"Spit!" Ashley cried, slapping her left hand down on the smaller stack of cards.

"Man!" Carlos sighed. "I'd say you were cheating, but I can't figure out how."

"That's because I'm not," Ashley informed him, combining her two small piles of cards. She reached for her juice, set safely out of the way of their sometimes violent game. "I'm just faster than you."

"Not in this dimension you're not," Carlos retorted. "Turn over some cards, Hammond."

"Drinking between rounds," TJ interjected. "Five card penalty!"

Ashley wrinkled her nose at him good-naturedly. "Oh, shut up!"

"Mrrow?" A sharp prickling sensation was accompanied by a grey nose peeking itself up and over the edge of the table.

"Ow!" It was an automatic reaction; the kitten's claws were barely adequate for grabbing hold of her jeans, let alone piercing her skin. "You can't play," she told it fondly, picking it up and snuggling it against her cheek. "I don't think you'd be very good at this game."

"He could start '52 card pickup', though," Carlos interjected wryly. "Are you quitting while you're ahead, or what?"

"Why are you so impatient?" Ashley demanded, catching Cassie's eye and passing the kitten across the table to her. "Can't you wait to lose?"

"If you're so confident, finish the game!"

"Incoming transmission from Earth," DECA remarked mildly.

Ashley was laying down her fourth card when the import of that sunk in. "From Earth?" she repeated, glancing up at Carlos.

He looked just as puzzled. "Who's calling from Earth, DECA?"

There was no discernible pause before DECA replied, "The sender identifies herself as Penny DeSantos. She says the matter is urgent."

Ashley was on her feet immediately, card game forgotten, and Carlos followed. TJ, ever the voice of reason, stopped them before they could get to the door. "Does she need us there now, DECA? And if not, can you route her transmission to the holding bay?"

"She does not require your presence," DECA answered. "I'm rerouting the transmission now."

"TJ?" Penny's voice asked suddenly. "Are you there?"

"This is TJ." The Blue Ranger was looking up at DECA's camera. "What's wrong? Are you all right?"

"I'm fine." She sounded as calm as ever, but there was an unconcealed hint of worry in her voice. "Rocky told me to call you--Justin's been missing since yesterday morning. His dad just called the dojo to see if we knew anything, and Rocky went out looking."

"You think this is Ranger related," TJ guessed, glancing around at the rest of them.

"Could be," Penny said, a shrug in her voice. "Rocky said you'd want to know either way."

"We do," TJ said firmly. "Can you tell us anything else? Have you alerted the others?"

"Already done," Penny told him. There was no need to identify "the others". "I called them first, but all we know is that Justin went out running Sunday morning and didn't come back. His dad tried the dojo yesterday afternoon but didn't get anyone, so he called Gabe. Gabe didn't know anything, and neither of them could find Tommy's new number, so Justin's dad called the police."

"What's going on?" Andros wanted to know. He and Zhane stood in the doorway, surveying the room full of solemn faces with twin expressions of bemusement.

"Justin's missing." Ashley pointed at DECA's camera, belatedly realizing that the gesture wouldn't mean much to him. "Penny says no one's seen him since yesterday morning."

"Where are the Psycho Rangers?" Andros demanded, following her gaze to DECA's camera.

Carlos spoke before DECA could. "Psycho Blue is in his guest room," he offered. "The other two are on deck three."

Andros frowned, but it was Zhane who repeated, "Deck three?" He glanced sideways at Andros. "Strange place for them."

"We thought so too," TJ put in. "Saryn went to see what they're doing."

"The Psycho Rangers are on the Megaship?" Penny's cool voice sounded skeptical, but not incredulous. "You think they might have something to do with this?"

"No," Andros said slowly. "They haven't left the Megaship since they arrived Saturday night."

"Except for Psycho Pink," Cassie pointed out, her tone troubled. "We still haven't been able to track her."

