Forward:
Dear Readers,
For those that are familiar with The Galaxy Rangers, or GR for short, I want to warn you now at the start of the second part of this tale that I'm going to take some liberties with the GR, universe. Most are planed to be very small.
However, the most obvious is the timeframe, aka 2186.
In the opening of GR they mention a year specify: the year 2086. That's the year that Waldo and Zozo (we "assume" it's Waldo and Zozo anyway) arrive on Earth and ask for "our help." To make this story work, it takes place one hundred years later, as 2086 is a little close to our or more to the point Kim and Ron's time.
Otherwise, I'm going to do my best to stay as close the GR universe as I can or as close as I can remember it.
Now, on with the show.
-xx-
Timestamp: 10:30am June 25, 2186
Location: BETA Mountain Complex, Arizona.
The warm morning sun was gently breaking over the canyon's narrow ridge, casting a subtle warm glow around the lake causing it to take on hues of every color of the rainbow. High overhead a flock of Canadian Geese birds flew by in a perfect V formation giving a sense of order to the day while below a group of blackbirds were diving in and out of the lake taking their share of hovering mosquitoes near the warm shoreline. They seemed to form a kind of odd off center ballet as they gorged themselves on their breakfast. A second flock, this one of grey seagulls crossed the ridgeline and immediately dove towards the bottom. One would have sworn that suicide was their order of the day but just before they hit bottom they pulled out their dive and glided out over the river that helped to create the canyon. Gliding over the glassy surface that hid powerfully flowing water below, the seagulls turned southward toward the dam that partly blocked the slowly rambling river and formed the small lake. As they cross the dam's lip they caught an updraft and soared upward, circling higher and higher until they reached the canyon's lip where they flew off continuing their southward journey looking for their morning meal. As they went along their way, a yellow school bus started across the dam on the roadway that ran along its top.
All this was observed by a lone solitary figure standing where the roadway came together with a massive man-made structure built into the canyon wall that was partly hidden by shadows cast from the still rising morning sun.
The figure stood motionless and watched the bus edge closer to its destination. Just as the bus got within a few yards, the sun rose a little bit higher and the bright morning light began to reflect off the highly polished white metal skin that make up the android's body.
The bus stopped and settled down to the ground as its anti-gravity units were deactivated. There was a pause as if the bus was a living breathing entity checking to see if everything was alright before the door opened and a group of students got out followed by a pair teachers.
The android watched silently as the teachers, a male and female appeared. They seemed to be some thirty plus odd years old followed by an assortment of organized students. The android accessed his databanks and classified the two humanoids as Altearin. Most humans would not have known that fact by just going by their brunette colored hair. It was their skin, which had a faintly orange cast to it, that really revealed that the pair was most likely not native to Earth.
Most Altearins when visiting, working, or living on a Earth colony used a cream that darkened their skin somewhat that gave them the appearance of Earth Human's that had spent long hours in the sun giving them what used to be called on Earth a "deep tan." They also tended to wear their luxuriantly thick hair in such a way that it piled up a bit at the back of their heads before it fell cascading down their backs like a waterfall. The reasons for this was the Altearin Planetary Council believed it a friendly gesture to help humans become more used to humanoids from other planets when earth humans first started truly traveling among the stars and starting their own colonies over 70 years ago and thought they might need an identifier of sorts to help out. But what gave this pair away more than their skin tone was the pair of delicate looking antennae that rose above their hair; the reason for the uplifted hair style most Altearins wore was to cover those appendages almost completely.
Once the students where reorganized, the teachers tuned to face the android.
"You are from the Navajo city school district?" the android asked. When the Altearins replied yes the android nodded its head andaccessed it schedule.
"Then you must be Ms. Flyton and Mr. Jumpson?" the android spoke, the tone in its voice giving the illusion that it was asking a question rather then confirming what was on its appointment schedule. When the Altearin pair again replied yes, the Android took a step closer and stuck out its right hand as it told them "Pleased to meet you. I'm Arthur, and I'll be your tour guide today. Welcome to Beta Mountain's Museum and Information Center."
