Mission: Possible
by Gary D. Snyder
Chapter 2:
Rather than have B.T.S.O. issue them any special equipment, Jimmy opted to equip himself and Cindy with devices from his own lab. Some of the devices were familiar to Cindy from previous escapades with Jimmy and his friends, but several were new to her. Among the unfamiliar devices was what appeared to be a cross between a pair of binoculars and a Viewmaster that Jimmy referred to as the Neutron Omnispecs 2000.
"And just what are the Neutron Omnispecs 2000?" Cindy asked.
"Just the latest advance in visual surveillance equipment," Jimmy explained. "They provide access to the full range of the electromagnetic spectrum, including the visible, infrared, ultraviolet, cosmic, X-ray –"
"X-ray?" echoed Cindy uncomfortably.
"They don't emit X-rays. They just pick them up and produce a false color image of X-ray emissions."
Cindy shook her head impatiently. "I didn't mean that. I mean, you can see through things with that gizmo?"
Jimmy nodded. "Yep. Well, except extremely dense substances like lead or osmium or –"
"Including clothes?"
Jimmy thought about it. "Well, yes. I suppose so. Why?"
Cindy folded her arms across her chest in defiance. "Just this, hot shot. You'd just better point those things in another direction when I'm around. Got it?"
Jimmy looked shocked. "What are you implying? That I'm some kind of peeping Tom?"
"I'm just saying that I don't think you could resist the urge to embarrass me if the opportunity arose."
Jimmy started to protest but then thought better of it. Once Cindy got an idea in her head it was nearly impossible to get it out and usually dangerous to even try. "Okay, fine. You keep the Omnispecs then, if you don't trust me." He handed her the device to put into her backpack. "Just don't leave them on when you're not using them. You'll drain the battery. Oh, that reminds me." He opened a cabinet on the wall and removed two cylinders that appeared to be D-size batteries. "I'd better take a couple Neutron energy cells just in case."
"Extra batteries? Why?"
"On the last mission we nearly got creamed by a giant snowball because we didn't have any. This time I want to make sure I don't make that mistake." Jimmy finished stowing the cells and straightened up. "Okay, I think that's it. Ready to go?"
Cindy nodded and her backpack over her shoulder. "Ready. How are we going to get to Middleton?"
"We could take the hovercraft, but since we're in a hurry we'll have to use the Strato XL. I figure that it will take about 20 minutes to get there from here. Adjusting for time zones that will get us there at about 9:00 PM, local time."
"Will that be enough time to get ready?" Cindy asked as she climbed into the rocket.
"It should be. All the other thefts took place sometime around midnight." Jimmy settled into the pilot's seat and began activating controls. "Okay. Egress hatch is open. Atomic batteries to power, turbines to speed, and…we're off!" At the touch of a button the rocket's powerful engines roared to life and Cindy felt the exhilarating sensation of acceleration as the ship soared away from Jimmy's clubhouse into the upper atmosphere. She had flown in the craft before, but each time she had to admit that the ride was as exciting as the time before.
It was actually a few minutes before 9:00 PM when the Strato XL touched down on the outskirts of Middleton. As the two exited from the rocket Cindy thought of something that worried her. "Hey, Jimmy," she said. "What if someone spots this while we're away?"
"No worries," Jimmy replied. He activated his wrist communicator and touched a button. As he did so the ship seemed to ripple and then faded away completely. "Cloaking technology," Jimmy explained, seeing Cindy's astonished face. "We just have to remember where we parked so we can be nearby when we de-cloak the ship."
They made it without incident to the Middleton Institute of Technology's Advance Materials Lab and hid in the shadows while Jimmy rummaged through his backpack. After a few seconds' searching he found what he was looking for and stealthily approached one of the building's side doors with Cindy following closely behind.
"What's that?" Cindy whispered as Jimmy pointed it at the doorknob and activated it.
"A focused ultrasonic projector," Jimmy whispered back as he gently worked the cylinder back and forth with a tool in his other hand. "It should vibrate the lock tumblers into position and unlock the door."
