by Robert Teague
This story is intended for the entertainment of Kim Possible fans, and no copyright infringement is intended. This story may be reproduced, provided no changes are made, and you let me know. rteague (at) bellsouth (dot) net
Author's Note:
This plot bunny bit me right after I finished "Tears of a Jinx", and wouldn't let me alone. It has nothing to do with the "Jinxed" or "Green Glory" series.
It was August after the graduation of Middleton High School's latest senior class, which included teen hero Kim Possible and her boyfriend/partner Ron Stoppable. The cleanup after the Lowardian invasion was nearly complete, except for the restoration of damaged buildings.
Kim and Ron had been as busy as anyone, helping with the cleanup while Mr. Dr. Possible supervised the help donated by the Space Center, and Mrs. Dr. Possible performed brain surgery on those needing it from injuries suffered from the attack. Otherwise she helped around the hospital where she was needed.
James and Anne Possible, their daughter Kim, and twin sons Jim and Tim were driving in the mountains near Go City. They had decided to take a family camping trip for the weekend, and get away from the stress Middleton was currently undergoing. Ron had twisted his ankle on some broken bricks, and was at home recovering.
"There's the turnoff for the campgrounds," said Anne, pointing to the right, where a sign marked the exit.
"Roger that," said James, smoothly turning onto the rougher two-lane road. The family car followed the road for a couple of miles until it ended at an opening in a wooded log fence. Over the opening was a sign: "Welcome to Let's Go Camping!"
Kim winced at the bad pun.
At the office they got directions to their designated camping spot, and drove up the hill to it. They had requested one that was as isolated as possible, since they had been dealing with a lot of people, and wanted some alone time.
As it turned out, their spot was the highest on the hill. Getting out they surveyed the area. Trees and bushes concealed them from the lower camping spots, and the view to the west was very nice. The hill went on up above them.
James opened the trunk. "Kimmie-cub, could you give me a hand with this?"
"Sure dad," said Kim, coming over to him. Surrounded by camping equipment was a white cube about eighteen inches on a side, with handles at the ends. They each grabbed a handle, and with a grunt lifted it from the trunk. Kim estimated it weighed about sixty pounds.
They took it over to a wide area that was clearly for tents and campers, and set it down.
"What is it?" Kim asked.
"A collapsible astronaut habitat for the manned Mars mission," he replied, "Drs. Porter and Renton developed it. It's been fully tested in the lab, but this will be the first field test. Everyone stand back."
At a safe distance he pulled a remote from his shirt pocket and pressed a green button. There was a double chirp, and the habitat began unfolding. It took about ten minutes, but in the end there stood a small house about twenty feet by twenty feet, and seven feet tall. He went over and hooked up the campsite's water and electricity. Checking the remote he saw a green light was steady.
"Everything's A-Ok!" he announced. Let's go in and see where we can put our food and things." His family followed him over to the house. He opened the outer door and locked it open. "We don't need the airlock, so this hatch can stay open," he explained.
The inside was a model of efficiency. Just inside the hatch was the habitat's largest room. To the right was a control console, and to the left a living area with comfortable looking seats. Past the console was the kitchen/dining area, and past that to the right was a walk-in closet and to the left the bathroom. At the back was the bedroom with six bunk beds.
"It will be a bit crowded with five of us, but we should be okay," he commented.
"Now THIS is what I call camping!" said Kim, "Lots better than some places I've spent the night."
"James, how is this possible?" asked Anne, looking around in wonder.
"Oh, it uses Hephaestus Project technology," he answered. At the looks on everyone's faces he added, "Don't worry. 'Open' and 'Collapsed' are the only two forms the habitat has."
They all helped bring in the food and personal items and got them squared away. "Don't forget to get everything brought in back out before I collapse the habitat. It wouldn't be a good thing if that happened."
"Hicka-bicka-boo?" asked Tim.
"Hoo-sha!" answered Jim.