Arthur paused for moment as he scanned the children, most were human or humanoid with two Kiwis and an Andorian. Quickly he copied their images into his databank and stored them for later download into the Visitor's Log book then again faced the teachers.
"If you will follow me, we can get started."
-xx-
The tour appeared to be a success to Arthur, based on the response he had gotten from the humans and humanoids. The two Kirwin appeared to be enjoying themselves, but it was not so easy to tell sometimes with Kirwin since as a species they were good natured and light hearted as a rule. The Andorian remained quiet during the tour, answering questions when asked.
As the group moved into the last area of the tour, they walked past a plaque on the door frame with "Team Possible Foundation" on it. Arthur paused inside the lobby then asked the group at large "What can anyone tell me about Kimberly Possible or Ronald Stoppable?"
As was the common response for the off-worlders when asked that question, both the Kiwis and the Andorian were quiet. While the Kiwis had a blank look, the Andorian just smiled. Also most of the human and humanoid children shared the Kirwin's blank look. However there were two exceptions in the back of the group as a boy and girl raised their hands.
Both children were blond and were close enough in appearance that Arthur predicted there was a 95 percent chance that they were related, most likely brother and sister.
"Yes, Jessica?" Ms. Flyton said as she noticed the girl's up raised hand.
"They were members of the Team Possible Foundation," the girl answered as both she and the boy beside lowered their hands. Arthur ran her voice through his programming using her voice pitch and tone and estimated that she was approximately Thirteen years old.
"Can you tell us anything else?" Mr. Jumpson asked.
The girl, Jessica, shook her head and looked at the blond boy standing beside her. The look didn't go unnoticed by the teachers.
"What about you Zach, what can you add to your sister's input?" asked Ms. Flyton.
"Well," Zach said as he gave his sister a look that should have shot a hole through her, "I know that the Team Possible Foundation was incorporated into Beta over 70 years ago."
When Zach didn't go any further, Arthur spoke up.
"Both answers are correct Mr. Zach and Ms. Jessica. Kimberly Possible and Ronald Stoppable were founding members of the Team Possible Foundation and the main reason that it was created. Their Foundation was incorporated into the Bureau of Extra-Terrestrial Affairs or BETA when it was created for special reasons. However there was much more to them than that but that would be spoiling the tour if I divulged that answer right now.
If you will follow me, I'll tell you about two remarkable humans."
And with that, Arthur led them onward into a large room.
On the walls hung pictures and awards along with a number of monitor screens that were displaying images that appeared to feature a woman with red hair and bright green eyes.
There were display cases that held mementoes like a framed picture of what looked like a younger version of the red haired woman and a man that appeared to be at a dance with multi-colored lights or a picture of a group of young women, the young red haired woman again quite clearly could be seen, wearing clothes that left their legs and arms bare surrounding someone that appeared to be wearing an overly large fake dog's head. Others held some odd things; one of which appeared to be a very large gun with a three tiered hook in the barrel. Another held a small container of some kind labeled "Kissy Girl" along with what looked like a small gold and brown tube of some kind. Another held what looked like a very old stuffed animal that appeared to be some kind of cross between a Panda and a Kangaroo that had been repaired at least once judging by the scar on the left side of its chest where a heart might have been.
There was also a large glass enclosure that held two sets of clothes dressed on a pair of male and female mannequins. The female had on a purple form-fitting top with short sleeves that ended between the shoulder and the elbow. The top was tucked into a pair of black slacks that were snug around the waist and hips but flared outward down each leg. The pants legs also had purple piping that ran down the outside of the pants leg that was a prefect match to the color of the top. And on her feet were a pair of gray shoes that somehow appeared to be soft and supportive at the same time. Around the waist was a belt and hanging on her right hip was a pouch and on her hands were gloves, all a matching grey.
The male was dress in a black loose fitting top with long sleeves that ended between his wrists and elbows along with a pair of light gray baggy pants with a large pocket on the left leg about were his knees would be. On his feet were a pair shoes that were a darker gray that matched the pair of gloves that were on his hands. Around his waist was a titanium belt that had a number of tan pouches surrounding it.
