Storm Chaser
Chapter 51
Hello all and it's once again, time to catch up to this lagging tale of ours. Been busy on the home front with work keeping me elsewhere but in one place each day. A recent development may leave me with a more stable work day and time to play afterwards. And since the previous sentence, I (CB) am now nearly a month into a new job…where I don't have to roam so much, and have a more stable place of employment than before. Yay! Now to continue on.
Last time, all hell broke loose when Kim's armed inspection turned into the mother-of-all-firefights between her GJ Team and Sheldon's…ahem…Contractors…After a prolonged battle throughout the facility, Sheldon's well-known escape method came out to play once again. But the hitchhiker he picked up on the way out, didn't like the inflight accommodations and expressed his displeasure before leaving a scathing review that was seen for miles…in the skies above Upstate New York. Don't think 'Reputation Defender' can save Sheldon now...And not to leave others out, Ron's exodus affected two special people, scaring the beejeebers out of one and stunning the other. Regardless, all have recovered and are still in the world. On the other side of that, Ron's pickup is not happy and tells him about it all the way back home…
While this was going down, two members of the 'Degrees of Separation' Club were involved in something that would bring those two closer together and their own 'Besties' into play, if one of them can stay out of the hospital and the other one can stop disappearing when it's becoming apparent that his 'Ex' is near. Don't think he can keep this up if he's got to appear in his best friend's soon-to-be significant other…
And, before we get rolling, we'd like to thank the following for their support and kind words: Mahler Avatar (for previous and current reviews!), Sentinel103, Bobtrumpet, Uberscribbler, Jimmy1201, Angel-one-0-one, SmartV, starfiction123, rroos1600, thank you one and all!
Now, back to the tale! We are in the homestretch!
Miami:
"Mannnnn, Kaminsky! You missed 'Nique by only two days.", the PhD candidate told his friend for the umpteeth time, so frustrated that Dean wasn't in town to meet his fiancée, and having missed meeting her again, "I wanted you to meet her." Giving him a look, "You are going to have to give a speech at our reception, you know."
The covert ninja sighed, having gotten a lot better at lying, "You can gripe to Warmarster about that, Nate. I cut the seminar as close as I could…and they were long sessions so we could get through the material. Anyway, I thought she'd be here for a few more days. What the hell happened?", the blond hurricane hunter responded as he raised the glass for a drink while hoping lightning wasn't going to strike him where he sat. The strike might also get Nathan and that would leave Monique Jenkins a widow before her wedding night.
"She had to leave early, her roomie, Kim had another funky episode and my future wife knew she needed to be there for her friend.", Blance explained.
"Huh? Episode? What are you talking about? Anyway, at least you got one-part right.", Kaminsky snarked now that he was told about Monique's and Nathan's plans for the future. Although the last time Dean saw the red head was a moment before he jumped onto the rocket that was igniting in the basement of the warehouse.
"It was chest pains like the last time. Anyway, they took the red head into the hospital for tests. I expect they might find something this time or at least I hope they do, I just hope it's nothing more than nerves."
"Yeah, I guess nerves…Wait a minute…Like the last time…", Dean's eyes narrowed as he tried to think this through, though while slightly muddled from the amount of beer he had imbibed, "She had another fi…okay, uh…yeah…You want some nachos? I was going to get an order. If you want, I'll get the large size." Nate's eyes opened wide at what appeared to be a very serious Dean Kaminsky in front of him. One that almost made him take a step back at him showing an uncharacteristic, for Dean, more serious side of his best friend. (Our hero is starting to put things together…AN)
The African-American meteorology student watched his friend closely and asked, "Are you alright, Kaminsky?"
"Large size it is.", Dean responded, knowing he had to call Yamanouchi and speak with Yori or Hirotaka. Pronto.
As Dean rose from his seat to get the attention of a waitress Nathan again asked, "Are you alright?"
Sighing, "Yeah, it's not great news to hear about someone young having medical issues.", Kaminsky lied as he worried about his ex and maybe future girlfriend since everyone seemed determined to push them together again, "Especially someone a lot of people looked up to a few years ago."
