And now comes the crucial moment of fate. This is pure action here. And yet it won't quite be what you think it is...
A Crucible of Destiny
The wolf snarled louder, its teeth flashing as it neared its intended prey. Whipping his Mag-lite around, Larry saw the other two also slowly creeping towards him from different angles of attack. He tried to shout and wave the big flashlight around, lunging at the wolves whenever he could. They were wary, but not enough to overcome the hunger they felt. Larry lunged at the closest one again as it came within striking distance and it quickly backed out of the way, snapping its jaws at him. It could sense the heavy object should not be ignored lightly, but it also knew that his prey was too vulnerable, and would soon fall.
Larry heard the wolf behind him growl even closer and turned his attention to him, swinging the Mag-Lite around again in a frantic sweep, making the animal jump back out of the way, but it left him open and vulnerable. The first wolf crouched down and leaped through the air for Larry's unprotected back, its jaws opening to envelope his neck and snap it as soon as it hit.
It never heard the crack in the air as the rifle round smacked it square center on its body, literally knocking it off to the side where it yelped once and lay still. Surprised by the new arrivals, the other two wolves quickly lowered their ears, looking around, trying to spot the new danger. Another crack sounded through the howling wind, and a second wolf lurched and dropped yowling before it too went silent in the snow. The third predator had had enough. It quickly loped off in into the blinding blizzard and was lost in the blur.
Stunned, Larry looked up in the direction of the sound. At first, he heard nothing, saw nothing. He looked around, trying to see if maybe he had mistaken the direction from which his sudden salvation had come. Gradually, he saw a shape slowly materialize. Straining to see through the flying snow, he made out an old man dressed in a black jacket carrying a rifle.
Relieved, Larry slumped down to the ground as the man came up to him.
"Thank God!", he yelled through the wind, "Thank you, Pete! Thank you! You're a life saver! Literally!"
The grizzled old man looked down on him, a frown on his face. Even in this weather he disdained the use of goggles.
"Are you nuts, boy!", he growled, "What in tarnation are you doing out in this weather? Are you trying to get yourself killed?"
Larry laughed sardonically, although it came out more as croaking.
"Same old Pete Sandidge!", he cried, "You never give anybody a break, do you?"
"Not if they don't deserve it!", the old man retorted, "I always thought you were a little on the weird side, boy, especially after knowing your uncle! You sure seem to take after him!"
Larry just nodded and smiled back, his lips cracking, "Yeah, I know, old man, I know. But it isn't my fault this time!"
"How do you figure that?"
"Emergency. The weight of the snow collapsed my shack this morning, and this girl crashed through my door night before last. I've got to get her home to her mother."
"I would have thought you needed get back your own wife and kid!"
Larry nodded solemnly then, the smile gone, "That too, Pete, that too. I've been away too long."
"About time!", grumbled the old man, as he reached down and started to help Larry up.
As he did, Larry groaned heavily. Pete looked closely at him, then looked down, noting the ice buildup on his boots. A concerned look on his face, he looked back up at the taller man.
"How long you been out here?"
"Too long.', groaned Larry, enduring the pain.
"Frostbite?"
Larry nodded, "Yeah, I think so."
Pete Sandidge frowned in disapproval again, "Now why'd you go and do a durned fool thing like that for?"
Larry sighed and looked at him, "Couldn't be helped. She couldn't make it all the way from my place to yours. I've been carrying her for about a mile now."
The old man bent down and looked at Jill's face, upturned in the snow as the flakes accumulated on her eyebrows.
"Pretty little thing."
""Yeah, looks like her mother."
"You know her?"
"She's a doctor." he said between gasping breaths, "She's treating... ...treating Melissa."
"Well, I guess you didn't have a choice then, did you?"
"Not really. You see why. It's because I... ...I owe her mother."
"I guess you do."
Larry shook his head to clear the cobwebs out as he reached down and slowly picked Jill's unconscious form back up. Sandidge assisted as best he could until Larry got her back into the fireman's carry position. Then he started to walk again, his face grimacing with every step. The old man stayed by his side.
Pete Sandidge shook his head as he watched, "We have to get a look at your feet as soon as we're inside."
"We make sure Jill's okay first,", said Larry.
"Sure thing.", replied Sandidge, "But I'm more worried about your feet."
"I know.", the younger man said, "I haven't felt them at all... ...for two hours now."
Slowly, they trudged down the small valley and started back up the slope that led to the farm house, so inviting with every step he took. He was able to ignore the pain better, now that he knew he had made it. He had saved Jill.
"I'll go open the front door.", the old man said, and he hurried along and rounded the side of the house to the front.
"Sure.", Larry whispered as he kept going. He finally hit a pathway where Sandidge had cleared the snow away from the side of the house, making it easier to walk.
He turned the corner of the house and went to the left to where the front door was. He looked up just as he heard a clicking sound next to his ear. He stopped suddenly, finding himself staring at a red suited paramilitary type in a white snow parka, the muzzle of his rifle aimed at the center of his forehead. He looked behind the man and saw Sandidge spreadeagled up against the side of the house as two more paramilitaries were frisking him, a third holding on to his rifle. A fourth man came up from the side, some sort of small insignia on his collar indicating him as the leader. He was followed by even more men.
Larry could not see his eyes through the goggles, which they all wore. But he had a hard set mouth that looked cruel. The man reached over and lifted Jill's head up from where it was bobbing on Larry's shoulder, looking closely at her. Then he nodded, satisfied.
"Okay.", he said, "She's the one. Fits the description."
Larry looked hard at him, "What do you mean? What do you want with her?"
Obviously, these guys were not searching for her as part of a rescue mission.