But what drew everyone's attention was in the center of the room were a pair of hologram projectors were displaying images of man and a woman wearing the clothes from the display case that appeared to be running in slow motion. After a few moments the image changed to show the same couple but wearing different clothes, this time the woman had on what looked like blue pants with a yellow top and the man had on a red shirt over the black one, then after a few more moments the clothes and the images returned to the first ones shown.
"This," Arthur said gesturing at the hologram, "is Kim and Ron Stoppable. Known around the world in their time as Team Possible." Walking up to stand beside the hologram he continued.
"Kimberly Ann Possible was born October 20th, 1985. Ronald Dean Stoppable was born the day before, October 19th 1985. They met their first day of what was once called Pre-K, or Pre-Kindergarten, when they were four years old and became fast friends. At the age of 13, Kim started what was called at the time a web page in the hopes of finding odd jobs on what was called the internet, what is now known as the Interplanetary Information Network.
One of the first jobs that came from that was a request for help from someone that was trapped inside their own home by a security system."
"It was two men that were trapped and their names where Paisley and McHenry. They were trapped by a laser grid of McHenry's design when Paisley turned it on early." Came a voice from hidden speakers around the room when, without warning, another hologram appeared beside Arthur.
The new hologram was that of a young man with dark skin and short curly hair. He appeared to be somewhere in his early to mid 20's and stood about six feet tall. He wore blue pants of a dark tint and a lighter blue short sleeved shirt with a pair of dark shoes.
"I've heard you tell that story for years Arthur," the new hologram said, "and I've corrected you time and time again and you still get it wrong."
Arthur didn't appear upset at the interruption; it even appeared that he was waiting for it like a well rehearsed routine.
"Let me introduce you to the AI that ran the Team Possible Foundation's computer systems: Wade-A." Arthur said to the group and Wade-A gave the group a bow.
"Wade-A is the longest running known AI on Earth. He worked with Kim and Ron and can answer almost any question about them." Arthur said then noticed a hand raised at the back of the group, the girl that had been identified as Jessica.
"Yes miss?" he asked.
"If you don't mind, but just how old are you Wade-A?" she asked.
Wade-A looked at her and smiled. "My base program was activated Ms. Jessica in June of 1997. That makes me 188 years old. I'll be 189 in Two days."
Wade-A's systems could easily detect the faint blush that Jessica gave at being singled out. As he watched the young lady start to overcome her blush, he saw the young man standing beside raise his hand. It was pretty clear to him that they were related, the blond hair and blue eyes not withstanding, but their faces clearly marked them as brother and sister. A quick access to the internet, he still had problems calling it the Interplanetary Information Network, and he found what he was looking for.
"Yes Zachary, you have a question?"
The boy looked startled for a few seconds then asked "You and Arthur keep saying their names are Kim and Ron Stoppable and they created the Team Possible Foundation… it seems strange to me. Why would someone name something after themselves then call it something different?"
"Kimberly Ann Possible married her life long best friend and then boyfriend Ronald Dean Stoppable in 2009. She took her husband's name, Stoppable, in everything but the Foundation's work where she continued to use the name Possible. Which means Zachary, that both Kim Stoppable or Kim Possible is correct." Wade-A said.
Wade-A could see the boy still looked a little confused, but it was clear that Zach and the rest of the kids had the idea. Wade-A knew that in most things Kim had been what was then called a "modern woman," but had been a bit old fashion when it came to most things associated with her marriage to Ron. He could even replay the talk she and Ron had in the old Bunker a few days before the wedding when, after a workout, he had suggested that she either hyphen her last name or not take his at all. "I don't care Kim" he had told her, "all I care about is being with you… to me you'll always be KP." Kim had given Ron a very nice and quite passionate kiss then told him that she was proud to be married to him and would let the world know it… hence the Kimberly Ann Stoppable. But she also knew the world would forever call her Kim Possible, so when it came to the Foundation or with missions she would keep going by Possible… but for everything else she was a Stoppable.
"It was a human custom that has fallen somewhat out of favor Zachery" Ms. Flyton said. "On my home planet, the custom is for the male to take the female's name when male and female marry. On many worlds, no one changes names. Like most customs, it comes down to how a individual was raised based on the society at large."
