"I'm adjusting the shields." Linnse's terse voice came from TJ's usual place at the status station behind her, but Cassie couldn't spare the concentration to look up.

"DECA, put tactical on the main screen," Cassie told the computer, and she complied immediately. The grid lines of the pilot's screen shimmered into place over the stars as the Megaship turned, and her fingers danced across the controls as she tried to keep the battleship out of any direct line of fire.

Truth be told, she didn't expect to be at the helm for long. She knew she and Linnse were the only ones still on the Bridge, and the teleportation that had snatched the others would be back for them. The Megaship would be abandoned, and DECA would have no choice but to retreat.

"Def-1," she heard Linnse's voice tell the comm system. "You have command."

Then Linnse was sliding into the seat at Cassie's left, studying the Megalaser controls intently. "We'll be safe for now. That teleportation beam won't be able to get through the shields anymore."

Cassie did a quick count of velocifighter rounds on the enlarged tactical map, coming up with four before she thought to ask, "What did you do?"

"Changed the shields." Linnse put her hands on the weapons' console, and a moment later Cassie felt the subtle hum that was the only indication that the Megalasers had fired.

She tried not to grit her teeth. "How did you know *how* to change the shields," she said, not bothering to make it a question. Linnse knew perfectly well what she had been asking.

The Megaship dove under the leading edge of the fourth velocifighter round, and suddenly a starfighter group was right above them. Green group shot past close enough to set off proximity alarms, and their lasers devastated the front half of the wave. As the Megaship cleared the other side and doubled back, Linnse turned the Megalasers on the remaining velocifighters.

"The teleportation taking your teammates was the same one Dark Spectre used on the velocifighters." Linnse's voice was completely toneless--the voice of someone concentrating too hard on something else to give what she was saying much thought. "Defense fighters are shielded against that. I modulated the Megaship's shields to mimic our starfighters' shielding."

Trapped between the Megalasers and the Defense wing, the fourth wave of velocifighters fell apart. But they put up enough of a fight that Cassie knew the Megaship wasn't going to be able to hold its own for long with only two crewmembers. Andros and Zhane could work closely enough with DECA that they could take the Megaship into battle alone, but she didn't have that kind of understanding of the ship's computer.

"Forward shields at fifty percent," DECA announced calmly, and Cassie winced. The Defense wing was doing an amazing job of covering for the Megaship, but they couldn't take all the heat, and it wasn't fair to ask them to.

"DECA," she said, letting green group settle into an escort position as the Megaship left the remains of the fourth wave behind. "Contact the Aquitian Rangers and tell them to join us in the Rysian system."

"That won't do any good," Linnse said, not looking up. Cassie spared an irritated glance for her, catching sight of the two yellow lights on her control panel. The dorsal laser array had been hit, and wouldn't be back online for who knew how long.

"We can't do this alone," Cassie insisted. "You must know that."

"I do." A second Defense group swooped in front of them, and the Megalasers fired repeatedly as Linnse blasted the wave of velocifighters that had chased them this far. Their green group escort raked its own lasers through blue group's pursuers, but did not abandon its position at the Megaship's prow. "But inviting the Aquitians here will only bring their battle here as well. Reinforcements won't help if the number of our enemies doubles."

"Aquitian Rangers acknowledge," DECA interjected.

"Thanks, DECA," Cassie said automatically, sending the Megaship up and over the fifth wave. The battleship's ventral laser array blazed away while the Defense fighters went after an isolated triad of velocifighters attempting to rejoin their fellows.

"Do you have anything more helpful to suggest?" she asked Linnse, trying to keep the nose of the Megaship out of the line of fire. The shields weren't going to last forever.

"Call your Earth Rangers."

Cassie would have stared at her, if she had an extra three or four minutes to spare. "I can't," she said quickly, pushing the thrusters to maximum as the Megaship changed course and punched straight through the fifth wave.

"Forward shields at forty-five percent," DECA warned.

"I have dorsal lasers again," Linnse added. It surprised Cassie that she mentioned it, since she hadn't bothered to say anything when she lost them. "Why not? Isn't your Earth team up to the challenge?"

