The Chains that Break

by

Ken-Zero

Disclaimer: Kim Possible and all related characters are property of Disney. Honor Harrington, the universe, and all related characters are property of David Weber and BAEN books. The only original items in here are the plot and a couple of minor characters.

2

A sharp hiss signaled the collapse of the airtight seal, and the boarding ramp descended smoothly on its hydraulics. Warm, humid air rolled up and into the passenger compartment, and Kim Possible stood and stretched right along with the small handful of other people riding with her. She tried to quiet her racing thoughts as she filed into line, taking the third place out of eight. As they proceeded down the ramp, she thought back two days previous, when she had received her actual orders.

--

Kim's initial excitement over her new assignment had cooled markedly in the three days between her last meeting with Admiral Givens and the time she actually received her summons. She was not getting cold feet about it, but the reality of the situation was starting to sink in, and it was a sobering effect.

Still, she put on her best expression as she approached the building she was supposed to visit; the Manticoran Marine House was a marked contrast to the Naval building she'd visited only a few days previous, short and squat; that alone made it unusual in a civilization where counter-gravity technology enabled real skyscrapers. Still, she knew, by its unusual style, that she'd made it to the right place. Following her orders, she entered, rode a lift to the fourth floor, and was somewhat startled to see an operations center when the doors opened.

Monitors lined the walls, input panels sitting right below them; dials, keypads, switches, displays, and other pieces of equipment took up every square inch of available space. There was even a large holo-tank display at the far end of the room, and Kim saw that it was displaying what looked like a territorial map of the galaxy. All the outputs provided enough light to see; in fact, there was no normal lighting whatsoever that Kim could see. The ceiling of the room, or what she could see of it beyond the cabling, hanging displays, and light truss work, vanished into featureless darkness.

In front of the tank, staring up into its display, was an absolute giant of a man; Kim guessed he easily topped two meters in height, and he was probably around a hundred and fifty kilos; from her position he looked nearly as broad across the shoulders as he was tall.

She took her first timid step inside, and as soon as her boot landed on the floor the man turned. "Ah, Lieutenant Possible!" he boomed; his voice was a pleasant baritone that still was resonant enough to rattle around in her chest. "Come in, come in!"

Heartened by his apparently cheerful greeting, Kim continued in, stopping a few paces away to salute the man; in close proximity she could see his uniform and the rather impressive amount of ribbons adorning his left breast. "Colonel," she said simply.

Lieutenant Colonel Mavery Briggins, Director of Special Forces, Royal Manticoran Marines, returned Kim's salute. "At ease, Lieutenant Possible," he said when finished. Kim relaxed, and he continued speaking. "I'm sure Admiral Givens has told you the basics of your current mission."

"Disrupting Manpower's satellite operation on the planet Orthua," Kim replied succinctly, which got an amused chuckle out of the colonel.

"That's it exactly. Now, come with me for a moment." Without waiting to see if Kim would follow, he strode back to the holo-tank and its galactic display. He reached into it and made a hand gesture, Kim guessed, because two seconds later the map colored itself. A great chunk of it turned red, with the stars appearing as brightly-colored specks in the darker background color; another area turned bright green, but this was far smaller than the red. Another turned light blue, again smaller than the red. By the time the map was finished, the red still totally dominated any other color in terms of volume, but the variety of colors was astounding.

"This is, essentially, a current political map of the galaxy. We are here." He pointed to the green, and it blinked once before a label containing "Manticore" popped up above it. "Based on that, I'm sure you can guess what the other major colors are. Here is your destination: Orthua." He reached out again, this time tapping one of the motes of light near the edge of the red space. The star blinked just like the area representing Manticore's territory had, and a similar label appeared with its name. "As you can tell, it's well away from any nearby world in the League; in fact, the closest inhabited planet to it is Lynx."

"That's where the new wormhole terminus is, isn't it sir?" Kim asked.

"Precisely. And that, Kimberly, is what's going to make your mission a whole lot easier."

Kim tilted her head slightly to one side. "How so?"

