7. True Agenda (The Thick Plottens, Pt. 1)

William came home that Friday night with raised spirits, driven by the level of concern and generosity of his fellow Board members. They not only accepted the list of sacrifices he offered - they did so without question - and even made sacrifices of their own without a word of askance from him. Between just the members of the Eastgate Board, they had nearly raised the $20 million that Kim's captors were demanding. Cheryl gave William the confidence he was looking for in expressing her trust that their own Meridian employees and the Los Angeles office would cover the rest.

William walked in the door and heard the sounds from the basement as Kimi continued to try to work off her frustration. She came up immediately after he called her, her clothes and hair fairly damp with sweat, her towel around her shoulders. Even though she knew the scope of sacrifice her father had committed to, the news he brought home was the best she had gotten since Kim's abduction. Upon hearing this news, she threw her arms tightly around William, squealing, "Diamond free! Diamond free!" This was one of the moments that William counted his blessings to have a daughter like Kimi - so full of life, and love for those around her, as opposed to the idiopathic angst and almost surreal pessimisim exhibited by many in her age group.

Even in the lateness of the evening, Kimi's next thought turned to food, and her father was in complete agreement. Kimi went to get a shower and fresh clothes, while William went into the kitchen and took out some beef stew, which Kim served a few nights before their trip and had placed the uneaten portion in the freezer. William defrosted the large plastic container in the microwave, and prepared a couple of bowls for him and Kimi, warming them. There's no such concept as becoming tired of or bored with Kim's cooking, William thought as he brought out the first bowl. Kim had made the dish from scratch, as with most of her meals, cooking a boneless shoulder roast beforehand until it was tender, and slicing it into bite-size pieces; then placing it into a crock pot, slicing potatoes and "baby" carrots to simmer in the meat's juices, adding mushrooms, and some potato flakes to thicken the broth. She had let the pot simmer for most of the day, then spooned it all onto a bed of biscuit dough in a large pan and placing it into the oven to finish. She called it her "upside-down pot pie."

10:21 PM, Eastgate time
Saturday, 6:21 AM, Cairo time
-29 Days
William noticed his daughter was eating rather slowly, contemplating each bite before she ate it. "You okay, Ki?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said softly. "I just started thinking how Mom puts such love into everything she cooks. It's all about she puts a bit of herself into every meal." She slowly sank her fork into a carrot and brought it to her mouth. "I need to learn how to cook like this."

"She's been that way for as long as I've known her," William said, using a bit of the biscuit crust to sop up some of the broth. "She insisted on making breakfast a couple of days after she came through the Cross...it was the day after she found out one of her close friends had been..." He stopped and his eyes fell a bit.

Kimi paused for a moment, studying her father's face. "...Angelica...?" she finally said.

William slowly brought up his eyes to his daughter. "Yeah," he said. "She and Kim were close...closer than with other Cellers. Your mother said they had a real rappore, because she was really nervous about her first cross...Angelica talked her through it. She would share her sayings and other things." William chased another bite of crust through the broth.

"Mom told me about her on the night I found the tapes," said Kimi. "She said Angelica was all about perky and happy, and that she didn't think her face could form a frown."

"Yeah...that's Angelica, alright," said William. "The day after that, we were playing some music, and Kim played some stuff she said Angelica liked. Seems we had the same taste in music."

"Yeah," Kimi smirked, pushing her father's arm playfully, "all about that old stuff you play."

William laughed softly. "Uh-huh. Just so happens your mother is 'all about that old stuff' too...and hey - who's been listening to her mother's Rush collection lately?"

Kimi giggled at this, wrinkling her nose at William through another bite of food. "When Mom gets back, I'll let you guys play that old stuff all night."