Cassie's eyes narrowed, but she didn't take the bait. Linnse couldn't possibly know how unprepared the "Earth team" really was, and she wasn't going to risk their lives just to look good in front of the Defense. "No," she said. "They're not up to it. They were never supposed to fight; only to maintain a Ranger presence on Earth while we were gone."

"I suppose they have your morphers, then."

Cassie glanced at her bare left wrist. Linnse sounded like a parent, resigning herself to the folly of children too young to know better. "I'm not going to defend our decision," she said sharply. "I answer to Andros, not to you."

"So why won't you call them?" Linnse asked, not looking up. "Afraid the Power will like them better than you?"

Fear did paralyze her then, without warning or reason, and she froze over the thruster controls. Something was terribly wrong, and she fought the urge to reach for her communicator. Anyone could pick up on that signal, but she had to know.

She heard Linnse snap something at her, but the words faded into the rush of fear and were overwhelmed. Someone was trying to calm her down, but she was fine, she didn't need their help; she needed someone else. She couldn't be alone again or this time she really would die--

Cassie found herself reaching for her wrist, instinctively going for a communicator that wasn't there, and someone stopped her, forcing reason into her mind. *If Dark Spectre had captured her, she'd be with the others. If you blow our cover now, it will all be for nothing.*

*Kerone?* Cassie wondered. It sounded so much like Andros' sister's voice, though she had never heard Kerone speak in her head like that.

Then someone really was grabbing her arms and shoving her backwards in her seat. "What's wrong with you?" Linnse demanded.

She blinked, hard, squinting until Linnse was all she saw in front of her and the fear subsided into something less than the all-encompassing terror of a few seconds before. "Saryn," she murmured, knowing suddenly why he clung so desperately to her sometimes. "He doesn't want to be alone..."

She tensed as Linnse's hands tightened painfully on her arms. "What are you talking about?" The other woman was glaring at her, as though she could wrest a coherent answer from her just by staring.

The proximity alert went off a split-second before the entire ship shuddered violently, slamming Linnse against the pilot's console and throwing Cassie into her. "Velocifighter impact has overloaded aft scanners," DECA announced. "Aft shields at thirty-six percent and falling."

Cassie gasped as she pushed herself away from the console, trying to draw air back into her abruptly empty lungs. She knew Linnse must be suffering from more than whiplash and breathlessness, but she didn't complain. Cassie saw her wince as she straightened, but all she said was, "It will be too late to call your Earth Rangers when there's nothing left. Of either the Megaship or your teammates."

*They have the Power,* Cassie reminded herself. But did they know the risks? She knew Andros had not expected them to fight, and though they had made a token attempt at explaining the significance of their action when they handed over their morphers, the simple truth was that they had not wanted to dampen the new "Rangers'" excitement.

But was there any choice? The Defense wing was whole and intact--she was starting to wonder if anything could damage the little ships--but they were outnumbered four to one, with more velocifighters launching all the time. The Megaship still had plenty of offensive capability, but she wasn't Andros, and Linnse was more used to starfighters than battleships.

Not to mention their teammates. There was no way to mount a rescue effort right now, and she was beginning to question even their ability to retrieve Saryn and Kerone at this point.

"DECA," Cassie said finally, struggling to breathe normally as she reclaimed the pilot's seat. "Signal the Earth Rangers. Send them the coordinates for Rysia, and tell them--we need their help."

***

Already partly on his feet, Andros tried to keep his balance as the world--and gravity--reformed around him. But his hand on Ashley's arm was his undoing, and when she fell she took him to the ground with her.

"Well, you certainly know how to make an entrance," TJ's wry voice said from somewhere behind them.

Following the sound to its source, Andros took in the crude force-shielded bars surrounding their tiny enclosure. The cells stretched along the wall farther than he could see in a room lit only by the glow of force-shielding, each sharing a side with the next to conserve power. Carlos and TJ stood on opposite sides of the first set of bars past the one that bordered his and Ashley's cell, and both had turned to watch him haul Ashley back to her feet.

