Disclaimer: The usual: the
are not mine, they are Saban’s, I don’t have permission to do this, I don’t get
paid.
Notes
and Timeline: Zeo period, after Inescapable Destiny. This story refers to characters and
situations from my stories 24 Hours and 48 Days, familiarity with those stories
is helpful, but, of course, not required.
By this point in this series, any resemblance to Saban’s timeline is
purely coincidental, and continuity is pretty much ignored.
Kimberly
Hart waited impatiently at the airport, scanning the crowd of passengers making
their way toward the luggage carousels to claim their bags. To compensate for her short stature, she was
ducking and weaving among the departing people, determined to keep her gaze on
the influx of new arrivals. Finally she
saw what she had been waiting for.
“Trini! Zack!
Welcome home, guys!” she cried out, rushing up to the other two teens
with a squeal of happiness.
“Yo, Kim! You’re looking good, girl!” Zack laughed giving
her a quick hug.
“Kimberly! I wasn’t expecting to see you here,” Trini
smiled, giving her petite friend a warm hug of her own.
“Yeah, I didn’t even
know you were going to be back in good old A.G.,” Zack pointed out.
“Kind of a last
minute thing. I suffered a severe
muscle pull a couple of days ago. The
doctor said if I wanted to make a full recovery I’d have to not practice for
four to six weeks. No way was I going to
stay that long in Florida not practicing.
So I came home to recover here.
How long are you two home for?”
“At least a
month. There’s a break in the meetings
and seminars, and we wanted to spend it at home. We’ve really missed you guys,” Trini explained.
“So, where’s everyone
else?” Zack cut in, looking around.
“Would you believe
they were all here with me, but there was an attack? I don’t know if it’s over or not. Guess we should go check it out,” Kim replied, leading her two
friends out to the parking lot.
Quickly stowing their
luggage in the trunk of Kim’s car, the three friends drove toward Angel Grove
Park. They were still a couple of
blocks away when they saw the huge, humanoid shaped monster that appeared to be
made out of chain link and hubcaps. The
Megazord was going head to head with it, with Pyramidus quickly approaching.
“Looks like it should
be over soon,” Zack pointed out with a grin.
“That’s the new Megazord?
Awesome.”
“Billy told me all
about their capabilities. They can do
more than ours ever did,” Trini added.
“He’s probably in the Power Chamber, right?”
“Yeah. Every battle he’s there. Come on, let’s get a little closer so we can
surprise them when they’re finished,” Kim suggested, driving closer to the park
before parking the car.
They stayed a prudent
distance away as the Rangers finished off the monster in a brief but intense
explosion. The Zords began to separate
as they headed back at an incredible speed to the holding bay where they were
stored between battles. The six Rangers
landed on the ground close to the three former Rangers, then with a cautious
look around, demorphed.
“Whoa, man, awesome
zords you have now,” Zack exclaimed, greeting Jason and Tommy with high fives.
“You better believe
it. You gotta come check them out,”
Tommy agreed.
“And it’s great to
see you,” Trini added, giving both boys a warm hug.
“Great to see you
two, too,” Tommy grinned. “Remember
Rocky and Adam?” he asked, indicating the current Blue and Green Rangers.
“Of course, good to
see you guys,” Zack replied as he shook hands with the two teens.
“And this is Katherine
and Tanya. Kat, Tanya, this is Zack,
and Trini,” said Tommy, smiling as the two newest members of the team finally
met the last two of the original team.
“I’ve heard so much
about you,” Katherine murmured as she greeted them.
“Yeah, it’s great to
finally get to meet you,” Tanya added.
Introductions out of
the way, Tommy stepped back and surveyed the group. “We need to check in with Zordon, make sure Mondo is through for
the moment. Once we do that we should
be free to spend some time with you guys.
I’ll even drag Billy back with me,” he grinned.
“I got a better
idea. Can we go with you to the Power
Chamber and surprise them? I’d like to
at least say ‘Hi’ to Zordon, you know?” Zack asked with a sparkle in his eyes.
Tommy shrugged. “Don’t see why not. Let’s go.”
Quickly making their
way to a secluded area, they teleported to the Power Chamber.
“Oh my God,” Kimberly
muttered looking around. The look on
her face mirrored the shocked expressions on all nine teens’ faces.
The Power Chamber was
dimly lighted, but there was enough to see the damage that had been done. Consoles smoked and sparked from the damaged
wiring and Zordon’s tube was destroyed and empty.
For Tommy, Adam and
Rocky the scene took them back in their memories to two other times they had
found the center of their Power Ranger existence in ruins. Once because of Ivan Ooze, the other because
of Rita and Zedd. Kimberly shared their
memory of the first destruction, Katherine and Tanya memories of the second.
