CHAPTER 4 – Crossed Wires
Professor Dementor's lair: Unknown location
"Gottverdammte, you stupid machine!" The short, stocky, tunic-clad figure swore at the complicated-looking contraption sitting on the laboratory bench in front of him which had, once again, refused to respond when switched on. He was surrounded by a toolbox and an assortment of electrical tools and equipment – screwdrivers, a set of pliers, solenoids, solder and an ammeter attached by two cables to black and red terminals on the side of the device and which at present was showing zero current flow.
Hissing under his breath, he grabbed a cross-headed screwdriver and opened up the front panel, to be confronted by a mass of colored wires. Peering in he spotted two green shielded cables with their ends bared. Dementor stared for a moment then turned to his toolkit and grabbed a pair of tweezers and a soldering iron which he plugged into a second power socket affixed to the wall in front of him.
The buzz of the scrambler phone on the laboratory shelf distracted his attention as he was about to solder together the two loose wires, causing him to let go of the tweezers. Exasperated, he put down the soldering iron and turned to pick up the receiver.
"Dis had better be important, Myron" he barked into the handset. "I am in the meedle of ze very sensitive verk." He sniffed, and then his face reddened with anger as he realized that he had neglected to switch off the iron, which was now burning a hole in the bench top, evidenced by a small plume of smoke rising into the air and the stench of scorched wood.
"Ach!" – the German-speaking villain dropped the phone and grabbed the soldering iron, yanking it out of the power socket. He turned again to the telephone in a thoroughly foul mood.
"Zo, vot have you got to tell me? Und make it qwikkly," Dementor yelled. If it wasn't for the promise he had made to his sister Hildegard (damn you, dying mother!), he would never have given his hapless brother-in-law the time of day, let alone a position in his organization. At her insistence he had found Myron a job. Largely to get the idiot out of his hair and to get his sister off his back, he had planted his brother-in-law in Jack Hench's operation and tasked him with informing Dementor of any interesting new technology that HenchCo was looking at. This also had the benefit of allowing Dementor to pay him only a modest top-up to the HenchCo salary. Not that Myron ever came up with much – the only role they had managed to get him into without raising suspicion was that of the cleaner in the main office block. But just occasionally he came up with something interesting when loose tongues ignored the silent figure sweeping the floor behind them.
A nervous voice came through the phone. "Professor, I've just heard that HenchCo is about to do a deal with someone called Bertle or something for a gadget called the electromagnetic celery-eater or something. They seem very excited by it."
The villain groaned. Why can't this moron ever give him the proper story? Who in Gottes Namen is Bertle? A thought struck him.
He spoke into the phone. "Did zey zay Bortel? Doktor Cyrus Bortel?"
"Um, yes I think that was it," his brother in law replied after a long pause, during which time Dementor was drumming his fingers impatiently on the bench top.
Dementor looked at the part-built machine sitting on his laboratory bench.
"And vos ze gadget an Electron Magneto Accelerator?"
"Oh yes, that was what they called it," Myron confirmed.
"Gut, now get back to your verk before zumvun seez you are mizzing," ordered his boss.
Dementor put down the phone and walked over to his device, smiling.
"No more trying to make dis piece of junk verk, if the Herr Doktor has done ze job for me, ja? Time for me to do some outsorzing!"
Middleton
"You're jealing!" The dusky-skinned beauty stared accusingly at the redhead, her hands on her hips. "And don't say you're not!" The two were standing in front of Kim's locker.
Kim looked sheepishly at her irate friend. She had just confessed that she had still not told Ron about Tara's interest in him, despite several occasions when the two of them were alone. It wasn't that she was angry with him any more. She'd had three days to cool off from that incident, and she realized that she had harshed badly on Ron when they were in Drakken's lair. Her conscience had troubled her enough since then, contributing to her lack of sleep. While she wasn't trying to avoid Ron, she felt embarrassed in his presence. She knew she should apologize properly to him but he seemed to have forgotten about the incident. And she just couldn't bring herself to raise the matter and spoil everything.
But each time they parted, she had realized that she had let slip yet another opportunity to mention Tara to him.
I'm not jealing! Ron's a friend, not a boy.
"Honestly, Mon …" she struggled for a response that wouldn't sound totally lame. "It's not that I like-like Ron, it's just that …" She tailed off, looking down at her feet, unable to meet her friend's eyes.
Her girlfriend interrupted. "What is it with you, girl? For the last few days you've been behaving like you ate a moldy naco. Did something happen between the two of you? Did he finally grow some balls? And you might want to think about a river in Egypt before you answer me."