"Because your cover is a business interest from Lynx itself," he said. "I have your briefing materials on my desk. Basically, you are going to represent a dummy corporation that operates as a legal cover for one of more...questionable interests. The reason you are there is to negotiate a long-term purchase agreement with that particular facility, because of the very fact that it is off the beaten path. And if we didn't know this place existed until the Hexapuma got back recently with updated star charts, what's to say, to Mesa, that we still don't know it's there?"

"I...think I understand, sir."

"I'm sure you do. And if you don't, you will soon." He smiled reassuringly before grasping the star for Orthua in between two fingers and pulling. The rest of the galaxy flew away, while the star centered itself and zoomed in, showing Kim that it was only orbited by three planets.

"The system itself is unremarkable; little in the way of exotic natural resources, only the second planet is habitable, not even an asteroid belt for mining purposes." He shrugged. "We guess that's why Manpower found it so tempting a site; with so little to offer, who would even want to look there? But now that we've found them...it's time to show them what happens when they mess with us."

--

Kim had spent that night familiarizing herself with her new cover identity; the next morning, she was on a ship bound for the wormhole to Lynx.

En route, she spent a moment to marvel at the sheer amount of traffic the space around her home system contained. Manticore and its sister planets, Sphinx and Gryphon, lay at the nexus of no fewer than seven wormholes. As a result, enough spacecraft went through the Manticore Junction that, by levying a tariff on all shipping, Manticore swiftly became an economic powerhouse; that was aided by the sheer size of its own merchant marine and the amount of interstellar shipping that went through it. The capital the system generated enabled Manticore to invest heavily in research and development, and to Kim's day it remained at the forefront of the galaxy in several notable fields.

That same technical edge is what gave its military a fighting chance against Manticore's more massive interstellar neighbor, the Republic of Haven. Until recently, it had been known as the People's Republic, a titanic, socialist nightmare of a bureaucracy at first headed by generations of Legislaturalist families, and then, for a short time, by a totalitarian "People's Commission" that made Old Earth's Communist Russia look like a freewheeling democracy. A military coup had installed the current republican administration. Relations had begun to thaw between Manticore and Haven until the recent round of fighting.

Kim's mission was to find out why Manpower had intervened, and to put a stop to it.

She put her wandering thoughts to the side as she made her way down the boarding ramp, trying to draw up as much of the personality of her new alter ego as she could. By the time she made it to the bottom of the ramp, she was fully immersed in her new role as Keilyn Pelargic, Vice President of Finance for one Donovan Drumbirell, CEO of Interstellar Securities, Ltd.

Of course, as she cleared the landing well for the transport ship, which was perched atop the spaceport itself, and saw the city proper, she didn't have to act to look like an impressed tourist.

The city, dubbed Derare by all the signs Kim saw promoting its safety, was virtually spotless. A handful of skyscrapers, aided by counter-grav technology, stretched upward, breaking up the bright-blue dome of sky that stretched overhead as far as she could see. A number of smaller buildings, impressively tall on their own but still dwarfed by the huge ones, filled in the space around the skyscrapers, with broad thoroughfares slicing between them at regular intervals and breaking the cityscape into manageable blocks. The overbearing amounts of gray and white were broken up every so often by squares of greenery that Kim could see from her elevated position. A handful of ground vehicles were trundling along, looking like insects from the distance—and illustrating just how huge the skyscrapers were. The city as a whole appeared to operate quickly and efficiently—and quietly, Kim noted.

She followed the rest of her similarly gawking companions down, a small part of her mind thankful that she'd worn light clothing for the planet's summery heat and humidity. She and her group were led down through a customs official, who looked about as falsely enthusiastic as a human could get, and into the city proper. Up close, most of the architecture was even more impressive; the construction was on par for a League world, all square corners and glassy sides, and yet each building was different, erected with its own style that nonetheless blended almost perfectly with those around it.

Kim's group entered one of the lower buildings, and she wasn't at all surprised to see nothing there but a desk, a person behind it, and several elevators. Their guide, who until that time had been chatting merrily away with his usual shtick, promptly disappeared, leaving Kim and the other seven travelers standing there.