“Zordon,” Tanya
whispered, her voice sounding shocked and numb as she gazed at the ruined tube.
Rocky and Adam spied
what remained of Alpha Five at the same time.
The little ‘droid had apparently been hit with some sort of blast. In the center of his chest was a blackened
hole which exposed his damaged internal wiring, his left arm was lying three
feet away, his right one was only attached to his body by a thin strip of
metal.
“Oh, jeez, what a
mess,” Rocky uttered, his face pale and stunned.
Katherine looked down
in dismay from the sight of Zordon’s empty tube, then gave a startled gasp,
stepping backwards with an utterance of horror.
The others looked at
where she had been standing and understood her reaction. There was a fairly large puddle of blood,
now smeared from Katherine’s feet.
Tommy felt his heart clench painfully at the sight.
“Oh,no,” Kim
whispered, her hands over her mouth, her doe eyes wide with horror.
“Billy,” Jason said
softly, looking around in dismay. He noticed something on the consoles and
reached forward to touch it. His finger
came away red with slightly tacky blood.
“I though this place
was supposed to be safe. I thought this
couldn’t happen,” Kat cried out suddenly.
“Zordon said this couldn’t happen.”
“Well, looks like he
was wrong about that,” Rocky said with a suddenly hard expression.
“Okay, guys, we have
to keep ourselves together,” Tommy said firmly. “Adam, I want you to check over the consoles, see what’s working
and what isn’t. Rocky, you and Tanya
see if you can do anything for Alpha.
At least get all the parts together.
Jason, you and Kat search the chambers, make sure we’re secure. I think we should be, but let’s be
sure. Take your blasters and be very
careful. Keep your communicators
open. I’ll help Adam.”
“What about us?” Kim
asked.
“I’d probably be
better able to help Adam than you would be,” Trini pointed out in her quiet
way.
“You’re probably
right about that,” Tommy agreed. “Okay,
you help Adam, and the rest of us will help Kat and Jason search. Maybe Billy made it out of here and is
hiding somewhere.”
No one looked like
they thought that was the case, but they didn’t argue. Feeling a slight comfort in having something
to do, they all set to work on their assigned tasks.
~*~
Two hours after they
found the Power Chamber destroyed, Trini and Adam called everyone into the main
chamber. Rocky and Tanya had tried to
run diagnostics on Alpha, but found the little ‘droid too damaged to even do
that. They had ended up just setting
him in a corner to wait until one of the more technical Rangers had a chance to
work on him. Tommy, Katherine, Jason
and Kimberly had searched the maze of corridors and rooms that comprised the
Power Chamber complex and had found no trace of anyone. They did find where the Chamber’s security
was breached-a small entrance leading in from the desert. The security device had been disabled and
the door forced. Zack had taken it upon
himself to perform the duty none of them wanted to even think about, let alone
do. He found some rags and an old
bucket and cleaned the floor and consoles of blood, trying valiantly not to
think about what he was doing.
“Hey, guys, did you
find something?” Tommy asked as he entered the main chamber.
Seeing they were all
there, Adam spoke quietly.
“You know Zordon
records our battles, right? Well, there
are also surveillance cameras set up throughout the Power Chamber, including in
here. If an emergency occurs, these cameras
activate, recording all activity until manually deactivated. We’ve managed to get the system working so
we can see what happened in here.” He
reached out and flicked some switches.
“Observe the Viewing Globe….”
Billy and Alpha were moving quickly between the consoles,
obviously upset, the flashing red lights from the alarms adding to the sense of
urgency.
“It looks like someone breached security at entrance Delta
seven. I just checked that yesterday
and it was working fine! They must have
figured out a way to circumvent the security lock. They’re approaching the main chamber, I’m shutting the security
doors,” Billy reported, still working frantically.
“The Rangers can’t seem to find a weak spot in the monster,”
Alpha added worriedly.
“Damn! Someone got past the security doors before I
got them closed. Zordon, I’m relaying
the images from the security cameras to you.
Do you recognize them?” Billy asked as he reached under the farthest
console and removed a hand held blaster.
“She is Kyn’raem, a bounty hunter from the planet
Gymaral. Her reputation is that she is
one of the most vicious, successful bounty hunters in the known universe.”
“Well, why would she be here? Who is she after?”
“I believe she may be after me. Eltar has been under attack, I suspect rewards have been offered
for any Eltarans who are not on the home world at this time.”
“Who is attacking Eltar?” Billy asked tersely, still working
frantically at the consoles.
