A Glitch in Time

by Gary D. Snyder

Chapter 1:

The C-5A Galaxy was a large aircraft by any standards, but seemed all the larger by the two solitary passengers in the otherwise empty cargo bay. Kim shifted uneasily as she looked about the cavernous compartment. The military officer next to her noted her discomfort.

"My apologies, Miss Possible," he said. "I'm afraid that this was the fastest transport I could arrange."

"Oh, no, no," Kim hastened to reassure him. "It's quite all right, General Abercrombie. I'm just not used to flying in anything bigger than my high school."

The general looked almost amused by that. "It's actually a good deal smaller than that. But it is quite an aircraft. Speed, range, and capacity – the C-5 has it all. Big enough to put a bowling alley in, if that's what you want."

"Well -"

"Of course, I'm not much for bowling," the general went on. "Golf is more my game. You can hit quite a drive in here."

"I'm sure you can," Kim commented diplomatically.

"Used to do that quite a bit, actually. Had to stop though. The pilot said the drives were starting to get him teed off." He slapped Kim on the shoulder, making her cough. "Just a little golf humor there."

Kim struggled to change the subject. "Well, it was really nice of you to accommodate me like this, being on such short notice and all."

"My pleasure, Missie," the general replied. "It's the least I could do after you helped us recover that experimental drone ship in New Mexico."

Kim winced inwardly at the term "Missie" but managed to smile and wave it off. "Hey, no big. Once I got past the automatic defense systems and hacked into the onboard computer it was a piece of cake."

A light on a speaker next to the general came on and a voice announced, "We're approaching Retroville air space, General. Shall we prepare to land?"

"How about it, Miss Possible?" General Abercrombie asked. "The C-5 can land in an amazingly short distance. Even the municipal airport probably has a runway we can use."

"No, thanks," Kim replied as she stood up and strapped on a helmet. "You can drop me off here. No sense in inconveniencing you any further." She moved towards the rear of the compartment and waited as the general signaled the pilot to open the rear cargo hatch. Once the massive hatch was open she waved farewell and dove headlong from the plane. The general watched and shook his head in open admiration.

"Nice girl," he remarked. "She'll make some lucky C.O. a fine little soldier some day."

High over the outskirts of Retroville Kim sliced headfirst through the air, looking for landmarks to help her plan her landing and waving to the startled pilot of an antique biplane cruising off to her left. Usually Wade would have given her up-to-the-minute coordinates using the global positioning system, but this time she had been forced to familiarize herself with the town's layout from maps downloaded from the Internet. The bright morning sun made it easy to spot the city's open spaces, and it took only a few moments for her to identify the school she was seeking. She adjusted her body slightly, letting it act as an airfoil in the rushing air to guide her towards her selected landing zone. Not far from the school was a park without too many trees and she decided that it would serve as the best landing zone. Nearly a thousand feet above the ground Kim deployed the parasail from her backpack and spiraled in for an easy landing on the soft grass. A touch of a button retracted the parasail and she stowed her helmet before heading for Lindbergh Elementary, looking very much the part of a basic average girl on the way to class.

Once at the school she paused, debating as to the best way to proceed. It was almost 10:00 AM and she decided to wait a while, reasoning that recess shouldn't be too far off. If nothing happened by 10:30 AM she could take a more direct approach by asking to see the principal but for now discretion seemed the wisest course of action. She found a shady spot under a tree and waited. At 10:15 AM a distant bell rang and Kim rose to her feet as she heard the unmistakable sounds of doors opening, young voices, and running feet that accompany school children rushing to recess. Kim maneuvered around the perimeter of the school yard, keeping a sharp lookout for the person she had come to see.

"Oh, man!" Sheen exulted. "Is there anything better than recess after two hours of boring class?"

"Yes," replied Carl, who was on Sheen's left. "Double-pudding Tuesdays."