There was a quiet moment, interrupted by the snap of TJ's fingers. "Penny," he said, straightening up and staring at DECA's camera as though the other girl could see him. "Does Justin still have his Turbo key?"

The silence was longer this time. "I don't know," Penny said at last. "Should he?"

"Storm Blaster charged it for him when they freed Lightning Cruiser last fall." TJ was frowning, and his thoughts were clearly far ahead of his words. "I thought he kept it after that--if he did, we could track his Power signature."

"DECA." Andros didn't wait for TJ to continue. "Scan for the Blue Turbo Power."

"Scanning," DECA replied promptly.

"Marrrrow," the grey kitten complained, and Cassie let him wriggle down out of her arms. From her stool, though, he put his paws on the table, and she grabbed him again and set him on the floor.

"I am not detecting the Blue Turbo Power anywhere on Earth," DECA said at last.

"He might not have kept his key," Cassie reminded them, pushing the kitten to the floor again as he leapt up onto her stool once more. "Maybe he gave it back to Storm Blaster."

"Or maybe he's offplanet." Carlos clearly wasn't going to let anyone overlook the worse case scenario. "Psycho Pink could be holding him somewhere."

"But why?" Ashley tried not to make a face at her friend, but she knew some of her exasperation came through in her tone. "Psycho Pink doesn't have any reason to go after Justin. And besides, if she'd taken human form again the other Psychos would have known."

"That doesn't mean they'd have told us," Carlos countered darkly. "Maybe they want a hostage."

"If you want a hostage, you tell someone who you're holding," Zhane interjected. "She hasn't."

"We don't know that Psycho Pink has him," Andros said firmly. "Maybe Storm Blaster came for him and he didn't have time to tell anyone. We'll look for him, but you guys have to get to school."

"Six words I never thought I'd hear you say," Ashley murmured, and she saw him send an amused version of the Look in her direction.

"You'll let us know if you find anything," Penny's voice reminded them. It was as much an instruction as it was a request, and TJ nodded.

"Of course we will," he answered. "You do the same."

Ashley could picture the other girl's unfocused gaze as she nodded. "Will do," Penny agreed.

"Transmission ends," DECA reported

"Thanks, DECA." Ashley and Andros said the words simultaneously, and she grinned at him as she set her almost empty juice glass down. To her surprise, he winked, and she wondered if he was picking up that habit from his sister. Of all the habits he could choose, winking was definitely at the top of the "cute" list.

"Coming?" TJ inquired.

Ashley glanced at him in surprise as she swung her backpack over her shoulder, but he wasn't looking at her. The question had been directed at Cassie, who was only just opening her eyes. Her smile was serene, and for a brief moment, Ashley envied her. The Pink Ranger was so confident in her future...

"Of course I'm coming," Cassie retorted. "Saryn's on his way back," she added, tossing the words in Andros' direction. "No worries on deck three, I guess."

"You owe me a card game," Carlos said, holding her backpack's second strap as Ashley slid her arm through it. "Just so you know."

"Whatever!" she exclaimed. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the grey kitten scrabble up onto Cassie's stool again, and she lifted her finger to point first at Andros and then at the kitten. "Watch him," she ordered. "Like a hawk."

Just before the world dissolved into glittering gold she heard Andros echo, "Like a what?"

***

Andros was staring so fixedly at the place where the others had been standing that Zhane had to prompt him with the thread of their earlier conversation. "We have a problem."

"Yeah," Andros agreed immediately, his gaze sliding across the holding bay to rest on Ashley's kitten. "What's a hawk?"

Zhane rolled his eyes. "Not the cat. The Psycho Rangers."

Andros lifted one shoulder in a half-shrug as he wandered into the bay. "Everything about the Psycho Rangers is trouble," he said, picking up Ashley's unfinished juice from the table. "That doesn't mean they're the ones that kidnapped Justin."

Zhane gave him a sharp look. "You said you didn't think he'd been kidnapped."

