The Trinity Sitch - Book 3: Blade of the Fury
Chapter 7: Heart to Heart
The tiny, two seat transport streaked across the Northern Atlantic at almost three times the speed of sound. The steady roar of the four small ion engines, while far quieter than more conventional means of propulsion, made enough noise that conversation without headsets was nearly impossible. The young couple had hoped to talk during the flight but had given up fairly quickly, considering the same inter-helmet communicators were used when speaking with home base.
Kim nor Ron were in any mood to have any more private conversations overheard.
The craft was a prototype of a design Wade was working on, based on his research on the Trinity as well as images he found in her data banks. He was certain the inner workings of the tiny but fast flyer were far cruder than its twenty-fifth century counterparts, but it was still about the size of a compact car, capable of trans-sonic speeds and virtually undetectable by conventional tracking systems. The last was a little dash of Wade's own stealth technology that he often employed on his Wade-Bots.
The design he based it upon was originally a tandem seat arraignment. Knowing who would most likely use it, he made it instead into a side by side. That allowed the couple to spend the vast majority of the flight holding hands, especially considering any meaningful conversation was out of the question. Wade realized his mistake as soon as the two started getting quiet and outright promised them he would get better sound damping for it.
In the twenty-fifth century, the flyer was known as a "Fox." It was a military design, intended to carry a fairly large projectile weapon mounted above the canopy like a huge recoilless rifle. Only lightly armored, they were used for close support, where they could get in and out of an area quickly, relying on speed and agility rather than sitting and slugging it out like a tank would. In a moment of inspiration, Wade painted it blue. Kim smiled and hugged him when she caught the meaning.
Kim checked their progress. They were about two-thirds through their planned flight. Both she and Ron had been checked out on the controls (any guesses who proved the more proficient with it?) but this particular flight was totally pre-programmed. Once over their target, they would open the canopy and deploy their newly rebuilt Blaster-Packs – complete with safer, more efficient ion power plants – and drop in on their target, hopefully undetected.
She was worried and the worst part about it was she didn't know why. Ron had been captured before, he had been injured before. He had even been shot, yet he seemed to always come out of it okay. Better than okay! If the old cliché about 'what doesn't kill me makes me stronger' could be believed, it was certainly true about Ron.
Was it the fact that too many unexplained things were happening to him lately? Was all of this because he had his mysterious Monkey Power? Was it something deeper? Two and a half years ago that wizard had seemed to think so, though nothing else ever came of it. They had both finally decided that, when Neil died, whatever destiny he was supposed to fulfill died with him, releasing Ron from being part of that destiny.
Kim wasn't sure it worked that way. Destiny has a way of sneaking up on you.
What did seem clear to them was that this 'Uri' person, be he a scholar or wizard or what, certainly seemed interested in acquiring this 'Sword of the Effurien' thing. Knowing nothing at all about him besides what he looked like, they had to follow the only trail they did know about. According to what they could understand of Rufus' squeaks, Monkey Fist had been involved in the attack on Ron in some way. There was also the clue of the white hairs, which Wade was able to identify as being simian, though of what sort he couldn't readily say.
How had Ron gotten upstairs, in his own shower? He had been grabbed in the living room downstairs. He could only remember flashes of the fight, the old man using a ritual dagger of some sort to remove his tracking chip, somebody hitting him over the head, things like that. He didn't remember having his Kimmunicator ripped from his wrist and he didn't remember fleeing up the stairs or something. Taking him to his own bathroom to cut out the chip didn't make sense. If they needed water, they could have dragged him to the kitchen of the more accessible main bathroom they had to pass on their way to his room. They finally assumed he did try to flee and that is where they caught him. They had no way of knowing otherwise.
But why had they gone to the trouble of removing the chip, a device virtually undetectable without the requisite scanning devices. Kim couldn't even feel hers, though Wade assured her that it was indeed imbedded beneath the skin on the back of her neck. (Somehow, she always forgot to ask Wade exactly how the chips had been implanted! – he even mentioned Ron had a new one now, though how it was installed and where it was located was not mentioned)
She gave his hand a little squeeze. She always like holding his hand. It was an act that, at the same time was perfectly innocent, yet so full of intimate meaning. Ron had big hands, big, warm strong hands, yet they were surprisingly gentle. For such a naturally clumsy man, his touch always seemed so soft, so warm. It was holding his hand Kim silently announced to her world that she had chosen Ron. No, she hadn't just chosen him, they had chosen each other and at that moment, they were ready to share that realization with everyone. The instant they arrived at their Junior Prom holding hands, everyone knew in the space of a heartbeat they had become one.
Holding hands also had the added benefit of keeping Ron from playing with the controls, possibly sending them crashing into the icy interior of Greenland!