“Old enemies of yours, actually. The Briardians.”
Billy winced. He had
helped the Aquitians against the Briardians, and months later had been
kidnapped in retaliation.
Unfortunately, Jason had gotten dragged along on what had turned out to
be a forty eight-day adventure that had included their being enslaved and
tortured. They had managed to fake
their deaths to escape the Briardians, which had been fortunate in the long run
as Billy would not have to worry about them trying to get revenge against him
again. Still, he had a deep fear and
hatred for the Briardians for what they had already cost him.
Suddenly Tommy’s voice was heard over the speakers.
“Zordon, Billy! Have
you found a weakness in this monster yet?
Nothing we’ve tried has made any difference.”
“Still working on it Tommy.
I’ll contact you as soon as we know anything. In the meantime keep trying different tactics. You may find one that works,” Billy replied,
keeping his voice controlled so Tommy wouldn’t suspect anything was amiss. The team had enough to deal with without
worrying about what was happening in the Power Chamber.
Billy turned at the sound of an explosion at the door
leading into the other chambers. He
turned with the blaster in hand as a tall being walked through the ruined door
and raised a weapon pointing it at Billy.
The two fired simultaneously.
The intruder was blown against the wall where he crumpled into an
unmoving heap, and Billy was thrown back against the console behind him, shot
in the side with some sort of projectile.
“Billy! Teleport out
of here immediately!” Zordon ordered as Alpha hurried over to the injured teen.
“I’m okay, Alpha.
Keep trying to find the weakness in that monster. They have to defeat that first, before they
can help us. I’m putting up a force field
over that doorway, hopefully that will keep out any other visitors. Zordon, I think it might be a good idea if
you weren’t here if she makes it through the security doors,” Billy stated,
moving quickly from console to console, one hand pressed against his side when
not working the controls.
“Billy, you must leave here,” Zordon insisted.
“I can’t do that Zordon.
The team still needs help, and we can’t afford to lose you. I’m going to send you to a safe place until
this is over,” Billy said firmly. He
looked thoughtfully at the console for a moment then started speaking again.
“This is like child’s play, secret spy stuff. Plus five Henry, Charlie, Thomas, Zebra,
Elephant, Yellow. Sorry, Zordon, but
you will be safe there.” As he spoke he
entered information into the console and Zordon disappeared. Hitting more buttons he created a
holographic image of Zordon inside the tube.
“Billy, I have the weak spot for the monster,” Alpha
declared happily.
“Great! Contact
Tommy and let him know. I’m going to
try to divert more power to them, if they can defeat the monster maybe they can
get here in time to help us.”
While Alpha relayed the necessary information to Alpha,
Billy was tracking the progress of their intruders.
“Where are they Billy?” Alpha asked after closing
communications with the Rangers.
“Just outside the door.
Damn, this isn’t good.”
Another explosion rocked the Power Chamber, then a tall,
regal looking woman in full quasi military uniform entered the main chamber.
Billy leveled his weapon at her, but before he could pull the trigger he was
hit in the shoulder by a shot from one of her companions, causing him to drop
the blaster and collapse onto the floor.
She ignored the injured Human for a moment, instead she
aimed her weapon at Zordon’s tube and fired.
The tube exploded. She hurried
forward, looking for Zordon’s body, and turned around, enraged, when she
couldn’t find it.
Alpha had hurried toward Billy when he saw the former Ranger
collapse. Without hesitation, one of
Kyn’raem’s companions blasted the little ‘droid, sending him flying across the
chamber to crash into the wall with tremendous force. Another of her companions began blasting the various consoles.
Kyn’raem stalked over to where Billy was lying on his side
on the floor, moaning.
“Where is Zordon of Eltar?
Where is he?” she demanded, kicking the helpless teenager repeatedly when
he didn’t answer her.
She reached down and grabbed the shoulder and collar of
Billy’s shirt, dragging him roughly to his feet. She shook him like a rag doll, her features twisted with anger
and disappointment.
“Where did he get to?
If you don’t give him to me I’ll make you pay for my not getting him.”
“Go to hell,” Billy spat out, his voice weak but his resolve
strong.
“Oh, you are the one who will end up in hell, just you wait
and see. Let’s get out of here before
those idiotic Power Rangers return and try to do something heroic,” she said as
she and her companions, along with Billy plus Kyn'raem’s injured flunky,
teleported out…..
“I
think that’s it until we got here,” Adam said softly, turning off the Viewing
Globe.
The
nine teenagers all wore nearly identical expressions of horror and
distress. Trini was the first to speak.
