Chapter 10: Underground Lab
"Okay Wade, what do you have for us?" A freshly showered Kim Possible asked from the passenger section of a C-5. Ron sat next to her, pressed up close so that he could see any details Wade chose to display on the Kimmunicator's screen. He facilitated his close proximity by wrapping his arm over her shoulders, a position both teens found most satisfying.
"It's an abandoned mine," Wade explained. "I'm sending you tunneling records from the last company that actually mined there. Keep in mind that this was years ago, so the passages my be significantly altered."
"So on it," Kim replied. "Who's owned it since it's been deactivated?"
"It's really hard to say," Wade confessed. "It's listed under a property management firm, but they're holding it in trust for a real estate speculator, and he's leasing it from a legal firm. It's so convoluted that I don't know if I'll ever be able to track it down."
"You said you thought Drakken might own it," prompted Ron. "Why?"
"It's his style. Remember the convoluted sort of way that he had Mickman's Earthmoving doing the excavating at Bueno Nacho? The mine's management seems to have the same, twisted pattern. I can't follow the mine's ownership to Drakken, and I can't trace any of Drakken's front companies to the mine, but the two trails sort of point towards each other."
"I'll take your word for that," Ron commented, with a glazed look on his face.
"More to the point," Kim interrupted. "If Drakken does own this mine, why is Dementor there? Is he working for Drakken?"
"I don't think so," Wade speculated. "Dementor has had some rough times in the last couple of weeks. The various European armed forces have driven him out of every lair he had ever established on that continent; he may be looking for a new base of operations."
"So he's going to become North America's problem now, not Europe's?" Kim mused.
"It's one possibility," countered Wade. "I think it's most likely that Drakken maintained a secret laboratory in this mine and Dementor is making use of the facilities."
"If that's the case, how did he find out about the lab?" Asked Ron. "I mean, if you, Global Justice, the NSA, and who knows how many other agencies couldn't track this down, how could Dementor?"
"Dementor might have information that the rest of us don't have," Wade suggested. "We know that both Killigan and Fisk have obtained materials from both Dementor and Drakken in the past. Dementor and Drakken might also obtain resources from common suppliers. They may have even corresponded directly with each other. Dementor might have used such information to track down this facility."
"Oh, great," Ron interjected. "The bad guys have some sort of time-share plan for their lairs."
"Very funny Ron. Okay, Wade what else do we need to know?" Kim wanted the briefing out of the way.
"Right, the fact that your going into a mine means that you're going to have to set up a repeater for communications."
"Wade, let's pretend that I don't know how to do that," Ron interrupted. "In fact, let's pretend that I don't even know what that means."
"Open the small, green bag that I sent along," Wade instructed them. Ron did so and pulled out a spool of fine wire. A small, black box was attached to the wires free end and another, identical box was mounted on the spool itself.
"That's your repeater," Wade told them. "When you get to the site, clip the spool to your belt and hide the first box outside the mine, where it can pick up signal. It will pass the signals down the fiber-optic cable, where the box on the spool will transmit to the Kimmunicator. As long as you keep the Kimmunicator and the spool in line of sight, we'll be able to communicate."
"You rock, Wade," Kim was very happy that the boy genius was on her side. "Anything else?"
"One thing, satellite photographs show what appears to be an antenna, under construction, on the property. It doesn't look like it's finished yet."
"I'd guess that it has something to do with whatever he's working on," Ron mused.
"I agree with that," Wade replied.
"Okay, now let's get to work," Kim interrupted. "I'm looking at the plans you've sent us. It looks to me like there's only one entrance to the mine."
"That's correct. The satellite photos don't show any new excavations, so it's still probably the only way in."
"Does the term 'heavily guarded ambush point' ring a bell with either of you?" Ron asked.
"Any other openings?" Kim asked, with an understanding nod towards her BFBF.
"The various mining companies drilled three ventilation shafts," Wade answered, causing the Kimmunicator screen to highlight the shafts. "But they're only eighteen inches across. I don't know if they're still open."
"Both Ron and I can lower ourselves down a tube that narrow," said Kim. "But there's no way we could climb back up one, and we don't have any way of checking them out."
"Ahem!" A highly offended Rufus poked his head out of Ron's pocket and glared at her.
"Other than a sending a small, subterranean rodent to investigate a small, subterranean passage," Kim corrected herself. "Rufus will make sure that the shaft is clear before we go down." She patted the brave, chubby mole rat, letting him know how much she appreciated him.
"Which one to we use?" Ron asked.