They finished their meal, and William put the rest back into the freezer. William washed dishes while Kimi dried and put them away. It was only after they had finished the dishes that William and Kimi realized the toll the day and the roller-coaster of emotion had taken on them, both physically and mentally. They had originally planned on a few games of backgammon before turning in - but it was closing in on midnight, and even after just one game, which William won, he asked for a small break to "rest his eyes for a few." 18 hours awake, the fatigue of traveling halfway across the globe twice, and the emotional tug-and-shove of events had all come to ask their price be paid. He laid back on the couch - and was fast asleep within moments. Kimi spent a few minutes going over her errors that allowed her father the victory; then she pulled an afghan and a large pillow from a nearby chair and curled up on the floor on the other side of the coffee table.

Saturday, June 15th, 11:28 AM, Eastgate time
Saturday, 7:28 PM, Cairo time
-29 Days
"Frannie??"

"Yeah Mom?"

"I'm finishing up the dusting...since you're in the kitchen, can you put the laundry into the dryer?"

Frannie let the jellybean she almost had to her mouth slip out of her fingers and drop to the counter, rolling next to the sugar bowl. Her eyes rolled toward the ceiling. "Yeah, Mom," she said, straightening and turning for the wash room off the kitchen. During the week, her mother made little demand on her regarding house chores. But Frannie was well acquainted with the Saturday routine. The moment she stepped out of her room after waking, her mother would have a chore for her to either perform or help with. If she mentioned wanting to go or having to be anywhere on a Saturday, her mother would invariably utter, "Before you go, can you...?" Even if Frannie stayed in her bedroom all morning, her mother would knock and enter with an inviting lunch, along with, "Just seeing if you're feeling alright. Oh, and after you eat, can you...?"

Frannie flipped her waist-length blonde hair over her shoulder, tipping open the door on the dryer, and reached into the washing machine, hauling out an armful of clothes and piling them onto the door of the dryer, then shoving them in. One of her ambitions in life was to gain her mother's powers of passive but effective persuasion.

Frannie put the last of the clothes into the dryer and reached for the control pad to start the machine. She suddenly cocked her head to a faint noise from upstairs. "Incoming vmail," she called to her mother. "Might be Ki." Frannie flew out of the kitchen to the stairs, taking two at a time and rounding the top of the banister to turn toward her room. She stopped at the doorway before entering, listening to Kimi's voice over the speakers:

"Fra? Pick up...I know you're not still sleeping...chores on Saturday...all about orders from the Mom-Lord...but I know you can hear me...F-to-the-R-to-the-An-a-Hiz-zaayy..." her tone became one of mock frustration "...Francesca McGinnis, if you don't pick up this vmail right now, I'm all about showing you my belly button again - full screen!"

Kimi stared at her monitor for a second, drumming her fingers on the desk. "Fine," she blurted, "all about you asked for it." She plucked the cam from atop the monitor, lifting her shirt slightly and moving the cam beneath it. Frannie had sat at her desk as soon as she heard "Fine," picking up her own cam. A finger hovered over the "y" key on her keyboard, waiting for the cue.

Kimi centered the cam on her stomach, moving it closer. "Lovely day for a navel voyage--"

Frannie brought the cam to her mouth and stabbed the "y" key.

Kimi was suddenly confronted by a screenful of her friend's stuck-out tongue and "uuuuuaaaaahhhh" through the speakers. "--EwwwwaaAAHH!!" she shrieked, dropping the cam as Frannie burst into uncontrollable laughter. "SicksickallaboutSICK! Why do you DO that!??" Kimi recoiled, shaking out her hands in disgust.

"Beca-aause I ca-ann!" Frannie said through her laughter. Her view on the screen was now from the floor, focused on one of Kimi's shoes.

The view then tipped around as Kimi picked up the cam, placing it back onto the monitor. She plopped back against her chair, folding her arms, her brow lowered. "You viru-licked my belly button!"

"And you virtu-liked it!" Frannie giggled.

Kimi huffed. "...if you weren't such a diamond friend otherwise..." then "What are you all about today?"