"I said he might not have been," Andros corrected. "It seems likely, though. He has a communicator; he would have called if it were anything else."

Zhane caught his friend's eye just as Andros turned back to look at him. "His communicator," they both said simultaneously.

Andros downed Ashley's juice in one gulp and set the glass back on the table. "Justin," he said, lifting his left wrist again. "This is Andros."

There was no answer, even when Zhane tried a moment later. "Justin, it's Zhane," he told his communicator. "Can you hear me?"

The attempt was met with only silence, and finally Andros frowned. "It was worth a shot," he muttered. "I wonder if Penny ever got in touch with Tommy."

A quiet rasp drew Zhane's attention to the table, but it was too late to do anything but watch as Ashley's abandoned juice glass clattered to the floor. The grey kitten hunched on the edge of the table, peering down at the results of his mischief. His little blue eyes were slitted and surprised, as though he hadn't expected that to happen.

Andros sighed. "At least Jetson isn't around," he remarked, his tone resigned. He made no move to pick up either the kitten on the glass.

"That dog," a voice from behind them said, "Is currently in the care of Ashley's parents."

Saryn's tone made it clear that he preferred the dog to stay that way for as long as possible. Zhane tried not to smirk--he really did, no matter what Andros thought--but the flicker of annoyance on Saryn's face said he wasn't entirely successful.

"She left it at home for the weekend?" he suggested, in an attempt to cover his amusement. He was sure Saryn and Jetson's mutual dislike for each other stemmed from jealousy on both sides, but he had so far refrained from comparing Saryn to Cassie's dog aloud.

Saryn gave him a measured look. "In anticipation of our trip to Elisia," he said at last. "Yes. And as far as I am concerned, the dog may stay there as long as it likes."

"Bad kitty," Andros said, out of nowhere.

Zhane tried and failed to stifle a snicker. "'Bad kitty'?" he repeated. "Is that supposed to make it feel guilty for what it did? I think you need to pay closer attention when Ash is scolding them."

"Ashley," Andros said firmly, "says 'bad kitty' in exactly the same tone of voice that she says, 'what a cute little purr'."

Saryn considered the kitten now exploring the rest of the table. He wore exactly the same expression with which he regarded Jetson when the dog was monopolizing Cassie's attention. "I do not believe Ashley is capable of properly disciplining any creature," he commented at last. "And I do not mean that in a derogatory manner."

"No," Andros agreed. "She's really not. I was just thinking, though, that we can't keep calling them 'bad kitty' forever. If they're coming with us to KO-35, we're going to have to name them eventually."

"Name who?" Astrea's voice sounded sleepy but less hoarse than it had been for most of the weekend. "Not the Psycho Rangers?"

Zhane glanced over his shoulder, freezing his casual expression in place--or trying to. His heart melted at the sight of her in old jeans and her Astro sweatshirt, brown kitten clutched to her chest and her wispy blonde hair hanging loose around her face. He knew his face softened when she smiled at him and he looked away hastily, shooting a guilty glance in Andros' direction.

"The kittens," Andros corrected. "Ash didn't think we'd be keeping them, so she never named them."

"You're keeping them?" Astrea's expression lit up, and her delight was obvious in her voice. "Oh, Andros!"

Andros gave Zhane a warning look, which the Silver Ranger ignored. "Oh, Andros!" would have been laughable coming from almost anyone else, but from Astrea it was too cute to snicker at. There was just something adorable about an evil princess turned good making puppy eyes at her older brother...

He saw Saryn shift out of the corner of his eye, and then the amused expression on the other's face registered. He knew Saryn wasn't particularly good at controlling his empathic ability, but he was going to have to find out just how far that went. Privacy wasn't much of an issue among people who were only "tuned" to one or two others, but for someone who could "hear" anyone? Maybe Astrea would know exactly what Saryn could pick up...