The Tweebs got their backpacks and decided to look for Bigfoot. They showed their mom they had their cell phones with them, and promised to be back for dinner. After they left, James showed Anne how they could be tracked with the habitat's control console locking in to their GPS signal. Wade had given him the frequency of the Kimmunicator's tracker, so it had been added as well.
Kim went outside and wandered around for a while, enjoying the unusual sensation of being somewhere without the pressure of a mission. She studied the trees and flowers, and caught an occasional glimpse of the local wildlife. She heard nothing but natural sounds around her. Her course took her up the hill, in an unconscious answer to the challenge of going that way.
Finally she sat down under a large oak, and called Ron on her wrist Kimmunicator.
"Hey, Kimbo! How's the trip going?" he asked when the connection was made.
"We're here and set up," she answered, "Wish you were here. Nice and relaxing."
"Well, I'm relaxing too. My ankle is still too swollen to stand on, so I'm in front of the TV, practicing Zombie Mayhem. Felix is coming over later," he said with a grin.
"Well, you two Zombie Masters have fun. I'm gonna enjoy some much needed rest," she answered.
"You do that, KP. Miss you," he said.
"Miss you too, Ron. But we'll be home in a few days. Love you! Bye!"
"Bye! Love you!" the screen went dark.
Kim lay in the shade of the oak, protected from the heat of the August sun, and thought about Ron, and how she had discovered her love for him. These thoughts ran through her head until she dozed off.
kpkpkp
The beep of her Kimmunicator woke her, and she found her mom on the other end. "Kim dear, it's just about time for dinner. Hot dogs over an open fire"
"Okay, be there in a few," she answered, and logged off. Standing up she discovered her nap had lasted several hours. The sun had set, the last orange-red rays fading away, while stars stood out in the east, through the trees.
A desire to see the stars clearly grew in her heart, so she turned up the hill toward the treeless space at the top.
Once there she was surprised to find Go City spread out in all its glory below her. In the rapidly gathering dark she could make out what she thought might be Go Mountain, home of the villain Aviarius, still bathed in the last light of day. On its own island she saw a blocky building she knew was the Go Tower, headquarters of Team Go.
As she turned toward the campsite she resolved to return later with binoculars, and take a better look.
kpkpkp
Sitting around the campfire with her family was fun, even though she burned three hot dogs before her mom took over and cooked them for her. After everybody had been so busy for the last couple of months, it was nice to reconnect with her family, and spend some actual quality time with them.
They sang a few songs, and told some ghost stories. The Tweebs had built a telescope they claimed had advanced tech to compensate for air turbulence, and wanted to try it out. As Jim, Tim, and her parents oohhed and ahhed at the clean sight of the planets, Kim turned once more to the top of the hill. She wanted to get a better look at Go City from her vantage point.
Using Wade's advanced binoculars, Kim surveyed the city she and Ron had visited only a few times. Go Tower was dark and quiet, but the Super Bueno Nacho managed by Hego was bright and busy.
Finally she decided she'd seen all she wanted to, and put the binoculars away. She stood up and stretched, and noticed something odd.
A cluster of boulders half-buried some twenty yards down slope had a spot that was glowing a soft white. Curiosity piqued, she made her way down to it. A rock the size of a baseball lay on a flat spot of stone. It was glowing a soft, even white. She quickly used her Kimmunicator's sensors to check for radioactivity, but found nothing.
Deciding it was safe, she picked it up. It was lighter than she thought it would be, like holding a snowball, except it wasn't cold. the glow was pretty, a pure white unlike anything she'd ever seen before.
She reached for her Kimmunicator to call Wade for more advanced scans, but never got that far. The white glow suddenly ran quickly up her arm. As the glow advanced, the rock slowly dissolved. She opened her hand and drop the rock, but it was gone, and the glow surrounded her completely.
Suddenly feeling weak, she sat down heavily, and realized her vision was graying out. As she lost consciousness, she managed to do something she'd never done before; hit the panic button on the Kimmunicator.
She fell back against the ground, out, and the white glow brightened for a moment, then vanished.