"The usual," sighed Frannie. "The Planet of Eternal Choredom"

"No, you're not," Kimi said, smiling and shaking her head slowly. "You're all about leave your room, walk out of your house, sit your diamond self on the front porch, and wait for us to drive down there...it's all about lunch...say it with me now...a Knick Knack Chick Shack Chick'n Bitz Blitz."

The two girls then concentrated on each other's images on the screen as they began to chant, faster and faster, "Knick Knack Chick Shack Chick'n Bitz Blitz...Knick-Knack-Chick-Shack-Chick'n-Bitz-Blitz ...KnickKnackChickShackChick'nBitzBlitz..."

"...KnickKnackShickShack--" Frannie stuttered.

"HA!" Kimi exclaimed, pointing at the screen. "All about I win! Shick Shack..." she mocked.

Frannie growled in exasperation. "That's the last time I play that me too many Bitz."

"Awww," consoled Kimi, "all about no big. I'll only take two Bitz as your penalty today, instead of the usual 5."

"Only 2?" Frannie said, rather surprised, as Kimi nodded. "You must be all about a better mood today."

"Yep," perked Kimi. "I'll be all about details at lunch. Hey," she smirked, "at least this wasn't as bad as that other time you tripped..." she raised her open hands, looking toward the ceiling "...Chick'n Shi--"

"Yeah yeah," Frannie interrupted, "we remember, okay? You won that one, too...all about let it go."

Kimi tittered, then cocked her hand to her ear. "It's all about the horn," she said. "Me go. If you make us wait for you, it will be 5 Bitz from you!" She then shot a wrinkled-nose smirk and a wink at her friend - and the screen went blank.

Frannie shot up from her chair, tapping the key to close the vmail. She called to her mother as she swung the front door open, seeing William and Kimi pull into the driveway. "Bye Mom...going to lunch with Kimi and Mr. H!"

"Okay," Frannie's mother answered as she walked into the kitchen to fix a sandwich.

Frannie came from the front door quickly, running to the car at a fair clip, nearly falling as Kimi swung open the rear door of the Nexus. "Go...gogo," she said hurriedly - then pumped her fist on her leg as William backed out of the driveway. "Yes! Free zone!"

Frannie's mother opened the front door as the car pulled away, her daughter waving with a wide smile from the rear window. "Francesca Marie McGinnis, there is a load of wet clothes in this dryer...which is not on!"

12:22 PM, Eastgate time
8:28 PM, Cairo time
-29 Days
William, Kimi and Frannie arrived at the Knick Knack Chick Shack, with a call on the way from Frannie's mother, which William defused by explaining the events of the past couple of days and the news they had received concerning the efforts to secure the ransom money for Kim's release. Upon hearing this news, Frannie was elated for her friend and her father.

They had a good meal of Chick'n Bitz and potato wedges. Frannie paid her penalty of 2 Chick'n Bitz for her earlier verbal misstep - which she then proceeded to win back during a post-meal game of "Bitz Hockey" - in which the goal was to see how close one could flick a Chick'n Bit to the opposite edge of the table without any of the Bit hanging over.

After lunch, William drove the girls to the Eastgate Mall, where they spent a couple of hours perusing clothes, albums - and cautiously, when out of direct sight of William - boys. Kimi also called Frannie's mother and apologized for keeping her from her usual Saturday task list - and worked out a deal with her, promising to spend the following Saturday doing any chores the McGinnis household could come up with, in exchange for Frannie spending the night at Kimi's house. Frannie's mother had always liked Kimi - even if she continually refused her spinach waffles - and, knowing that Kim and William's daughter was sure to make good on her word, agreed to the sleepover.

That evening, Kimi asked to again have the "upside-down pot pie" her mother had made, wanting her best friend's reaction to the meal. As was expected, Frannie was impressively pleased with the dish, and asked if Kim had ever given thought to giving lessons in cooking as well as karate. Kimi and William laughed, his daughter adding the comment, "all about so not the spinach waffles."