Dean went up to the bar and told the bar keep/waitress (since they were early), "A large plate of nachos with extra jalapenos and a couple of plates please, Angie."
"Right Dean, it'll be a few minutes. Another beer?"
"Yeah for both of us, we're celebrating. Nate just got engaged.", Dean laughed as he plopped down cash to cover the nachos and the suds.
The middle-aged brunette chuckled (twice divorced), "Another one bites the dust, huh?"
Dean chuckled back, "Seems so."
She then asked, "How about you? Girls have to be tripping themselves over you…If you swing that way."
"I'm a confirmed bachelor…And before you ask, I had a kind of commitment once, and my very pretty girlfriend broke it off…Now, I'm done and don't plan on it happening again. No matter what my parents and my friends think.", Dean responded as she set the beers before him.
"Sorry to hear about that Dean, but you know there are other fish in the sea."
"Maybe Angie, but I am in no place to even consider an attachment right now. I have too many other irons in the fire right now and for the foreseeable future. Maybe in a few years, once my career straightens out a lot. I'm thinking of doing an Arctic gig this winter since the Hunters will be done for the season by then and I'll be getting bored."
"Why the Arctic? I know you wintered at the South Pole.", she brought up what she recalled from listening to conversations.
"Some of the indications are that the Arctic seems to be warming up. If the Antarctic is one of the major weather factories on Earth, then the Arctic is the other. It's possible that the climate change around the North Pole is gonna screw with the weather all around North America, Europe and Asia for years and us weather geeks are just warming up to it.", Dean smirked as he picked up the glasses full of the amber liquid.
"I'll have your order out in a few minutes Dean.", Angie responded, distractedly as she didn't really take weather concerns very seriously unless there was a hurricane coming towards Miami.
The Double PhD grad set both glasses on the raised table and asked the big question as he knew there was no way he was going to be able to miss his friend's wedding, "So when is the big day Nate?"
"Well, we haven't set a firm date yet, but we are thinking about next summer after I get my solitary PhD. Moni's gotten a couple of promotions and she has a solid bank account…enough so, that with her staying with Kim she is about ready to build. But that will take some time, you know. We're thinking about staying with Kim Possible while our place is being built…if Kim agrees. Anyway, by then I should be making a paycheck and we think between the two of us we can make it work out financially."
"So, you are moving to Colorado?", Dean inquired, "I thought you liked sun and beaches."
"Don't remind me, they have snow there…a lot of it.", Blance responded.
"They have beaches from what I've heard, but the water is usually frigid."
"Don't remind me about that either. We went swimming in a lake, I swear it was glacial runoff.", Nate laughed.
Dean chuckled as he remembered his youth and four real seasons, although summer seemed to be the shortest of all, "Don't worry, I'll buy you a nice winter coat…or give you the parka that I wore to the South Pole. That should keep you warm enough."
"Kaminsky, Monique would kill me if I wore that thing. It's a fashion disaster."
Dean laughed, "Function over looks, big boy. I'll give it to ya Nate, you'll never be cold again."
"Even at the South Pole?"
"If you like any kind of sunshine in the winter, stay away from that place…Oh, and it does keep you warm. By the time the serious cold crashes down on you, your system will be used to your bones shaking…a little.", Dean kept on laughing.
"Experience, huh?"
"Yeah Nate, but seriously, when you are outside down there, it is brutal if not dangerous. It even got my attention. Now if you really want, I can put in a good word for ya, but you have to give up a summer with your sweetie.", Dean remembered his teen years having helped on several snow rescues up in the mountains.
"Not a chance. You can keep the cold and frosty, Dean. Now, as long as there are warm, sunny beaches, I'm sure I might even be able to get Moni to accompany me there. Mannnn, you ought to see her in that red bikini she has, it leaves damned little to the imagination."
"Did she model it for you last week?", Dean remembered well Kim's best friend from high school, but he knew he shouldn't tell his fellow student about her in case things go sideways before Nate and Monique tied the knot.
