A Glitch in Time

by Gary D. Snyder

Chapter 21:

The campus was, aside from the dance, pretty much deserted so that Jimmy had little trouble in gaining access to the storeroom of the main electronics laboratory and locating the mid-'80s components he needed. The main difficulty came with integrating them into Drakken's recall unit, as there was no way to mount the parts directly to the printed circuit board, and each pin had to be soldered to the necessary junction using various lengths of wire. An almost neurotic perfectionist, Jimmy used the finest gage wire he could find and tried to keep the wiring as short and neat as possible, but even so the final result was still far bulkier and less tidy than he would have preferred.

When he met up with the others about fifteen minutes after having left them, the so-called Drew Man Group had ceded the stage to others wanting to showcase their own musical talents. "What's going on?" he asked.

"I have a horrible feeling that we're the ones who actually introduced karaoke into this country," said Shego. She surveyed the mass of wiring on Jimmy's jury-rigged device. "What's with the electronic dreads?"

"Hey!" Jimmy snorted defensively. "You try modifying 21st-century microcircuitry without a wire-bonding unit!"

"Not really on my "A" list at the moment," Shego replied. "Can we go now? It sounds like the songs these people are singing are moving ominously back towards the disco era."

"I have to side with Shego on this one," agreed Kim. "We need to leave, and soon. We can't risk disrupting the time stream any more than we may have already." As thrilled as she was to have played a part in her own parents' courtship, the experience had brought home to her just how fragile the past was. "When will we be within range of the comploder?"

"No way to be certain," Jimmy told her. "From our experiences with the previous interphases it seems that the established past takes precedent over the transient present. That's why we kept getting caught up in what had already happened to us rather than what we were doing when they occurred. But in this case, I'm not sure if this is the present…or the past."

"Excuse me," said Shego. "This is the 1980s. It's the past."

"But what we're doing here is something we've never done before. To us, right now, this is the present. Our present."

Drakken, who had been listening to the exchange, broke in. "Wait a minute. You say we're in the present…and that we're trying to return to the present?" He clutched his head. "My brain hurts."

"I guess Ron was right," observed Kim. "Time travel really is a cornucopia of disturbing concepts."

"It's not too hard to grasp. Like Docter Bonzai said, anywhere you go, there you are. Just remember that wherever you are is always 'here' and 'now'. Returning to the present just means moving our 'here' and 'now' to where it should be." Jimmy started adjusting the controls on the recall device. "I guess all I can do is to continuously send out a recall signal when I think we're getting close. I hope the batteries are fully charged." He looked around the hall and added, "I guess we'd better move to a less conspicuous place."

That suggestion made sense and everyone headed towards the nearest exit. Kim was the last to leave, but before doing so she looked back at her parents-to-be dancing and laughing together. "So long," she said quietly. "See you in…well…five or six years, I guess." After giving them one last look she followed the others to a dark and relatively quiet place in the hall outside, where Drakken was bemoaning the situation.

"It's not fair!" he complained. "It wasn't supposed to be this way!"

"Actually, it was," Jimmy told him.

Drakken gave the boy a look that was a confused blend of both irritation and sorrow. "You know what I mean. I could have had it all. And I would have, if it hadn't been for you meddling kids."

Rufus popped up from Kim's side pouch. "Hey!" he squeaked.

"And your little dog, too. I mean, rodent," Drakken corrected. He hung his head. "Why don't things ever work out for me? Why?"

Kim rolled her eyes. "You want me to take a stab at it?"

Drakken ignored her. "I'll tell you why. Because I can't count on anyone." Shego winced silently at that "The only person I can trust is myself." He caught himself and reconsidered what he had said. "I mean, it was true twenty years ago, and it's true today. I mean, it's true today and will be true in twenty years. That is, when I was twenty-five years younger, I couldn't trust anyone, and –"

"Okay, yeah, all right!" Shego blurted out. "We get your meaning."

That drew Drakken's attention to Shego. "And you, especially, Shego!" he accused bitterly. "You, of all people. If it had been for money, or power, or something like that I could understand. I wouldn't agree, but at least I'd understand. But on the word of these two you turn your back on me – back on me – back on me –" He stopped short, looking amazed as anyone at the reverberation in his voice. "What was that – was that – was that?" he asked.

Jimmy looked expectant. "I think we're approaching the interphase – the interphase – the interphase." He punched a button. "Here goes nothing – goes nothing – goes nothing!" As Jimmy watched he saw the others and his surroundings seem to vibrate like a tuning fork, the way that cartoon characters running into a wall would vibrate. From the others' points of view he seemed to do the same.

"What's hap – hap – hap - happening – happening – happening?" Shego demanded.