Saturday, June 15th, 9:21 PM, Eastgate time
Sunday, June 16th, 5:21 AM, Cairo time
-28 Days
William came from the kitchen with a piping cup of tea as Kimi brought the backgammon set from under the coffee table, opening it and preparing the board for a few games with Frannie. "I'm going to do a bit of bookkeeping," he said, "then turn in. Ki, you know where the extra pillows and stuff are." His daughter nodded in response as William added with a smirk, "Not that I think you two will...be about...much sleep tonight."

"Thanks for lunch and the afternoon at the mall and everything, Mr. H," Frannie said as she picked a dice cup out of the backgammon board.

"It was my pleasure," William replied, "but I don't think we should make a habit of me being the one who saves you from your chores...might give the wrong impression at the McGinnis house."

"Awww," Frannie snickered, "but you're so good at it. Between you as the transportation and Kimi as the diplomat, I could get out of chores until Christmas!"

"Sure!" William said in animated agreement. "You could just stay here every weekend...and after a while, maybe we could have you doing a few little things around here...and by Christmas, we'd have a fully trained housemaid! Then we could use what we would pay a normal maid so your mother could hire someone to get things done at your house! What a brilliant friend you have, Ki!" he punctuating the last by putting a finger to his mouth while nodding slowly.

Frannie's face dropped in mock defeat. "Well," she sighed, "thanks for the the afternoon, anyway."

Kimi burst into laughter at this. "Thanks for softening her up, Dad...I'll be sure to win games tonight!" Frannie's response was to throw one of her dice at Kimi, who was still laughing as she blocked, the die bouncing off her forearm onto the couch.

"Goodnight, you two," William smiled, turning for the hallway and walking toward his office.

"G'night, Dad. Love you."

"Goodnight, Mr. H...and thanks again." Frannie watched as William returned a wave over his shoulder before entering his office and closing the door. "Everyone needs a diamond like your dad," she said as Kimi returned her die to her.

"Yeah," Kimi smiled, agreeing. "Both my parents are the deep-blue bang...they always have been."

"It's been almost a year since mine were all about the 'trial separation' thing," said Frannie with a bit of a sigh. "They still won't say much more than 'boo' to each other. About the most I've heard them talk in the same room was when they made sure I knew it wasn't about me."

"Doesn't matter who it's 'about'," Kimi said. "It's all about hope they get back together...that's the best for you. It's all about commitment." She placed a single die into her cup for the roll to decide first turn. "I can't even imagine my parents splitting...they're all about forever...but if they ever did have differences that bad, I think they'd still work it enough so that we were a family until I was old enough to leave the house."

"Maybe I should take your dad up on his offer," Frannie said a bit dejectedly, "even if it was all about sarcastically fake."

Kimi rose from the couch to sit next to her friend on the floor, placing an arm around her. "Shine up, my diamond Fra-unit," she said, brushing one of Frannie's long bangs from her face and over her shoulder, "it's all about keep the faith. Your 'rent-units will find the path again."

Frannie brought her glassy eyes up to meet Kimi's. "Ki?"

"Yeah, Fra?"

"You're the brightest, purest diamond a friend could ever want." With this, she embraced Kimi in a warm hug. Then "Hey...remember that day you found out about your mom?"

"Remember?" Kimi perked, pulling back. "All about made my life even more diamond than before...why?"

"Remember you said...someday you'd tell me what your mom told you...about her other life and where she came from and how she got here...?"

Kimi nodded slowly, thinking of all the wondrous things she learned of her mother that night...the things that drew her and Kim closer, and created a bond even beyond her wishes.

Frannie looked at Kimi - and simply repeated the phrase her friend posed to her mother on that life-changing night:

"Tell me."