“He
hid Zordon somewhere,” she said softly.
“Yeah,
but where? The console is angled so we
can’t see what coordinates he punched in,” Adam noted.
“How
many numbers constitute a coordinate where he might have sent Zordon?” Zack
asked suddenly.
“Um,
six, usually,” Adam replied.
“Numbers?”
“Yeah,
numbers.”
“Can
you rewind the tape, or whatever, to where Billy was getting rid of Zordon?”
Zack inquired.
“Sure. Just a second.” Adam started punching buttons, then the viewing globe came back
to life.
Billy’s
voice issued forth. “This is like child’s play, secret spy
stuff. Plus five Henry, Charlie,
Thomas, Zebra, Elephant, Yellow. Sorry,
Zordon, but you will be safe there.”
Zack
muttered to himself. “H-C-T-Z-E-Y.
Okay, now if I can remember the code correctly…”
Tommy
looked puzzled. “What are you talking
about?”
“Jason
and the girls should remember. We used
to play a spy game when we were kids,” Zack started as Kimberly gave a gasp of
recognition. Trini and Jason both
sported expressions that showed they had already realized what their old friend
had been referring to. “The game was kind
of complex, considering our ages.
Complete with secret code. That
is what Billy was talking about.”
“What? The letters correspond to numbers? Not really very complex,” Rocky noted.
“Ah,
but those letters he gave us may not be the right ones. All I have to do is remember the right
vegetables and fruits.”
“What?”
Tanya asked, amazed.
“It
was Billy’s brainstorm, as usual. We
used the names of some fruits and vegetables to hide the letters. See, I do remember zucchini was one of the
ones we used. So, z is really i, and i
would be z, except he didn’t use i.
Come on guys, help me remember the rest of the darn things.”
Working
together in a huddle the four childhood friends struggled to remember the rest
of the code words. The others found a
replacement tube and installed it to prepare for Zordon’s return.
“Okay,
so the letters needed are W-S-A-I-N-B.
That would correspond to 23-19-1-9-14-2. Try those coordinates,” Zack
said.
Trini
and Adam entered the numbers and the entire team waited anxiously, watching
Zordon’s tube.
“Nothing,”
Adam announced at last, discouraged.
“I
don’t get it. It should have
worked. That had to be what he was
referring to,” Zack muttered. “Can I
see that part of the tape again?”
Adam
wordlessly played the portion again.
“This is like child’s play,
secret spy stuff. Plus five Henry,
Charlie, Thomas, Zebra, Elephant, Yellow.
Sorry, Zordon, but you will be safe there.”
“What
did he say just before he said ‘Charlie’?” Zack asked anxiously.
“He
said ‘plus five’,” Katherine replied.
“Damn. I’m an idiot. Of course. Plus
five.” Zack scribbled furiously, then
looked at Adam again. “Try these
coordinates. 27-23-5-13-18-6.”
Again
they waited for something to happen, and again were disappointed.
“What
now?” Zack cried out, frustrated. “I
did the plus five thing.” He stared at
his cheat sheet for a long moment.
“Oh. I forgot.”
“Forgot
what?” Rocky asked.
“Forgot
that it never goes above 26.”
“Huh?”
“Okay,
plus five meant that a equals 5, b equals 6, and so on. But when I got to v, which equals 26, I
needed to make w equal 1, but instead I made it equal 27. That was my mistake. Okay, Adam third time should be the charm:
1-23-5-13-18-6.”
Adam
entered the new numbers and immediately Zordon’s tube filled with light. Within moments their mentor’s benevolent
countenance once again filled the transparent cylinder.
“Zordon,
am I glad to see you!” Tommy exclaimed.
“Rangers! You are unharmed. I am so relieved,” the
ancient being said.
“Well,
mostly,” Tommy muttered.
“Where
is Billy? He was injured when I last
saw him. Is he alright?” the
interdimensional being asked gravely.
“He
was taken by the woman who broke into here,” Tommy told him quietly. “He’d been shot twice, and she kicked him
severely.” The Ranger leader hated
having to upset their mentor, but he needed to know just what had happened.
Zordon’s
expression grew ever more serious. “I
tried to get him to leave, but he disobeyed my order.”
“Yeah,
we saw that,” Jason replied. “He’s not
as easy to boss around as he used to be.”
“You
have a recording of his abduction?”
“Yeah. Not real pleasant,” Tommy replied
quietly. “But it had the clues we
needed to get you back.”
“I
see Alpha has been damaged. How bad is
it?” Zordon asked.