"Where are we?" she asked quickly, turning to take in the entire view even as he had. The door in the empty wall across from them seemed to be the only exit from the prison facility. It was a good six meters beyond the bars, allowing an entryway for guards to gather inside the room before any cell door was opened.

"Andros--ow!" A nasty-sounding hiss cut off Zhane's sudden exclamation, and Andros spun around. His friend was holding his shoulder and glaring at the bars as though they had deliberately shocked him. "That *hurt*!"

"Oh, by the way," Carlos offered, sounding sympathetic, "don't touch the bars."

"Yeah, thanks," Zhane said, shooting a look in his direction. "Where are we?" he added, echoing Ashley's question.

"First, is everyone okay?" Andros asked, catching Ashley's eye and then glancing over at TJ and Carlos.

There was subdued chorus of nods and "yes", but Zhane didn't answer. Andros looked at him, and he offered a one-shouldered shrug. "If you can call it that, then yeah, I'm okay. Remind me never to argue with electricity."

Andros smiled a little. "Did you manage to trace the teleportation signal?"

Zhane shook his head. "I couldn't; it was too quick."

At his side, Ashley stirred, and he realized he was still holding onto her arm. Letting go, he gave her a questioning look and waited for her to speak.

"Linnse sent me a copy of the teleportation signature for Dark Spectre's velocifighters," she said. "The one that picked up that whole wave and set them down somewhere else?"

He nodded, and Carlos took three steps forward, putting him on the other side of his cell. "The same thing that snatched Saryn and Kerone's starfighters."

"Right," Ashley said, looking over at him. "It matched whatever teleported us off the Megaship."

For a moment, no one said anything. "Then we're on Dark Spectre's ship," Andros said at last.

"It looks that way," TJ agreed. "*We* are, at least. Where's Cassie?"

Andros looked over at Zhane, and then past him to the next cell down. It remained conspicuously empty. He felt Ashley shift at his side, and she murmured, "And Linnse."

Zhane glanced over his shoulder at her, and she shrugged defensively. "Well, she isn't here either. They could still be on the Megaship."

"Or they could have been teleported somewhere else," Andros pointed out.

She sighed. "That's what I like about you, Andros. You're always looking on the bright side."

He heard Carlos chuckle, but TJ spoke up. "He's right, though. Ash, you still have your communicator. If they're on board too, we might be able to contact them."

"Unless they're being guarded," Carlos said. "Then we'd just give ourselves away."

"The first thing they'll do is take our communicators anyway," Andros said. "We have to take that chance while we still can."

"I'll take mine off," Zhane offered. He had the communicator TJ had given Andros, making him and Ashley the only ones in the group with communicators. "They're less likely to search me than Ashley."

Andros couldn't help glaring at him for that comment, but Zhane just looked back at him. "You know I'm right," was all he said.

"Cassie doesn't have her communicator, either," Ashley said, not paying any attention to them. "Does anyone know the Defense frequency?"

"Five sixty-two," Zhane offered, before Andros could speak, and she nodded.

"One sec." Ashley poked at her communicator for a few long moments, muttering, "I wish I had a probe." Finally, though, she relaxed a little and gave them a thumbs-up.

Lifting the communicator again, she asked, "Linnse? This is Ashley. Can you hear me?"

There was no answer. They waited, together, as the seconds ticked by and it became more and more obvious that there wouldn't *be* an answer. "Linnse, this is Ashley," she tried again. "Can you hear me?"

There was no chime of established link, not even the static of an out-of-range transmission. Even if the prison itself wasn't shielded, the signal would never have gotten past the exterior shielding on the ship itself. But if Linnse's comm was somewhere on this ship with them, unshielded, Ashley's communicator should have at least been able to link up with it.

"Well, that's a good sign," Carlos said at last. "They *must* have found a way to stop the teleportation, or they would have appeared here just like the rest of us."

"Which leaves the two of them on the Megaship alone, against Dark Spectre, his velocifighters, and any of his personal fleet that can be spared from the Rysian occupation," TJ said grimly.