"She'd probably like it if you named one of them," Andros was saying. "I'm pretty sure she doesn't have names picked out yet."

"I'm pretty sure she does," Astrea said with a smile, rubbing her cheek against the brown kitten's fur. "She probably just hasn't told you."

Another clatter, this one followed by a rattling sound, emanated from the vicinity of the floor. The grey kitten was batting ineffectually at the juice glass, pushing it into one of the stools and then watching it roll back toward him. It was an unusually loud game on the metal deck, but the kitten seemed absorbed by it.

The kitten wasn't the only one. Zhane didn't even realize he was staring until Saryn strode across the deck and scooped the kitten up in one hand, retrieving the glass with the other. "*Bad.* Cat." Saryn's tone was menacing and completely convincing.

"Saryn," Astrea protested, giving him a wounded look. "He was just playing!"

"He was being disruptive," Saryn countered, returning the glass to the Synthetron. "Cassie said Justin is missing?"

Astrea's expression went from injured to concerned in the blink of an eye. "He is?" She looked to Zhane for confirmation, then Andros. "What happened?"

"He went running yesterday morning," Andros told her. "No one's seen him since."

Her eyes darkened. "The Psycho Rangers."

Despite his reassurances to the others earlier, Andros didn't contradict her, and Zhane felt compelled to point out, "They've been here since Saturday night. DECA's been monitoring them the whole time; there's no way they could have gotten to Justin."

"Psycho Pink could have." Astrea didn't look like she wanted to be talked out of this particular conviction. "She must have gone after him as soon as he was alone."

"What motive could she have for such an action?" Saryn asked reasonably. "Justin is not an active Ranger, and may not even have access to a Power conduit at this time."

"If we knew what her motive was we would have been able to anticipate her," Astrea snapped. "I don't know why she did it, I just know she did it."

"She is pretty much the worst thing in town right now," Zhane offered. "She'd be first on my suspect list."

"Until we find a way to track her," Andros observed, "it doesn't really matter. I'm going to go to the Bridge and see if DECA and KERI can give us anything to go on."

Zhane exchanged glances with Astrea and Saryn. "We're coming with you," he said quickly. "Maybe we can figure out what routes were open in the datastream when she was ejected."

Andros nodded as though he had expected nothing less, and of course he probably hadn't. It went without saying that the only rule a Ranger held higher than "fight for good" was "protect your own", and Justin was one of their own.

The four of them headed for the Bridge, and Zhane couldn't help noticing that Saryn was still holding the grey kitten. It was curled in the crook of his left arm, and it looked perfectly happy to come along for the ride. He saw Astrea glance sideways at them, but she didn't say anything either.

"DECA," Andros said as they stepped onto the Bridge. "Bring up the communication log for Saturday night, starting from the time Psycho Pink piggybacked Zhane's transmission and ending the moment she left."

"We may wish to ask for the other Psycho Rangers' assistance," Saryn offered. "They would know better what her capabilities are, and they might be able to anticipate her movements."

Astrea looked at him as though he'd lost his mind. "You think it's a *good* idea to enlist one enemy to track another?"

"I think 'enemy' is overstating the matter," Saryn replied mildly. "There are, after all, in residence aboard the Megaship."

"They're not in residence!" she exclaimed. "They're being held here until we can figure out what to do with them!"

"They are guests, not prisoners." Saryn had turned toward her, and the two made an odd pair facing off in the middle of the Bridge. Saryn's informal tunic contrasted with Astrea's even less formal sweatshirt, but both sported Ranger logos and would have radiated authority--if it weren't for the kittens still nestled securely in their arms.

Zhane grinned, hoping he wouldn't disturb the tableau as he glanced over at Andros. The Red Ranger looked in his direction at the same moment, and they exchanged identical smirks. The look on Andros' face said that this moment would be copied from the Bridge logs and displayed somewhere prominent in the very near future.