The leader looked at him, an angry twist on his mouth, "None of your damn business. Now put her down. She's coming with us."
"Like hell she is!", Larry yelled, "She's staying with me!"
He collapsed in the snow from the rifle butt that smacked him in the back of the head. The leader looked down at the two crumpled forms in the snow.
"Okay, get her ready for transport. Call the Skywolf to come get us."
"What about him?"
"Let him freeze in the snow."
The sounds of aircraft jet engines started to filter through from above.
"Looks like they're already here, sir."
The leader smiled grimly, "Yeah, good."
"Sir, what about the old man?"
The leader looked around Pete Sandidge, a snarl on the old man's face as two burly henchmen held him fast. The leader grinned even more evilly.
"Tie him up, and throw him into the house. In fact throw the other guy in there too. Then burn it down. Destroy it all."
"Commander!", yelled the medic team leader, "There's incoming for you up front!"
Kim looked out the hatchway straining as much the others trying to get a glimpse of the terrain, making sure they didn't overrun their targets. Squinting one last time into the storm, she pulled back out and headed towards the cockpit. When she got there, the pilot spoke up.
"It's a message from overseas.", he said.
"Shift it to the Kimmunicator", said Kim, bringing her wrist monitor up.
The screen brightened into life, revealing a very familiar face she did not expect to see. Her thick black mane now streaked in white with some grey, the still beautiful visage did not look particularly pleased as she stared in irritation at her adopted sister.
"Shego!", gasped Kim, "Oh my gosh, It's been so long!"
"That's right, Princess", she returned in monotone, "But was it so long that you felt you didn't need to call me to tell me Tara's daughter was missing? Are you for real? Why didn't you call me?"
Kim cringed under her rebuke, ""Oh, gee! Look, I'm really sorry! But it wouldn't have helped! Really! We had it covered. I know you're overseas right now in Geneva with Eric, and that's too far away! There wasn't anything more you could have done to help! And I didn't want to worry you!"
Shego rolled her eyes, then castigated her, "Kimmie! Come on! You know better than that! After what Tara did for Mikey? Are you kidding? You should have called me right off the bat! I would have been there in a heart beat!"
Kim looked at her apologetically and replied, "Look, sis. I know how you feel. But I've called out practically every reserve unit in TP to find her, and it's worked! We located her car and where she went into the storm."
Shego went pale, "What? She's spent two days out in that weather?"
"It's okay, Shego!", Kim reassured her, "I believe she found shelter. And we are just about to find her, I think."
Shego listened to the ambient noise, "You're in the Sunhawk?"
"Yeah!", said Kim, "We're on the hunt. We are about to find her! I can feel it. There's no need for you to scramble on this one."
"Too late, Princess.", Shego said with a smirk, "ETA in about six hours."
Kim gasped again, this time in joyful surprise, the happiness suffusing her face, "No way! You're coming! For Christmas?"
Shego's face relaxed into a joyful smile as she chuckled, "Hey, I was going to come anyway. As soon as I heard about Jill, it just pushed my timetable up some, that's all. But I figured it was time, and I'm bringing the kids and Eric."
Kim thrilled to the news. Ever since the brain tumor which affected her so badly was removed, Shego and Kim had bonded into sisters in every way but by blood. Both were there for each other when they married, had their children, when they had each other's back, as Team Possible and Team Go saved the world together on several occasions. But their lives changed about eight years ago when Eric was offered the directorship of anti-terrorism activities in Global Justice, which had its main office in Geneva, Switzerland. Shego and Eric really sweated making the decision, but in the end thought it was the best move they could make.
This required Eric to commute back and forth and Shego had to stay home a lot more and take care of the family and more domestic duties, which of course was not a favorite activity of hers, but she was committed. And of course she still had to lead Team Go. It meant they couldn't see as much of each other's families as they had before. Their oldest son, Erik, was now attending an elite private high school in Go City and about to graduate. Their daughter Micaela was ten, and would not even be here had it not been for Tara, who treated and cured her leukemia when she was only four years old. In the early days, Shego and Eric often brought the kids over to visit and sometimes Kim and Ron would take both sets of twins to Go City. The kids had almost grown up together in those years.
But then Eric took the job in Geneva, and Kim and Ron took up the government's offer of support for Team Possible. In that time, life got very busy for both of them. Although there were several times both Eric and Shego saw Kim and Ron during those eight years, it was always on a professional job, going out to save the world. There never seemed to be enough time to just visit. Kim and Ron had not gotten to see Erik or Mikey hardly at all then. Even more so, the kids had not seen each other for the entire eight years, except when Micaela got sick and was in TPMC for a time for her treatments. Kim always regretted they got too busy not to just have time for all the members of both families to get together. And it looked like Shego managed to beat her to fixing it.
Kim was gushing, "That's great, Shego! I've so missed seeing them! I am so sorry I didn't make time before."
"Don't sweat it, Kimmie.", Shego said smiling, "You're not the only one to let her work get in the way of things like that."
"Thanks, sis", Kim replied gratefully, "I owe you one."
Shego cocked an eyebrow at her, "And I'm going to collect on that debt, Pumpkin."
Kim looked slightly askance at her and paused, saying, "Sparring match?"
Shego grinned hungrily, "What do you say?"
Her competitive spirit coming forth, Kim answered, "You're on!"
"Usual rules?"
"Word, Sister!"
"I'll hold you to it.", Shego replied still smiling, "See you then. Out."
Kim shut off the Kimmunicator and ran towards the back of the Sunhawk, gleefully throwing herself into Ron's arms as she told him Shego was coming for Christmas.
"For real?", cried Ron.