After a brief check-in period, in which Kim found the concierge to be relentlessly annoying, she found herself alone in her hotel room. She busied herself by unpacking and putting away all of her supplies, of which she had a large amount. When she finished, she collapsed on the bed and heaved a sigh.

What am I even doing here? Do they really think I can play a spy? She draped an arm across her eyes. Do I really think I can play a spy?

If she was sure of one thing, it was that having a month of preparation did not mean she knew as much as she needed to know about her new job. She was not too keen on having to learn from her mistakes as she went along, as it often turned out that spies kind of died if they screwed up.

She had been excited and cocky when Admiral Givens had first made the offer, sure…but inherently she believed that anything was possible for her; it was her family motto, in fact. "Anything is possible for a Possible," her father had said, as long as she could remember, and even up until being sent on active duty she'd heard the phrase at least once a week while communicating with her family.

The thoughts of her family gave her pause in her self-recrimination. Her twin younger brothers were already heading quickly in their father's direction, displaying genius-level aptitude in all things math- and science-related. She could remember when they'd once managed to send one of her stuffed animals into orbit with a home-made rocket. She'd been livid at the time; in retrospect, of course, it was actually really funny. She found herself smiling just thinking about it and wondering how quickly they would take over whatever firm they ended up working for.

Well, she decided, if they can be super astrophysicists, then there's no reason I can't be a spy, is there? She was fully aware that the comparison wasn't quite equal on both sides, but it worked to lift her spirits nonetheless, and she vaulted off the bed, fetching her mission documents and taking one more look at them. "No sense in being totally unprepared," she muttered to herself.

--

Well, Kim mused to herself much later, I don't think any amount of briefing could have prepared me for this. She was wandering the streets of Derare, careful to not range too far from her hotel. It was, after all, a new environment, and she did not want to get lost.

She noted that her first impression on leaving the spaceport hadn't been at all inaccurate: the construction was huge, every smooth surface gleamed in either sunlight or moonlight, and there wasn't so much as a scrap of refuse to be seen. There weren't many pedestrians; even the vehicle traffic, both ground and air, was light. It struck Kim as simply odd for an area so obviously metropolitan; she'd grown up in one of the less-populous regions of Manticore, but she was also no stranger to the megalopolises of all three worlds in her home system; while Derare seemed to be as elaborately planned and constructed, it didn't look to her like it had the population to support itself, since she couldn't see any of it.

Then again…maybe they're all just staying inside for the day. For all she knew, some of the smaller buildings could be gigantic apartment complexes or the like.

Her wanderings took her into something resembling a downtown area; the difference was practically thrust in her face with a sudden glut of brightly-colored glowing signs, varied smells, and more people than she could count on both hands. She almost bumped into a bickering couple as they left, but managed to stop gawking long enough to avoid running into them; they appeared to not notice her at all. Everyone that she could see was dressed in what she assumed passed for the latest fashions in the League…though to Kim's Manticoran viewpoint, "dressed" was stretching the term's definition for some of the styles. Both the women and the men seemed content to barely cover areas most societies deemed inappropriate for public viewing. Kim felt herself blushing lightly as her gaze lingered appreciatively on more than a few of the women, but she tore her stare away before anyone really made any mention of it.

I guess I need a new wardrobe if anyone's going to believe I'm from around here… Kim continued her wandering; every so often, someone would give her a funny look for being a tourist, but she ignored them and moved on. Stopping at one of the myriad of shops lining the streets, she bought a relatively exotic concoction of meats and sauces to satisfy her quietly rumbling stomach; sadly, it looked a lot better than it tasted. Curiously, she was directed to sit down immediately after buying it, and she saw several signs near the entrance prohibiting bringing anything from inside the place, outside. She figured it wasn't worth testing to see what would happen if she disobeyed the signs, dropping her food remnants in a receptacle in the center of her little table, and decided to hit the streets again.

About an hour later—well past sunset—she'd made almost a complete tour of the area. Two things set off even more little warning flags in her mind that not all things were right in the city: she hadn't seen anything even remotely shady. No signs in back alleys quietly proclaiming the chance to get some cheap thrills, illicit drugs, or even an hour or three of physical pleasure. Kim wasn't naïve, and she knew that places like that existed even back home, but to see a total lack was a little unnerving.