Becoming one…
That thought alone was so full of meaning. It took them twelve years to fully realize how in love they really were. Their hearts were one long before their minds were aware of it.
Their hearts and their minds were one.
That left only their bodies.
She had no doubts that she was ready. It was supposed to be an act of love and any doubts that she absolutely and totally loved Ron had been washed away long ago. They were going to spend the rest of their lives together. This time they were both ready and willing, neither of them forcing the other because of more selfish desires. This was the 'perfect time' everyone wished for, where it would be not just the union of their bodies, but the union of their souls.
Then there was her father. She loved her father so much, but sometimes he actually frightened her. She knew the effect he could have on Ron. How far would he go to protect her 'virtue?'
She could feel her own heart hammering in her chest when he took Ron aside as they were preparing for their mission…
"Ronald, have a seat please."
Doctor Possible's office was something Ron very rarely saw. For one thing, it wasn't a general meeting place, it was just a work space where he could do the tasks of his job that didn't involve a lab. It was comfortable, homey and very cluttered with all sorts of books, papers and computer media. The chaos was the direct opposite of his lab, which was clean, neat and orderly. You could tell where his priorities lay. At least when it came to his chosen profession.
James Timothy Possible sat back in his sophisticated looking leather chair, regarding the young man sitting across from him with cool eyes. Even just over four short years ago he could never have imagined this day, that Ron, a person he never considered to be anything other than his daughter's best friend until they returned home from their Junior Prom, would put him in this particular position.
"Ronald…Ron, do you know what I heard this morning?"
Ron could feel the sweat breaking out on his brow. His heart leaped up into his throat when Kim's father called him into his office. He had been dreading this moment since he had set foot at the Space Center that afternoon after their last class. Fortunately, he had nothing more than a bump on the head and a nasty gash on the back of his neck where his chip had been forcibly removed. A fresh bandage and a novel's worth of forms later, he was on his way to his late-morning classes. A quick call by Kim got their assignments and some copies of the notes from the early classes they had missed, so everything was back on track with school. Much as they feared, the work load between now and Spring Break was considerable. It would be a good long while before they had another chance for a carefree weekend together.
That thought brought him straight back to his current predicament.
"I, uh, yeah, well…" Ron stopped and took a deep breath, held it for a second then exhaled. "You heard us starting plans to make love." There, he came out and said it. There was no way around what they had said that would be anything other than dishonest.
"I thought so." He let that hang in the air for a few seconds. "Do you know what else I heard?"
Ron was having cold chills. He had only been conscious a few minutes when Kim's father had overheard their conversation. What did he mean?
"Well, I'll tell you…" He paused again, forcing Ron to meet his gaze.
"…I heard my daughter, who is one of the strongest people I know, frantic, almost to tears over the fact that something might have happened to you. I heard her crying with joy when she found you and you were relatively okay.
"Yes, I heard the part where you two said what you said and I admit, I was shocked and embarrassed to hear it. I had to come back here and sit down for a long while, thinking about what I overheard. Do you know what it was I really heard?"
"Uh, no sir."
"I heard two young people who totally love each other making careful, loving plans with each other. You were making honest and thoughtful and, frankly, quite adult decisions. I also heard the two of you respecting my family's home with your plans.
"I admit it, right when it happened, I was angry. That's why I walked away without saying anything and boy, am I glad I did, because the more I thought about it, the more I realized just how good the two of you are for each other. Much as I hate to admit it, the two of you are grown-ups. You're not children any more and you don't need to be protected like children. Your words and actions prove that to me. What the two of you were discussing should have been private, not because you were going behind anyone's back, but because that sort of thing just should be private. It's none of my business any more.
"I wanted to talk to you because I knew you would think I was angry with you. I can't say I'm comfortable knowing all of that right now, but I've come to accept that it's because it was supposed to stay just between the two of you. I wanted to let you know I'm not angry and I am so proud of the two of you."
"You…you're not going to send me to the black hole?"
"No, Ron. You were a teenager then and so was Kim. She was a minor and still my responsibility and I did what I did because I wanted to protect her. This isn't about protecting her any more. If I want to do what is best for Kim, that means minding my own business now. What is most importance is her happiness and me playing the overprotective father isn't going to lead there."
James walked around the front of his desk and sat on the edge, looking down at a shocked and relieved Ron Stoppable. "Ronald, I was always worried about Kim running around with boys, yet I never once worried about you. You're not a boy, as much as Jim and Tim are, you're my son and you're part of our family! In effect, you've saved me from all the heartache or worrying whether she was out with a boy who was good enough for her. Like I said, you're not a boy, you are a man." He stood up and held out his hand to Ron.
Ron stood up and offered his own hand and was pulled into a great big hug by the older man.