"In - in- in – stab – stab – stability – ility –ility," was all Jimmy could say. "Hang – hang – hang on – on –on!"

The vibration got worse, making further verbal communication impossible. Unlike the others, Jimmy realized that this was not just the effects of entering interphase. They were approaching the singularity and immediate past and future were being to complode, blurring what was happening with what just had happened and what was about to happen. As with every situation in which he had been forced to make a judgment call, he wondered if he had waited too long, and whether the opportunity to be returned to their own time had passed. In those interminable moments he wondered why Cindy had not followed his instructions and neutralized the singularity as he had instructed. The conscious part of his mind told him that it was her innate stubbornness, but the part of his mind he hid even from himself understood that it had been something entirely different.

In Drakken's lair Ron and Cindy were experiencing the instability that Jimmy and the others were witnessing as their slice of existence began to slide into the singularity was well. "We – we – we – have to – have to – have to – do – do – do something – thing – thing!" Ron called out.

Cindy didn't answer. She was already at the control panel, trying to concentrate on the buttons she had to push. The reverberation caused by the instability turned the panel into a confusion of shapes and colors and made identification of the controls by sight impossible. Closing her eyes to shut out the distracting images before her, she moved her fingers over the console and found the buttons she needed to press by touch. There was no time left to save existence, if any time in fact remained. She could almost hear Jimmy's voice echoing about her, yelling the single word, "Now!" I'm sorry, Jimmy, she thought. I tried to wait. I really did. Then she pressed the buttons.

She didn't know what to expect. The instability, as disorienting as it had been, had not involved any physical disturbance the way an earthquake or hurricane would have done. Activating the temporal comploson device had not unleashed bolts of energy or blasts of power to tell her that anything had happened. As she waited, eyes shut, she heard a voice say in a perfectly clear and normal tone of voice, "Cut it a little closet there, didn't you Vortex?"

She opened her eyes to see Jimmy standing on the platform with that smugly superior expression she knew so well. "Don't knock it, Neutron. If I hadn't -" She stopped and looked worried. "Did we – did it work?"

As if on cue, four tones sounded at Kim's side. Rufus handed the Kim-municator up to her and she activated the transceiver. "Wade?"

"Kim? You there?"

Kim smiled in relief. "I should ask you that. Sitch it, Wade. What happened?"

"Well, nothing, I think. As near as I can remember, I was in my room all the time. But it was so freaky. I was at my fourth birthday party, and sick with the measles when I was nine, and…" He voice trailed off. "Maybe my mom is right. Maybe I should get of this room once in a while."

"Just be sure you forward your calls. Promise?"

Wade grinned. "That's a deal."

"Hey, Wade," Ron called out. "What about Cyber Wade? And the Kim-mando suit?"

"No problems there," Wade replied. "The emergency continency routine shut down once I logged back on. You can just put the suit back for the next time you might need it, for emergencies and stuff."

Ron looked uncomfortable. "Uh…about that. The suit kind of got damaged in a fight. It doesn't really work anymore."

"No problems. I'll send some nanite repair units to get it patched up. Glad it came in handy. Wade out." The Kim-municator screen went dark and Kim slipped it into her side pouch.

Jimmy had been talking with Cindy. "I thought I told you if you didn't hear from me in one hour to neutralize the singularity!" he snapped.

"And leave you all stranded in the past?" Cindy shot back. "Leaving you there wouldn't have bothered me, but in case you didn't notice it the world needs Kim Possible."

"That's not the point!" Jimmy argued. "It was a dangerous thing to do. Everything could have been wiped out because of what you did. You risked it all on an illogical impulse devoid of any rational validity!" He stood there, glaring at her and breathing hard before his features and voice softened. "Thanks. I picked the right person for the job."

Cindy sidestepped the compliment, embarrassed. "Well, I guess that wraps up everything," she said.

"Not quite," said Drakken. Unnoticed by the others, save perhaps for Shego, he had retrieved the temporal complosion device. "There's still a matter of this little gizmo. I still have some big plans for this. There's a whole history book to re-write, and I've got the pen to do it. I'll just be sure to go back further this time."

"Shego!" Kim called. "I thought you were watching Drakken!" She took a step forward and Drakken moved a finger over a button on the comploder, forcing her to stop.

Shego shrugged. "I was watching. He went over, disconnected all those wires, and now we've got it." She smiled. "I have to say, I wholly approve."

"What? But I thought – you were -" Cindy spluttered.

Shego loosed a cold, malicious laugh. "Don't you guys ever get it?" she mocked. "I'm evil. Evil. Now that the danger is over, there's no reason to side with you losers anymore."

Ron gritted his teeth. "We should have known."

"No," said Kim. "I should have known."