Kimi opened her mother's world to Frannie, telling her every aspect she knew about Cellers, their interaction with and integration into the Flesher environment; the circumstances and events surrounding Kim's arrival; and those that transpired since, including the loss of Angelica, whom Kim looked to as her sort of "personal" Cross Agent, and even Kimi's birth itself. She refrained from showing the tape of her birth, respecting her mother's wishes of privacy - but she did take Frannie to William's office to view the case containing the items pertaining to Kim's Cross event, and the mirror she stepped through over 15 years before. Just as with Kimi when she heard it, Frannie took in the whole thing like a young child being read a fantasy adventure novel.

After sharing the nearly surreal story of Cellers with Frannie, Kimi treated her to a few episodes of her show. In the couple of weeks between school letting out and their departure for Cairo, Kimi had spent time copying the five years' run of episodes to mini vid disks, so that she could watch them on her computer without tying up the TV.

Sunday, June 16th, 1:18 AM, Eastgate time
Sunday, June 16th, 9:18 AM, Cairo time
-28 Days
Frannie had picked out another episode - "Monkey Fist Strikes" - and they watched as Kim negotiated the passages in the monkey temple to find the jade statue sought after by Lord Monte Fiske.

"Okay...how'd she do that?? All about fire!" asked Frannie as Kim somersaulted between and around flames shooting from the walls of one passage. "You said she was all about no stunt double."

"Nope," Kimi said. "All about her own stunts."

"Yeah, but...what was that....with the flip...?"

:::Once again, cheerleading saves my life!:::

"All about a-durrr...she does know karate...flips...rolls...body tone..." Kimi began to search her pockets. "Where's that darn Clue Bee when you need one--" she reached into her back pocket, straightening out her finger, then began to tap Frannie on the head "--oh yeah...all about bzzzzzzzz-doink!"

Frannie giggled as she tried to duck Kimi's finger. "Okay, okay...so it's all about she really can do all that stuff."

They continued watching as Kim reached the top of a corridor and slipped over the edge of a sharp dropoff, catching herself by one hand:

:::Spikes...gee, where are the snakes?:::

As if on cue, three menacing serpents appeared, advancing toward Kim:

:::I was just being sarcastic!!:::

As Frannie watched, transfixed to the action, Kimi quietly slid her hand behind her friend, drifting her finger across her shoulder, whispering, "Snake..." - then collapsing into laughter as Frannie jumped and twisted, slapping first at her shoulder - then at Kimi, who was helpless from laughter.

Kimi had an idea to make a vidposter from a screenshot of one of the episodes for her mother's return. A product of software that William had gotten, the poster could be assembled from up to 9 sheets of a special liquid crystal "motion" paper, the image would hold a short clip of video. They mulled over the episodes they had watched that night, finally deciding on a scene from "Attack of The Killer Bebes," in which Kim had found the missing scientists, held by Doctor Drakken in the Middleton Motor Lodge.

The clip they chose was immediately after Kim had leaped onto two of the Bebes, ramming their heads together to cause a short, and jumping up, thrusting her fist into the air and shouting "Yes!" They took the mini disk with the episode to Kimi's computer, capturing the clip and loading it into the software, watching it process the video into a format suitable for the motion paper. As each sheet printed out, they laid them on Kimi's bed, eventually assembling the scene - a perfect reproduction of just under three seconds of video, now covering a space four by five feet. Satisfied and proud of their completed project, they returned to the living room in the wee hours of the morning and prepared for sleep, Kimi inviting Frannie to take the couch while she moved the recliner into a nearly flat position and pulled an afghan over herself.

Everyone slept a bit late the next morning, waking around 10. Frannie offered to cook breakfast for the three, putting together her specialty - strawberry crepes, topped with whipped cream. They spent the afternoon playing backgammon, with a small break for sandwiches with turkey and swiss cheese, and a large bowl of grapes which the three picked from.

It was nearing dinnertime when Kimi accompanied Frannie on the block or so walk to her house. Frannie's mother expressed her happiness at Kimi's good news about her mother's release so close at hand. They talked for a short while about the list of chores Kimi would perform as part of her bargain, which Frannie's mother kept short, in case events of the release would occur or carry into the following weekend. Kimi gave her word to complete the tasks her best friend's mother set before her - then bid Frannie good evening before starting the walk home.