Sheen did a double-take. "There's no double-pudding Tuesdays," he objected. After a moment's thought he added, "There aren't even single-pudding Tuesdays."

"It would still be better than recess," Carl pointed out.

"Guys, guys," Jimmy said. "I know something better than any of that. It's…" His voice trailed off as he spotted the slender young woman just outside the school yard gesturing to him.

"Well?" demanded Sheen.

"Don't keep us in suspense," prodded Carl.

"Excuse me…a minute," Jimmy mumbled, heading towards Kim. "I…uh…I have to see someone…about the…stuff…"

Bewildered, Sheen and Carl watched him go. As they caught sight of the girl Jimmy was meeting Sheen gave a low whistle. "I've got to admit, that is better than recess," he commented.

Carl nodded, his mouth open. "It's even better than double pudding." He quickly recovered and added, "Not that I like girls, but if I did…well, it would be better than double pudding."

Kim smiled at Jimmy's approach. "Hey, Jimmy. Nice to see you again."

"Kim? Kim Possible? What are you doing here?" Jimmy realized that he was being a little rude and returned Kim's smile. "Sorry. It's good to see you, too. But it's quite a surprise." He paused. "What's up?"

Jimmy noticed that Kim couldn't quite hide the worry that plagued her. "I'm not sure. Something's happened to Wade and…well, I think that you might be the only one who can help me. Can we go somewhere and talk?"

"Well…" Leaving school grounds was a major infraction, but even had Jimmy missed the worry in Kim's manner he knew that she wouldn't have traveled all the way from Middleton on a whim. "Yes, sure. My house isn't too far away. We can go to my lab."

Kim looked a little relieved. "That would be great. Thanks."

"Let's go then." Jimmy hopped the chain-link fence without much trouble and together he and Kim headed down the street. Sheen and Carl watched them go, filled with both shock and admiration at Jimmy's actions.

"You know, somehow my opinion of Jimmy just got a whole lot higher," Sheen mentioned.

"And how," Carl agreed.

"What's this about Nerd-tron?" a voice asked.

"Oh, hi, Cindy," Carl greeted the speaker as he turned around. "Nice day, isn't it?"

"That's not what she asked," Libby told him. "What were you and Sheen saying about Jimmy?"

"Nothing," Sheen evaded.

Libby put her hands on her hips. "You've got the same look you do every time the high school cheerleaders drive by here on the way to McSpanky's for lunch. What's up?"

"Nothing!" Sheen protested. "I don't even know her!"

Cindy frowned at this. "Know who?"

"Umm…uh…" Sheen stammered as his eyes shifted frantically left and right. Suddenly he pointed. "Oh, look! Over there!" he cried. He then beat a hasty retreat, leaving Carl to face Libby and Cindy alone.

Cindy turned menacingly on Carl. "Who?" she repeated.

"No one really pretty that we know," Carl hastened to say. "We don't know anyone pretty." When Cindy glared at him he faltered, "I mean, you're pretty, but no one we don't know is pretty. That is, people who are pretty are usually people we don't know."

For a split second Carl thought Cindy was satisfied, as a thoughtful expression replaced the suspicious frown on her face. Then Cindy calmly gathered the front of Carl's shirt in her fist and pulled him closer. "Who?" she repeated in an ominously calm, almost sweet, voice.

"I don't know!" Carl wailed. "All I know is that she has auburn hair and green eyes and she's pretty and she and Jimmy left the school without permission!"

Carl's description startled Cindy and she loosened her grip. "Auburn hair and green eyes?" Carl nodded silently. "Was she wearing a backpack and a black pullover with military-style pants?"

Carl looked surprised. "You know her?"

Cindy released Carl, who scampered off in the direction Sheen had gone, and ignored Libby's insistent questions as she pondered the news. Kim Possible? she thought. Here? In Retroville? Like Jimmy she knew that Kim would not have come all the way from Middleton on a school day on a whim. Something, Cindy was sure, was up. But what? And how did Jimmy fit in?