“Pretty
bad, near as we could tell. Not even
enough working to run a diagnostic. His
internal wiring is badly fried, both arms are unattached from the torso,” Tanya
reported, her voice subdued.
“I
will work on his repair as soon as possible.
First I wish to see the tape of what happened after I was sent away,
then please feed the results of the diagnostic tests on the Power Chamber
systems through to me so I can ascertain our status. Once I have had a chance to review the situation, we can
determine how to best correct the problems,” Zordon’s voice was firm.
A
half-hour later Zordon knew everything there was to know about what had
happened when Kyn'raem stormed the Power Chamber, and the status of the
equipment after her actions.
“What’s
our status Zordon?” Tommy asked tersely.
“How long until we are up and running at full power?”
“The
most critical repairs will take only a couple of hours with all of us
working. That will get us to the point
where we can defend Angel Grove against an attack by Mondo. Repairs to get the Power Chamber back to
full capabilities will take almost a week, including repairing Alpha.”
“What
about going after Billy?” Jason asked.
Zordon
looked gravely at the teens facing him.
“I do not know if that will be feasible.”
“What?!
You want to just leave him out there?
Alone and hurt? Zordon, we have
to go after him, before it’s too late!” Tommy cried out, shocked by Zordon’s
reply.
“It
may already be too late,” Zordon replied solemnly.
“But
we don’t know that for sure! We have to
give him his chance,” Jason started, his voice merging with the voices of the
other Rangers and ex-Rangers, all of them expressing their desire to go after
their friend.
“Rangers!”
Zordon’s voice was uncharacteristically harsh.
The teens fell silent.
“Rangers,”
he said again, much more gently. “I
will contact my sources to try and determine if Kyn'raem still has a Human
prisoner. If she does, I will arrange
for some of you to be sent on a rescue mission. But we cannot simply race off
into space and leave Earth defenseless.
I understand your concerns.
Believe me when I say I share them.
But we must proceed in a logical and sensible manner.”
At
his words the teens seemed to deflate some.
Each understood that what Zordon was telling them was nothing but the
truth. But it didn’t make it any easier
to bear.
~*~
Billy
moaned as he became aware of the world around him. His shoulder and side both sent screaming messages of pain to his
mind, almost overwhelming him. He
finally forced his eyes open, and found himself looking up at a blurry face
that was completely unfamiliar to him.
He saw riotous red hair and eyes that were an almost startling shade of
blue.
“Easy,
laddie. Ye shouldna be moving around
much yet. Ye’re still bleedin’, movin’
around will only make it worse. ‘Twould
be best if ye went back to sleep for a while.
Ye’ll not much like what I’m needing to do now.”
“What
are you planning to do to me? Who are
you?”
“The
name’s Edinburgh, but most everyone calls me Ed. And I need to cauterize yer wounds to stop the bleedin’. I’ll be using this, I thought ‘twould work
the best.” He removed a slender rod
from an odd holder and showed it to the teen.
The tip of the rod glowed red hot.
“Please,
I don’t know where he is. I don’t
know…please.” Despite the pain and his
weakness Billy tried to move away from the red-haired man, making a low sound
of fear.
“No,
no. Easy laddie. I’m not doing this to be hurting ye. Ye’re still bleedin’ badly, if I don’t stop
it ye won’t survive. No, I’m not tryin’
to cause ye more pain, lad, that’s not my way, not my way atall.” He continued to speak gently, breaking
through the teenager’s haze of fear and pain.
Billy
gradually relaxed, looking deeply into the bright blue eyes of this strange
man. He saw compassion and worry there,
but no anger, no hint of a desire to hurt him.
He lay back down cautiously.
“I’m
sorry, lad. I wish ye’d not awakened
until I’d done this, but there’s naught to be done aboot it now. I would suggest ye bite doon on this piece
o’ wood, ‘twill keep ye from screamin’.
‘Twould be best to avoid gettin’ her attention, if ye know what I
mean.” He held out a flat, smooth piece
of wood, perhaps a half-inch thick and three inches wide and long. He held it to Billy’s lips until the dazed
teen took it between his teeth.
“Hold
on tight, laddie. ‘Twill be over in a
minute or two. Try not to move too
much, if ye can. I’ll hold ye down, but
it’d help if ye did yer bit to stay still.”
He
had already removed Billy’s shirt, now the larger man straddled the teen’s
waist and used his free hand to pin his uninjured shoulder before pressing the
heated rod against the shoulder wound.
Billy screamed around the chunk of wood as his body arched against the
pain. Shifting his position, Ed quickly
kept Billy as immobilized as he could and treated the wound in the teen’s side
in the same manner. Placing the rod
back into the odd holder, Ed spoke soothingly to the former Ranger.