"The Dark Fortress," Zhane exclaimed. "I knew there was something strange!"

Andros frowned at him. "What do you mean?"

"Where's the Dark Fortress?" Zhane wanted to know. "It was here, spearheading the Rysian invasion not two days ago. Where is it now? Astrea says she didn't hear anything about it having new orders."

"You can still talk to her?" Andros asked, surprised.

"Of course." Zhane looked at him oddly. "Can't you?"

"I haven't tried," Andros admitted. It had been Zhane's responsibility to keep track of the infiltration team from the Megaship. When Dark Spectre's teleportation had caught them all up in its grasp, he had assumed their contact was broken--but he hadn't had time to consider all the implications of that yet.

*Kerone?* He reached out for his sister, as subtly as he could in an effort not to distract her at some crucial moment.

*Right here,* she answered immediately. *Zhane says you've been teleported into one of the prison blocks.*

*All of us but Cassie and Linnse,* he said, relieved to hear her voice.

*Yeah, Zhane mentioned that,* she said, her tone sounding strangely wry. *Saryn freaked out. But they aren't the only ones--the Defense pilots are still in their ships, too. Saryn says they have some way to block that kind of teleportation, and he thinks Linnse modified it to work with the Megaship's shielding.*

Andros caught Zhane's eye, and the sudden flash of comprehension on his friend's face told him that Kerone was speaking to both of them. "Linnse may have found a way to adjust the Megaship's shielding," he said, for the others' benefit. "Saryn says the Defense fighters are shielded against even Dark Spectre's teleportation, and Linnse is probably using the same thing on the Megaship."

"So they're all right?" Ashley asked.

*Kerone, can you link with Cassie?*

*I'd rather not,* his sister answered. *She has enough to deal with right now. But if it's important...*

*You're sure she's on the Megaship?* Andros asked uncertainly.

*Saryn's sure. That's why I don't want to link with her. I think she's having enough trouble dealing with him on top of keeping the Megaship in one piece.*

"Yeah," Andros said, exchanging glances with Zhane. "She says Saryn's convinced Cassie and Linnse are still on the Megaship."

"But Kerone and Saryn," Ashley persisted. "They're okay too?"

"They sound like their normal selves to me," Zhane muttered, and Andros heard the repressed snicker in his friend's voice.

The hissing snap was all the warning they had before the huge metal door on the opposite wall rolled open and a dozen quantrons poured in. Andros tensed, seeing Zhane move out of the corner of his eye. The Silver Ranger stepped as close to their cell as he could without touching the bars and glared out at the quantrons. He didn't have to look to know that TJ and Carlos had just done the same thing, and that Ashley was now standing shoulder to shoulder with him.

The quantrons arranged themselves to either side of the open door, and a bipedal creature with furry skin and fang-like incisors strode through. It lisped when it spoke, as though its tongue was getting caught on its too-long teeth.

"Power Rangerth," it hissed. "What a pleathure."

He heard Carlos cough, abruptly and hard, and knew he was trying to disguise laughter. On his other side, Zhane didn't bother. "Look at that!" he crowed. "An alien who sounds like a baby with its mouth full!"

"Zhane," Andros whispered sharply. *Don't provoke it!*

"Thilenthe!" the creature roared, which only set Zhane off again.

"What other letters can't you pronounce?" he taunted. "Run through the alphabet for us!"

*Zhane!* he heard Ashley's reprimand in his own mind, but it had no more effect than his had.

"Trying to be like Dark Spectre, huh?" Zhane mocked. "The worse you speak, the more quickly you move up in the ranks?"

The alien gestured with one of its hand-like appendages, and a quantron pushed something on a control panel beside the door. The force-shielding on Zhane's cell went dark and the creature's tail shot forward, slipping through the bars to wrap around Zhane's neck and drag him forward.

"I wath ordered to take your leader for interrogathon," the creature hissed. "But I think you'll do jutht ath well."