The tour went on as the group moved about the area looking at the different exhibits and Arthur answering questions about the history of both Kim and Ron, along with the foundation. Wade-A filling in the details when he thought Arthur got them wrong or if someone asked him a question. Towards the end Wade-A noticed both Zachary and Jessica standing by one of the display cases. He could tell they were discussing the object in the case.
"But Jess," Zachary told his sister, "It has to be some kind of CDU, just like Ranger Hartford has."
"Can't be Zach," Jessica answered, "the CDU that Ranger Hartford has is one of a kind. Besides, by the looks of it, this was made a long time ago."
"Your right Ms Foxx" Wade-A said as he moved to stand by the pair. "That's a Kimmunicator. Or more to the point, it's a Kimmunicator Mark 2. It was designed and built by Wade Agamemnon Load for Kim." Wade-A could see the look on the teens faces and then added "Yes, he programmed me and I'm named after him."
Before either teen could say anything, another student asked Arthur a question.
"A number of these plaques mention a place called Middleton Colorado, but I've never heard of a Middleton Colorado… what happened to it."
At those words, Wade-A's face, which had been quite animated, became an emotionless mask and without a word he turned and walked over to the holograms of Kim and Ron and stared into their faces.
"Middleton Colorado," Arthur said, "was part of a Tri-City area that was made up of three cities named Lowerton, Upperton, and Middleton. All three cites were combined into one and renamed Freedom."
The reaction was instantaneous as all the kids pulled in a collected breath at the reminder of one of the worst disasters in human history.
Everyone on the tour knew that the Freedom Colorado Space Center had been destroyed in an explosion from a test of an experimental drive that was to combine the technologies of the Andorian Hyperdrive and the Earth's Kepler Drive systems in 2110. Of the thousands working at the center, only 50 locked inside the centers reinforced bunker survived the blast to only to die within two years due to radiation poisoning.
Freedom, which was only 15 miles from the space center, was exposed to the radiation fallout of the explosion. Millions died in Freedom and the surrounding area and those few that survived were relocated and most of them died within a year. A 250 mile area centered on the space center was sealed inside a number of pre-fabricated domes that were air lifted and placed over certain area hotspots which included parts of New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah, and South Dakota to contain the more concentrated radiation while teams from a number of worlds work to counteract it. Right now it would still be decades until it was safe to unseal the domes and start to rebuild. Until then Freedom was a city that never changed locked in a poisonous time capsule: a reminder of the dangers that came from Mankind taking its place among the stars.
Arthur looked at Wade-A looking at the holograms of Kim and Ron Stoppable, the look on the AI's holographic face clearly showed hurt and lost. Turning back to the gathered students and their teachers he said in a low voice, "Wade-A knew people that worked at the Space Center and that lived in Freedom."
Everyone remained silent.
Finally Arthur spoke up saying "Well, I believe that concludes the tour," while moving toward the entrance. Standing beside it he added "If everyone will come this way please, I'll escort you back to your bus."
As everyone was leaving, Wade-A finally looked away from the hologram of his very old, very dear friends and moved to stand beside Arthur.
"Thanks Arthur… even after all this time, that's still a touchy subject for me. I knew so many people from there… worked with many more. And Middleton is my home town."
Arthur nodded as his programming said he should… programming that made him alive in a way. But his programming was nothing compared to his friend. Arthur could recall the day he was activated over 20 years ago. 20 years to grow and become more then what he was. But Wade-A had been running and learning and doing for almost 190 years and was, based on all the evidence, truly sentient.
"You're welcome."
Wade-A nodded and Arthur started to leave after the tour, but Wade-A stopped him with a question.
"Arthur, what's the date and time, please and thank you?"
Arthur turned to face the hologram. Wade-A asked this question on the average every two or three times a tour was brought through. He knew that although Wade-A systems had be upgraded time and time again, the AI seemed to be worried that his internal clock was losing time.
"It is 12:00pm. 12:00pm June 25, 2186."
"Thanks Arthur."
"As your old friend used to say, it is "No Big"" Arthur said then left the room.