She also hadn't seen any law enforcement whatsoever. Back on Manticore, there would usually be at least a minor police presence, if only to show they were patrolling and keeping an eye on the area. Here, though…she saw nothing, not even a parked groundcar. This made little sense, especially since a police state was her first guess for the lack of seedier establishments.

Making a mental note of everything she'd seen, she went back to her hotel, wrote her observations on actual paper, folded the sheet up several times, stuck it in her pillowcase, and went to bed, thoroughly exhausted after the long tour and longer trip.

--

The next day, awake and refreshed, Kim compiled her report for Colonel Briggins, using the notes she'd made the night before. She wracked her brain to come up with code words for certain things before giving up and writing it like the bored secretary she was supposed to be—right down to whining about there being no police to help guide her when she "got lost" during her tour. She sent the message off, and her terminal pinged a handful of seconds later, notifying her that it had reached "home" on Lynx. Satisfied, Kim turned her attention toward getting herself actually in to the Manpower facility.

She spent another fifteen minutes perusing the business directories in the hotel's databases before finding a likely candidate: "Derare Professional Help Company." She punched the contact info into her communication terminal and was promptly greeted by a smiling woman in a recorded message. Kim listened to the various menu options before choosing the route that would get her in touch with a sales representative. Seconds later she sighed in relief at actually being able to talk to a real human.

"Good morning, and thank you for calling Derare Professional Help," the salesman said quickly. "What kind of help are you looking for?"

"I'm—well, actually," Kim hesitated. Spill it now? Wait for in person? "I was wondering if I could actually come in, take a look around at your products first-hand…" She trailed off, hoping he would get the hint.

"You'd like to schedule a personal visit?" he repeated, sounding somewhat surprised.

"Yes…if I could? Is that unusual?"

"Not at all." Kim had to give him credit; he recovered quickly. "When would you like to come in?"

"As soon as I could, if I can." She made a face. "I just came in from Lynx yesterday, and if I spend too long here, my boss is going to think I'm just taking a vacation instead of doing what he sent me to do, and then I'll probably be out of a job, and then what would I tell my girlfriend? Oh, she'd be so mad, it'd be the fourth one I've lost since I met her, and then she'll think I'm just not worth the maintenance because I can't even hold a job, much less a relationship, and then—" She had to fight to keep from grinning at how flustered he was starting to appear.

"Yes…well…we can't have that, now, can we?" He cleared his throat, then looked off-screen for a moment. "The nearest date we can get you in is…let's see. Today's booked…tomorrow…how about day after tomorrow? Two in the afternoon?"

"Really? That quickly?" Why not today, since you're so surprised I want to come in?

"Yes, miss…?"

"Oh, I'm Keilyn. Keilyn Pelargic."

"Very well, Miss Pelargic. And the company you represent?"

"Company?"

"Yes. You did say you were here on business, did you not?"

"Oh! Right. Um. It's Interstellar Securities Limited. Based on Lynx. My boss is the CEO, and he said I had to come here and talk to you guys as soon as I could."

"Your superior must be very well connected. We don't have many clients on Lynx."

"Well, I guess you kinda gotta be connected to be a CEO, right?"

"A valid assumption, Miss Pelargic. Very well; we await your arrival at two PM in two days."

"Thanks so much," Kim enthused. "Bye!"

"Farewell."

When the screen winked off, Kim slumped back in the chair. "I hate sounding like a giggling idiot!" she whined to herself, but she had to giggle at how much it looked like she'd thrown the salesman. She sobered quickly, though, realizing that she had two full days at her disposal now.

Time for some studying, she thought, and grabbed up her operation notes. Don't wanna mess this up.

--

A/N: I don't like this chapter. Nothing really happens, which made it a pain in the ass to write. At least it's short to decrease the pain.

Yes, stuff is going to happen. Yes, it will happen soon. Please bear with me.

And yes, I'm also aware that I don't write spy stuff all that well. It's better than it used to be, though.