Kim was saved from responding by a familiar four-note beep. Casting an apologetic look at Monique she fished the Kimmunicator out of her shoulder-bag and pressed the answer button. The face of a young African-American boy appeared on the screen.
"Hey, Wade," she responded with a hint of relief in her voice.
"Hi Kim." Her techie looked serious. "We've got a sighting on Dementor".
Kim stared in surprise. "I thought that GJ were taking care of Dementor this week?" And I was getting some time off!
Wade looked discomfited. "It's my doing, Kim. When I picked up some ATC chatter about an unauthorized flight plan to Brazil, I did some digging. Dementor's already on his way to Rio de Janeiro. Dr. Director told me yesterday that she was having to justify every vehicle requisition to the Council and by the time she gets the necessary permissions and they got mobilized we'd have lost him. You can respond quicker. I'll tell Betty so she can send a mop-up team later."
"Have you spoken to Ron?"
"No time, Kim. You'll have to do a solo run this time. A 'copter is about to pick you up – I called in a favor from the Feds."
Kim hesitated. She knew that Ron was touchy about her leaving him behind on missions, and she never felt as confident when her best friend wasn't there to watch her back. Besides, GJ protocol was to require two agents on a mission in case of unforeseen problems. At least this time she'd only have one foe to worry about and she was sure she could handle the mad Professor.
A cough drew her attention to her friend who had been patiently standing and listening. "Kim, you need to go. Guys, I'll explain to Ron that there was just no time to get him. He'll understand." And I'll tell him about Tara too – it's the least he deserves.
Biting her lower lip, Kim nodded hesitantly and returned to the screen. "Do we know what Dementor is planning in Rio?"
The boy glanced away at another screen and then returned his attention to her. "Not exactly, but there's only one serious target in Rio. Doctor Cyrus Bortel has a lab there where he is weaponizing technology. GJ have had their eye on him for ages but they've never been able to link him to any illegal activity. It has to be where Dementor is headed."
A whirring noise outside the window caught Kim and Monique's attention.
"Your ride should be there about now," came a voice from the Kimmunicator.
"Yep, I see it," Kim responded. Picking out a bag from her locker containing her mission clothes and kit she headed down the corridor towards the exterior door.
Monique watched Kim's disappearing back. You have got some serious issues, girlfriend. You better figure out just what you want or you're going to find that this train has left the station.
HenchCo
Shego grabbed Doctor Drakken and pulled him into a doorway as the security guard appeared at the end of the same corridor in the HenchCo offices where just a few hours earlier Myron had placed a call to his brother-in-law. They held their breath as the man looked up and down the corridor before walking away in the opposite direction to the hiding figures. Once he was out of sight the two villains emerged from the doorway, opposite the wall through which they had just phased.
"Okay Shego, we are looking for the dispatch office. Keep your eyes peeled and don't forget, we don't want our presence to be detected so ixnay with the plasma."
"Sure, Doctor D." Shego was liking this new, assertive Drakken. Since they had broken into the lab in Des Moines, her boss had shown a much greater tactical sense. She put this down to the Phoebus device. It appeared that whatever it was supposed to do it had done, though she still harbored a concern about some supposed malfunction. There was also the knowledge that unless they found themselves a lair – more specifically, some high-tech equipment – before the effect wore off, Drakken would not be able to make the change permanent.
And that was the purpose of this visit. After they had left Des Moines, Shego had asked how they were going to find a new lair.
"Well, Shego, we are going to 'borrow' one from one of our old acquaintances."
"How so, Doctor D? We don't know where they are." Shego was curious. The relatively competent villains like Dementor, Monkey Fist and Killigan kept the location of their lairs a closely-held secret. No doubt Global Justice had tabs on them, but she couldn't see how she and Drakken were going to find one, let alone 'borrow' it without anything in the way of resources.
"Ah, Shego, I have thought of that. Even the best-hidden lair needs some link to the outside world to be able to obtain supplies. And I know just the organization that supplies our friends."
And after some travelling, keeping below the radar and changing destinations frequently to ensure that they were not being tracked, the blue-skinned villain and his sidekick had found themselves heading for the dispatch office at HenchCo.
"Found it." Shego pointed to a wall-sign saying Goods Entrance and helpfully pointing to a nearby set of sliding gates to the side of a wide door. The area beyond appeared dark through the reinforced glass, as would be expected at 5am. They entered silently and looked around.
They found themselves in a large rectangular warehouse, filled with crates and boxes, with a small office at one end. The other end opened out onto a loading bay, where several liveried HenchCo trucks were lined up beside a smaller number of unmarked black vans without license plates, the latter no doubt intended to supply Jack Hench's shyer clients.