"For real!", Kim responded, laughing as she kissed him.
"Booyah!", he yelled, "All right! You know we really have been bad about not visiting them like we should have."
"Tell me about it!", Kim replied, a little down, "But we got so busy doing this, doing that, getting caught up with the government stuff."
"True.", Ron said with a grimace, scratching his head, "And of course, with Eric in Geneva..."
"Shego said as much. But, hey!", she said, excited again, " It's Christmas and they're going to be here for the holidays. We can start again!"
Ron smiled back at her, "Yeah, we can. It'll be great. And it'll be even better if we manage to pull out of our contract with the government."
Kim eyed him knowingly and said, "Still think we can do it, Loverboy?"
Ron chuckled with a grin, "Well if this bean counter can't do it, no one can."
Kim pulled him back in and kissed him, whispering, "My hero."
Ron enjoyed his brief rapture before she let go, then sighed, "Now that's what I'm talking about— ."
Something bumped into them. He and Kim turned to see the twins looking wide-eyed at them. They had unbuckled themselves to come see what the big news was.
"What are you—."
"—talking about?"
"I though I heard you say Shego was coming and— ."
"—she was bringing the family."
Kim and Ron looked at each other momentarily before breaking out laughing, then Ron spoke.
"You heard right, girls. Aunt Shego and Uncle Eric are coming. They should be here in about six hours."
"Critical!", cried K-J, "That's really cool, Dad! I missed Erik and Mikey. It's been so long."
"You bet!", said Mim, a far away look on her face as she reminisced, "I remember Erik, too. We used to have a lot of fun together back then. I sure missed him when Uncle Eric took that job in Europe. And of course it'll be great to see Mikey."
"They're looking forward to seeing you too.", Kim said, looking at them with some consternation, "Now what are you doing out of your seats? This isn't protocol."
The twins were slightly taken aback, K-J saying, "But, Mom! You were talking about Aunt Shego!"
"That's no excuse, young lady. Now back with both of you and strap yourselves in. You've found out all about it now."
"Okaaaayyy.', they replied grudgingly, trudging back towards their seats, but as they did they began to hurriedly whisper between each other.
Ron listened for a minute, then shook his head as he joined Kim back at the hatchway.
She was looking out into the snowstorm again, still going strong, but visibility had begun to improve to where they could see the ground fairly well at this point. The snowfall itself was dropping off, and they could see the trees and most of the ground cover.
Without looking at Ron, she asked him, "Were they speaking Tweeb again?"
"Oh, yeah.", Ron said, a little frustrated, "I swear if it wasn't for your brothers uploading the Kimmunicator with that translation program, we would be in big trouble."
"Way Big!", Kim retorted, "We'd never be able to catch them at half the stuff they try to do."
"Commander.", said the pilot via intercom, "Looks like we found it."
Putting their goggles one, they looked out into the swirling snow, trying to make out an unusual dark shape that had appeared on the horizon, notable as a thin plume of smoke coming up from it.
Ron pointed, "That's got to be the farm."
"Right.", said Kim as she switched the Kimmunicator over for on board communications, "Lieutenant, swing in low just over the tree line and keep as close to the ground. I don't want to miss seeing their tracks just in case they haven't quite made it there."
"Aye, aye, ma'am.", came the reply.
"That's assuming we guessed right.", Ron said hesitantly.
"Yeah, I know.", returned Kim, worried, "But it's still the best guess we have."
The looked back out the hatchway and scoured the countryside, looking for any clue that Jill had come through the area. Heading for the smoke plume, the Sunhawk slowed down to allow better surveillance of the ground, but still made it there in three minutes. As they pulled up closer to the house, they rounded to the east and came in, popping over the tree line to get a full view of it, and noticing activity all around it.
Kim's eyes widened and she shouted, "Look, Ron!"
Ron immediately snapped his attention to what she saw. As they came up to the east side of the house, they saw a small platoon of armed paramilitaries around the house. Close to the front door, they saw two of them tying someone up. Another figure was inert in the snow while a smaller figure, similarly unmoving, had been picked up and was being carried over the shoulder of one man.
Ron pointed to the smaller figure and shouted, "Look at her hair! That's got to be Jill!"
"But who are these guys?", yelled Kim, "And what do they want with her?"
"Jill?", shouted the twins suddenly popping up again next to their parents as soon as they heard Jill's name, "Mom! What do we do?"
Kim gasped and stood up, "I told you to stay put!"
Laser blasts began to pour into the Sunhawk. Kim lurched into her daughters and pushed them out of the line of fire.
One man had picked Jill up and swung her over his shoulder. Two others had grabbed two gasoline cans out of Sandidge's barn and were headed for the house to soak it down. Another man finished tying up Pete Sandidge and gagging him, and was about to get to his feet. He was interrupted by the whine of the jet engines gathering strength as the craft approaching the house closed the distance to them.
The leader's XO said, "We should have this done in two shakes, then we can bug out to the LZ and scoot."
"Great!", said the leader, "It'll be good to get back to base."
The whine of the engines became louder. The craft was not yet visible, but it sounded strange. The leader's XO looked up.
"Uh-oh."
"What?", said the leader.
"The sound is wrong. That's no Skywolf."
The leader jerked his head up in the direction just as the Sunhawk appeared over the trees and hovered there, closing in on the house.
The leader yelled, "Everyone! Heads up! Enemy craft! Open Fire! Now!"
The man carrying Jill dropped her and started blazing away, as did the men holding Sandidge. Suddenly dropped in the snow, the old man looked around in surprise to find himself free, nobody paying him any heed, then he hurriedly scampered up to his feet and ran off to find cover. The leader himself whipped his own rifle around and began to squeeze off forty watt plasma blasts at the new threat.