“Ye
did good, lad. Halfway there now,” he
began to gently shift Billy onto his stomach so he could have access to the
exit wounds. Billy moaned and whimpered
a bit, his pale face streaked with sweat and tears.
“I
know it hurt, lad. I wish I could have
found some other way to stop the bleedin’, but there wasn’t one to be had. Keep bitin’ on that chunk of wood, now. We’ve almost got it done,” he murmured as he
took the reheated rod and applied it to Billy’s shoulder. The sickeningly sweet smell of charred flesh
began to fill the room they were in as Ed quickly pressed into the last spot. Billy’s body tensed then relaxed completely
as he finally gave in to unconsciousness.
“There
ye go, laddie. ’Tis much better ye be
asleep for a wee bit. Ye’ll feel better
when ye awaken,” he said gently as he applied a thick, pungent salve to the two
wounds on the teen’s back. Rolling the
youth over, he treated the two entrance wounds with the healing salve and
loosely bandaged them.
“There. ‘Tis the best I can do for ye. ‘Tis up to ye now, whether yer brave enough
to live, or weak enough to die.” He
carefully covered the injured teen, trying to make him as comfortable as
possible.
Then
Edinburgh settled back to wait and wonder about this new companion his captor
had provided for him.
~*~
Two
days had passed since the destruction of the Power Chamber, two days during
which the past and present Rangers had labored ceaselessly to try to repair all
the damage that had been done in less than ten minutes. Even the least technically inclined Rangers
had been pressed into service rewiring, soldering, or programming.
“Well,
looks like we are a bit ahead of schedule,” Tommy commented as they carefully
reattached the top of the middle console.
They still had one more to do, but the Power Chamber was completely
functional. The operations performed by the still damaged console were being
handled by backup systems at the moment.
Adam was handling the repairs on Alpha, under Zordon’s tutelage, but was
only partially done.
“Yeah. It’s good to know we have almost everything
available to us if we are attacked. At
least Mondo didn’t try anything while we were down. Lucky thing he didn’t know about Kyn'raem’s attack,” Jason noted.
“Yeah,
we got lucky, all right,” Tommy replied in a disheartened tone of voice.
“Worrying
about Billy?” Jason asked quietly.
“Yeah. Aren’t you?”
“Oh,
yeah. I’m about ready to blast Zordon’s
tube myself. We’ve got to do something. Every hour that passes he’s getting further and further away from
us. I don’t care if Zordon doesn’t hear
that he’s alive. That doesn’t mean he
isn’t. I mean, you guys all thought we
were dead when the Briardians had us.
And we weren’t. Billy’s the most
resourceful guy I know. If there is a
way to get out of where he is, he’ll find it.
I refuse to believe he would die without giving one heck of a
fight.” Jason’s voice rang with his
conviction.
“I
agree. But it isn’t like we have a
spaceship at our beck and call right now.”
“Actually,
we do. Pyramidus.”
“But
that can only take one person, right?”
“Possibly
as many as five or six, if they are friendly.
I found Billy’s notes on Pyramidus yesterday, and they indicated that
when originally built it was intended as a space ship, kind of a giant, roving
weapon, taking a small crew to wherever their help was needed. There are some areas inside it where we
could remove some extra equipment and stuff and make it comfortable enough for
an extended space flight. However, when
carrying a crew she can’t go at that extremely high velocity she was using when
she appeared here. She can go quite
fast, but not that fast. Probably as
fast as any other space ship out there, plus she has the awesome weaponry,”
Jason’s eyes sparkled at the thought of all his zord could do.
“Then
there is no reason some of us can’t go with you in Pyramidus, find Billy, and
get him away from Kyn'raem.”
“None
I can see. Let’s get the group together
and talk to Zordon.”
Zordon
listened to Jason and Tommy’s plan patiently, a worried expression on his face.
“I
understand your concerns, Rangers. But
the fact remains we cannot leave Earth undefended for any length of time.”
“So,
we’ll go instead,” Kimberly said, indicating herself, Trini, and Zack. “That’ll leave the full Zeo team here, and
take only Jason and Pyramidus. Zordon,
I know we’re not allowed to use the powers for personal gain, but Billy’s part
of the team. He got captured protecting
you and the Rangers, and it isn’t right that we let that happen and not try to
rescue him!” Her voice cracked slightly
at the end, her large eyes bright with tears.
Jason,
Trini, and Zack stood closely around Kimberly, all of them looking beseechingly
at their ancient mentor.
“We
don’t even know if he is alive or not,” Zordon started sorrowfully.