Sunday, June 16th, 7:48 PM, Eastgate time
Monday, June 17th, 3:48 AM, Cairo time
-27 Days
Kimi unlocked and opened the front door, walking through the foyer into the living room, where William was organizing and putting away mini disks the girls had been watching during their sleepover. "I can do that, Dad," she said, crossing the living room. "We actually should have done it earlier today. We made kind of a mess."

"It's not so bad," said William, arranging a group of disks into a holder. "At least there wasn't food all over, like the slumber party you had last winter."

"Hey, that was Frannie's 15th birthday," Kimi replied. "And there has to be a mess...otherwise, it's not a real slumber party."

William smirked at his daughter. "Well, based on that criteria alone...that was really a 'real' slumber party." He then turned his head toward the hallway as the familiar replica notes of the Kimmunicator sounded from his office.

"I'll finish this, Dad," Kimi smiled. "Get your incoming."

"'K," William said, handing his daughter a small stack of disks and giving her a small pat on the back before turning for the hallway. Kimi thought back for a moment to Frannie's reactions to Kim's story as she placed each of the disks containing her mother's show episodes into a holder.

7:53 PM, Eastgate time
Monday, 3:53 AM, Cairo time
-27 Days
"Ki?" Kimi heard her father call from his office. She hurriedly placed the last of the mini disks into their holder and placed it on the shelf.

"KIMI!?" he called again more forcefully.

Kimi quickened her pace as she came down the hallway to William's office. "Coming."

She appeared at the doorway of the office, just catching William wiping at his eyes and turning to meet hsi daughter's gaze. "Sit down here, Ki," he said, motioning to the floor beside his chair.

She walked over and felt her father's hand at her shoulder as she sank to her knees. "...w-what...?" she said softly as William tapped the "h" key on the keyboard to take the vmail from hold. The screen filled with Captain Broderson's face, lit by a lamp to his left. "Hey Cap'n Mark," Kimi perked slightly. "What's going on?"

"Hi there, Kimi," Mark replied, his face remaining stern. "William was telling me about how things had gone when you got back home. I want to tell you...I wish I had friends and coworkers like those."

Kimi felt a bit confused about Mark's tone, and her father's unreadable expression. "Cap'n Mark?" she asked. "This...isn't a...good news kind of call...is it..?"

"I wish it were," Mark said, his eyes falling to the side a bit. "Things have...well...it's been kind of a tough weekend here. The first part I've already told your father. The morning after you left...someone posing as a nurse got past our security at the hospital...Ramsi was killed by one of El-Dok's operatives...and then she took her own life."

Kimi visibly recoiled from the news as Mark continued. "From what we've put together since Kim was abducted, Ramsi was working for El-Dok...the call he made on the ship before the flight...apparently, once he knew who your mother was and talked with her for a bit, he called to tell her captors exactly where she was going on her trip. Of course, there's no way to talk to someone while they're in a coma, but if he had woke up, Ramsi was our only possible hope of gaining more information about El-Dok."

Mark's voice became even more stern as he picked up a few sheets of paper from his desk. "This next part..." he paused for a moment "I...I wanted you both in the room to hear. Kimi, William tells me you've been watching episodes from Kim's show--" she nodded "--so you pretty much know now who Wade is...remember when I told you we had a few Cellers working in the intelligence sector...?" she nodded again "Wade's one of them...he's worked closely to help us over the years, coordinating with Cross Agents, and has been helping to smooth and further the integration of Cellers into our environment."

Kimi reached for William's hand on her shoulder, bringing it down into her own.

"I understand you've been told by your mother all about how the Resonance Conduit works, right? another nod from Kimi. "Well as you probably know, villians can't cross into the Flesher environment...as a Cross only comes to a Flesher with a 'pure heart."

