Page "Porco Rosso" Paragraph 5

Porco arrives discreetly in Milan to meet Piccolo, his mechanic.

He is surprised to find that Piccolo's sons have emigrated to find work elsewhere, and much of the engineering is done by his granddaughter Fio.

Porco is initially skeptical of Fio's abilities as a mechanic, but after seeing her dedication in the project to repair his plane he accepts her as a competent engineer, and begins to recognize her as a genius.

With no males to assist in the project, Piccolo calls up an all-female team to repair the plane.

When Porco's plane is finished, he is unexpectedly joined by Fio on his flight home, with the justification that if the secret police ( who have been discreetly observing them ) arrest the team, they can say that Porco forced them to help and took Fio as a hostage.

Porco reluctantly agrees, and the two hurriedly leave Milan.

Stopping off to refuel on the way, Porco discovers that the new Fascist government are beginning to hire seaplane pirates for their own use, thus putting him out of business.