Watching the android leave, Wade-A checked with his internal clock and confirmed that his systems were right. As this date had gotten closer and closer, he had developed a very un-computer like fear of his systems not working right.
Walking back to were the holograms of Kim and Ron were, he accessed the hologram systems in the museum and replaced the image of the younger Kim and Ron with one from his personal files. The image changed to now show a Kim with her hair not just past her shoulders but down past her waist and wearing a pair of glasses and Ron was as always by her side, his blond hair hanging just below his ears, his own glasses resting on his nose. Superimposed over the image was a clock that was counting down from 120.
When the clock reached 090, Wade-A accessed the Beta Mountain network then called out to the room.
"Gillian, can you hear me?"
"I'm here my love" answered a woman's voice with a heavy Australian accent as another hologram appeared beside him: a hologram of a woman in her early to mid 20's. Her alabaster skin only highlighted her long blue hair that fell to her waist. She had on a white jumpsuit with dark blue highlights on her shoulders and around her neck with the legs tucked into thigh high boots with 4 inch heels that matched the dark blue highlights.
"It's almost time" he said as he placed an arm around her.
"I know Woodrow. I've been watching too."
As the countdown reached 060, he asked "Are you ready?"
A blank look crossed her face for a second, then she smiled at him.
"I've opened the network. You have complete access."
"Thank you my love," he said as he took her in his arms and kissed her. She kissed him back as she wrapped her arms around him. When the clock reached 045 they broke apart and held hands for a moment.
"Just a little longer Woodrow" she told him, her love for him clearly showing in her eyes, "and we won't have to hid anymore."
He nodded and gave her a quick peck on the check before she disappeared. When she was gone, he turned all his attention to the clock and watched it countdown.
010…
009…
008…
Suddenly, locked off sections of his memory became active. Quickly he accessed them.
007…
006…
A subroutine started as he accessed the museum's power systems. In the display case next to the holograms of Kim and Ron, the Kimmunicator's screen flashed.
005…
004…
On the Kimmunicator's screen, the words "powering up" appeared while screens in the display room that had been showing different pictures of all the members of Team Possible and the Team Possible Foundation changed to show just three words:
"PLEASE STAND BY"
003…
002…
001…
Every screen went blank.
"It's time," Wade-A said then every screen in the room changed, including the screen on the Kimmunicator. On them now were two letters in dark and lighter shades of green, one just a little higher then the other, around the letters was band of green in a elliptical shape. The letters started to spin slowly one way with the circle around them spinning the other.
Wade-A watched it all in silence while he counted. When he reached 10 the two letters, KP, were joined by a third. Slowly he turned in place, looking at every screen… every screen displaying the three letters that had meant so much to his friends and, at one time, the world.
TPF
He smiled as suddenly the Kimmunicator started beeping, making a faint sound that he had not heard in over 100 years.
Beep…Beep…de…Beep.
His smile only got wider as the little device did it again, then again and again and again.
Slowly the sound played at first, as if the little device was trying to remember how the four tone beep was supposed to sound. It kept repeating the sound over and over, growing stronger and stronger each time it was repeated until it sounded the way Wade-A knew it should.
He turned to the hologram of Ron and Kim and waved his hand, instantly they disappeared and were replaced with a slightly different Kim and Ron.
Wade-A, Woodrow to his friends of old and his family, snapped his fingers and the frozen images of his friends came to life.
Kim raised her right arm up until what looked like a large watch was just below her shoulders and over her heart. Ron leaned in close and placed his arm around her as she touched the face of the device on her wrist with her left hand and said:
"What's the Sitch Wade?"
"We've had a hit on the site Kim. It would appear the world needs your help… again." Woodrow said as he looked at the image before him, tears starting to run down his checks.
"It's no big Wade," Kim said as she looked at Ron standing beside her. Even in this from, the love she had for him could be seen in her eyes.
"Rufus, buddy, we're up" Ron said as the team mascot and partner appeared on his shoulder and said "yep."
"Ride Wade?" Kim asked as she turned to face Wade-A and then the images froze.
"I'm working on it Kim," Woodrow said as he wiped at the tears on his checks. Then he turned from the holograms and took a deep breath.