"I can't keep you from trusting them," Astrea was telling Saryn. "But I refuse to treat them as anything more than the captives they are."

"You overlook one detail," he told her quietly.

"Don't patronize me," she snapped. "If there's something I should know, then tell me."

"The Psycho Rangers are still drawing the Astro Power." Saryn didn't seem to mind Astrea's irritability when it came to the Psychos, but he wasn't letting her distract him either. "I suggest we do everything we can to solidify their position as our allies, or risk a confrontation tomorrow when they're at full power again."

Zhane gave Andros a startled look. "You didn't tell me they were still draining your Power!"

His friend shrugged uncomfortably. Andros' withdrawal symptoms had all but disappeared, and Zhane had assumed it was because everything was back to normal. It hadn't occurred to him that it might be because he had simply gotten used to the lack.

"I thought the draw was voluntary," Zhane said, turning to Saryn for the explanation that Andros wasn't giving. "I thought the Psychos could stop it whenever they wanted to."

"*If* they wanted to," Astrea muttered, staring at the communication log on the main screen.

"According to Psycho Red, they cannot." Saryn ignored Astrea's skeptical snort. "He apologized for exactly that shortly after they came aboard. Once they have bonded to a Ranger, it seems they cannot alter the connection.

"That claim," he added, giving Astrea a meaningful glance, "would seem to be supported by the fact that Psycho Blue did not attack TJ again after Tessa disrupted his first attempt. If he could have strengthened his draw on the Blue Power he certainly would have done so."

"All that means is that they can't reform the bond," Astrea said over her shoulder. "That doesn't mean they can't break it."

Zhane frowned, glancing from one to the other. "If they can't, though..." He caught Andros' eye again. "How are we going to do it?"

Andros shrugged again. "I don't know," he said evasively, but Zhane knew that expression. Andros had an idea, he just wasn't ready to share it yet. And with the Psycho Rangers somehow "overhearing" their silent conversations, he wouldn't be able to find out what it was until later.

"The bond isn't magical in nature?" Saryn wanted to know.

Astrea turned around, clearly aware that the question was directed at her. "I don't know," she admitted grudgingly. "I assumed they had some kind of mental control over it too."

"All the more reason for us to gain their trust," Saryn pointed out. "Perhaps they could tell us more, even help us find a way to end it."

"Cooperating with the enemy," Astrea grumbled. "Ecliptor would be horrified."

"Really?" Saryn just looked at her, and she frowned. Their gazes locked for a long moment, the single word hanging between them, and Zhane could only wonder at their restraint. No matter how waspish they got, neither ever brought up history that might hurt the other.

Astrea looked away first. "I guess we could ask for their help," she murmured at last.

Saryn glanced at Andros, and Andros nodded. "I'll ask them to come to the Bridge."

***

"Cassie... still with me?"

"Hmm?" Cassie turned, giving her a distracted smile. "Yeah, sorry. I thought I saw TJ in the hallway a second ago." She glanced over her shoulder again, as though he might still be there.

"So?" Ashley dropped the last of the pins into a dish and lifted her jumper up off the table. "He has lunch now too. Did you tell him you were coming here? Maybe he was looking for you."

"No..." Cassie sounded as though she were frowning. "I did tell him I was having lunch here. Besides, Tessa was going to sneak in and meet him in the courtyard, so he should have been out there the second the bell rang."

"Huh," Ashley said noncommittally. She held the jumper up in front of her, pressing the cloth against her stomach to model it. "So what do you think?"

Cassie looked back at her, and a smile chased the puzzled expression from her face. "Ash, that looks terrific! It's perfect!"

She looked down, pleased with the way it had come out. "It's not bad," she said primly.

Cassie gave her a knowing look, and they both burst into giggles. "It's perfect," Cassie repeated. "Do you have to get that evaluated too?"

