Chapter Two: Settling In
By expanding the skimmer's screens to their absolute limits, Shego brought the Eckland through Matalava's atmosphere without further damaging the hull. A beacon guided her to a cave behind a waterfall that concealed a landing dock. The blinking light on the communications console indicated an incoming message from Monty. She pressed a button that sent a canned reply. Once she had secured both ships she entered the stricken astrolaunch.
"BATES, you okay?"
The reply took two seconds too long. *Quite all right, ma'am. Sadly the same cannot be said for the ship. We are hulled. I'm afraid it will take some time to affect repairs.*
"How long?"
*Since I must match both the composition and density of the hull exactly to ensure a stable gravimetric field, it will take a month, perhaps more.*
"A month!" she snarled. "Great, just great!"
*I'm truly sorry, ma'am. If I had only been more careful. If I had only…*
"Expected treachery from my friend? Nah, if it's anybody's fault it's mine for thinking I had Monty conned." She allowed herself a rare moment of introspection. "We're too much alike. It's why we get along so well but aren't going anywhere."
*Let me apologize again, ma'am. The repairs will require my undivided attention. Ambient lighting and life support will work, but everything else will have to shut down.*
"It's okay, BATES. We're on a planet and Monty left a lot of supplies. Do what you have to."
*Thank you, ma'am. Should you need me press the 'help' button on the main console.*
The lights dimmed and the black haired woman shook her head. "Almost miss him."
She walked outside and looked up at the sky in the direction where she knew the Star Shrike should be. What she saw made her jaw drop. At the most she had expected to see a light in the sky. Instead the entire ship was visible. She could even see the muzzles of the fore and aft kinetic carronades. The ship turned and Shego could see the distortion from the gravimetric drive. Hoping they could see her, she flipped them off Commonwealth style.
When the ship vanished, Shego looked around. The terraformers had done their work very well. Under a slightly purple sky swayed palm, coconut and breadfruit trees, all modified to fit the environment. Like the seasoned traveler she was, Shego popped a metaboleze tablet so that her body could process any strange enzyme or amino acid she came across. Tropical. Nice, Monty.
A trail, too faint to be seen from the air, led from the cave through the trees. It ended at a hut. Supplies were stacked all around it as Monty had promised. The smiled faded when a particular set of boxes eluded discovery. She stormed up the steps, only sharp reflexes saved her from falling when a rotted step broke under her slight weight. An equally rustic interior greeted her. On one wall were diagrams of Lowardian warcraft. The ether broadcaster sat on a table in front of the illustrations. As for the object of her search: nothing. With a growl she sat at the table and activated the ether's send button.
"King's Point, this is Shego."
Aboard his ship Monty went over to the communications console. "We aren't there yet and it's Briar Patch. Try to remember that, Mother Goose."
"I know you're not there yet. Now turn around and bring me my whiskey, Monty!"
"That's Big Bad Wolf. Really, Mother Goose, use the code."
"I don't care if you're Big Bad Wolf or Funky Monkey, I want my whiskey!"
"She…Mother Goose, I'm shocked that you could even suspect Commonwealth spacers of such larceny."
"Why not?" she snapped. "I know they're capable of violating astronav laws. I'm stuck here for at least a month."
The admission caused Monty to mute the receiver and grin at Barkin. "We bumped her just hard enough." He returned to his conversation. "The whiskey is on Matalava I assure you. I just thought we could have a little fun and games with it."
"Games." She repeated.
"Yes. My crew hid the bottles all over the planet, but the game isn't hide and seek. It's more performance oriented: perform the correct action and you receive a reward. "
"What's the game, Monty?"
"I assume you got a look at our ship. The Load Sensory Array will allow you to see any vessel that comes close to Matalava. Whenever you see enemy movement contact me. Upon confirmation you will receive the coordinates for a fifth. Call it a spot for a spot."
"Sounds stu…waitaminit. Think I see something." Shego looked up at the diagrams, but not outside. "Yeah, two Render Class headed your way. They may be following your gravimetric wake."
"Render Class?" Monty looked at Barkin. "You're sure, Shego?"
"Yep." Shego grinned. "You guys better high tail it. Just one of those could swallow you whole. Those ships have a crew of one. Don't know how you'd handle two Lorwardians."
On his ship Monty shook his head. "All right, Shego. I'll send you the coordinates…once your sighting has been confirmed by another Star Watcher. How many Renders did you see again?"
"Forget it." Shego grimaced. "Must have been a cloud. You guys need to check out that Load person, he might have ripped you off."
"I'll relay your concerns to Admiral Director. They will receive all due consideration. In the meantime keep your eyes open. Big Bad Wolf out."
Once Monty closed the channel Barkin spoke. "Even when she does make a legitimate sighting she might suffer from double vision."
The Harbor Master glared. "Shego's fully functional. We're fortunate to have her aboard. I've been out here for a while myself. Space can drive one to drink."
"Begging your pardon, sir, but courses at the Academy included Space Psychology. Whatever drives her to drink came with her."
SG
Back on Matalava, Shego reached a decision. Time to get to work. She gave the hut a closer look. Its construction was wholly organic, possibly from a survival exercise. Aside from the diagrams and ether set, the only modern items were a neuro-disruptor pistol and a pulse rifle. All featured ceramic and crystalline construction, exceedingly difficult to detect with long range scanners. The set uses very little power and the warm water close by should hide it from observers. Bet you thought of that too, Monty.