"All about no evil," Kimi nodded.

Mark adjusted the papers he held, which was an email from Wade, and going over details, then continuing. "Late last month, there was a...a breach, if you will, in the Resonance Conduit...and there are now a couple of...evil elements...loose in the Flesher environment." Kimi took in a long quiet gasp. "They covered their tracks pretty well. It wasn't until a couple of days before your trip that the breach was even discovered..and Wade didn't want to let us in on any details until he was sure." Mark's eyes dropped as he said the last.

Kimi wasn't quite sure where Mark was going with this, or how it pertained to her mother's disappearance - until Mark spoke again. "Kimi...William...Doctor Drakken and Shego have crossed into the Flesher environment...they're the ones behind Kim's abduction." Mark then shuffled the papers he held, shifting to another page. "They crossed to a teenaged girl in Maine...a fan of Kim's...much like William, her parents were big fans, and had collected episodes of the show. Their daughter watched them...and in the Resonance cycle in May, she was scheduled to get a visit from Kim. Drakken and Shego somehow hijacked the stream - and they showed up instead. They left for the Middle East immediately after getting here. and hooked up with some evil people of the Flesher variety."

"Dok...Drak," Kimi stuttered. "That's where the name comes from - Doctor Drakken. It doesn't have anything at all to do with claws, or dragons..."

"Yep," Mark said, shuffling to a third page. "This is the rough part, guys. I got this email from Wade a couple of hours ago. You know that in the show, one of Drakken's objectives is to get rid of Kim Possible. Wade says that, in the past few hours, Drakken and Shego have been launching plans to do away with the Kim in the Celler environment - and they succeeded. The Kim that's here...your wife and mother...is the last iteration of Kim Possible in existence in either environment. Wade found out that Drakken and Shego are here to carry out the same thing in the Flesher environment that they have in the Celler environment."

"But that's not going to happen," Kimi interrupted. "We're all about all but have the money. Should be here by the end of the week."

Mark looked at Kimi, admiring her innocence and tenacity to that which was right. "I'm afraid it's not about the money, Kimi," he said. "I'm sorry to have to say this, but...whether in the Celler or Flesher environment, Kim stands as the major obstacle to their ultimate plans to take over the world - either world. Wade says in his mail that--" he stopped for a moment to steady his breath "--that they mean to do away with Kim...whether you get them the money or not. The only positive thing we've found out is that they're waiting until the passing of the 30-day deadline, as they've said...to see if you can actually get the money...it would just be a plus to their plan at this point. It buys us more time."

Kimi felt a lump rising in her throat as her father's hand tightened around hers. "Is...is there any way of finding out where they're holding Mom?" she asked. "Get some...I don't know...army guys in there or something?"

"I'm afraid there isn't," Mark said resignedly, "even if we knew where they were. About six years ago, there was a pact drawn up between The United Nations and The Cross Agents...called the Cross-Environment Non-Aggression Pact. CENAP won't allow any military action by one environment on behalf of the other...and since Drakken and Shego are involved, it falls within the limitations of the pact."

William's head dropped slowly into his hand, both now shaking. Kimi continued to stare at the screen, as if some magic solution would suddenly spring from Mark's mouth.

"Don't give up yet, William," Mark said. "We're still working on this. There's still time, even as bad as it looks now...we're going to work with Wade to see if there is a non-military solution around this."

"Thank you for everything you've been doing to help, Cap'n Mark," Kimi said quietly through her shock.

"I...have to go," said William blankly. "And yes...thank you Captain. Please let us know if there's anything else you find out."

"I sure will, William," Mark replied. "Stay hopeful. We're not beat yet."

William rose from his chair as the screen went dark, not making eye contact with Kimi. His hand slipped slowly from hers. "I'm...I'm going to bed," he said almost in a whisper - and walked out of the room without another word.

Kimi remained on the floor, staring at the now-blank screen - still looking for a magic solution to jump out of it to save her mother.

to be continued...