"Oh, hell yeah! I almost blew out a vein in my head. I swear I couldn't move for five minutes.", Nathan laughed, "It woulda been one of the shortest engagements on record. Seriously though Kaminsky, would it kill you to speak with 'Nique's roomie? She thinks about that Ron guy all the time, but I think she's wasting her time."
Sigh, "Nathan, I love you like a brother, but it's gonna be a while before I am ready to go out with a gal.", Dean picked up his frosty glass of suds, "I have so much going on, even my parents are continuing to rag on me about becoming respectable. They said they want to bring some friends of theirs to my graduation and something tells me that they are trying to set me up with some chick too."
The African-American man frowned, "Your Mom and Dad are still trying to run your life…"
"So are you.", Dean snarkily countered.
"Am not."
"So too.", Dean laughed as he set the glass back down.
"I've been meaning to ask…What happened to your eyes? You look like you have two shiners."
"Huh? Oh, two on one sparring at the base gym one day. One of the guys I was facing was better than…I think he was a third degree with an attitude, I paid him back though, broke his nose.", Dean gave a cheesy grin, "I clocked him to repay the favor.", Dean now lied, as in truth, he was in a firefight using only a sword. Then there was the lack of oxygen when he dropped away from the deathtrap, he had turned the formerly speeding missile into, was something he didn't want to try again at least for a while.
"Hey! I almost forgot! Where's your rat? If he's in Colorado we could take another trip to get him and I could see Moni again…"
"Not a chance this time, he's at my place recuperating. They overfed the fat rodent again so now I have him on a diet and he's ragging me out claiming that he's starving. Anyway, you have to prepare to teach Doctor Clang's class on Monday…I think I might audit it to give you some crap." With a mischievous grin, "Maybe I'll ask some questions that ought to get the class thinking."
Nathan started laughing since his friend did that to him occasionally, "Yeah, you could. So, your mole rat is giving you grief?"
"Not funny. When he gets too fat, he snores and since he like sleeps almost eighteen hours a day…Ya just can't get any sleep. I think the walls shake." (And it was a hurricane resistant building, which gives the reader a vague idea about how loud Rufus is in his old age…AN)
Chuckling out loud, Nate had to set his glass down before he spilled it, "Sawing lumber…Some of the guys in my frat house snored like that. It was hard to get some sleep. Of course, not many got much sleep since our collective noses were in books."
"I thought you MIT types just breezed through everything cause you're so damned smart unlike the rest of us mere mortals."
Nate coughed, then cleared his throat, "Where did you hear that?"
"Scuttlebutt…You have to admit, MIT is sort of a top-tier school."
"Yeah it is, but getting two damned PhDs is more impressive that getting a Masters from MIT.", Nate argued.
"Pfffffttthhh.", Dean replied as he took another sip. The waitress showed up with a platter of nachos. Then as he pulled out some cash to pay for the food, "I think this is our cue to dig in."
XXX
Middleton Medical Center, Middleton, Colorado:
"So, what can you tell me about your trip GF?", the fashionista asked her red-haired girlfriend, "The last time you had an episode you were on a mission and got put in here for observation."
"Moni, a lot of it is classified. I can say one of my old foes didn't go completely clean after he was offered a pardon. He had been running a criminal enterprise for years from what we've been able to discover.", Kim informed her friend, but couldn't tell her that this gang had stolen nuclear weapons from China years ago and that an Agency intervened and the weapons were recovered. She didn't know her Agency was working behind the scenes, still, and that GJ was asking questions from the countries involved in the incident and were waiting on their answers. Beyond that, they wanted to interrogate those that had stolen the weapons. (Of course, those that were involved in the theft attempt…were now all deceased. The survivors had been executed by the Chinese government…AN)
"Hi Mom.", Kim said as the red-haired, blue-eyed surgeon entered her daughter's room. She was followed by a gray-haired man.
"Hi Kimmie, how are you feeling?", Anne asked.