Drakken marched without hesitation to the office, Shego in tow. The room contained half a dozen computers but Drakken ignored all but one old-fashioned PC that did not appear to have a network cable and no sign of a wi-fi connection.
"This will be the computer with the lairs' addresses, Shego." he said confidently. "Jack Hench wouldn't risk putting the really confidential material onto a computer with LAN or internet access. He'd be concerned that GJ or that techie kid of Possible has hacked into his network."
He looked at his sidekick. "Your turn now."
Shego sat in front of the computer and inserted a memory stick into the sole USB port. The stick contained a password cracking program of her own creation – one of the few items she had managed to retrieve from their previous lair – and it took her less than two minutes to break the code. She smiled at Jack Hench's choice of password – PossibleKim666. Indeed, their annoyingly persistent teen foe was something of the devil to the villain community.
Once in, it took her no time at all to locate the file containing the dispatch addresses and its password was cracked as easily. Drakken looked over her shoulder as she scrolled through the list of villains and their addresses. She was surprised to see just how many they were. While some of the recipients were well-known to the duo – the Seniors, Duff Killigan, Camille Leon, Professor Dementor – others were new to them – Fukushima, Aviarius, Gemini, The Death-Dealer, Doctor Doom, The Fearless Ferret and many others. It seemed as though the take-over-the-world game was more popular than she realized.
Dr. Drakken scanned the list again quickly and settled on one name – Professor Dementor. Noting the address in a pocket book he was about to tell Shego to shut the machine down when his eye fell on a familiar address.
"Now that's interesting," Drakken commented, looking at a client identified only as 'Bourne' but whose address he recognized as the Toronto branch office of Global Justice. "Seems like Betty has a little black ops going on north of the border. I wonder if she knows about it?"
"Now shut down this computer," he ordered his sidekick.
"Don't you want to copy the file, Doctor D?" she responded in surprise.
"Tempting as it is, Shego, this computer is bound to have write-protection and to record any attempts to copy the files. But never fear, we will be back for the entire list in due course. I don't want any other villains at large thinking they can grab a slice of the action when I declare my Emperorship of the planet."
Shego hesitated, and then spoke to Drakken. "Grab that one too," – pointing to the Bourne details. He looked at her in surprise.
"I have an idea that I'd like to explore," she explained.
Looking doubtful, Drakken nevertheless recorded the Toronto address and dispatch numbers in his notebook. Shego closed the file without saving and initiated the shut-down procedure. No-one would know that the computer had been compromised.
"Okay, let's get out of here."
Rio
Kim kept to the shadows as she approached the unprepossessing laboratory set into the hills on the outskirts of Rio. She had been dropped off by the helicopter two miles away from the site of Doctor Bortel's facility and had traversed the remaining distance by foot to avoid detection.
She paused and looked about. There was no sign of any intrusion and she was beginning to wonder if Wade's information was incorrect. She shook her head. Wade was never wrong. It must be that Dementor had not arrived yet. She would conceal herself and wait for his arrival, then grab him before he could attempt to break in.
Her attention was grabbed by the sound of a loud sonic boom. Spinning round she saw a flying craft sail past her at supersonic speed and stop within its own length directly above the laboratory. It must have had some sort of inertial damping system else anyone on board would have been crushed by the deceleration forces. As she broke into a run she saw a circular beam descend from the craft and the sound of falling masonry indicated that the beam was creating an opening in the roof of the building.
Inside the building, Cyrus Bortel was working at his bench on a small green device that was displaying a yellow grinning face. He pushed a button, and started laughing manically. Pushing another button, the laugh stopped abruptly and he burst into tears, before pressing the button again. His face returned to normal, and he smiled as he removed a tiny circular patch from his neck.
"It works!" he chortled. "I wonder how much Jack Hench will pay for my moodulator?" He considered. "Or should I offer it to the highest bidder – will Global Justice be willing to outbid the FSB?" His eyes gleamed at the thought of the fortune that awaited him as he carefully placed the moodulator and its remote control on a book shelf to his right.
The sound of a collapsing ceiling caused him to leap to one side as chunks of plaster fell to the ground. Through the open roof he could see a hovering craft, and as he stared in disbelief three figures rappelled down ropes and landed in front of him. His attention was drawn to the smallest of the intruders, an almost cartoon-like character wearing a helmet that covered most of his head and face and who was flanked by two burly heavies with scarred faces suggesting that this was not their first mission.
Professor Dementor stepped up to the hapless scientist and grabbed him by the tie, pulling his head down to stare him in the eyes.