"The one that opens the farthest into the mine," Kim answered. "Dementor and his goons won't be expecting us to drop in that deep."
"Okay," Ron conceded. "Now, where do you think he's doing whatever it is that he's doing…"
Team Possible spent the next half-hour making tentative plans. Of course, the fact that they didn't know what Dementor was actually up to meant that their plans couldn't be very specific. They picked out the largest cavities in the mine, which would be the most logical place for Drakken to store his equipment, assuming that he hadn't modified the mine. Next, they discussed their approach to the mine and spoke to the flight crew. Ron had a last-minute idea, grabbed a few odds and ends from their mission bags, and went to work.
The aircraft flew over the mine and Team Possible executed a HALO jump, with Ron screaming until they popped their chutes. Team Possible landed four miles away from the mine entrance, with a hillside in between it and their landing site. Since it was now almost midnight, they had a good chance of avoiding detection. They did not approach the entrance, but moved on the ventilation shafts from a direction opposite from it. As soon as they reached the first, and deepest shaft, Ron rigged up Rufus's harness and went to work on his previous plan.
"What do you think, KP?" Ron asked, after a few minutes.
"You've painted Rufus black with that skin darkening makeup we use for night missions," Kim commented. "And tied a spare pair of your mission gloves on his back. And this is supposed to…"
"In the dark, he'll look like a bat if anyone sees him," Ron proudly declared.
"This is supposed to accomplish, what?" Kim asked.
"If they spot a naked mole rat, they'll probably think 'Kim Possible,'" Ron pointed out. "But a bat won't look out of place in a mine."
"Won't they wonder why a bat's running around rather than flying?"
"Maybe they'll think he's wounded," Ron looked a little hurt. "Besides, they might spot him while we're lowering him."
"Then they'll wonder how a bat can fly without moving it's wings," Kim mused. "But still, the disguise can't hurt. Are you ready?"
Ron lowered Rufus, slowly, down the shaft. After a few minutes, a rapid series of tugs on the line signaled Ron to retrieve his smallest friend. Rufus squeaked and chiitered at Ron for a few seconds when he was back on the surface.
"There's a piece of metal over the lower end of the shaft," Ron translated. "Rufus doesn't know what it is, but we can't get in that way."
"On to the next shaft," Kim declared.
Ron and Rufus repeated the process from the first shaft. This time, the brave rodent reported that the shaft was clear and nobody was waiting at the bottom. Ron set up the repeater's transceiver link to Wade outside the shaft and played out some slack cable while Kim tied a rope off to a nearby tree. Both teens tied on a 'Swiss Seat' then Ron lowered just enough rope to reach the bottom of the mine. Kim went first, she didn't even bother holding the rope, she simply fed it through her clip and dropped into the hole. The friction of the rope playing through the clip slowed her down enough that she was still able to land, gracefully, than scramble out of the way. Next, Ron lowered Rufus, who immediately scampered deeper into the mine, playing his role as the scout. As soon as Rufus was loose, Ron lowered the repeater spool before dropping down himself, using a wrist grapple.
Kim scouted close at hand while Ron taped the repeater's cable to the ceiling and wedged the end of their rappelling rope up inside the ventilation shaft. While these precautions wouldn't fool any but the most casual of inspectors, the teens hoped to be out of the mine before the current occupants passed through in force. Kim, on the other hand, noted that the mineshaft was arched. It was about eight feet wide and roughly the same height at the middle. There was a little debris along the sides of the tunnel but the center was clear. That told her that Dementor's henchmen passed through the tunnel enough to clean out the center, but hadn't bothered to clean it out. They must not be planning to stay very long. There was only the dimmest of light, glimmering from deeper into the mine.
Kim's thoughts were interrupted when Rufus returned from his scouting mission. Kim had to smile; in the dark, he did look a little like a bat. Rufus scampered to Ron and started to chitter and squeak. Ron motioned for Kim to hold up her Kimmunicator.
"Rufus checked this branch," he explained, pointing at the map plans on the screen. "He says that it's some sort of living quarters, and there's about a half dozen men sleeping in there right now. There's two more empty beds."
"Probably for guards out at the entrance," Kim surmised.
"No way of knowing, but I bet you're right."
"Okay," Kim decided. "We keep heading down into the mine. So far, the old maps are still accurate and they show a large opening about two hundred yards deeper."
The teens crept down the tunnel, with Rufus scouting ahead and Ron doing his best to conceal the repeater's cable in the debris along the tunnel wall. They bypassed the tunnel leading to the sleeping quarters, pausing only long enough to tape the cable over the opening, and continued down. Rufus returned before they could get to their target. Again, Ron translated for his little friend.