"Actually," Jimmy added, "I did know." He stood there calmly with his arms folded. "Fool me twice and all that, Shego. After you and Drakken tricked us into getting the device for you in the first place, did you really think I'd trust either of you once things were working your way again? I didn't with the Yolkians, and I didn't with you."

"So what are you going to do about it?" Drakken sneered. "We have the device and you don't."

Jimmy nodded. "That's true," he conceded. "But I'll bet you didn't do any power calculations for the device. I did. It turns out that the power cell is good for six uses before it needs a new power cell. And in all the excitement -"

"In all the excitement," Drakken interrupted, "you forgot whether it was used five times, or six, yadda-yadda-yadda, blah, blah, blah."

"No," Jimmy corrected him. "I know exactly how many times it was used." He leaned forward defiantly. "But I'm betting that you don't!"

Drakken looked confused and began ticking off his fingers. Encumbered by the temporal complosion device he passed it to Shego while he figured it out. "I used it to go back. You used it to go back. We used it to get back. It neutralized that singularity. That makes four." He grinned in triumph. "There are two charges left!" He looked at Shego with somewhat less confidence. "Right?"

Shego shrugged. "You tell me."

Jimmy spoke up. "You forgot the test run they always do on these prototypes. That makes five, which gives you one more use out of if before it's useless to you. Go back into the past, and this time you walk home."

"I can still change the way things are!" Drakken argued.

"You tried to change Kim's past, and failed," Jimmy replied. "And I'm pretty sure you'll fail again. I mean, you're the one who said your plans never work out. But maybe you'll be lucky this time. Go on back. I'm sure Shego wouldn't mind reliving the past two or three decades all over again. Or will it be two or three centuries this time?" He smirked. "Have fun changing the past, Drakken. You'll be making a new future that you'll never live to see. So go ahead. Make my yesterday."

As Cindy, Kim and Ron held their breath Jimmy stood where he was in cool defiance. "He's bluffing, Shego," Drakken said. "Push the button!"

Shego studied Jimmy's impassive features and slowly shook her head. "I don't think so."

"He's bluffing! I'm sure of it!" Drakken scrambled for the comploder device but Shego kept Drakken at a distance with one hand and the device out of reach with the other. "The good guys never bluff well! You know that!"

"Yeah, well, he either got a lot better than most or he's on the level. Either way, I'm not chancing it. One trip to the past is enough for me. A one-way trip is definitely not on my travel itinerary." She set the comploder down on the floor and shoved the unit across the floor away from her. "Like the kid said, time travel is pretty dangerous stuff."

Drakken went limp as Kim retrieved the comploder. "Why, Shego? Why do you do this to me? Why do I take it?"

"Maybe because of this," Shego replied. She tossed Drakken over one shoulder and, before anyone could react, vaulted over the others and reached the door. "So long, losers!" she called back as she darted through. Kim started to follow but paused.

"Aren't you going after them?" asked Cindy.

Kim shook her head. "They'll show up again," she replied. "When they do, we'll get them. For now, Wade's probably got the authorities heading this way to mop up Drakken's henchmen and close this place down. And we have the temporal complosion device to return." She turned to Jimmy. "I've got to know. Was there really only enough power to use this thing one more time?"

Jimmy shrugged. "Beats me. I was only guessing that they ran a test on it. And I don't feel up to testing out my theory." He looked closely at her. "Did Shego really get past you on her own, or did you just let her get away?"

Kim also shrugged. "I'm not really sure. On one hand, Shego used to be a hero, and she came through for us when it mattered. And maybe there's some of that hero still somewhere inside her even if she doesn't like to admit it. I mean, she caved awfully quickly when Drakken was certain you were bluffing. And as greedy and selfish as she is, I don't think she wants to have the world destroyed any more than we do."

Jimmy nodded. "But what about Drakken?"

"Right now," Kim replied absently, "I think they're having a real heart-to-heart about some things that Shego has on her mind."

"Really, Shego," Drakken was complaining as Shego piloted the escape craft from Drakken's lair. "You should have called his bluff. I'm sure we could have made it back." He paused as Shego put the craft on auto-pilot and turned to him with a severe expression. "What are you doing?"

"I think it's time we had a talk," she said ominously. "Maybe a short talk, maybe a long talk, but a talk. How long it takes is entirely up to you."

Drakken fidgeted nervously. "Up to…me?"

"Mm-hmm," Shego murmured. She held up her index finger and a jet of emerald flame burst from it. "Let's start by talking about respecting the judgment of others…then about why it's wrong to use other people's DNA patterns…and finally about how we never, ever, put them in chains when they try to help us in spite of ourselves." She frowned and leaned forward, and Drakken shrank back with a whimper. "So, what'll it be, Doc? A nong talk? Or a short talk?"

End of Chapter 21