"Yeah, but Mrs. K has a new and improved evaluation system," Ashley told her with a grin. "Wait till you see it. Which reminds me," she added, laying her jumper down, "I can give you your blouse back now. Thanks for letting me borrow it."

Cassie rolled her eyes. "Thanks for *making* it," she reminded her friend. "I think it's cool you got credit for it."

"Any pattern I make myself," Ashley said cheerfully. Then she sobered a little, remembering the recommendation her fashion design teacher had written for her college applications. "It's kind of weird to think about not needing a portfolio anymore."

Cassie stopped playing with the safety pin she'd picked up and gave her a sympathetic look. "Having second thoughts about your plans?"

She put the cover back on the pin dish and started to roll up her measuring tape. "Not really," she hedged, glancing sideways at her friend. When she caught Cassie's eye, though, she sighed. "Yes," she admitted. "I was kind of... set on going to college. I've always thought that I would go, and I guess I got used to the idea."

"Well, you said you were just going for the summer," Cassie said reasonably. "So you have time to think about it. It's not like you're committed."

Ashley cleared her throat. "Actually... I told my parents I was going for the summer. I told Andros that it--it might be longer than that."

"Ohh," Cassie murmured. "I see what you mean."

Ashley sat down, leaning back in her chair with a sigh. "Do you think you're doing the right thing, by leaving? I mean, do you ever think you might rather stay here?"

"Sure," Cassie said, surprising her. She was sitting on the counter, ankles crossed in front of her as she swung her legs gently. "I'm scared to death of moving away. But what's the alternative? Stay here for the rest of my life? I can't do that, Ash; not when I know there's so much out there."

"Why are those the only two choices?" Ashley complained, picking at the edge of the table with her fingernail. "Stay here and give up..." She hesitated for a moment, glancing around as casually as she could. Between the seniors who were skipping and the people who had legitimately finished all their work already, the class was barely half full--but there were still more than enough people to make them talk quietly.

"Stay here and give up traveling," she said at last, "or leave and give up our homes here? Why isn't there another choice?"

"You mean like 'keep doing what we've been doing for the last two years'?" Cassie suggested.

"Exactly," Ashley agreed, a smile tugging at her lips. "Why can't we just be seniors again next year? I never thought I'd say I didn't want to graduate," she added thoughtfully. "But I'm not sure I do."

"Too late," Cassie teased. "I don't think you could fail enough classes to be held back now if you tried."

Ashley made a face at her. "I don't want to fail! I just don't want to graduate."

"You're crazy," Marusia said from somewhere behind her. "I can't wait to get out of here. Why wouldn't you want to graduate?"

Ashley twisted around to acknowledge her classmate, forcing a laugh as she did so. "Oh, I just don't know what I'm doing in the fall, that's all."

"I thought you were going to college," Marusia said, flopping down in the chair beside her. "Didn't you say you were going to New Hampshire?"

She wrinkled her nose. "I'm still thinking about it."

"What else would you do?"

She exchanged glances with Cassie. "Well... you know Andros asked me to move in with him, but--he doesn't want to live where I want to go to school."

"Well, too bad for him!" Marusia exclaimed indignantly. "Why did he ask if he knew where you were going?"

She sighed. "He was hoping I'd go with him instead of to New Hampshire."

"Tell him to transfer," Marusia said, picking up the measuring tape and starting to unwind it. "My sister's on National Student Exchange right now. Get him to do that for a year, and then you can transfer here for a year. When does he graduate?"

Caught without an answer, she looked up at Cassie helplessly. "This is his first year," her friend supplied. "He won't graduate till 2002."

Marusia shrugged, untwisting a kink in the tape idly. "So you can figure out the last year when you come to it. Don't give up school. He'll still be there when you get out."

"It's not really that easy," Cassie said, her tone apologetic. "It kind of involves her parents, and Andros' job, and about three thousand other things at the same time."

Ashley shot her a grateful look, and Cassie added, "What are you doing next year?"