"He says that there's a big opening up ahead," Ron reported. "He says that Demetor is in there, working on some piece of machinery."
"What's he working on?" Kim asked.
"Let's just pretend that neither Rufus or I would understand what a super-genius mad scientist would come up with," Ron suggested, with a rather hard look at Kim.
"Right," Kim replied, with an apologetic nod. "I wonder what he's doing awake at this hour?"
"What do you mean?" Ron countered. "We're up."
"Yeah, but we're on a mission. It's after midnight and Dementor is still hard at it. He must really want to finish what he's working on."
"Either that or jetlag," Ron suggested.
"Jetlag?"
"Yeah, it's just after midnight here, but doesn't that make it midmorning, or later, in Germany?"
Kim considered it, then decided that this line of speculation was a waste of time. They decided to go in and try to determine what Dementor was up to, before starting a confrontation.
Team Possible crept into what they all considered the laboratory. As was usual, it was full of computers and completely unrecognizable equipment. Dementor was sitting at a PC, with his back to the door, completely absorbed in his work. Next to his PC, a large, clear vat held some bubbling liquid. Several wires ran from devices inside the vat to the computer at which he was working. The room's irregular shape meant that there were gaps between the rows of computers and the walls. Kim and Ron slunk into one of these gaps. Ron quickly started to trace computer wires while Kim sneaked closer to Dementor.
"Ja, ja, almozt," the pint-sized villain was muttering to himself as she approached. "Zoon I vill have it. Now, juzt adjuzt zee acid level and…"
He worked furiously at his keyboard for a few minutes. Kim heard some servos go active in the vat.
"Ja, even clozer. Perhaps if I adjuzted zee zignal, rather zan zee mix." More tapping sounded from the keyboard. Ron, moving like an oily shadow, joined her. The two listened for several more minutes then slipped farther away, so that they could converse."
"I don't understand," Ron whispered to her. "If German's his native language, why does he talk to himself in English?"
"Head in the game, Ron," Kim chastised him. Even though Ron had made himself a much better partner, he still had bouts of occasional randomness. What was worse, these random questions were usually hard to answer.
"What's the sitch?" She asked him.
"Found a network hub with a spare outlet," he reported. "I connected Wades extractor. He's trying to break in right now. I've also hidden the repeater as best I can. As long as we stay in here, we should be able to talk to him."
Kim nodded and activated her Kimmunicator, after turning down the volume.
"What do you have for us, Wade?" She asked.
"Nothing yet," he answered. "My hacking program has just broke in. The only thing I can tell you is that whatever it is, it has something to do with reacting a radio signal with a chemical."
"Eureka!" Dementor leapt to his feet. "I've done it! Now, can I replicate it at a larger zcale?"
The short megalomaniac punched some commands into his computer. In response, a very large vat, in another corner of the room, started to fill. Kim and Ron watched for several minutes, as Dementor ran some form of production sequence in the vat. Once finished, the short man studied his screen for a few more minutes then…
"Zuccess!!" He screamed, leaping into the air in pure joy. He grabbed a microphone. "All off duty guards, into der laboratory at once. All perzonel to bring one, complete zpare uniform, down to der zocks, der boots and der unervear."
Smiling broadly, the mad scientist pulled seven small tubs and seven mugs out of a storage cabinet. He drained the vat into these containers, filling the mugs and putting about three inches of the liquid in each of the tubs. Then he returned to the storage cabinet and pulled out a bundle of clothing. He had returned to the lined up tubs by the time the guards arrived. Kim and Ron remained hidden, hoping that the guards would be too sleepy to notice the repeater's cable.
"Okay, all of you drink one of der mugs and zoak your clothes in der tub," he instructed the men. None of them made a move.
"Alright, you don't truzt me?" He questioned. "Very vell, you!" He singled out one of his guards. "You pick out a tub and a mug, at random."
The man did so, and Dementor himself followed his own instructions. He drained the mug and dumped his clothing in the tub.
"Zoak der clothes completely," he instructed. "Dey haff to be completely zaturated. Vhen you're done, dry dem, den put dem on and return. Go!"
Once Dementor had demonstrated that the procedure was safe, or at least painless, his guards followed suit and filed out of the lab, presumably to go change. Kim, being as quiet as she could, relayed what was happening to Wade. Whatever the liquid was, it must have had a fairly low evaporation point, because Dementor's clothes were reasonably dry fairly quickly. Liberated and world-wise as she was, Kim still closed her eyes when he stripped down to put on his modified attire. She glared at Ron, who was snickering at her, when the Kimmunicator vibrated.
