"Piranhatrons," Matt's voice said tersely. "I'm sending you the coordinates."

"I'm on my way." Ashley lowered her wrist and scrambled to her feet, shooting TJ an apologetic glance. "I have to go. Thanks for breakfast."

"Hey, no problem." He hesitated as she reached for her communicator again, then asked quickly, "Think I could come?"

She froze, trying to make her brain shift from battle-ready to rational thinking long enough to explain to him why that was the most ridiculous thing she'd ever heard. But she didn't have time to word it politely, and she couldn't be rude after everything he'd done for her. "Stay out of the way," she warned, grabbing his hand. Matt was going to kill her.

The world brightened as a wash of gold swept over them, and in a moment the sounds of hand-to-hand combat drowned out everything else. "Get back!" she yelled at TJ. She raced forward, not even considering the possibility that he might not obey.

"Down!" Carlos shoved her shoulder and she dove out of the way, feeling the whistle of air across her skin instead of the solid impact of a piranhatron blow.

"Where are the others?" she demanded, springing to her feet to cover his back.

"Matt and Laura are across town fighting another group," Carlos answered, half-turning toward her. She turned with him, grabbing his arm and rolling across his back to slam her feet into an oncoming piranhatron. "And Justin's down by the school," he added, as she hit the ground again.

"Fighting?!"

"Yeah..." He whirled into another piranhatron, knocking it to the ground before he could finish the sentence.

Another blur of motion, striped instead of silver, made her wince in dismay as she realized that they weren't the only ones fighting. The fact didn't escape Carlos either, and he was in front of her in a moment. "What's *he* doing here?"

She spun, kicking a piranhatron out of her way and sidestepping a second as it lunged for her. "Tell you later," she muttered, as she tried to get more than a fleeting glimpse of TJ. He was still on his feet, but she wasn't sure how long that would last. *What part of "get back" didn't he understand?*

On the other hand, if Divatox was flooding the city with piranhatron, they might need all the help they could get. The more serious the situation, the more rules they bent, until they did whatever they had to in order to keep Earth free. It had only come down to civilian fighters once before--the day she had been chosen, in fact--and she hoped it never would again. But it would help to know who they could count on if it ever did.

***

She could hear the music before she was even fully awake, and she smiled drowsily to herself. It was turned down low, too low to be intrusive but just loud enough for her to recognize it. "You're hopeless," she murmured, snuggling closer to his warmth in the darkened room.

"Hopelessly in love, yes," he agreed amiably. "Good morning."

She was too sleepy to giggle, but she did smile again. "I meant the music, sneak."

"KERI," he said, raising his voice just a little. "End radio transmission."

The music stopped, and she stirred in protest. "No, don't; I like it..."

The computer didn't say a word, but the soft strains of "Home In My Heart" crept into the room again. Cassie sighed contentedly, curling her fingers around the edge of the comforter. "Thanks, KERI."

"I hope I didn't wake you," Saryn offered. He settled his hand on her arm, stroking her skin gently with his thumb. "You're supposed to be on vacation..."

"So are you," she murmured, burying her face in his shoulder. "And you didn't. I like this song."

He quieted, and she could sense him paying more attention to the words now. "Was that you?" he asked after a moment, a smile in his voice. "Singing in the moonlight?"

She felt a happy smile spread across her face, and she closed her eyes. "Maybe," she admitted, rubbing her cheek against his skin.

He kissed the top of her head, and she heard him whisper, "Sing for me?"

The shriek of the alert shattered the quiet, and she started. Saryn sat up, careful not to disturb her as he pushed the comforter aside. Half a second later, Lyris' voice broke into the room. "Saryn, are you awake? There's trouble."

"What trouble?" he demanded, reaching for his clothes.

Lyris' hesitation was clearly audible. "It looks like an invasion, to me."

Cassie scrambled out of bed, pulling her jeans on and grabbing yesterday's t-shirt off the floor. Then Saryn was there in front of her, taking it out of her hands and kissing her quickly. "Arms up," he murmured, and she held her arms up obediently. He pulled a fresh t-shirt over her head, and she giggled as he tickled her in passing.

"Come on," he added, taking her hand and pulling her toward the door. She was right behind him as they ran for the lift at the end of the hallway.

"Wait up!" Kris yelled from somewhere behind them, and Cassie put her hand over the door's motion sensor. Timmin ducked out of the room behind Kris and the two of them raced for the lift, sliding inside as the alert continued to scream at them all. Cassie let go of the door, and the lift glided down a level to the Bridge.

"Turn the alert off," Saryn ordered, striding through the door before it was completely open. "Lyris, status."

Timmin was at the status console in a second, deactivating the alert while Saryn took Lyris' place at the pilot's station. Cassie and Kris joined Timmin at the back of the Bridge and Lyris slid into the seat at Saryn's right, mirroring Jenna's position on the left. "Divatox sent three schools of piranhatron to Earth," he reported. "Now she's sending monsters I don't recognize, and suddenly she has some hefty backup."

"Hefty" was an understatement, Cassie thought, glancing over at Kris' tactical screen. As she understood it, Divatox's sub was submerged on Earth somewhere, but there were three red triangles on Kris' screen. All of them had battleship stats trailing along beside them in their simulated orbit.

"What armament do the Earth Rangers have?" Saryn demanded, superimposing the tactical map over the main screen. "Have the battleships opened fire on the planet?"