Two laser shots caromed off the interior fuselage and Kim looked up at the twins, anger exploding into her face.
"I told you to stay put!", she yelled at them as they cowered into a bulkhead.
The Sunhawk returned fire and was able to suppress it enough to force the paramilitaries to run for cover, but they continued to harass the Sunhawk from there. Kim sprang back to the hatchway, quickly evaluating the situation, and seeing this new threat needed to be taken out, and taken out quick. The Sunhawk veered around to where the hatchway would present a minimal target, yet still afford some view of the fire fight zone.
The girls got back up. As they brushed themselves off, Kim looked back and sternly shouted, "You get back there to your—!"
"KP! Not now! Look over here!", said Ron.
Kim looked at him, glared again at the girls in warning to stay out of trouble, then looked out the hatchway again. Scanning the scene, an occasional laser shot harmlessly banging off the fuselage, he pointed out what he saw.
"They're ganging up in one line there, and a group over there!", he said, "They're not spreading out!"
"Well they can't and stay within sight of the Sunhawk to try and bring her down!"
"Ain't going to happen, you know! Not with our armor plating! But we don't have the combat team here! Looks like we're the only ones who can take them out!"
Kim looked at him hard, "You know that's a violation of the provision of our contract with the government!"
"You're already in violation by being out here anyway! You're really worried about that?"
Kim paused as she looked at him, the wind whipping her hair around as the sound of lasers and 30 millimeter gunship rounds pounded through the air, and a slow smile came over her face.
"As if!", she cried, "Come on! We can both take them down! You ready to go?"
Ron looked back at the girls briefly, still huddling to themselves a few steps away. They still had not gone back to their seats, but dared not incur their mother's wrath any further by coming closer. In a surprise move to both Kim and the girls, he gestured, signaling them to come to him. Their eyes wide in shock, they slowly approached their father, and he gathered them in front, all facing a startled Kim, her face going pale.
"Ron?", she cried out, "What are you doing? You are not taking the girls into combat!"
He shook his head and replied, "No , not that, Kim. You see, we trained the girls well. And you... ...you really trained the girls well. You've really pushed them hard. They're getting to the point where they can start to push you back, hard...
"But I know they aren't ready for this. That's because they haven't been pushed to the extreme. You see, they've never really seen you go all out. They have never seen the real Kim Possible in action."
K-J and Mim looked up at their father, confusion on their faces, then looked back at their mother.
Kim stared at Ron, unsure of where he was going with this.
"I know what you can do, Kim.", Ron continued solemnly, "I've known it since we were pre-teens. I've known it from the fight in the Caribbean with Shego, and when I was with you taking out Drakken at the end, during the fighting in the Middle East, protecting the royal family in Saudi Arabia, at the Pakistan frontier, and the temple of the Great Trine. And I have absolutely no doubts on that whatsoever. I... ...never... ...have."
He knelt down, one arm around each of the twins. He looked lovingly at each of them before looking back at his wife.
"I'm not going out with you on this one, Kim. Not because I don't want to, but because I don't need to. This is one you should do by yourself. That's because the girls need to know exactly who and what their mother is, what she does that makes her so unique. They need to see precisely why she's Kim Possible, and why she.. ...can... ...do... ...anything."
Ron got back up and moved to one side as Kim gazed at her daughters, the moment unexpectedly frozen in time. Even the sounds of gunfire momentarily faded. K-J and Mim were confused, having no idea what to expect. They saw their mother standing there, unmoving, blinking her eyes for a moment, seemingly just as clueless as they were...
Then they gasped as they saw the startling transformation come over her, something they had always heard about, but never actually saw. Her eyes came alive with emotion, a feral grin taking over her face, a wave of sheer energy and confidence pouring over her very being as she continued to gaze steadily at them both, and they saw something else that helped drive the change. An ephemeral aura suddenly appeared around her, a ghostly shape slowly phasing into sharp focus. The girls stared like loons as the dragon appeared, gazing back at them, sheer energy and excitement gleaming from its eyes, the red glow of its eyes matching the scarlet shimmer of its iridescent scales. The Dragon looked at the girls the same way their mother looked at them, and there was love in her eyes also, love for her girls.
The image faded as Kim turned and looked quickly out of the hatchway, scanning the fire zone and reassessing the situation for a few moments. As she did, the girls cautiously moved up behind her to get a better view. When she was sure, she turned and looked at them again, smiling and reaching out to them. As one, the girls embraced her on either side and hugged her fiercely, then Kim kissed each one as she released them, a look of pure ferocity and joy exuding out of her. Ron came up from behind and proudly put a hand on each twin's shoulder. Kim switched on the Kimmunicator and yelled her instructions to the pilot. Then she stepped back and faced her daughters.
"Girls.", Kim said, the look of a predator now dominating her countenance, "Let an old pro show you how it's done."
The Sunhawk swerved and pulled up rapidly, and with a lightning quick turn she perched down on the lip of the hatchway and leaped out of the Sunhawk.
"Sir!" yelled the XO as he paused to reload a power cartridge.
"What?", shouted the leader in between plasma rifle bursts.
"We're not getting through with these laser rifles! Their armor's too good!"
"I know that!", retorted the leader, "We just need to keep them off of us until the Skywolf comes!"
"But can we fight off their combat team as well? They've got M-29's!"
He leader poured three more bursts into the target and grunted in frustration as he saw them rebound off the titanium alloy armor. He turned back to his XO.
"They don't have one!", he cried out smugly, "If they had those troops, they would have landed already! This bird is obviously staffed just with medical personnel for the girl!"