"I 'feel' normal. Just had that glitch in the basement of that warehouse.", the GJ Agent responded.
"Good. Now Kimmie, this is Doctor Stubbles. He will be your primary physician during your stay."
He stepped forward and offered his hand, "Sam Stubbles and please no jokes, could you please tell me what happened when you felt something in your chest that wasn't quite right?"
"Sure Doc…errrr Sam.", Kim replied, "We were in a…"
Stubbles then turned to Monique, "Miss, I think we'll be speaking about some things that are 'classified' and your friend, Doctor Possible and I all have clearances. Could you please wait outside for a few minutes?"
Moni looked at Kim (who nodded). The fashionista smiled, "Yeah, I think a cup of coffee sounds good right about now." With that the African-American woman stepped out of the room.
After the door closed Kim half-smiled, "We were in a firefight." Kim saw her Mom suddenly pale, so she explained, "I work for GJ, as you know, and my team is responsible for being certain that all the former techno-villains are abiding by the conditions of their parole given to them from the invasion a few years ago. If the inspection goes sideways, then turns violent, we have to either extract ourselves or neutralize the danger."
Anne Possible regained her composure and motioned for her daughter to continue.
Kim half-smiled, "Anyway, while in the middle of the firefight, the leader that we were checking out got into a rocket and blasted out of the basement."
"Why the basement?", Anne inquired.
"That's where his command center was located. It was also his launch pad.", Kim explained.
"Did you have chest pains then?", Stubble inquired.
"No, not then about a minute or three later.", Kim informed him, "Funny…"
"What's funny, Kim?", Stubble asked.
"Well right before the rocket lifted off this shadow seemed to jump on the rocket…and it said something…Something in Japanese."
"Kimmie, you never told us that before…"
The younger red head explained, "That school that Wade and I go to in the summer…Well that's something the students cry out when they are going to do something that is very dangerous."
Anne asked, "What is that?"
Kim uttered, (For the mountain.) Then said in English, "'For the mountain'. They use that saying in case they die while doing what they are doing."
Stubble asked, "So, whoever it was spoke Japanese?"
Kim nodded, "Maybe, at least a Japanese speaker. Anyway, after the rocket went through the ceiling. About two minutes later, I felt like I was having a heart attack. Of course, the exact timing I am not sure of because of bullets flying at me and my team."
"Have you spoken with Betty about this?", Stubble offered.
"Yeah, Du as well. It's in my report. Again, I am not sure of the timing…My body camera was damaged by a bullet…it died so I didn't. The body armor helped a lot too."
"We are still going to run the tests and keep an eye on you Kimberly, but I think there is something going on that isn't medical in nature, maybe something in your mind."
"Gee, just what I need; another breakdown. That ought to help my career take off like a rocket.", Kim smirked.
Anne smirked, "Kimmie as long as you weren't on that rocket, I think we can live with it."
Sigh, "Yeah Mom, I just wish Ron was here with me, then it wouldn't be so much drama."
"You haven't used that term in years honey…Why did you do so now?"
"I…I don't know, it just rolled off my tongue."
Doctor Stubble then said, "Well Kimberly, we will run you through the gauntlet tomorrow and maybe get you out of here for the weekend." He then turned and walked to the closed door and opened it.
Monique's head peeked in, "You guys done with all the cloak and dagger stuff?"
"Yeah, did you bring me a cup, 'Nique?", Kim inquired.
"Yeah I did, black just like you take."
Anne Possible then kissed her daughter on the forehead, "I have to make my rounds Kimmie, hopefully your stay this time will go faster than the last one."
To Monique, Anne continued as she glanced at the fashionista's left hand, "I highly doubt if yours will, though. Congratulations! Kimmie told me you have found a wonderful guy…But a weather guesser? They're total geeks."
"Maybe, Doctor Possible, that profession is harder than people make it out to be, except for Nate's friend, Dean. He's like a weather god or something. Still trying to set Kim up with him."
Anne's eyes opened wide, "Given up on Ron?"