"Not enough," Lyris answered briefly. "They've got zords on each of the monsters, but they can't take them all out without a megazord. The battleships are staying out of it for the moment."

"That will no doubt change as soon as we launch fighters," Saryn said, standing up. "Don't fire until they do. Lyris?"

"With you," Lyris agreed, bouncing to his feet.

"Send a distress call to Eltare," Saryn added over his shoulder, as they headed for the lift. "We may be able to defeat three battleships, but we won't be able to take any more if they arrive."

"Done," Kris acknowledged, sliding into the pilot's seat. Timmin took her place at nav, and Cassie moved to stand in front of the status console.

*Be safe,* she thought at Saryn, knowing he wouldn't hear if he wasn't listening. But he was, and she felt a whisper of reassurance in the back of her mind as the door slid closed.

***

"Eltare just received a distress signal," Leigh said, looking up from the scanner console. "From galaxy 1987A."

"Earth's galaxy," Rill murmured from behind her, glancing at the figure in the pilot's seat.

"ETA to Earth is 185 seconds," DECA interjected, and Zhane shifted impatiently.

"How did you know?" he asked Andros, from his position beside Kerone at weapons'.

Andros didn't look at him. "I don't know," he muttered, staring at the simulated ghosts playing across the main screen as the Megaship streaked along in hyperrush. "I just knew."

Zhane studied him, noting his friend's closed off expression with a sigh. He couldn't let this go; they had to talk now, before whatever was happening on Earth made things even more complicated. "Andros, can I talk to you for a second?"

Andros shrugged, but made no move to get up.

*Andros, please,* Zhane insisted. *It's important.*

Andros finally tore his eyes away from the screen and climbed to his feet, but it was clear to everyone on the Bridge that he was doing it with the utmost reluctance. Zhane tried not to fidget as his friend dragged his feet, apparently hoping the Megaship would make it to Earth before he made it to the door.

But it didn't, and he did, and Zhane followed him out into the hall. Kerone's voice echoed in his mind as he deactivated the lock and let the door slide shut behind them. *I say tell him,* she said. *Kaeth says good luck.*

Zhane tried not to roll his eyes. Kerone had no qualms about putting her unusually high level of telepathy to use whenever she saw fit, and mostly on her friends. She swore she didn't invade their privacy--in fact, she claimed that it was just like talking: if he didn't talk back, she couldn't hear a single thing. But the sound of her voice in his mind without warning could be undeniably disconcerting.

Andros shifted, not looking up from the floor. His shoulders were tense, as though he was bracing himself for something, yet he practically radiated controlled indifference. His posture said plainly, Nothing you say can hurt me.

"You sulk better than anyone I know!" Zhane blurted out, before he could stop himself. "I wish I knew why you're so mad at me!"

Andros shrugged, giving the door an impatient look and managing to still avoid Zhane's gaze. "I'm not mad at you. Can we get back to the Bridge?"

"This morning," Zhane persisted, staring at his friend. "Were you trying to leave me behind? You called everyone up to the Megaship but me!"

Andros' gaze swung toward him at last, a startled look in his hazel eyes. "Of course I wasn't going to leave you behind. You're practically part of the team. You were with Kerone; I knew you'd hear me."

"You were spying on us?" Zhane exclaimed.

"No," Andros growled. "I wouldn't; you *know* that. Who you spend time with is none of my business."

"ETA is 44 seconds," DECA put in, her tone quieter than usual.

Andros straightened, reaching for the keypad in the wall beside the door. But Zhane got there first, putting his hand over it and waiting until Andros gave him an irritated look. "I'm not interested in Kerone," he said quickly, while he still had his friend's attention. "She has a crush on Kaeth, and she asked for advice on how to get him to notice her. She didn't want me to tell you."

Andros' annoyance faded, replaced by surprise even as Zhane went on. "Before we get to Earth, what about this A-girl? Do you love her?" He tried hard not to let anything show on his face. "It's all right if you do. I just want to know."

Andros looked down again, a frown creasing his features. "No... I--I don't know. No," he repeated more firmly, lifting his head. "Of course I don't. I don't even know who she is."

"But you knew Earth was in trouble," Zhane said, trying not to frown himself. "Even before Eltare knew."

Andros shrugged helplessly. "Yeah," was all he said.

"Entering Earth orbit," DECA announced. "The Elisian battleship Delta Sun is under attack."

Zhane keyed the door open and set it to lock behind them as he and Andros stepped back onto the Bridge. "How many ships?" Andros demanded, replacing Kerone at the pilot's station even as Zhane scanned the tactical map.

"Five," Zhane answered, a fraction of a second behind Kerone.

"DECA, contact the Elisian Rangers," Andros ordered. "Ask them what their status is."

There was a brief pause, and Zhane felt his stomach clench as two of the red-tagged battleships broke off their attack and swung around to intercept the Megaship. Kerone's fingers danced across her console as she acquired targets, then paused as they all waited on the ship's reply.

"The Delta Sun is functioning at optimal levels," DECA answered at last. "Two of their Rangers are in fighters on Earth, assisting the planetary defense. They welcome our aid."

Both red-tagged battleships lit up on the tactical screen as they came within firing range, and Kerone glanced over at Andros. "You heard them," her brother said grimly. "Open fire."