"Yeah?" Zhane gasped, head turned sideways and held pressed against the bars by the alien's powerful tail. "Are you sure I'll be able to understand you? Maybe you could--"

With a roar that could have been anger or might just have been for effect, the creature unfurled its tail and flung Zhane across his cell. The Silver Ranger slammed into the far side and doubled over, catching the bars to keep himself on his feet. "So it's roaring or nothing, huh?" he challenged, hauling himself up as the creature yanked the door of his cell open. "Afraid to talk now? You going to get speech therapy after this? Or are you just--"

The creature stalked into Zhane's cell. Andros could only watch, appalled, as it forced his friend away from the wall and shoved him through the door with enough force to send him sprawling at the quantrons' feet. Two of the quantrons dragged him to his feet again, and it took three to restrain him--but there was no silencing Zhane.

"Or are you just going to go to your room and *cry*!" he shouted, struggling against the metallic beings that held him while the creature strode by.

The creature did not pause, but as it turned into the hallway its tail slapped Zhane's face hard, twisting his neck to one side and making two of the quantrons holding him stumble. The force must have been more than enough to knock him down, except for the quantrons surrounding him. They shoved him through the door after their master, and the metal aperture rumbled shut behind them.

*Zhane!* Andros took an involuntary step forward, feeling the bars crackle at his dangerously close approach.

He felt his friend's soothing mindtouch then, free of the defiance and the undercurrent of pain that had been in his real voice. *I had to, Andros. Sorry. I couldn't let them take you.*

*And I can't lose you!* Andros shouted back at him, angrier than he could ever remember feeling with his best friend. *What were you thinking?*

*You won't lose me,* Zhane promised. *We vowed to fight as a team forever, remember?* There was a flicker, and Andros stiffened. It would take something drastic for Zhane to lose his concentration that way.

"Andros, back up," Ashley said quietly. "There's nothing you can do now. He'll be okay."

"We vowed..." They had never said it like that. Never in the past tense. Always, "we *will* vow to fight as a team forever." But when he tried to reach Zhane again, there was nothing. His friend was intentionally blocking him from his mind.

***

"Incoming," Linnse said unnecessarily.

"I can see that," Cassie snapped. She had resigned herself to calling the "Earth Rangers", but she didn't have to like it. And Linnse wasn't making it any easier by reminding her of the odds against them. *What if we only take them down with us?* she worried, watching the forces stationed around Rysia shift ominously.

She felt Saryn's sudden focus on her with that thought, and she shook her head impatiently. He was paying far too close attention to her for someone who was supposed to be on a stealth assignment, and she didn't need to give him any more reason for concern. *Think happy thoughts,* she told herself dryly, and tried not to smile.

Then a single battleship broke away from Rysian orbit, heading straight for their insystem battle, and she tried not to swear. The absolute last thing they needed was for those ships to get involved. The refugees had taken the last of the native starfaring ships from this system, and all that remained were Dark Spectre's occupying forces--some of them almost as formidable as Dark Spectre's own ship.

*Don't give up.*

She froze, startled beyond words by the sudden mental intrusion. The voice was too familiar and far too strong to be anyone but Saryn's, but he had never done that to her when they weren't already standing face to face.

*Don't give up, Cassie,* he repeated. *You can never stop fighting.*

"What is *wrong* with you?" Linnse reached out to slap her hand away from the controls. "If you're going to keep freezing like this, let me fly!"

"You can't fly the Megaship," Cassie said automatically, straining to hear Saryn again.

His voice came back, drowning out everything else. *Don't give up.*

She frowned, until it dawned on her that he must not know she was hearing him. He was just repeating "don't give up" over and over, to her, willing her to keep fighting. She remembered his earlier panic and wished there were something she could do to reassure him.

"Just because I'm a starfighter pilot doesn't mean I haven't had basic battleship training," Linnse was saying. The Megalasers continued to fire on her command, though, and Cassie didn't think she was as sure as she sounded.

She gave her head a shake and turned her attention back to the thrusters. "It's okay. I can ignore him."

Linnse's head snapped up. "What?"

