graycardinal | FIC: I Suppose This Means They Read the Fanfic (3/10) (Reply)

********************
I Suppose This Means They Read the Fanfic (3/10)
A Sitch in Slash: Episode #2
Fandom: Kim Possible/Narbonic
Author: Gray Cardinal
Rating: PG -13
Classification: You tell me....
Summary: An assassin's after Shego, Mrs. Dr. Possible is trying to resolve matters without involving Kim -- and you just know that's not going to work out....
********************

From: jade_firecat
To: braingirl

Got your note. Comments on Chapter 5 may be delayed, but not for the reason you’d think – more of a professional relations prob-

Oh, hell, I’d better say this straight out. MK out of Narbonic's after me with intent to flambé, apparently on behalf of HN (not sure which one yet, but I’m guessing Mom). Yes, it’s nuts, but that’s mad science for you. Obviously a parallel-universe sitch; could use a line on a PDVI to send her home – if Kimmy or her pet geek knows where I can borrow one, it’d help, but do not, repeat DO NOT let her anywhere near me for the duration. MK packs too much firepower; also, she cheats.

Will send underwear gizmo specs when I get the chance. Best hold off on brain-tweaking, though; I need all the neuro-whatses I’ve got just now.

More later, assuming I don’t get crispy-fried.

Dr. Kimberly Katherine Possible pursed her lips thoughtfully, trying to recall what a PDVI was – a pan-dimensional something-or-other, that was it. The problem, however, was what to do about the message. If the note described matters accurately, it was entirely possible that Shego could indeed wind up crispy-fried; her summation of Mell Kelly’s character was all too apt. And notwithstanding the perils Shego had put her daughter through over the years, she didn’t deserve to be flambéed by a sociopathic sidekick from another dimension.

As bizarre as the scenario was, Mrs. Dr. Possible didn’t have any trouble taking it seriously; it was no stranger than some of the situations Kim and Ron had gotten themselves into over the years. Nonetheless, she decided that her first order of business was to secure some sort of independent confirmation. It was less a question of disbelieving Shego as of needing a second opinion – basic operating practice in her own field. And given that the diagnosis involved extra-dimensional mad science, there was only one person she could logically call on.

Working quickly, she sealed the message behind five separate encryption layers, copied the result to a flash-memory card, and transferred the card from her office computer to her palmtop. Now all she needed to do was reach Wade – but that would require a Kimmunicator, and getting hold of one without letting Kim know what was going on promised to be tricky. She frowned briefly, considering the problem, then abruptly snapped her fingers, reached for her cell phone, and keyed a speed-dial code.

“Kimberly Katherine!” said the warm voice on the other end of the line. “Good morning! To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Good to talk to you too, Nana,” Mrs. Dr. Possible said, “but I’m afraid this is more of an I could use a favor call. You still have a friend or two at Global Justice, don’t you?”

Nana Possible’s voice sharpened slightly, though with concern rather than anger. “Kimberly Ann’s not in danger, is she?”

“No more than she ever is,” Mrs. Dr. P replied with a faint, nervous chuckle. “Actually, I’m hoping to keep her out of some. I need to discuss some information with Kim’s friend Wade, but I’d rather keep Kimmy out of the loop until we know more. I know Wade’s got connections in GJ too . . . .”

“. . . but what you need is a direct, private link, and that means one of his little Kimmunicators,” Nana finished.

“Exactly,” said Mrs. Dr. P. “I’d borrow Kimmy’s spare, but – well, you see the difficulty. And this one’s really as much my problem as hers.”

Nana’s pitch shifted, the vocal equivalent of a raised eyebrow. “Oh? This wouldn’t have to do with a certain braingirl’s work, now would it?”

“Sort of,” Kimberly Katherine admitted. Like Kim, Nana Possible didn’t write fanfic, but she had been reading it since the days of original-series Star Trek, and she’d been highly amused on discovering that her daughter-in-law was an avid fic-writer. “You might say the jade_firecat situation’s heated up. Literally, by the sound of it.”

“Ah,” Nana said thoughtfully. “Something more than an ordinary ‘Net flamewar, then; you wouldn’t need Wade for that.”

“That’s what it looks like, but I won’t know for sure till I can get Wade to crosscheck a few things.”

Nana’s tone mellowed again. “I see. You know you’ll have to tell Kimberly Ann eventually, of course.”

Mrs. Dr. Possible sighed. “But not until I have better data. And fresh eyes looking over the data I’ve got.”

“I understand completely,” Nana said. “Just let me rattle a cage or two. Kimberly Ann isn’t the only Possible with a sackful of favors in her closet.”

“Please and thank you,” Mrs. Dr. P replied gratefully.

“No trouble at all,” returned Nana. “But I want to hear the whole story once it’s all sorted out.”

“Promise,” Mrs. Dr. P said. “Meanwhile, I’ve got charts to read . . . .”

She was still working on the medical charts early that afternoon when she became aware of an odd, soft humming noise. She glanced out her sixth-floor window, where a compact blue object was cheerily hovering.