“Hey,
this is Billy we’re talking about! The
guy has ways of getting out of stuff the rest of us would never dream of,” Zack
interrupted with a knowing grin.
“You
know that’s true, Zordon. Of all of us
he’s the best equipped to try to find ways out of alien situations. He’s done it before,” Jason added. “And, like I told Tommy a while ago, you all
thought we were dead after the Briardians took us, and look how that one turned
out.”
Zordon
looked again at the solemn, determined faces of his past and present Rangers,
all of them focused on finding their lost friend. His heart swelled with pride, compassion, and love at the sight. He had indeed chosen well.
“Jason,
you take Pyramidus and Kimberly, Zack, and Trini, and search for Billy. We will modify your communications systems
so you can keep in contact with us. May
the power protect you all.”
~*~
Billy
was riding in the backseat of the family car, tired and happy after a long day
in the city shopping, visiting a museum, and seeing a movie. His parents spoke quietly in the front seat
while he started to doze in the backseat.
At nine he was small enough to curl into a fairly comfortable position to
nap while still wearing his seatbelt.
He heard his father’s gasp and mother’s small scream just before his
world exploded in pain and the horrible sounds of tearing metal. Moments later he awakened as someone gently
picked him up and pulled him out of the car.
He looked over to see his mother’s blood-streaked visage and staring
eyes before the man who held him twisted away, blocking the sight.
“Mom!”
he cried out in despair, struggling against the strong arms holding him. He looked up to see Zedd’s metal face.
“Looks
like we got her first,” the harsh voice rasped out dropping the stunned
teenager on the floor of the lunar palace.
“Let
me go, Zedd, you have no right to do this to me.”
“No
right? Who are you to tell me I have no
right, I have the right to do whatever I want, geek,” Bulk’s voice boomed in
his ear as the two larger teens literally threw him into a dumpster behind a
busy restaurant. The trash stank of
spoiled food and grease, and Billy climbed out painfully, fighting nausea.
“Oh,
good, you’re here. Now, Billy, all you
have to do is go over and ask Kelly to dance.
She’s sure to say yes,” Trini prodded him gently toward the far side of
the dance floor where a pretty, smooth-haired girl stood alone, watching the
dancers dreamily.
Billy
looked down at his befouled clothing and up at Trini in dismay.
“Trini,
I can’t go over to her looking like this.
I can’t!”
“That’s
right, powerless twerp, you can’t.
Can’t even fight my cogs, can you?
Good thing you gave the powers to someone else, rather than a loser like
you. Someone deserving, someone who
matters, not a geek. Oh, sure you clean
up well, but under it all you are still nothing. Nothing but a brain to be used then set aside when not needed
anymore.” Mondo’s voice grated on his nerves.
“That’s
not true, it can’t be. I am someone, I
deserved the powers, I know I did.”
“Yeah,
right. A guy whose own mother deserted
him years ago, whose dad barely realizes he’s alive,” came Rita’s screeching
voice.
“No! That’s not true. My dad cares, and my mom didn’t desert me, she died.”
“Are
you so sure, son?” the gentle voice that had been stilled so many years ago
startled the teen. “Perhaps I simply
knew what was to come and decided to take the easy way out, rather than find
out what a loser I’d given birth to.”
“Mom!
Noooo…”
And
far away from Earth’s blue swirled beauty a lonely man named Edinburgh watched
his young patient moan and mutter, caught in the depths of delirium, crying out
for a mother long since gone.
~*~
They
were finally ready to leave.
It
had taken a day to get Pyramidus ready, and to set up their cover stories so
their families would not be worried.
The intricate web of deceptions would allow them to be gone for up to
three weeks without any of their parents becoming too concerned. Wallace Cranston included.
They
had loaded the huge zord with supplies enough to feed five for twenty-one days,
and all other necessities they could think of.
Adam and Zordon had worked on the communications system, upgrading it to
the point that intergalactic communications was possible.
After
much discussion and debate, they had decided to set a course for Eltar, since
that was Kyn'raem’s last known destination.
They had not received any word yet on the location of her ship, let
alone if she was still carrying a Human prisoner.
Last
good-byes had been said, and the three former Rangers were already boarding
Pyramidus when Tommy turned to Jason with a hint of humor in his dark eyes.
“You
know, I think we saw more of you before you became the Gold Ranger,” he said,
trying to lighten the mood a bit.
“I
know what you mean. I never would have
believed I would spend this much time in space or in other dimensions. The only thing I don’t like about this plan
is leaving you guys with only five Rangers again.”
“We’ll
be okay. We have to be. And you’ll be back soon.”