"Kim needs a diversion Mrs. Possible. If Ron doesn't show up eventually, then his time is gonna run out. I don't care with my BFF says about it."
Anne shook her head, "Well what does he look like?"
"I don't know, I haven't seen a pic of him yet. And I was supposed to meet him when I was in Miami, but he had to go to some conference with the Hurricane Hunters, so he was out of town.", Monique explained.
XXX
Miami:
Flinching in shock and swiping a free hand by one of his ears, "What the hell?!", Dean yelped as his ears seemed to burn. He looked left and right and ducked as if he had seen a ghost, then pulled his hand back from the platter of nachos. Wide-eyed, he trembled.
"Something spooked you, Dean?", Nate asked as his friend snapped his head around, looking for whatever set his friend off like that.
"Huh? Uh…ah, I thought I heard someone talking about me…Sorta got my attention there for a second.", the Double PhD replied as he reached to the platter again.
"No. I mean it. Something spooked you…"
"Heh, heh, it was nothing Nate. I just felt like someone was walking on my grave, that's all. Ya get used to it with my parents and sister and all…" Tapping his chin with a finger, musing comically, "I think we have a psychotic connection; you know. Now, you want another beer?" As Dean decided to divert his friend's attention. Our sometimes-lost hero was a believer in the old adage, 'If you can't dazzle them with brilliance then baffle them with BS'.
Of course, some old dead Japanese guy watched over the proceedings from the safety of another plane. And he also decided it was time to get the Monkey Master's attention, figuring that said Monkey Master had enough time to get 'his shit all in one sock' (as the author's brother-in-law would say…AN) and start wrapping up a 'certain' relationship, to start the process of making little ninjas. But…of course, our hero and previously described lunkhead was somewhat leery about going down that road…again, and giving overt feelings to his once…and maybe-future-girlfriend-slash-maybe-future-spouse…Provided the maybe couple's parents, friends, other assorted people and rodents hanging around them had their way…Especially if the old dead guy had his way.
As the color returned to Dean's face, he rose and went back to the bar. Smiling, Angie asked, "How were the nachos, Dean?"
"Good like always, Angie. Another round, if you don't mind.", Dean responded, "Come to think of it better make it a couple, each."
"Dean, I am going to have to cut you off if you're driving…"
"Three blocks from my apartment Angie. We walked over here and Nate can crash at my place tonight.", the blond young man pacified her, "He just got engaged and we're celebrating."
"Yeah, you told me earlier. And I remind you, again, that you are going to have to find someone eventually…"
Dean snorted, "The key word Angie, is 'eventually'. Mom, Dad and Sis are putting pressure on my sorry can and I just don't think I'm ready. Maybe I will someday. I guess if I pick one out it's better than they do in South Korea when young men and women don't want to get married."
"What do they do there?"
"From what I understand they put the girls and boys in a big room and shut the lights off. They can't come out until they've found their spouse.", Dean responded.
"I guess that's one way of doing it."
"Yeah, I guess love is blind…Dumb too, Angie."
That caused her to laugh, "If I had done that, I might have ended up with one of those two idiots that I married being worth a ding."
"I just hope my parents don't try something like that on me. Who knows what I would end up with.", Dean chuckled as he picked up the four glasses after he dropped a couple of twenties to pay for them. Angie pocketed the automatic gratuity the blond weatherman made a habit of giving her. And after a night of such tips, it made her life a lot easier as she was saving up to put her daughter, Amy, through college.
"You'd just run off to a dinky radio station that nobody ever heard of and disappear off the face of the Earth.", Angie laughed.
"Maybe…I'd just go back to Japan…I speak the lingo, you know.", Dean laughed over his shoulder.
XXX
Middleton:
Wanda stared at the red head, "Kim you are making a habit of this and you need to stop…Just so you know, Suzy is at home freaking out."
Sigh, "It's not my fault. But I swear, almost every time I go on a mission lately…I get these anxiety attacks and if you think it's getting old, how do you think I feel?"