"Kim," Wade's urgent whisper grabbed the teens' attention. "This could be big trouble!"
"Clue me in, Wade," Ron protested. "But would we be here if it couldn't be big trouble? I mean, I can think of a lot of other places I'd like to be at two AM…urmph."
"What's the sitch?" Kim asked, after silencing her boyfriend with a well-placed elbow.
"The interaction between the liquid and the signal," Wade reported. "It looks like it could cause invisibility!"
"How is this possible?" Kim asked.
"The liquid can permeate any sort of biologic material, including living flesh. It will stay inside a human body for several hours. When it's exposed to a specific radio signal, it will react and make whatever it has saturated non-reactive to the visible spectrum."
"Could this explain the antenna above the mine?" Ron asked.
"Most likely," the young genius conceded. "It's probably also why he's doing his research underground. He can do all of his experiments with his radio waves, and the earth will block the transmissions. Nobody will intercept the signals and come looking for the source." The boy paused for a few moments. "There's something wrong with the invisibility but I just can't put my finger on it."
"Maybe we can…" Ron's speech was cut off when Kim elbowed him again. Dementor's henchmen were starting to file back into the lab, so the teens needed to be quiet. Unfortunately, one of the guards had woken up a little, and spotted the cable on the floor.
"Hey boss," he grumbled, hooking a finger under the cable and following it towards the teens' hiding place. "I don't remember this one, I thought you said no more wires coming into the lab after we tried to pirate cable off of the satellite receiver."
"Der zshouldn't be any cable's coming in dat door," Dementor commented. "Vhat iz it connected to?"
The guard followed the cable behind the row of computers. Team Possible, seeing that they couldn't remain hidden any more, leapt into action. The investigating guard had only a moment for his eyes to snap open when Ron grabbed his head and drove a knee into the man's chin. Dementor always seemed to have the biggest henchmen, so the guard didn't go down, although he was stunned. He flailed backwards, bounced off of a wall, and stumbled right back to Ron. Ron got behind him, kicked his feet out from under him, then hauled down hard on the back of his shirt. The man SLAMMED down, hard, flat on his back. Ron heard his breath whoosh out and knew that they wouldn't have to worry about him for at least a few minutes.
While Ron was teaching the first guard the costs of curiosity, Kim vaulted over the computers and lit into the rest of the still sleepy guards in a literal tornado of fists and feet. By the time Ron had incapacitated the first guard, Kim had three others down. Kim and Ron faced off against the last two when suddenly, Dementor got over his shock.
"Kim Pozzible," he shrieked. "Vhat are you doing here?"
"We're here to stop you're plans, Dementor," Kim declared. "You're a wanted man, and you're not welcome on this continent."
"Four of your guards are down," Ron added. "That leaves two more and you; do the math, dude, you can't win. Why don't you just give up now? We can end this with no explosions, no more injuries and no more pain."
"Since vhen do you vork vit a bat?" The mad scientist was staring at the still disguised Rufus, who was clinging to Ron's shoulder. "And vhy is der bat just hanging on you and not flying around?" He frowned. "Vhy is der bat zitting upright, don't dey hang upzide down?"
Mental note, Dementor can be distracted with small mammals. Kim thought. Then she said, "It doesn't matter, professor. Now, are you going to give up, like my partner suggested, or are we going to have to do this the hard way?" The remaining guards, at least, seemed to favor giving up.
"Zo he iz your partner? Vhat happened to der zidekick vit der rat?"
"That's me, dude!" Ron yelled. "And quit stalling! You're just trying to keep us talking until you're guards get back up!"
"Zo, your partner iz a zmart boy," Dementor addressed Kim. "To bad for you dat I've already finished my research." He reached a small lever on the control panel next to him. "Kim Pozzible, can you fight vhat you cannot zee?" Shrieking with maniacal laughter, Dementor threw the lever.
Dementor and his six guards faded into invisibility. Kim and Ron shared a panicked look.
Wade, listening in on the Kimmunicator, had been keeping up with events in the laboratory.
"Wade, he did it!" Kim's face and voice were both frightened. "They're invisible! Do you have any ideas…"
Loud screaming drowned out her request.
A/N
As always, thank you all for reading. I really appreciate the reviews I have received up to this point.
A big thanks to Joe Stoppinghem for his invaluable Beta reading services.
Today, being Sunday, June 15 prompts me to wish a very happy Father's Day to all my fellow fathers who may be reading this.
Best wishes;
daccu65