"I'm taking a year off, actually." Marusia looked both sheepish and proud. "I'm going to go do some hiking and try to figure my life out before I hit the college scene. What about you?"

Cassie laughed, holding up her left hand so Marusia could see her ring. "I'm going to go learn to be a housewife. Pretty exciting, huh?"

Ashley tried not to snicker at the thought of Cassie ever doing anything remotely housewife-ish, but she couldn't help a flash of envy when Marusia was appropriately impressed by the ring. "When did you get married?" the other girl exclaimed, inspecting Cassie's hand. "What happened to being engaged first, or waiting till you get out of school? How come I didn't know about this? It's Saryn, right?"

"Yes it's Saryn, you didn't know because we didn't tell anyone, and we eloped last fall," Cassie answered with a grin. "We sort of skipped the engagement step. Extenuating circumstances."

"What circumstances?" Marusia demanded, as she sat back in her chair. "How can you skip being engaged?"

Cassie shrugged. "It was easy, actually. He said 'will you marry me', I said 'when', and he said 'now'. So we did."

"Last fall?" Marusia's eyes were wide. "Did you tell your parents first?"

Cassie looked down, her smile fading a little. "I live with Ashley's family, and no, I didn't tell them first. They were kind of shocked... I think they're still getting over it."

"Oh," Marusia said carefully. "So you're not going to tell your parents at all, I'm guessing."

"If I ever see them again I might." Cassie's words were at odds with her sudden smile. "But in the meantime, I'm going to hook up with my husband and see the world. Maybe we'll see you on the trail."

"You're hiking too?" Marusia looked delighted. "Where?"

"Don't know yet," Cassie said cheerfully. "I'll tell you at graduation."

Ashley studied her friend, trying to decide whether she was serious or not. It was entirely possible that Cassie was just kidding, trying to distract Marusia from Ashley's dilemma. On the other hand, she wouldn't put it past the Pink Ranger to have actually planned something like this, with or without Saryn's knowledge.

"I'm starting from Katahdin next week," Marusia was telling her. "So if you're anywhere along the AT, look for 'Tigger' in the registers and leave me a note!"

"Your trail name is Tigger?" Cassie exclaimed. "That's great! We'll definitely look for you if we go east."

Ashley got to her feet. "I'll be right back," she said, stepping around the corner of the table. "If Mrs. K comes by, tell her this is done, all right?"

Marusia glanced down at the jumper as though seeing it for the first time. "Wow! That came out awesome! Yeah, of course I'll tell her."

"You okay?" Cassie asked, catching her eye.

"Sure," she said with a quick smile. "I'm just going to get a drink; I'll be right back."

Cassie didn't look convinced, but Marusia waved, and Ashley had no doubt that they'd be deep in post-graduation plans again within moments of her departure. She didn't begrudge them their excitement, but she wished she could share it. It wasn't so much that she didn't want to go to KO-35 as it was that she didn't want to lose this--the friends and the familiarity of Earth.

There was a phone near the guidance counselor's office in the east wing, and Ashley glanced around automatically before picking up the receiver. She dialed a number she knew as well as her own, and as always the phone rang only once before DECA intercepted the signal.

There was a quiet chime as Andros' morpher "picked up" the Megaship's tapped line. "This is Andros," he said, and she smiled inadvertently at the sound of his voice.

"It's me," she told him. "Can I talk to you alone for a second?"

"Sure," he answered without hesitation. There was a brief pause, and a moment later he said, "I'm alone. Are you okay?"

She sighed, leaning against the shelf beneath the phone and tracing her finger over a line someone had carved in the wood. "I could just use some reassuring, I guess."

"That's why you have me," he replied, his voice softening. "It's going to be all right, Ash. Things always work out somehow; you know that."

"But what if they don't work out the way we want them to?"

"Then maybe they just weren't meant to be," he told her. "Or maybe we just have to try harder. We can do that. I don't know anyone less willing to give up than you."