"Well, something tells me that what you need is to get laid.", the taller woman tossed at the red head.
"I fully intend to. Once I grovel at Ron's feet…I just hope he takes me back.", Kim responded as Monique glanced up from the fashion magazine in her lap.
"You can't have mine, GF.", Monique again showed off her ring, "I've waited long enough, and I've got a keeper…But I am sayin' that you ought to give his friend a chance. He just might make you forget about skinny boy."
"Monique…"
"GF, you've waited long enough." Sighing heavily, "I hate to tell you this, but I guess someone has to…Your sidekick…he ain't coming back. He's had the opportunity." Dismissively waving a hand towards the door, "Hell, he knew all about Justine's and Mike's wedding. HE could've been there instead of just sending a present. You have to let Stoppable go.", an exasperated Monique staccatoed out.
Kim frowned as she adjusted the angle of the bed, "I remind you that I have it on absolute authority from the leader of the school Wade and I go to in the summer, that Ron will be back in my arms. I just have to be patient.", she crossed her arms and glared at Monique. "He said our future together includes us having a slew of kids. So, I guess when Ron and I get back together, I'd better give Betty a head's up that I might not be able to continue as a Full Time Agent for a time."
Shaking her head in frustration, "GF.", an exasperated Monique continued to argue, "You keep holding out hope that Stoppable is gonna show back up…And from where I'm at, I just don't see it that way…."
XXX
Miami:
"So, Dean, how did they take your little declaration that it looks we're gonna have an active season?", Nathan posed to him as he sipped his brew.
Eyes glazed over, shaking his head, "I swear they are bigger weather geeks than we are…"
Mockingly finger-quoting, "Yeah, you can tell us we're so much smarter.", Nathan snorted. "We run towards tornadoes with our cameras when the sane ones are hunkering down behind reinforced concrete.", Blance chuckled.
Dean snorted, "Being a weather guy doesn't make us invincible. Last year I watched one of those guys get nailed in the chest with storm debris. Man, he went down hard.", he grimaced at the memory. "I might suggest to the networks to have their people wear chest and head protection, or one of these days there's going to be a fatality on national TV with the world watching on. Then some corporate exec is going to have to explain to the public what the hell they're doing.", Dean ranted. Frowning, "At least our guys are pros and they know what can happen to them if an aircraft goes down in the ocean."
"You guys die?", Nathan seemed to pale.
"Depends. I mean we've all practiced ditching drills, but when you think about doing it in thirty-foot seas with a hundred and fifty mile per hour winds…", Dean trailed off.
"I…uh see. Ummm, has there ever been a crash?"
Leaning back in his chair, thinking, "Yeah…Nineteen fifty-five, hurricane Janet. We lost a Neptune…I think it was flight…uh…Five 'U' Ninety-three. Eleven crew members were lost. Its call sign was Snowcloud Five and was lost, I think, in September of Fifty-five."
"Shit! That is serious. That storm musta been wicked."
"It wasn't at that point; winds were only about fifty miles per hour. Later that same storm unloaded on the Yucatan with winds clocked at hundred and seventy-five miles per hour.", Dean informed his friend.
Nathan whistled, "That is wicked."
Dean took a gulp of his beer, "A killer, that's why I do it…to save lives. We've had a few other close calls over the years too, but nothing as bad as Snowcloud Five. Now, that is for the Atlantic, but we lost a plane out of Guam in Seventy-four."
"Do you know anything about that one?", Nathan asked.
"I think it was Swan Thirty-eight and was a C-130…I think they had seven on board, but I don't remember…And sometimes we take newsies out, so more can be exposed to the possibility of crashing than just the Aircrews.", Dean explained.
Nate thought for a moment then inquired, "Don't bad things happening come in threes?"
"That's a superstition Nate. Anyway, I don't think it counts like that since those crashes were almost twenty years apart. Besides, we've got a pretty good safety record, you know." Then Dean set his glass down and picked up another.
XXX
Outside Golden, Colorado:
"Hi Barb, it's Anne. How are you doing?", a well-known female voice identified herself.