"Ze Electron Magneto Accelerator, mein Herr, if you please. Und no tricks, bitte!"
Dr. Bortel looked involuntarily to his left and the intruder's eyes followed, lighting up as he saw an electromechanical device sitting on the shelf.
"Ah, I vill be borrowing dis leetle toy, Herr Doktor." Dementor directed his minions to pick up the EMA, ignoring Bortel's protests.
"Not so fast, Dementor," came a female voice from the other side of the room as the girl who could do anything ran into the room and took up a fighting pose.
"Ach, not again zat annoying hussy who hass been interfering VUN TOO MANY TIMES!" screamed the German villain as his two companions turned to face Kim, flexing their muscles as they prepared to rush her. Cyrus Bortel took the opportunity of the distraction to flee the room by the only door.
The redhead smiled at her would-be assailants. "Bring it on," she goaded as one of the henchmen ran toward her, taking a swing at her head as he got within range.
"Didn't your parents teach you not to hit girls?" Kim said playfully as she deflected the blow with ease and spun on the ball of her left foot. Her right foot swung round and caught the henchman in the small of his back, sending him sprawling across the room and crashing into the wall head first, where he collapsed into a pile.
As his companion ran at her, she glanced up and frowned when she saw Professor Dementor running across the room toward the EMA. She started to call for Ron to stop him before remembering that she was on her own.
The slight distraction was enough for the second henchman to breach her defenses and slam his fist into her stomach, throwing her backwards into the wall, causing the contents of the bookshelf above her head to tumble down onto her. Coughing and gasping for breath, she stood up painfully and shook her head to clear her mind.
Kim failed to notice the tiny translucent disk, glowing red, which had attached itself to the back of her neck. She knew only that a red mist of anger descended on her as she saw the cause of her pain. She yelled incoherently and ran at the man, swinging wildly. A lucky blow connected with his chin and he fell, unconscious before he hit the ground. Her fury was unabated and she kicked him in the ribs again and again, growling as his body shook with each blow.
A green remote control lay buried under a pile of books that had fallen from the shelf. As the pile settled, a sliding book pressed out of sight against a large button. Kim's temper vanished immediately and a wave of guilt beset her as she saw the broken body lying in front of her.
Oh god, what have I done?
Her face was stricken as she looked across the room. There was no sign of the pint-sized villain or the EMA. A sound drew her attention to the ceiling and she grimaced as she saw her opponent grinning down at her, the EMA under one arm while his other hand held a rope securely.
"So zory that ve cannot be spending more time vid you, Fraulein Possible," he taunted. "But I have a verld to conquer. Too bad you vill not be stopping me."
Kim looked across at her backpack containing her grapple gun, but it was out of reach in the doorway. She watched in frustration as the rappelling ropes were retracted and her quarry waved at her as he disappeared into the hovering craft. Seconds later, it had vanished.
Cyrus Bortel timidly reentered the room, looking questioningly at Kim as she tied the wrists of the two insensible henchmen. She stared back at him and shook her head. He groaned.
The mission was a bust. Well, perhaps not a complete disaster. Interrogating the captured henchmen might reveal Dementor's whereabouts. Unless he had followed standard HenchCo protocol of collecting the henchmen from a central distribution point and transporting them to his lair in a windowless transport. Well perhaps they could at least pinpoint the country. That was better than nothing.
But she had failed to capture Dementor, had allowed him to purloin a dangerous device and had lost her cool badly. She could picture Betty's face when she reported on her failure. The GJ director was not going to be happy when she learnt that Kim had gone alone. She should not have let Wade talk her into that, no matter how urgent the mission.
And why did she lose her temper so badly? If it hadn't been for that she might have been in a position to stop Dementor getting away.
I need a break from all this – I am in real poor shape.
As she left the room silently, Bortel was searching the pile of books and other items that had been knocked off the shelves in the struggle. He found the remote control but despite a frantic search there was no sign of the moodulator, which must have been destroyed in the fight.
"The EMA and the moodulator! I've got nothing to sell now," he bemoaned. He pocketed the now redundant remote control, unknowingly pressing a pink button as he did so.
Kim sat forlornly on her flight home, going over the mission in her head again and again. She still couldn't figure out why she had got so emotional and nearly killed the second henchman. And she was forced to recognize that without her sidekick she had been unable to stop Dementor and deal with the henchman at the same time.
"Oh Ron, I'm sorry I listened to Wade and left you behind," she whispered.
And at the thought of her best friend she suddenly felt her heart flip as an unfamiliar warmth flooded her and her eyes softened.