"Saryn," Cassie said, feeling the thrusters respond as she set the Megaship on an intercept course with the other battleship rapidly bearing down on the fight. The Defense fighters could handle the velocifighters, but a ship that size would have to be taken out by something on its own level. "He's just distracting. Don't worry about it."

"Distracting how?" Linnse pressed, and Cassie frowned down at her panel. Blue group had taken green's place as their escort, and the Defense ships seemed as determined to take on this battleship as the Megaship was.

"Ask him," she muttered, wondering what was keeping the Aquitians. "He's the empath."

For a few beats, she was too focused on the tactical readout to notice the absence of the hum she had come to associate with the Megalasers. But when a single velocifighter got past the Defense escort and just kept on going, unchallenged, she spared a single glance for the woman at the weapons' station.

Linnse was staring at her with an expression of utter shock on her face, paying absolutely no attention to her console. "Linnse!" Cassie exclaimed. Reaching for her own controls, she highlighted the rogue ship on her screen. "DECA--fire!"

DECA locked onto the ship Cassie had indicated, and the Megalasers reached out to catch it in a deadly grip. That seemed to wake her companion up, and Linnse dragged her concentration back to the console in front of her. "What did you say?" she asked, sounding exactly as calm as she hadn't looked a second ago.

"I said, 'fire'," Cassie told her irritably. "If you'd do your job, I wouldn't have had to."

Linnse shot her a token glare, but it didn't seem to have any real force behind it. "I meant before that. You said--something about Phantom."

Cassie made no attempt to conceal the fact that she was rolling her eyes. "It's all about him, isn't it."

"Yes," Linnse said sharply. "What did you *say*?"

It was more of an effort to fight with her than Cassie could spare, and if it would get the woman's mind back on the battle... "I said ask him, because he's the empath. We're going to veer starboard at a hundred kilometers, no matter what it looks like, so be ready."

"Gods," Linnse whispered. Cassie looked up, dreading what she would see on the expanded tactical screen. But there was nothing but the battleship, the waves of velocifighters--and, at long last, the green-tagged zords she had called what seemed like an eternity ago.

The Aquitian zords swept into the system, their arrowhead formation splintering as they drew closer. Yellow and black headed for the Megaship before she could even acknowledge their existence, while the blue, red, and white tinged green blips headed off in different directions.

Cassie let the Megaship fall back as the Aquitian zords streaked by on either side of her. She took the opportunity to glance at Linnse again, and she couldn't help asking quietly, "Are you all right?"

The usually composed Eltaran closed her eyes for a brief moment. "No wonder he's so upset with me."

There was a bright flash before the main screen compensated for the overflow of light, and Cassie looked up instinctively. Something had exploded, by the steadily expanding cloud of debris, but it wasn't until she glanced over at Ashley's station and saw the nonexistent thruster emissions on the scanner readout that she knew what it was. One of the Aquitian zords had just "disabled" the battleship's engines in spectacular fashion.

"What do you mean?" Cassie asked tentatively, torn between contacting the Aquitians and trying to help Linnse. She doubted the other even *wanted* her help, but she looked so dismayed that Cassie had to try.

Linnse opened her eyes, turning her head toward Cassie, and to her complete surprise, she laughed. It wasn't a happy laugh, but it had the ring of sad amusement nonetheless. "You don't have to look like that. I won't hurt you."

Cassie blinked. "I never thought you would. Make my life a living hell, maybe," she added frankly. "But even you wouldn't attack a Power Ranger."

"No," Linnse agreed. "But it doesn't matter, now. I didn't know you and he were linked."

"Why does that make a difference?" Cassie asked warily, not sure she liked the sound of that. *What doesn't matter?* she wondered.

Linnse turned back to her console and shook her head once. "Never mind. As long as you make him happy," she added under her breath, and Cassie frowned.

"I do not care what Linnse thinks," he had said. "I love *you*."

Had he known something she didn't about Linnse's feelings for him? Something Linnse hadn't realized he knew, until Cassie said he was an empath? "You love him?" she blurted out.

Linnse shot her an irritated look, but DECA's calm announcement prevented her from having to reply. "Incoming transmission from the Aquitian leader," the computer informed them.