On the way to his house Jimmy tried to make small talk. "So, how are you and Ron doing?"

"Fine," Kim said sharply.

Jimmy realized he had struck a nerve and hastily retreated. "Sorry. Not my business," he apologized.

Kim sighed. "Sorry, Jimmy. I didn't mean to be so short. It's just…well…I don't really want to get into it, just now. That's all."

"No problem," Jimmy assured her. They reached his clubhouse and Jimmy activated the DNA scanner to gain access. "You'll have to excuse the lab. I didn't really expect company and I'm afraid the computer files and my equations are a real mess."

"That's okay," Kim replied. "You should see my room sometimes."

"Really?" Jimmy asked eagerly before realizing that it had been a casual response rather than an invitation. In an awkward attempt to recover, he added, "I kind of thought girls kept their rooms neater than guys."

"Maybe. Mom says I wasn't any better than the tweebs when I was their age."

"Maybe it's just an age thing, then," Jimmy concluded lamely as they dropped into the entry tube.

Inside the lab Kim looked around, visibly impressed by what she saw. "This is quite a place," she commented, inspecting Jimmy's reactor. "My younger brothers would have a field day in here."

Jimmy blushed at the semi-compliment. "Maybe you could bring them by some day," he suggested.

Kim shook her head. "The tweebs around a nuclear reactor? Mom and I don't even trust them with the microwave. But thanks for the offer." She shrugged out of her backpack and began removing the materials her father and mother had gone over the night before without success. "This is what I came to show you. No one else I can get hold of can figure it out."

"Not even the girl who built that kinematic continuum disrupter?" Jimmy asked.

"Justine Flanner? Sorry, Justine has left the building. She's off working on some extra credit special project somewhere."

Jimmy sounded puzzled. "She couldn't ask the teacher for an extension on that?"

"If it were a school project, yes. But the government is backing this one. Something about getting a guaranteed research grant if she pulls off what she's working on."

"Oh." Jimmy began rummaging through the pile of papers, sorting them into separate stacks as he did so. After several minutes of organizing the piles he then began quickly examining the contents of each page, picking up one sheet, glancing at it, and then moving to the next.

Kim sighed as Jimmy seemed to skim the material. "I know. Trying to actually read the stuff on those pages is impossible."

Jimmy shrugged. "I am reading them."

This set Kim back. "You are? You really do understand them?"

Jimmy nodded but didn't say anything. As he continued to study the data his expression changed, first from scientific curiosity to concern, then from concern to worry, and finally from worry to undisguised dread. By the time he put down the last page Kim, who had been closely watching him, was filled with apprehension as well. Jimmy looked up at her.

"Bad?" asked Kim.

Jimmy nodded. "To say the least. What was Wade messing with when all this –" Jimmy paused to gesture at the piles of paper. "- happened?"

"He was trying to stabilize something called a temporal complosion device that was malfunctioning. Just as we managed to shut it off there was some kind of energy discharge and since then no one has seen Wade."

"A temporal complosion device," Jimmy repeated absently. "Interesting. Yes, that would fit." He looked at Kim. "This is trouble, Kim. Big trouble."

"What kind of trouble?" she asked.

"Well…" Jimmy tried to figure out the simplest way to explain it. "You know what a black hole is?"

"Of course," she replied. "Dad's a rocket scientist, remember? Black holes are kind of a family specialty. But this would make sense to him if all this information was about a black hole." She looked closely at Jimmy. "It's not a black hole, is it?"

"No," Jimmy answered. "It's not a black hole. I kind of wish it were." He seemed to be searching for the right words to say before continuing. "It's a whole lot worse."

"What could be worse than a black hole?" Kim wasn't sure she really wanted to know the answer, but felt that she had to ask anyway.

Jimmy's words didn't mean much to Kim, but they still somehow filled her with an ominous sense of foreboding. "Wade's been trapped in a temporal singularity."

End of Chapter 1