Mrs. Dr. Possible frowned – as in many modern medical buildings, Middleton General Hospital’s windows were flat glass panes that didn’t open, so as to better control the interior environment. But as she watched, the device extended a slender silver needle toward the window. The needle’s tip began to glow, and after a moment a disc-shaped patch of glass about seven inches across began to flicker oddly – and the Kimmunicator hummed briskly forward, creating ripples in the distorted section of window as it passed through. The instant the passage was complete, there was a soft snap! as the shimmering area reverted to normal, and the gadget sailed neatly onto the center of Mrs. Dr. P’s desk, retracting the needle-antenna and popping out the end of an ordinary-looking electric cord.

Wade Load’s image flicked to life on the Kimmunicator screen. “You’ll want to plug it in to recharge,” he said. “That trick takes insane amounts of power.”

“I’m impressed,” Mrs. Dr. P said, unreeling enough cord to do as Wade had advised.

“Thanks!” Wade said. “It’s still pretty experimental. I can only hold the phase-tunnel open for twenty seconds at a time, and it won’t penetrate anything much denser than glass. But that’s not what you wanted to talk about, is it?”

Mrs. Dr. Possible nodded at the screen as she transferred the memory card with Shego’s message from her palmtop to the Kimmunicator. “Not a word to Kimmy about this till we’re sure what’s going on,” she said, “but take a look at this and tell me what you think.”

Wade’s hands flew across several different keyboards as he worked his techno-wizardry. “Hmm. The encryption algorithms aren’t bad, but – waitasecond, you’re trading email with Shego??”

“Didn’t Kimmy tell you? After she found out I did the beta of that Narbonic fic she sent Kim last fall, she looked up my stories. It turned out we write in some of the same fandoms, she offered to trade betas, and it went from there. She’s really very good – as a writer, I mean – even if she’s a trifle preoccupied with the, ah, steam content.”

Wade’s eyes glazed over for a moment, but he shook himself out of the fuzzed state. “If you say so. But you ought to let me route her mail through my servers after this – it’ll be more secure for both of you.”

“Works for me,” said Mrs. Dr. P. “Right now, though, we have bigger problems – assuming Shego’s right, and there’s a real live Mell Kelly loose in our universe. Is there any way you can track something like that?”

The ten-year-old super-genius frowned. “It’s tricky. There’d be an energy event whenever something crossed between the two universes, and that ought to show up on some of the satellite bands.” As he spoke, he swung his chair back and forth between various workstations, typing like a demon. “And there might be a low-level quantum distortion that’d cling to someone from another universe running around in this one – but that would be way too faint to pick up unless you were right there with the right sensor.”

He was silent for several long moments, his concentration fully fixed on his computers. Then: “Huh! There was a quantum energy surge recorded near Walla Walla, Washington two days ago. It looks like whoever triggered it was counting on the nuclear activity at the Hanford Reservation to mask the event.” He paused, typed some more, then gave another surprised breath. “And I can place Shego’s personal jet over western Idaho as of six hours ago – she must have dropped out of stealth mode long enough to send that message.”

“And that means,” Mrs. Dr. P said, “that she’s not making it up; her opposite number from Narbonic-land really is out to get her.”

Wade’s expression was skeptical. “Could be. But she might just be taking another shot at a Pan-Dimensional Vortex Inducer. By itself, that won’t send somebody back to their own universe – you’d need to combine a PDVI with a kinematic continuum disruptor and incorporate a tuning module.”
It was Mrs. Dr. Possible’s turn to shake herself free of brain-fog. “And translated into English, that means – what?”

“Call it a PANIC button,” Wade said, chuckling. “I’ll work out the acronym later. Right now – assuming Shego really is in trouble, what exactly were you planning to do about it?”

Kimberly Katherine Possible blinked. “I – ah, hadn’t worked out details.”

“Not that much to work out,” said Wade. “I know where we can borrow – repeat, borrow – both a continuum disruptor and a PDVI. I can whip up a tuning module in a couple of hours, easy. But somebody would need to pick up the other components and get the PANIC button to Shego – and you said you didn’t want Kim involved. That kind of leaves . . . .”

“. . . . me,” Kim’s mother finished ruefully, calling up her electronic calendar. “All right, I can clear my schedule for a couple of days. Just one thing, though – can we leave the parachute-jumping to Kimmy?”

Wade laughed again. “That should be doable. Actually, the continuum disruptor’s easy; that’s at Middleton Tech. The PDVI we’ll have to get from a Professor Wilberforce in New York City.” He typed in commands on two different terminals, then turned back to the video pickup. “You fly out first thing tomorrow – I’m sending the details to your Kimmunicator.”

“And once we’ve got all the components?”

“I’ll walk you through the assembly; it’ll be a snap. Delivering the thing to Shego – and getting it back afterward – we’ll just have to see.”

“I’ll send her a note,” said Mrs. Dr. Possible, “and then head over to Middleton Tech for the – continuum disruptor, wasn’t it?”

“Right,” Wade said. “I’ll set up a – wait, you don’t need a ride to get across town. This is going to take some getting used to.”

Mrs. Dr. P tucked her new Kimmunicator into a coat pocket. “You’re telling me.”

[to be continued]