"What if it doesn't work?"
"Well, there's always the laser although I hate to – okay, got it," he announced softly as a click came from the doorknob and it rotated freely. "According to B.T.S.O.'s map of the facility the materials storage facility should be down the hall to the left. Follow me."
"Okay," she whispered back. "Just go slowly."
It was pitch dark Inside the building and rather than search for a light switch Jimmy had Cindy put on the Omnispecs. Following his instructions she activated the infrared mode of the device and took the lead. They had gone about twenty feet when Cindy suddenly stopped, causing Jimmy to bump into her. "What is it?" he asked quietly.
"I can see some bright beams across the hallway," she whispered. "They must be infrared detectors."
"Can you get past them?"
"Yes, I can. But you might blunder right into them."
"Okay, then, guide me to the beams and tell me what to do to get past them. The only other option is to trade off the Omnispecs and there's the danger we might drop them or break one of the beams when we pass them."
Following Cindy's directions Jimmy made it past the invisible light beams and waited for Cindy to maneuver through them as well. Once past the sensors they continued on to the hall leading to the materials storage facility, where, fortunately, there did not appear to be any additional security precautions visible in the infrared spectrum. The door to the storage area was also locked, but ultrasonic vibrations made short work of the locking mechanism and they entered without difficulty. Just for good measure Cindy scanned the large room with the Omniscope to ensure that everything was clear while Jimmy waited, literally in the dark, with growing impatience.
"Well?" he asked at last. Although he was whispering the acoustics of the large room seemed to magnify his voice and cause it to echo.
"It seems okay," Cindy whispered back, "but there's some sort of heat source near the roof, about twenty feet up." She paused. "Make that two."
"How big?"
"Hard to say at this distance. They almost look like they're moving. No, strike that. They are moving. In fact –" She broke off and suddenly shoved Jimmy aside, yelling, "Duck!"
Jimmy sprawled on the floor and was conscious of something or someone rushing past him in the near total darkness. Without the benefit of night vision there was little he could do other than hope that Cindy would be able to fare better with the Omniscope. "It must be them!" he called out, not bothering to keep his voice down any longer. "Be careful – he's not much but she's an expert in martial arts!"
"Nice to be appreciated," a female voice said.
Cindy quickly found Jimmy's warning to be completely unnecessary. The lithe figure before her seemed to have little difficulty in keeping Cindy on the defensive and she had no doubt that her opponent was thoroughly skilled in hand-to-hand combat. From time to time Cindy sought to take advantage of a temporary opening, only to find her punch or kick deftly blocked and a return stroke headed her way. Though she had been able to hold her own thus far Cindy was clearly outmatched and knew it was only a matter of time before her assailant learned her fighting technique. Once that happened it would quickly put an end to the battle. "A little help here!" she called out, tired and angry.
Jimmy, in the meantime, had been grabbed by the scruff of the neck from behind by a second unseen foe and lifted completely off his feet. "Got the other one!" he heard an unfamiliar voice say. "You doing okay?"
"Hey, no big," a female voice answered. "Really, I mean that. This one must be about four feet tall." Cindy snarled and took an especially vicious swing at her opponent who skillfully parried it. "You know, I'm beginning to think that maybe this isn't what we thought it was."
"Well, after we take these two down maybe they can shed some light on things." "An excellent suggestion," Jimmy said. Although he couldn't wriggle out of his captor's grasp he arms were still free. He reached into one of his pocket, extracted what appeared to be a flashlight, and activated it. Instantly the device cast forth a soft but bright light that illuminated the immediate surroundings and saturated the photomultipliers of the night vision devices in use. Jimmy's captor immediately dropped him as he instinctively threw his hands over his eyes.
"I'm blind!" he cried, staggering around in circles. "I can't see a thing!"
Jimmy paid scant attention to him. Instead, he was looking at Cindy's opponent who, despite Jimmy's unexpected move, had recovered beautifully by casting off her night vision goggles, flipping away from Cindy, and dropping into a defensive stance. She was a girl in her mid-teens, dressed in a midriff-baring black pullover and grey guerilla-style pants. She had fashionably long reddish-brown hair and green eyes, and was, despite her attire, extremely attractive without being intimidating.