She smiled a little. "Thanks, Andros."

"Are you sure you're okay?" he wanted to know. "What's going on?"

She followed the line in the shelf with her finger, belatedly realizing that it was part of someone's initials. "I guess... I'm just scared of moving, that's all. I mean, I want to go, but--"

"You want to be with me," Andros interrupted, "but you don't want to go to KO-35."

As he said it, she recognized the very words he had said to her about staying on Earth. "Kind of," she admitted slowly. "I *do* want to go to KO-35, though, I just--I don't know if I want to live there."

"That's okay too," he said gently, and it was nice to hear even if she knew he was just saying it to make her feel better. "We'll figure something out, Ash. We are *not* breaking up over this--" he sounded stern for the first time "--so if you come to KO-35 and decide that you don't want to live there, then we'll just do something different."

"Like what?" she couldn't help asking.

He actually laughed. "Do you have to know *everything* before it happens? We're going to make this work, because I'm not letting you go, so go back to class and stop worrying."

She giggled a little at his mock-order. "Right. I love you."

"I love you too," he said, a smile in his voice.

"And Andros?" she said quickly. "You're right; we'll--"

That was her. She squinted, but the girl was gone before she could get a good look at her face. "Andros?" She could have sworn her identical twin had just disappeared around the corner by the gym. Lowering her voice, she asked, "Have the Psycho Rangers left the ship?"

There was a brief pause, and she heard him relaying her question to DECA.

"No," he said a moment later. "I left the on the Bridge with Kerone and Saryn, and DECA says they're still there. Why?"

She frowned. "It's probably nothing," she said slowly. "I thought I saw Psycho Yellow for a second, but maybe it was just my imagination."

"Be careful," he said, a frown audible in his tone. "If you see her again, let me know."

"Right." She tapped the shelf absently with her fingers. "I'll talk to you after school."

"See you then," he agreed.

"Andros? Thanks," she said, smiling down at the shelf as though he could see her.

"Thank you," he countered, the same expression in his voice. "See you."

"Bye."

She glanced toward the gym as she hung up the phone. On her way back to class she detoured to check around the corner, but the hallway was empty in both directions. Suddenly she remembered Cassie saying she thought she'd seen TJ where he shouldn't have been, and she shivered involuntarily. The Psychos were on their side now... weren't they?

"Hey," Cassie greeted her as she hurried back into the home ec room. "Mrs. K came by to 'evaluate' your jumper. You're right; I like her new style. It's very--brief."

She tried to smile. "Let me guess; it went something like this: oh, it's done! Wonderful! Beautiful job, A plus!"

"Actually," Cassie corrected, "She said 'excellent' instead of 'beautiful'. But yeah, that was pretty much how it went. She must get to know your projects pretty well during the semester."

"Yeah." Ashley caught sight of Marusia, safely engaged in conversation with Amos by the sewing machines. "She does... Cassie, how sure are you that you saw TJ earlier?"

Cassie gave her an odd look. "What, at the beginning of lunch?"

She nodded. "Your lunch, my class--when you looked out in the hall and were surprised to see him walk by. Are you sure it was him?"

"Well, yeah..." Cassie's eyes widened. "You think it was--someone else?" she finished awkwardly.

Ashley shook her head. "Andros says it couldn't have been. But I saw someone who looked an awful lot like me in the hallway just a minute ago."

Cassie glanced over at the door as though whoever it was might be standing there waiting to be identified. "That's not good," she muttered, sounding almost exactly like TJ. "If it wasn't you, who else could it be but them?"

"I haven't ruled out the possibility of mutual hallucinations," Ashley offered, and she was gratified to see Cassie grin. "Whatever it was, I still have to clean this up and empty out my bin before the bell. Want to help?"

Cassie hopped down off the counter, putting an arm around her shoulders and giving her a companionable squeeze. "Why else am I here?"