Chapter 17

"Here's the problem," said Mr. Possible, pulling a circuit board out of Shego's space suit. "Whoever wired up this board was too liberal with the solder. There are several contacts touching that shouldn't be. I can have it fixed in a jiffy."

"What does that doohickeymajig do, Mr. Dr. P?" asked Ron.

"It routs the medical data from the sensors to the computer memory," was the answer, "When these contacts cross-circuited, it made it appear that a medical crisis was approaching."

"Ooookay..." said Ron, obviously confused.

"Ron, it means that nothing was actually wrong with Shego, a bad circuit made it LOOK like there was," translated Kim.

He looked happier. "Gotcha, KP, thanks."

This news was good, after being scared that Shego was about to begin a bad session. Mrs. Possible had given her a full checkout, and found nothing wrong.

They took advantage of being back aboard ship to recharge their life support systems, take care of "business", and fight with the astronaut food.

While Shego went back to drilling, Kim and Ron found their rock specimens, and put them in the box set aside for them. When it was full, they sealed it and returned it to the Plane.

Shego drilled at two-hour intervals, resting in between. Their suits contained oxygen for six hours, but they were always back aboard well before it was used up.

Wade kept a close eye on the progress of the dig, using the sensors in the comsats and some Kim and Ron had installed on the surface. He made a few minor corrections to Shego's aim, but for the most part left her alone.

A day passed this way. The Earth slowly grew in size, but it was only noticable if you didn't look at it for a few hours.

As had happened on Earth, Shego had to concentrate and make more effort to reach the bottom of the pit as it grew deeper. Mrs. Possible kept a very close eye on Shego's medical readouts, as the mental effort was beginning to affect her physically. But so far, everything had stayed below critical.

The next day they conviened in the flight cabin on the Plane for a last review and instructions.

"Crew, you've all done a super job on this mission!" said Mr. Possible, "We'll be finished in a few hours, and on our way back home!"

There was a sigh from the crew.

"Shego, your skill with your power is to be commended," said Wade, "That tunnel is as straight as humanly possible to make it."

"Thanks, nerdlinger," said Shego, but she was smiling.

"According to sensors, about another hour's drilling will reach the center," he said.

Shego nodded. "Not a problem."

"Rest as often as you need to," said Mrs. Possible, "Your vitals look good, but..."

"You're the doctor," interrupted Shego.

"Okay, then, you need to finish the job, while Ronald and Kimberly take the device down to the surface, and get it ready to go," said Mr. Possible.

Half an hour later, Shego led the way back to the surface, while Ron and Kim held the nuclear bomb by the handles on the packing crate behind her.

As Shego continued to drill, they opened the crate, and looked at the bomb. It was a squat device, about the size of a cannister vacuum cleaner. On top were controls that were dead except for a single green light.

Carefully they lifted it from the crate, and set it aside.

"Ready to go, Captain," reported Ron.

"Good work. Wade, how much longer on the tunnel?" said Mr. Possible.

"I make it... half an hour, tops," answered Wade. "Guys, can you do me a favor?"

"Sure, Wade, what's the sitch?" said Kim.

"One of the comsats has picked up a spot on the surface that is radiating soft x-rays. I can't see what's causing it, and it is unusual. Could you go and take a look?" he asked.

"No big," said Kim.

"Thanks. I'll guide you there, and make sure you're back in plenty of time," answered Wade.

"Good enough. Let's go, Ron," said Kim, grabbing her best friend by the space suited arm. "See you soon, Shego," she said.

"You get to have all the fun," said Shego, glancing at them while continuing to send her green energy downward.

Twenty-three minutes later, Wade called a halt to the digging. She had reached the center of the asteroid. Kim and Ron were on the way back, also unable to find any cause for the x-ray emission, though they confirmed it was actually there.

Shego stretched as well as she could in the suit, then sat down to wait for them. She was tired, but actually felt good. She found it a strange way to be.

A few minutes later, Ron and Kim came over the horizon, walking slowly so they wouldn't end up in orbit.

"Okay, let's get this bad boy into the-" said Ron. "Shego, did you already put the bomb in the hole?

"What? No, I haven't touched it," she answered, standing up.

"Then where is it?" asked Kim.

"How should I know? I thought it was where you left it," said Shego.

"It WAS right here," said Ron, pointing to a spot by the crate.

"Well, it couldn't have just flown away, let's look for it," said Kim.

"Don't bother, guys," said Wade, "I've found it."

"Well, where is it?" asked Mr. Possible.

"It did fly away. It's about two kilometers from the asteroid, and moving away fast," said Wade.

"We'd better go catch it, Ron," said Kim, and got ready to fire up her backpack.

"No, Kim, don't!" said Wade.

"Why? We need that thing!" said Kim.

"Two reasons. One, it's moving faster than your pack can fly, and two, it's leaking radiation," he answered. They heard the sound of his keyboard. "Way too much radiation to be safely handled. I think a meteor hit and took the bomb with it, doing a lot of damage to it at the same time. Even if you could catch it, it would be useless for what we need now."

"Well, we'd better go get the spare," said Ron.

"There is no spare, Ronald," said Mr. Possible.

Silence fell over the radio, as the implications of that statement sunk in.

"I'm afraid our mission has failed. Civilization is doomed," said Mr. Possible.

"Well, that tanks," said Ron, kicking at the ground. His foot slipped on a pebble, and he found himself launched into space from the kick.

"Yeow!" he yelled, flailing around as momentum carried him upward.

"Ron, get hold of yourself. Use your backpack to come back down," Kim said.

"Oh, right, KP, thanks," he replied. He tapped the control, and the backpack fired up. Unfortunately, he failed to upright himself first, and found himself driven back down to the ground. He hit hard, scraping along the sharp-edged ridges until he turned off the thrust and came to rest.

Kim and Shego hurried to him, and helped him up.

"Ron, your suit is leaking air," said Mrs. Possible, "You need to get back quickly."

"Ohhh..." said Ron, stunned from the landing.

Kim grabbed him, and pulled him to her. She fired up her own backpack, and launched toward the Plane. "C'mon, Shego," she said over her shoulder.

"Be right there," was the reply.

Kim thought no more of it, being concerned with Ron's well-being. They cycled through the airlock, and Kim helped get Ron out of his suit. He was strapped to an exam table, with Kim hovering anxiously nearby.

Mrs. Possible gave Ron an injection, and seemed pleased with the medical readouts. "He'll be fine, dear," she said, "Why don't you get comfortable? It will be a few minutes before he wakes up."

Kim went and took off her space suit, putting it carefully back where it belonged. When she got back to the table, Ron was sitting up, albeit with a dizzy expression.

"RON! YOU'RE OKAY!" shouted Kim, hugging him tightly. Rufus was on Ron's shoulder, hugging him as well.

"Yeah, KP. Thanks for the rescue," he said, smiling.

"No big," said Kim. Then she looked around. "Where's Shego?"

"Still on the surface," answered Wade.

"Shego, what are you doing down there? Come on back," said Kim.

"No, Kim. This thing has to be destroyed, and we have only one chance at that now," she answered.

"What chance?" asked Kim, an icy feeling growing in her stomach.

"Me. I'm going to use my power to destroy the asteroid," she said.