"But what if they have something else? Or somebody else?"
They fired a few more rounds as the Sunhawk began to veer slightly, positioning itself so the open hatchway was a little more visible. The aircraft's thirty millimeter cannon suddenly spewed the ground around them with several dozen rounds, making them duck for cover. They stayed down as they reloaded power cartridges again.
"And just who do you think would take on twenty five mercs out of that bird other than combat troops?", the leader spat back as he hugged the bole of the tree between him and the Sunhawk.
"I don't know! Maybe Kim Possible herself!", retorted the XO, a little exasperated that the leader was dismissing him so lightly.
"Hah!", the leader exclaimed as he leaned around the tree to take aim again, "She's so over the hill! She hasn't been seen in action in over eight years now! No way!"
The Sunhawk had taken off and moved out of the line of fire, momentarily hidden behind the house as it came around it, trying to keep moving to make it more difficult to be hit. But it was also maneuvering, and the leader wasn't quite sure for what. Holding still and quiet, the leader, the XO, and several of his nearby men waited tensely with their laser rifles trained on the point they were sure the craft would appear again, but instead of going past the house, it suddenly popped into sight and headed over the roof directly at them. Surprised, they pulled their weapons up and fired, missing most of their shots, the rest ricocheting off the bottom of the craft. Then the Sunhawk abruptly stopped and pulled up, twisting around, revealing the hatchway.
"Uh-oh.", said the XO.
"What now?", shouted the Leader in exasperation.
"What was that you were saying about Kim Possible?"
The leader looked up to see one flame haired female figure shooting out of the Sunhawk, soaring out of the sunlight and heading directly for his position. He grimaced, and a tinge of fear crept into his voice.
"Oh... ...snap."
The alarms on the bed's multi-scanner went off mobilizing everyone on the ward into immediate action. The charge nurse slammed on the emergency button on her console and rushed towards the room as the call went out over the intercom...
"Code Blue. Ward Six. Code Blue. Ward Six. Code Blue."
Respiratory personnel started to pour in from the general medical ward along with their nurses, following the charge nurse herself into the room. Quickly scanning the monitor, she saw the heart rhythm faltering, starting to go in and out of ventricular fibrillation. The blood pressure dropped down to forty over twenty. Momentarily startled, the charge nurse looked back for someone else to take over, but there was no one yet. She had to start the code.
"Okay. Let's start with epinephrine, one amp—"
"Cancel that!", yelled Dr. Monroe as she strode into the room, a robe over her nightgown, "Charge the paddles. Sixty joules. Now! But keep that epinephrine ready. Also get an amp of atropine up! Let's go, people! Give me vitals!"
Another nurse felt the girl's neck, "Got a pulse! Weak and thready! Maybe one twenty, one forty rate! BP forty-six over eighteen!"
"Good!", yelled Tara, "I need a bag of amiodarone in a drip ready, ASAP!"
"V-Tach!"
"Shock her, now!"
By this time, the respiratory techs had cleared the patient's chest and the charge nurse held the paddles down to her chest.
"Clear!", she yelled, as everyone else backed off.
She pushed the release buttons and the girls body arched upward a moment then flopped back down.
"What do we have?", snapped Tara.
They waited a moment as the monitor strip screen recovered from the shock, a straight line emerging initially and then jiggling around as the automatic pacers of the heart began to fire off, trying to get into a regular rhythm. First one beat, then two, then three. Suddenly, another abnormal squirming of the line burst onto the screen and suddenly disappeared as the heart struggled to return to normalcy.
"Trying to go back to sinus, Doctor. Still threatening to go back to V-tach."
Amiodarone, now! Have you got the dose calculated for her weight?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Good! Do it! Charge the paddles again! One hundred twenty joules!"
The charge nurse turned and pressed the button to charge the defibrillator as another nurse took the vial and stuck the needle into the IV port nearest the patient's arm. Just as she finished it, the heart rate started up again, but this time, it staggered and slogged, beating barely twenty beats a minute.
"Atropine! Half an amp!"
The charge nurse moved quickly to administer the drug through the same IV Port, but before she could get it done, the heart monitor went crazy again as the V-tach burst out again onto the screen.
"Shock her again!"
"Clear!"
The charge nurse held the paddles against Melissa's chest and pressed the buttons. As the little girl's body arched into the air once again, other personnel went to gather the other occupant of the room and take her outside. In that far corner, Samantha Daniels huddled against the walls with a look of sheer terror in her eyes, the tears streaming down as she held her hands over her face.
The console beeped as a blue hand reached down and pressed the button.
"Yes?"
"Sir, it looks like we have a fire fight going on at the farm."
Drew smiled as he paused and considered the news.
"Good. That was what I anticipated. The wolves were to make sure that was where they went. And although they were at liberty to take them down, it looks like our agent successfully made sure the girl got to the farm as planned. Now, take it slow. I want our forces to have enough time to finish the job and get everyone on board. If Kim Possible follows her standard protocol she'll leave our men to be taken in by the other Sunhawks, as she will likely want to get her rescued victims to the medical center for treatment. I don't want to show up before they have a chance to be gathered together in one craft."
"Standard approach then, sir?"
Drew smiled even wider, "Exactly. Full stealth mode and silent flight protocols. I don't want them to know we're there until we actually fire on them."
"Yes, sir.", said the pilot, and he clicked off.
Drew chuckled to himself as Drakken came near again, smiling in anticipation.
"So, you'll destroy everyone in one fell swoop, heh? I like it. I see my tutelage has borne good fruit then."