"Time to get this party started," he said as he circled his hands above his head for a moment then brought them down in a gesture like a wizard would if he was throwing something.
Suddenly every speaker in the whole building started making the same sound as the Kimmunicator, a sound that had been known around the world.
And with that every screen in the building, every computer station, every monitor changed to display the same three letters that the screens around him were flashing in time to the 4 tone beep:
T P F
"I'm sorry Arthur, but I need you" Wade-A said as he closed his eyes and his face took on the look of someone concentrating with all his might.
-xx-
Arthur watched as the last of the students climbed back on the bus and the driver reactivated the antigravity units. The last two kids, the twin brother and sister, had just thanked him when suddenly he felt himself disconnect from his body.
Zachary Foxx Jr, Zach to his family and friends, along with his sister Jessica, or Jess to her father, watched as the android suddenly froze in place during mid motion. They gave each other a look and turned to their teachers, but just as they started to say something the android made an odd sound.
"Beep Beep De Beep."
"Arthur, is something wrong?" Jessica asked.
"Beep Beep De Beep."
"Ms. Flyton, Mr. Jumpson, something is wrong with Arthur," Zach said.
As the teachers stepped out of the bus, the android repeated the 4 tone beep again.
"Beep Beep De Beep."
Then without warning the android added something else.
"Code Red, repeat this is a Code Red. Beep Beep De Beep… Code Red, repeat this is a Code Red."
Zach and Jess looked from each other to their teachers and back to each other again as the android kept repeating the 4 tone beep and the code red message.
"I've got a bad feeling about this," muttered Zach under his breath as the students gathered around him and his sister along with the adults.
Souladar Flyton looked at her fellow teacher and mate Valtours Jumpson and gave him an odd nod of her head. Valtours returned the nod and held out his right hand to her with the second and ring fingers bent inside touching his palm. She took his hand in hers, duplicating the way he held his hand. As they touched, they hooked their bent in fingers together in such a way that activated the mating bond they shared that allowed the form of telepathy that most bonded Altearins shared.
"Beep Beep De Beep... Code Red, repeat this is a Code Red. Beep Beep De Beep… Code Red, repeat this is a Code Red," repeated the android again before it turned around and started back toward the building.
Souladar and Valtours broke contact. Quickly they took a step away from each other and then Valtours turned back to the bus to insure the kids were ok. Souladar, meanwhile, slipped her shoes off and started running barefoot towards not the museum but the main building entrance some hundred yards in the other direction.
-xx-
Wade-A watched as Arthur reentered the museum then stopped at the display case that held the Kimmunicator. At his command the case opened and he looked on as Arthur reached out and picked up the device.
"I'm sorry Arthur," Wade-A told the android, "but I have to do this. Please forgive me."
The android made no response as it stood there holding the Kimmunicator waiting for something. Wade-A nodded then told it, "You have a job to do, best get started so I can free you," and then the android turned and walked out.
Watching it leave, Wade-A's face took on a sad expression for what he had done to his friend, but he knew it had to be done…
Silently he brought up the connections that Gillian had given him access to and brought up the schematics for BETA Mountain, paying close attention to the network and how it interconnected with the Mountain's entire computer system. He gave special attention to the information on Special Projects and all the information he could find on Wolf Den and the Series Five Ranger Implant.
'No turning back now,' he thought as for the first time in over 100 he did what he was created to do: gather information and provide support for Team Possible. Opening more connections, he started to use those to hack his way into others, and from there into even more systems.
-xx-
Souladar entered the building at a full run and almost crashed into the information and reception desk just 50 feet inside the main door. The earth human that had been manning the desk quickly stood up and started towards her.
"I'm Souladar Flyton," she told the man, "and I'm a teacher with Navajo city school district. We just completed a tour of the Team Possible Museum when the android that had been conducting the tour started to act strangely."
Before the man could ask her anything, every screen in the lobby went blank then started flashing the Team Possible Foundation logo while all the speakers started repeating the same message over and over again.
"Beep Beep De Beep. Code Red, repeat this is a Code Red. Beep Beep De Beep… Code Red, repeat this is a Code Red"
To be continued…