The job called for the proper gear and she had it aboard the Eckland. Soon she was stretched out on a blanket under a palm tree, getting sunlight without being in the open. The black one piece was surprisingly modest. Lens cut from a blaster screen allowed her to look directly at the sun if she wanted. A little sun block and she was on the clock.
Hey.
She ran back to the hut, leaping over the broken step. "King's Point, this is Shego. Come in!"
SG
Now at King's Point proper Monty answered. "Monty…I mean, Big Bad Wolf here. Come in, Mother Goose."
"Mother Goose here. Got something for you, Big Bad."
The Harbor Master muted his transmitter. "She's using code. It must be serious."
"The DTs are." Barkin replied. Monty ignored him and reengaged his transmitter.
"All right, Mother Goose, what do you see?"
"A Reaver Class just crossed the sun."
"A Reaver." Since he could not be seen by her Monty did not try to hide his concern. "If this is a call for extraction I have no assets in the area."
"Not worried about me. If it were coming this way it wouldn't be crossing the sun. It must be getting ready to bootstrap."
"I'll have to confirm it."
"Just be ready. Reavers are equipped for planetary invasions. A few laps around the sun to pick up speed and it could be on top of you."
Monty knew Shego too well to argue. He looked over at Barkin, who had gone over to another station.
"I've already sent a message to our other watchers in the system, sir." The Unity Marine said. "Sir! Confirmation!"
"Thanks, Mother Goose. I'll send your intelligence to the Ad…the Wicked Witch." A smile crossed Monty's face. An apt handle.
At her end Shego moved on to the next item on the agenda. "Okay, Monty, we've played the games, now it's time for the fun."
"Do you have anything to write with?"
She lit up a finger over a board on the table. "Shoot."
"Standard coordinates: 127A62G. A set of flag stones by a pond. It's under the center mottled one. Our thanks again. Do keep in touch."
"Maybe in a couple of days." The spot was on the other side of the island, hardly worth using the skimmer. Her prize lay buried in the mud under the flag stone. Out of curiosity she washed the bottle off in the pond and watched the water. Nothing floated to the top, the seal was still good. Barkin would have been shocked to know that she waited until the skimmer was safely docked again before she uncapped it. The sentiment behind the toast, however, would have come as no surprise to him.
"Hello, Blackout, my old friend."
SG
The morning found Shego still in the skimmer and only a little worse for wear. Commonwealth rations had a number of good hangover breakfasts so she went to the hut for one. Of course the half-empty bottle stayed with her, providing some very effective hair of the dog. By the afternoon, she was back at work, a least by her standards. By the next afternoon, Monty was giving out another set of coordinates.
As things turned out, Star Watching actually agreed with Shego. Sitting on a blanket, toasting in the sun, taking the occasional swig from the ever present bottle, what was not to like? Spotting a ship meant another bottle and the imagined look on Monty's face when he rubbed her effectiveness in Barkin's face.
This is what duty should be like.
Then one day, three weeks after her answering the Commonwealth's 'call' to duty, the ether woke her up. "Mother Goose, this is Briar Patch, come in, Mother Goose."
Shego yawned. "Monty, what gives? What do you want? You know what time it is here?"
"In terms of daylight, no." her friend answered. "But this can't wait. I've got good news for you. We've found a replacement."
The news woke Shego up. "Great!"
"There's a slight problem." Monty said. "It's why I'm calling you now. The Lowardians are consolidating their hold on the other side of your solar system. Your replacement needs extraction from the moon of the third gas giant, a planet called Beck."
"Let me guess who gets to do it." She muttered.
"Would you? That would be lovely. I'm afraid we don't have any ships available."
"I don't have a ship either, if you remember, just a skimmer."
"You've lived and worked out of that skimmer for years. It's just a short trip for someone like you. Solar winds are up and will interfere with Lorwardian scanners. Just pick Xavier up and bring him to Matalava and you can leave the instant your astrolaunch is ready."
"Xavier?"
"Xavier Spendable, nice chap. He's more than willing to take you place, stay in the fight and all that."
"Sounds good, but you owe me something else, Monty."
"What would that be? Surely you know the Star Watchers are a voluntary service."
"Not talking about money. I know how cheap the Commonwealth is, how many times was I in your office? I'm talking about the whiskey. I want all of it now."
"Of course I'll send you the coordinates for additional bottles…"
"ALL of them, Monty."
Monty sighed. "Agreed. Barkin, hand me the list. I assume you're ready for this, Shego."
"You know it."
He read them quickly and clearly, sure of Shego's ability to keep up. "There, enough to keep you for some time. Is there anything else?"
"Come to think of it, when I get to King's Point we could meet. There's this back alley…"
"That hardly sounds like the place for an officer of the Commonwealth." His voice dropped. "Would a Unity Marine do?"
"For what I'm thinking of, yeah."
"It's settled then." He grinned at Barkin. "Looks like you'll handle the preliminary debriefing, lieutenant."
"Just tell me where and when." The big man saluted.
"Don't worry. You'll get it when the time comes." Monty turned back to the ether.
"Good luck, Shego."
Kim Possible and related characters are the property of Walt Disney.
Father Goose was released in 1964 by Republic Pictures.
Pass Me By, from the movie, was written by Carollyn Leigh with music by Cy Coleman.