"See it as you wish, great uncle. But I do not doubt at all that the 'great' Kim Possible can likely escape the mass of burning metal I'm about to make out of one of her vaunted Sunhawks. Perhaps her sidekick husband might survive too. But that's exactly how I would have it. I have their fate waiting for them should they survive."
And he laughed louder as he looked back in the corner at the Yono, whose eyes now shined with a malevolent hunger and glee.
The girls stood entranced at the hatchway, huddling against their father behind them. Ron's Kimmunicator beeped. Raising his wrist, he tapped on the device.
"What up, Wade?"
"Ron! That funny signal is back again!"
He frowned, "Oh, that thingamajigee we saw before? What's it doing?"
"Well, actually not much. It seems to be hovering about two miles away. But it's going in and out. I can't get a good handle on it. Wait! Okay, there it goes. It's popping up and down around the tree line, and now its moving. It's coming towards you, but real slow, it looks like."
Concern roiled in Ron's gut, "Uh, Wade. Call the other Sunhawks in the immediate area. Have them converge on the farm here. We might need some backup."
"Sure thing, Ron. I'll get right on it... ...uh-oh."
"Uh-oh?", said Ron, "Don't tell me uh-oh, Wade! Every time you tell me uh-oh, it's something bad."
"Sorry, Ron. Three more of those funny signals just popped up."
Ron whined in exasperation, "Okay, Wade, what is it? Are these some sort of ghost reflections or something. They sure didn't look like anything real. And our radar's as good as it gets."
"Yeah, I know, Ron. But I think they are real. We have some really advanced technology going on here."
"How do you know?", asked Ron.
"Those ghost signals. They're all headed in your direction."
"Shoot her! Concentrate all fire on a leading track!", yelled the leader as he attempted to bring his weapon to bear. As a well trained unit all twelve of the men near him lined their rifles up and fired in an organized pattern at their oncoming attacker. The grid they punched into the air should have allowed nothing to get through. But somehow she twist into a compact lump, roll out, then manage to completely alter her direction like an old pinball banking off its bumpers. She slipped through the barrage effortlessly and spun out into a full spreadeagled shape stopping her roll, pulling her arms and legs in as she rammed her compacted body like a bullet into the massed pack.
The leader gasped in surprise, his mouth wide open as Kim unfurled herself and slammed into him with both feet, knocking him out, then jumped up with a spinning wheel kick that slammed into the temple of the XO next to him, sending him into a crumpled mass in the snow. Yelling, the other men turned their weapons on her and fired. Poised like a cat, she ducked the first firing barrage, jumped straight up avoiding the second, stretched out with twin side kicks to each side and downed the two henchmen she had in range. The other henchmen were not so fortunate as the wayward blasts that missed her took out three of their number. Realizing they were too close to each other, the men threw their plasma rifles away and began to engage Kim hand to hand. As they did, the rest of the henchmen came in from the outlying trees and charged in, trying to bowl her over by sheer numbers.
But it was like trying to catch the wind. Again and again, they had her surrounded and trapped, and like an eel she slid away each time. She ducked or jumped up, struck out, taking an opponent out with virtually every strike. One man finally grabbed her from behind with a bear hug as a second tried to punch her out, but she quickly ducked the fist letting it strike the first henchman. Stunned, he let go of Kim who quickly elbowed him backwards as she grabbed the arm of the second man, twisting it fiercely so that he screamed in pain as his shoulder joint snapped, his body suddenly whipped into a somersault that landed him on the ground like a dead weight. She back-kicked the first man and slammed him into a tree directly behind where he slid down into the snow unconscious.
Four more charged her from all directions, and were taken off balance again as she charged one of them instead, surprising him by closing the distance quickly and staggering him in the solar plexus with a side kick, doubling him over. She grabbed him around the neck and spun him around into the other three as they tried to change direction and catch her. This delayed them enough as Kim struck out with a back fist behind her without even looking at the fifth guy who was trying to take her by surprise from the rear with a sneak attack, dropping him like a stone. The first three disentangled themselves as three more joined them and they rushed Kim again. Like a pouncing tiger, she jumped up and soared over their heads, spinning as she flew by them, taking the last one in line out with a flying back kick. She landed and faced the last eight men, a momentary pause in the air.
She held her guard up with knife hands in front of her, smiling ferally, waving them to come on with a slight move of her forward hand. Faces grimaced in anger, they charged her again, yelling.
All in all, the fight took less than four and a half minutes, and yet to the twins it was like an eternity, crammed full of stunningly new information about the capabilities of this woman they had known all their lives only as their mother. Yes, they had heard the tales of the great 'Kim Possible'... ...but to actually see it...
Stunned beyond belief, they stood motionless at the hatchway of the Sunhawk watching her exhibit the skills for which she was internationally known, and which they had never truly seen until now.
"Oh, my God.", breathed Mim, "She never came that hard at us. I didn't believe what you said at first, Dad."
"That's who your mother is, honey. She's the best.", Ron said in a soft, but proud voice, "And it's one reason why I love her more than anything."
K-J smiled back at him before looking down on the scene, replying, "Yeah, Dad. She is."
She looked at her sister in a knowing way, saying, "Boy, do we have our work cut out for us."
Mim looked back at her, "Ya think? Hickabickaboo?"
"Hoosha!", answered K-J, solemnly.
When the battle was over, Ron signaled to the pilot to land quickly. As they touched down, the twins leaped out and ran for Jill. Ron caught up with Kim.
"You looked good out there, KP.", he said smiling.
Kim was exhilarated, eyes wide in sheer pleasure as she looked around over the grounds, breathing deeply as she made sure nobody was getting back up.
"I had sooo forgotten how good that feels!", she exclaimed, "I have got to get out more often for this!"