"Put her through," Cassie said automatically, then blinked as Cestria's voice came over the comm instead of Cetaci's.

"Lissan to Megaship," the Yellow Ranger said. "Please respond."

"This is Cassie," she answered, knowing DECA would send her voice back to Cestria. "Linnse and I are piloting the Megaship--the others have been taken captive by Dark Spectre."

Even as she said it, she could have kicked herself for not thinking of the invasive teleportation earlier and sending the Aquitians the modified shield specs as soon as they arrived. "I'm transmitting the shield modifications we needed to make the Megaship resistant to Dark Spectre's teleportation now."

There was a brief pause as the information raced through the computer linkup, and then another as Cestria did whatever she needed to with it. "Billy confirms that a system comparable to this is already in place on the Aquitian zords," she reported a moment later.

Cassie didn't know whether to smile or shake her head. Of course. Billy probably designed zord defenses in his sleep.

"We estimate a three-minute lead over Dark Spectre's Parikat forces," Cestria continued. "A concerted rescue attempt must be made immediately. Do you have any indication of the status of our mission?"

"It's still in progress," Cassie said. She was both aware that anything they said could be monitored and frustrated that it didn't matter--she didn't *know* any more than that. "That's all I can tell you."

***

*Andros, if you don't calm down, I swear I'm going to cut you off.* That finally silenced her frantic brother, and she pushed two of the remaining detonators into Saryn's hands.

"I'll set the last one on my way back," she whispered. "If you're not here when I arrive, I'm going to be *here*--" She reached out and tapped his forehead with one finger. "--to find out why."

He nodded, checking the safeties on the detonators before shoving them into his backpack again. "How will you find him?" he asked quietly.

She allowed herself a small smile. "I gave Zhane a homing device last night. I know which direction he's in already--I'm going to teleport directly to him. We'll fight our way back if we have to, but if we're not alone we won't come here. I'll let you know."

He nodded wordlessly, and she hesitated one more moment. "Oh, and can you stop distracting Cassie? I'm going to need to talk to her, and I'm not sure she can handle both of us at once."

His blue eyes widened in the dim light of their hiding place. "She can't hear me--can she?"

She rolled her eyes. "Saryn, *Carlos* could hear you if you thought at him right now, and he's the most psi-blind person I know. I'm sure it's comforting, but I need you to stop for a little while."

"I will," he agreed at last, and she nodded in thanks.

"Don't let them catch you," she reminded him quietly. "I'm giving myself away by going after Zhane, and if we're caught, you'll be the only one still free."

"Don't let them knock you unconscious," he said, the hint of a smile on his face. "We need you to coordinate."

Her lips quirked, and she reached out to clasp his hand briefly. "Good luck," she whispered.

He squeezed her hand. "Be safe."

She let go, turning to check the hallway before climbing down out of the alcove. The way was clear, and she grabbed hold of the edge and jumped soundlessly to the floor. She called on the magic, turning unerringly left and following its pull until she was almost a minute down the corridor. That, hopefully, was far enough away that anyone who was trying wouldn't be able to trace her teleportation back to their impromptu meeting place.

Without pausing, she called to mind a more vivid image of Zhane and fixed it in her mind's eye. She let the magic of his homing device merge with her own, drawing her through the violet curtain to his side.

She heard the grating whine of indignant quantrons as she walked out of thin air, her Astronema guise firmly in place and her staff suddenly in her hands. She turned it on the nearest quantrons without a thought, her eyes darting past them to a figure in silver and black in the midst of the writhing metal storm.

He looked somewhat the worse for wear, but thanks to Andros the time between his departure and her arrival was less than three minutes. She knew a true interrogation wouldn't have even begun in that amount of time, especially counting time for transport, and the fact that he latched onto her immediately with his eyes and shouted a warning reassured her.

Her staff made short work of the quantrons that didn't run at the sight of her, and she whirled at the sound of a hiss behind her. A strangely vampiric cat creature was leering at her from less than a meter away, and her staff vanished as she lifted her left hand.

