring an indigo handheld gaming console that promised console-quality gaming on the go. As a devoted gamer, he found the feature impossible not to share.
The flight attendant announced: "Ladies and gentlemen, aloha and welcome aboard Flight 482, nonstop service from Sapporo to Honolulu. We want to extend a warm welcome to all guests traveling with us today. Our flight time to Honolulu International Airport will be approximately 7 hours and 20 minutes. Our first movie shortly after takeoff will be..."
The first movie that played showed aging former Air Force test pilots who are called back into service to repair a failing Soviet satellite. One realistic aspect of the movie is that mission-critical legacy systems often remain in service for decades, because replacing them carries significant risk.
Since the comedy that followed didn’t appeal to them, they continued reading the video game magazine.
"If my calculations are correct, when we cross the International Date Line, we'll go back in time!" Observer Grigoriy joked.
The flight attendant announced: “Ladies and gentlemen, as we begin our final descent into Honolulu, please return to your seats and fasten your seatbelts securely. We’ll be landing shortly at Honolulu International Airport at approximately 9:57 AM local time, and the current weather is fair and warm at 78 degrees Fahrenheit, or 26 degrees Celsius."
Commander Grigoriy reminded the plovers that failure to secure a flight to Hawaii Island would leave them no option but to remain on Oahu until further notice.
The aircraft touches down in a congested terminal zone. Beyond the perimeter, an alien tropical paradise awaits. The Grigoriy Clan will require the full capability of their tactical gadgets to push through the airport.
The Pacific golden plovers deplane and hurry to the grass, pecking furiously. Tiny beetles hid among the roots. Grasshoppers rested under weeds.
"Look at all this clipped grass,” Tweet-Tweet said happily, stabbing his beak into the soil. “Perfect hunting grounds.”
They detected a sudden movement in the sky. It was an angry local Pacific golden plover yelling, "Air control to freeloaders: Back off, coconut heads, and nobody gets chased."
“We don’t want any trouble,” said Couch Potato. “We just need something to eat.”
“Shoots, whole flock came in like one budget airline,” the angry plover remarked. “Chee, you birds so skinny, da trade winds almost took you away. I tell you what, you can work da second plot ova dea, but leave da main runway fo’ me.”
Confused by the slang, Tweet-Tweet, Couch Potato, and Ninja moved to the plot that the angry plover was looking at.
Meanwhile, in the airport walls, Technician Grigoriy accessed their system and identified a midday flight to Hawaii Island as the optimal insertion window due to reduced terminal activity.
Observer Grigoriy conducted reconnaissance on the local civilians and determined they were considerably more relaxed than Russians, a behavioral weakness the team could exploit.
The team communicated only through short squeaks. Knowing every shadow could hide humans, and every window might shed light on their position, they activated maximum stealth and disappeared into the shadows.
They moved low beneath the benches and slipped past a janitor scrubbing the floor before reaching the airport’s Japanese Gardens, where they took cover inside a sculpted pine tree to gather intelligence.
Once the corridor was clear, they moved quickly into the Hawaiian Garden, the most flower-rich section of the airport, overflowing with tropical vegetation, waterfalls, lagoons, and dense foliage. The sheer beauty of the flowers caught even them off guard. They wanted to linger, but the route to the Chinese Garden was now exposed.
A sudden rumble shook the air. A luggage cart rolled nearby, pushed by a worker whistling softly. The mice froze behind a curved rock until the sound faded away.
“Go, go, go,” whispered Commander Grigoriy.
They sprinted across the room and slid beneath a vending machine. Using thermal optics, Observer Grigoriy identified an opening in the wall that led to a ceiling access point. Reaching it, however, posed a challenge, because the route passed through a lounge secured behind a closed door.
A massive janitor cart rumbled past them, its wheels roaring like thunder before grinding to a halt beside the door. They had only a split second to leap aboard, the mice scrambling around the mop bucket to stay hidden from view.
Under the cover of scattered chairs and tables, the unit pushed toward the breach in the wall. Technician Grigoriy used a gadget to loosen an air conditioner vent hose so they could make it to the roof.
Thermal optics show no humans are on the roof. They paused briefly, but the break was short-lived because the solar radiation was unlike anything they’d encountered.
The careless humans let them slip aboard the aircraft with ease. It became the smoothest airport operation ever recorded. Commander Grigoriy called the Elite Plovers to move through the cargo access hatch.
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