"Well, we kind of might get that chance before long if we don't split."
A worried look came over Kim's face.
"What's the sitch?"
Ron told her about the approaching ghost echos, and that he didn't think they were just echos.
"Right!", Kim said, "Let's get these people out of here."
"We got Jill!", shouted the twins as they carried the girl between them towards the copter.
"I'll get the guy, uh, Mr. Daniels, I guess.", said Ron and he quickly picked him up and carried him under his armpits to the Sunhawk.
"Where's that third guy?", yelled Kim, looking around.
"I don't know! I think he ran off in to the woods!", Ron shouted as the Sunhawk engines began to scream in preparation to lift off, "What about the henchmen?"
"Leave them! The other Sunhawks can pick them up! Let's go!", replied Kim as she sprinted for the hatchway.
The girls got on first, handing Jill off to the Medic team. Then they climbed aboard and helped their father roll Larry Daniels' unconscious form onto the Sunhawk's floor. Kim reached the hatchway at the same time and she and Ron vaulted on board as he yelled into his Kimmunicator for the pilot to go. The Sunhawk lurched into the air and headed straight east for home base.
"Hypothermia!", yelled on of the medics he grabbed heat packs out of their stores and began applying it to Jill's body, unzipping her parka open and sticking them under her sweater. Another one massaged her arm vigorously and slapped at it, trying to make the veins pop up, finally tagging one and managing to get an IV started.
"Where's the warmer?", she asked, and the first medic threw the unit to her. She slapped the IV line into the heater and turned it on as soon as she set the IMED pump for the IV.
She covered Jill with a warming blanket, then pulled out a sphygmomanometer and placed it on her arm, pumping it rapidly and listening to her antecubital fossa with a stethoscope.
"Ninety-eight over fifty. Pulse, forty-five."
She took a small hand held unit that looked something like an otoscope and placed the tip in Jill's ear, then pressed a button. Five seconds later it beeped and she pulled it back and read the display.
"Temp's ninety-three five.", she said.
Kim watched in alarm, "Is she going to be okay?"
The first medic had pulled off Jill's boots and gloves, carefully inspecting her digits, then looked up at Kim, "It's close. She's really hypothermic, but there's no frostbite. We can warm her up pretty good here. Her clothes aren't in too bad a shape, but we should probably get the pants off, They're too wet. We got some scrubs to put on her. She should be okay."
Kim closed her eyes in relief, thankful she was not going to have to tell Tara any bad news. Then she looked over at their other passenger.
"What about him?", she asked.
The other two medics on the team had been working on him. He also had been given an IV line with warmed saline flowing, as well as heat packs and a blanket. Similarly, his boots and gloves had been removed.
"Temperature's ninety-six, so his core's better, but...", and he looked at the feet.
Larry's feet had turned ivory white. The medic reached down and tried to squeeze one of his toes. It was frozen solid. There were cracks in the skin which began to ooze blood.
"He's going to lose all of his toes from frostbite. The heels look pretty good though. Since the girl's digits don't have any damage, my guess is he was carrying her a good part of the way from that shack."
Kim grimaced as she nodded. That was not going to be good for Tara's patient, but at least he'll be alive. Satisfied they were being well cared for, she turned to more urgent matters.
"Do what you can for them. I'll alert the base that we're coming home."
"Aye, aye, Commander."
Kim and Ron headed for the cockpit.
"Report.", she said tersely when she got there.
"ETA's fifteen minutes. The ghost flashes have suddenly veered off and look like they're headed for the farm, except for one."
"Which one?"
"The one coming up from behind."
"What? How fast is it coming?"
"Pretty damn fast."
Kim nodded in understanding. She switched on her Kimmunicator.
"Bat-See, this is Red Drake Two Three. This is Red Drake Two Three. Do you read? Over."
The answer came through immediately, "Copy that, Red Drake Two Three. This is Bat-See. What's your ETA and sitch? Over"
"Home in fifteen. We have recovered our targets. Call medical and get them ready to receive two incoming. Lieutenant, we were attacked out here. Scramble the rotary wings for full combat and get them out here to reconnoiter. I've left twenty five henchmen unconscious at the farm south of the shack. We need to get them back and processed, so we can evaluate the threat and—"
"Excuse me, CAG? You were attacked?"
"Affirmative, lieutenant!", Kim replied a little irritated at the interruption, "So we need to—"
"And you took them out yourself?", the lieutenant interrupted again.
Kim growled, "Look, lieutenant! the government policy against me getting personally involved in firefights..."
"Oh, no! Commander!, It's not that!", said the lieutenant apologetically, "It's just... ...it's just, well. Booyah for you, ma'am! Way to go!"
Kim heard cheering going on in the background of the Bat-See, and she became embarrassed as she realized they were rooting for her. The lieutenant cleared his throat.
"Uh, anyway. Sorry for the interruption, ma'am. Orders? Over?"
Kim smiled at him, blushing and rolling her eyes, "Yes, thank you, lieutenant. We have to act quick. We may have multiple bogies headed for the farm. Get the rotary wings out there and beat them to it. One bogie is chasing us, but we'll deal with it. Over."
"Commander, we're not seeing a thing on the scopes. Are you sure there's enemy aircraft out there? Over. Also we only have about eight of those rotary wings fitted for these conditions."
"Positive on the enemy aircraft, lieutenant!", Kim replied, fully serious now, "ComIntel will tell you how to find it, not that it will be easy! Send whatever you have available and ready! Get those birds flying!"
"Aye, aye, Commander! Bat-See out.", acknowledged the lieutenant, who then clicked off.