"Too late," it growled, taking a single step forward.

A single step was all it got before a metallic projectile hurtled through the air and managed a glancing blow off its right shoulder. "Learn to talk!" Zhane's voice advised.

The second of distraction when it turned its head was all she needed. Letting the magic well up through her palm, she watched the violet fireball form into a crackling sphere of energy.

She waited until its attention was back on her before flicking her wrist in its direction. The little globe, in appearance so like the ones she had used to light the observatory the night before, blew apart on impact with a satisfying boom and a shockwave that sent *her* stumbling backwards--right into Zhane's arms.

"You don't know how glad I am to see you," he told her fervently, hugging her hard.

"I can guess," she said, putting her arms over his and hugging him back as best she could. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," he said, turning her around. "Now I am. Man--what did you *do* to that guy?"

He glanced over her shoulder. She didn't have to look again to know that the cat vampire lay motionless on the floor, his form eerily flattened by the blast. "I don't want to talk about it," she muttered.

"Hey," he said, hugging her again. "Thanks. And believe me, he deserved it. Now let's get out of here."

He didn't let her go, and she smiled a little, amused that he felt he had to comfort *her*. But she took it, reassured by his touch, and it was with some amount of reluctance that she pulled away from his embrace. *Saryn's going to meet us on the other side of the ship. We have a detonator to set on the way, and I need to take a minute to talk to Cassie. Are you all right to walk?*

He rolled his eyes. *I'm fine to walk. I'm up for anything but jumping jacks and pushups. And I'd rather not be anyone else's punching bag for a while. Other than that...*

He deliberately trailed off, and she nodded her understanding. Gesturing for him to follow, she led the way down the corridor toward a junction that would eventually take them belowdecks. She had a moment to be glad she and Saryn had memorized more of the ship's layout than just their detonator route. Both had agreed it was better to plan on them being captured--separately--and to prepare for as many contingencies as possible in their limited time.

She felt Zhane's hand slip into hers as they paused at the junction, and she clasped his hand until they had to start climbing. She went first, hearing him sigh quietly at the sight of a ladder, and she remembered his comment about "jumping jacks and pushups". *Only three levels,* she thought, and he nodded quickly.

*I'll be fine,* he assured her. *See you at the bottom.*

Belowdecks was a little safer than the main body of the ship, and she let her concentration split as she climbed downward. *Cassie,* she thought, reaching out to Saryn's girlfriend and waiting for her to respond.

The reply was as immediate as she could have asked for. *Saryn said you wanted to talk to me. Where are you?*

*On the way to set the last detonator,* she answered. *Zhane's with me.*

*Saryn's between detonators,* Cassie told her. *And the Aquitians are here, but they say the Parikat fleet is right behind them. We need to get you all out of there as soon as possible.*

*The others are still confined,* she reminded the other girl. *And Saryn and I don't even have our starfighters anymore. We'll have to take one of Dark Spectre's ships to get everyone out once the detonators are in place.*

*Cestria has a better idea,* Cassie said. *The Aquitian Megazord is coming for you, but you're going to have to get to wherever it is. Is that going to be a problem?*

Her feet on solid metal decking once more, she glanced up at Zhane as he made his way down the final ladder. He was distinctly favoring his right hand, but he was moving just as quickly as before. *We can do it,* she told Cassie.

*Good,* the Pink Ranger replied, sounding distracted. She couldn't help but wonder how many other conversations Cassie was trying to carry on. *Can you let me know as soon as the network's in place?*

*I'll contact you,* she promised. Zhane stepped off the ladder beside her, and he had a second to smile at her before a raucous shriek made him recoil and clap his hands over his ears.

*What *is* that?* He had the presence of mind to ask silently, rather than shout it aloud--not that she would have been able to hear him over the noise.

She frowned at the swirling colors that played across the floor in front of them, a chaotic counterpoint to the high-pitched growl of the alarm. She had known this would happen once Zhane "escaped", though she had hoped their grace period would stretch a little longer.

*Intruder alert,* she told him.