When he finally let go, he said "Now, you know, if you ever do anything to hurt my Kimmie-cub…"
"Black hole deep?" Ron smiled.
"Black hole deep!" James confirmed.
"Are you going to even tell me what he said, Ron?"
"I'm going to tell you when we get home."
She shook her head. One thing she didn't like was when Ron bottled stuff up inside. If her father threatened him in any way again, she was really going to let him have it this time. Who did he think he was? They were twenty for goodness sakes, not fifteen! They were old enough to vote, old enough to enter into binding contracts. Old enough to fight and die for their country if the need became great enough. They were certainly old enough to decide if they were going to make love!
She shoved that thought to the back of her mind as they crossed the coast of England. They were minutes from their target, a now-decrepit manor in the Southern Britain countryside. One final time she checked the harness of her blaster-pack and clipped the seat harness loose. A glance to her right told her Ron was doing the same. He had his "Go Time" grin on and she knew he was focused.
The canopy opened to a strange calm. Instead of a blast of wind as their ride flew at over three hundred miles per hour (they slowed WAY down for the jump) there was only the sound of the engines. A magnetic shield was being projected in front of them, protecting them from the rush of air. With one last look at each other, they leaped into the air, clear of the "Blue Fox."
The air hit them in earnest as the new, slender wings snapped open. They watched as their ride sailed off into the stratosphere, awaiting a recall signal. If not for the roar of the wind, they would have heard the wings start to hum, gravitational generators producing lift. Tiny ion engines flared to life and they began their spiraling decent.
It was well after midnight in this part of England, the clouds and mist obscuring the moonlight. Only the heads-up display on their goggles kept them on track to their target. The looming dark emerged from the mists right before them as they slowed their descent.
They lighted on the rooftop, careful not to dislodge any loose shingles. The wings snapped together like an insects, then retracted up into their backpacks. The new packs were about a third of the weight of their old ones, so they would not have to discard them as quickly. That would help if it became necessary to leave in a hurry.
Kim held a fist up to a dormer window. The dark colored fabric of her newest super-suit flowed with a soft crackle of energy. A red tip protruded just above her hand, emitting a thin red laser beam. In seconds the lock was cut and they were inside.
She looked back and couldn't keep from smiling. Ron had his own super-suit now, but he still wore his dark gray cargos over the top of it. Something about not looking 'manly' enough running around in what was essentially tights. Then too, the multitude of pockets provided Rufus with a more comfortable place to ride!
She smiled because his eyes were trained right on her posterior. She had no compunctions about wearing just the suit and she appreciated his appreciation of her derriere!
Despite her suggestions that she liked looking at his butt, he would not be dissuaded from wearing the Smarty Mart cargos. Ah well, they still fell often enough and she really could see much more of him than with his boxers!
Head in the game, Possible, she had to remind herself. Plenty of time to admire the male physique later!
They emerged on a balcony overlooking a great hall. Ron recognized it instantly as the same place he had tracked Monkey Fist to when he was searching for Kim's lost library book. There was the same throne. It seemed someone was sitting there, but he was cloaked in shadow.
Kim and Ron fired their wrist-grapplers into a cross-beam near the ceiling and swung down to the floor, half way to the throne.
Small dark shapes came at them from all angles. Kim cart wheeled away, trying to keep ahead of the onslaught of Monkey Ninjas. Ron stood his ground, dropping into his fighting stance, knocking the small fighters away as they advanced on him.
The battle lasted only minutes, leaving the young couple only barely winded. They stood fully up and approached the seated figure. Slowly, their eyes adjusted to the dim light and they both gasped.
"So, have you two come to gloat? Or perhaps you wanted to thank me, Ron Stoppable?"
"Thank you? Thank you for what? Knocking me out and stealing the Tempus Simia?"
"No, you fool, for saving your miserable life from that wizard?
"You saved me? Wha?"
Monkey Fist stood up and stepped into the light. What they saw shocked them.
His mane of unruly hair had turned utterly white. His face was creased with wrinkles and he was walking with the aid of a cane. Then they noticed why he needed the aid. He was wearing slippers!
Ron took a closer look at the hand that gripped the jeweled cane. It was a normal, human hand, not the chimp paw that DNAmy's genetic mutations had granted him. The tufts of monkey hair were gone.
Kim gasped. White hairs! White Monkey hairs!
They saw Amy advance from a side door, coming to stand beside her husband. "That foul meanie did this to my Monty! He stole his Mystical Monkey Power, but that wasn't enough…"
"Whatever that old wizard did to me, it is interacting with the genetic modifications Amy did to give me monkey hands and feet. It is causing me to age rapidly." He stopped and took a deep breath. "Yes, Stoppable, I'm dying." Fist said with utter bitterness.