Kim hit another button and waited a second more, then saw Wade pop on.
"Talk to me, Wade!"
"It's coming at you fast, Kim. I've never seen a bird like this! It moves faster than anything out there that can hover!"
"What is it?", she asked.
"I can't tell you!" Wade said, in exasperation, "They've got a stealth system that's beyond anything I've ever seen! It's really advanced! This is so cool!"
"Not now, Wade! How soon will it take for them to catch up?"
"Uh, like right now?"
Kim blinked and growled, "Great! Just great!"
She looked back at the hatchway and strained to hear through the noise and could now easily pick up the second set of jet engines and the rotors, definitely a rotary wing craft.
She shot towards the back to where Ron and the girls were still located, yelling back at the pilot.
"Call May Day! May Day!", she cried.
"Aye aye, Commander."
The pilot flipped a switch and began to talk when gunfire ripped through the canopy. Sparks flew from damaged electronics as the pilot threw up his hands to shield himself from them. As soon as it was over, he looked around. Nobody was hurt. But when he tried to call again, he found the communications panel was out.
By this time, Kim had gotten back to the hatchway and both she and Ron stared into the wind, still blowing hard. Visibility was about a mile as the snow had finally let up considerably. The bogie was directly behind and to the left of them, still hidden in the clouds. In one flashing swoop, it emerged from cover.
"Oh, my gosh.", said Kim, her face paling.
It was the largest attack helicopter gunship she had ever seen, dwarfing the Apache attack ship it was obviously patterned after. It was black and angular, obviously using stealth materials. Her weapons pods were awe inspiring, as was her stacked rotor design. The pilot's canopy was well wider than an Apache, of course, and comfortably seated two, and Kim and Ron could see they wore the same red suited uniform as the henchmen she had taken out at the farm. Kim tapped on her Kimmunicator, trying to get Wade to see this, but all she could get was static. She realized she was being jammed.
She looked back out at the black aircraft, and said, "These guys are good!"
The pilot yelled back, "Weapons lock! They have weapons lock! Maneuvering!"
"Can you bring our guns to bear?", she yelled.
"Negative!", yelled the pilot, "I can't shake her! She's too quick! I can't fire the mini-gun at that severe an angle!"
"Obviously they know the Sunhawk's limitations!", added Ron, "They're keeping out of the mini-gun's line of sight!"
The Sunhawk screamed away in a sharp right turn, closely followed by its pursuer.
"Can you outrun them?", Kim yelled.
"I don't think so, Commander!", came the reply as the Sunhawk lurched again, trying to go left and down.
The girls had come up to the hatchway and were looking out, their eyes wide in concern. Kim looked at Ron suddenly in fear.
"I've got to get the girls off!", she yelled, "Help the others do the same!"
Kim scrambled for the seats and started to retrieve parachutes, screaming at the medics to prepare their charges in the same way, yelling for the girls to come back and get into theirs, but all they did was stand there at the hatchway entranced, hanging on to the webbing for support. The medics went into action getting their parachutes on and rigging some form of carrying harness for their patients.
"Ron!", yelled Kim, "Come on!"
"Weapons lock! They're going to fire!", yelled the pilot
Ron didn't move. He wasn't sure why but, he stood there with the girls, watching the red suited pilot of the enemy craft. Despite the Sunhawk's wild weaving through the air, the gunship easily kept up with them. Its pilot watched them calmly, easily changing direction every time his prey did. There was a smirk on his face as he spoke into his headset for a moment, nodding at times. He flicked up a cover on his joystick, uncovering a red button. He smiled as he covered it with his thumb.
"Ron!"
But Ron knew it was too late as a blue skinned man stepped into view just behind the pilot.
"Sir. We have weapons lock."
Drew smiled.
"Good.", he said, "I'll be up front shortly. I want to see this personally."
"As would I.", trilled Drakken, rubbing his hands together, "Albeit, I do not completely concede to your explanation as to how you did it, I must admit you called it correctly. Your agent did indeed get the girl into the trap as you said."
"Yes, Great Uncle, as if she were being driven to slaughter.", Drew replied, musing the events over, "A shame really, that our agent was disposed up so easily. And I was a little disturbed that the man was able to put up such a fight at the end. But that was no more than expected."
Drew stared at the monitor with a great satisfaction taking over his countenance.
"And now the trap is sprung. Kim Possible's fate is sealed."
Drew looked at the monitor with him, watching the struggling Sunhawk trying to shake the Skywolf.
"They should be jumping out anytime soon."
"Yes, they have to try and save their victims.", replied Drew, "They won't abandon them. They won't have the time to do it, of course. But just in case, we do have the Yono."
"Yesssss.", cackled Drakken, sounding like a gleeful child.
They stepped up towards the canopy, Drew leading the way. He emerged behind the pilot and looked out. He saw the Sunhawk frantically trying to jig and jag. The pilot chuckled.
"They can't get away, sir."
Drew smiled more broadly, "I know."
The Sunhawk lurched again, then seemed to straighten out. Drew saw the open hatchway become visible again, and there was a man there staring out at them. It was Ron Stoppable. Their eyes locked together for one brief moment.
Drew Lipsky's smile became a menacing grin as he put a hand on the pilot's shoulder and calmly spoke his next command.
"Fire."
Will the Sunhawk be destroyed? Will Drakken finally realize his dream of destroying Kim once and for all? Will Kim and Ron be able to save everyone in the Sunhawk, only to face the power of the Yono? We know the answer, but the question is why... ...The answer will come in a few days, I hope. Many thanks to Cajunbear, Spectre666, Rollred2000, and the rest of my reviewers. I look forward to the inspiration that you provide me.