"You're not Beautiful," was all Jimmy could say.
"So the charmer," the girl replied dryly, relaxing her stance a bit.
"Blind!" the girl's partner wailed.
"Downshift the drama, Ron," the girl said easily. "Take off the goggles."
The person named Ron, who was dressed much as the girl was, complied and breathed a noisy sigh of relief as he joined his partner. Cindy had removed and deactivated the Omnispecs as well even though they had been unaffected by the light of Jimmy's torch. Unlike the night vision goggles the Omnispecs did not amplify ambient light, but rather selectively scanned specific portions of the electromagnetic spectrum and coverted them into visible frequencies. The four looked at each other uncertainly, not quite sure what to say. At last Jimmy broke the silence.
"I guess it's pretty obvious that you two are not Professor Calamitous and his daughter, Beautiful Gorgeous," he said. "Um…that's what I meant when I said you weren't Beautiful. I didn't mean you weren't beautiful, I just meant that you weren't the person who actually is Beautiful…I mean…I didn't' mean…" his voice trailed off into an awkward silence.
The girl didn't appear to be offended, and almost seemed amused by his ramblings. "Never mind, I think I understand," the girl replied. "And it's pretty obvious that you two aren't Dr. Drakken and Shego, either."
"So, who are you?" asked Cindy.
"Kim Possible," the girl answered. "And this is my friend Ron Stoppable."
"And you are –?" Ron asked.
"I'm Jimmy Neutron," Jimmy replied. "And this is my partner Cindy Vortex."
"A little past your curfew, isn't it?" asked Kim.
"Well, yes and no. I mean, we're kind of on a mission here. There have been some scientific robberies lately and -"
"Whoa, whoa, hold on," Ron said. "You're on a mission?"
"Well, yes," replied Cindy. "And you?"
"We're…kind of on a…mission, too," Ron answered slowly. "But we really can't say much about it. Hush-hush and all that."
"Uh-huh," said Jimmy. "Same here."
"This is too weird," was all Kim could say. "You can't be more than twelve and you say you're on a secret mission? For whom?"
"I'm afraid I can't say unless I know you're cleared for it," Jimmy replied. "Who are you working for?"
"Same answer," was Kim's response.
"So where do we go from here?" asked Cindy.
In response Kim removed what appeared to be a PDA from a back pouch and activated it. "Wade, you there?"
The face of a young boy appeared on a small video screen. "Always am," a voice replied.
"We've run into some major weirdness here. Could you do me a favor?"
"What's the sitch?" The voice from Kim's device broke into a laugh. "I've always wanted to say that. Seriously, what do you need?"
"There are a couple kids here named Jimmy Neutron and Cindy Vortex who claim to be on a secret mission but they won't or can't say who. We need to sort things out to know how to proceed here."
"You want me to do some snooping on the covert channels?" the boy named Wade said.
"Please and thank you. And could you hurry? I think we'll be getting some company pretty soon and it would be nice to know who's wearing the white hats by then."
Wade gave a low whistle. "You're talking about getting through some major firewalls and breaking some pretty serious encryption here. RSA, PGP, DES…"
"Half a hour enough?" Kim smiled.
"No problem. I should have something for you in fifteen minutes." The screen went dark and the four young people settled back in an uneasy truce to await the results.
End of Chapter 2
Author's Notes:
In every crossover there always seems to be an obligatory misunderstanding and battle before everyone knows who's who and the good guys can finally work together. Part of this is to let the readers evaluate their favorites against the other guys and determine who's "better" than whom. In this one I'd have to give Kim Possible the nod over Cindy on the martial art skills, but am sure that Cindy could easily take Ron despite his skills with Tai Chi Pe Kwa (or however the Chinese name for Monkey Kung Fu is spelled). As to whether Jimmy is smarter than Wade…well, next chapter will settle that.