"Hi Annie, how are the kids doing?"
"Oh, the boys are doing well in school and driving their Deans nuts.", Anne Possible giggled, "And they have a few more patents too, but that's not the reason I called."
"Oh…Is it Kimberly?", Barb asked quickly since Anne didn't mention her pride and joy, "Did she finally find a beau?"
Sigh, "Yes, it's Kimmie, but she's still stuck on Ronald…and she's had another attack."
"Is she alright, Anne?"
"I don't know…it wasn't like when she was losing it in England. She's very coherent, but it was a panic attack like the one from a few months ago.", Anne explained since she wasn't the Primary Care Doctor of her daughter. Also, she hoped this would lead to her learning more about Ron and his life, right now.
"Anne, I am sorry to hear that, I hope she'll be alright. Though I know with you watching over her she will be."
"If I had been watching over Kimmie when she had that breakdown, we'd probably have a couple of grandkids right now, so I'll take that with a grain of salt, Barb. Now, where's Dean?"
"Pixie Scouts. Hanna is just getting into it. I think they're planning on rebuilding the Hoover Dam next weekend to advertise for their annual sale of muffins."
"Don't worry, it won't be anything that big, Barbara. Steve Barkin just talked a big game just like in football or Alien invasions…Remember when the boys destroyed two of his cars in just a couple days? He was reduced to a quivering pile of goo three times."
"I remember, usually it was Ronald who messed with him, but your boys really took to annoying that wannabe Jarhead."
Anne chuckled for a moment as she remembered the good old days, "That was fun.", she looked off in her memories. Then returning to her conversation, "But, how is Ronald, these days?"
A proud smile, "From what news I get, he is fine and he argued both of his PhD's and got them. So, graduation is a go, but he still hasn't told us where it is going to take place. He said he was going to send a plane for us and make all the reservations."
"Send a plane?"
Nodding, "Yes, we have a couple of Gulf Streams.", Barb replied. "I already told him we were going to have at least three guests and I think he has made arrangements for lodging and transportation as well. So, are you guys coming?"
"Sure, I have vacation time coming to me…and I'll twist James' arm…" Then catching herself after a silent headcount, "But, who else is expected to come with us?"
A knowing look, "You did say you wanted Kimberly to speak with Ronald. And with all his schooling being out of the way, I think it would be a perfect time to set things straight between them.", Barb told her.
Holding back a snort, "Oh, you are devious, Barbara. I love it!", Anne smirked, "But we don't tell either of them about this and lock them in a room to work things out…", the elder redheaded Possible paused. "Does Ronald know Kimmie might be coming?"
Barb giggled, waving a hand lightly, "Why bother him with details? Anyway, do you think we can sneak James' double-barreled shotgun on the plane? I could get Bernie on the plane too."
"I don't think that would be a great idea…at least with the firearm.", Anne cautioned her friend.
Relenting, "Okay, but I think between the five of us we can get what we want out of this."
"Five? Do you mean Kimmie?"
"No, I mean Hanna…maybe Rufus too. The last time I spoke with Ronald he said Rufus was getting cantankerous and vocal. When I get done, I'll show that Jewish boy what a Jewish Mom will do to get her way."
"Well, you let me know when you want us. I'll speak with Betty without Kimmie making sure she has the time off for it.", the hopeful Mother-in-Law told the other. Then, "Now, I'm going to call it a night…It was good speaking with you, I can hardly wait to see the looks on those two hardheaded kids' faces. Goodnight, Barb."
"Goodnight, Anne."
XXX
Yamanouchi, Japan:
With a respectful tone, (May I speak with Sensei?), the short Shinobi requested over the phone from her current location in the US.
(It will be a few moments, Suzy-san.), came the reply from a location high in a certain mountain range in Japan.
XXXX
Both seem to be getting their own version of after action debriefs…I much prefer Ron's over Kim's, though. More beer in his than what Kim's going through.
And their 'rents seem to be scheming about something happening in the near future…Hope it comes to pass.