“You
know it, Bro.”
Tommy’s
expression sobered.
“You
be careful, Bro. I want to see you all
come back. All of you.”
“You
know I’ll do my best, Tommy.”
“I
know. Bring him back. Then we'll find a
way to keep him safe, we can’t keep losing him.”
“You
got it. Take care of our home,
okay? After all, we need somewhere to
come back to.”
“We
will.”
They
looked solemnly at each other; two teenagers with responsibilities few adults
could handle.
“May
the power protect you,” they said simultaneously.
~*~
Billy
opened his eyes and looked around curiously, vaguely remembering the room from
his previous brief period of consciousness.
He noted that he was lying on a pallet of some sort, covered by several
blankets. He had been stripped down to
his undershorts, and it felt like there were a couple of bulky bandages on his
upper chest and abdomen. At present,
nothing really hurt, but he felt incredibly weak.
He
shifted his position carefully and gasped at the sudden, mercifully brief,
flares of pain from the injured areas.
The soft noise brought his companion to his side, and blue eyes stared
intently into his.
“So,
yer awake now, are ye laddie? Good to
see ye feelin’ a wee bit better. Or at
least knowin’ who ye are and what yer aboot.”
Billy
flinched involuntarily at the sight of the larger man. He remembered the pain of what this man had
done to him, even as he recalled that he had been told it was necessary. Apparently the procedure, no matter how
crude, had worked, as could be attested by his survival.
“You’re
Ed, right?” he said cautiously.
“Aye,
lad, that I am,” the redhead smiled.
If
the sight of Ed brought back unpleasant associations, his voice did the opposite. Thinking back to the time he was delirious,
Billy had a recollection of moments of peace and comfort, all associated with
that pleasant Scottish accent, so thick and luxuriant one could almost lose
oneself in it. He used a strange
dialect, somewhere between Scottish and Irish.
The warmth of that voice had brought him comfort when nothing else made
any sense.
“I
guess I owe you my life,” Billy said at last, trying to shift his position
again. This time the pain was a bit
less.
“’Twas
ye who did all the work, lad. Yer a wee
bit stronger than ye looked at first.
Ye ken my name, what might yers be?”
“I’m
Billy…Carter, from the planet Earth.”
“Pleased
to meet ye, Billy Carter,” the oddly homely face was split by an engaging
smile.
“Same
here,” Billy replied, unable to suppress a return smile. “Speaking of which, where exactly is
‘here’?”
“I
dunno, lad. We were on our way to
Eltar, but the mistress, she dinna get Zordon to offer the Briardians. So I’m not knowin’ what she plans next.”
“Whatever
it is, I hope it doesn’t involve the Briardians,” Billy muttered.
“Why
would that be?”
Billy
started to answer, then stopped himself.
True, this man had saved his life.
But he had done so in one of the most painful ways imaginable. It was not inconceivable that this man’s
purpose was to gain information from him for the bounty hunter.
“No
reason,” he murmured at last.
Ed
gave him a questioning look, but didn’t pursue it.
“Would
ye like to set up fer a spell? Maybe
try to drink some warm broth? Ye
haven’t eaten a bite in ‘most three days.
Ye must be hungry.”
“I
can’t say I’m feeling real hungry, but it would be nice to sit up for a while,”
Billy replied gratefully.
Ed
carefully helped the teen sit up against the nearby wall, wrapping a blanket
around his shoulders to keep him warm.
Then he disappeared for a moment, returning with steaming mug.
“Here,
lad, sip a wee bit of this. ‘Twill make
ye feel better.”
“Thanks,”
Billy said softly, appalled at how his hands shook and how weak he felt. Ed noticed his expression.
“Yer
lucky to be alive, lad. Weakness is to
be expected. Ye’ll recover well enough
in time,” he said gently.
“I
hope so.” Billy took a tentative sip of
the broth and found it to be excellent.
A few minutes later he looked at the empty mug in surprise.
“Guess
I was hungry after all.”
Ed
chuckled indulgently as he took the mug back.
“Would it raise your ire if I said ‘I told ye so’?”
“Maybe
not this once,” Billy yawned around his answering grin.
“’Tis
time for ye to lay back doon and sleep some.
Ye need yer rest, lad, if ye wish to recover fully. Don’t ye worry none, I’ll be here if ye need
me,” he said as he helped the former Ranger lay back down on the thin pallet.
“Thanks,”
Billy mumbled as sleep overtook him.
“Yer
welcome, lad,” the big man said softly, gently brushing the light hair back
from the sleeping teen’s forehead.
~*~
Jason
sat in the pilot’s compartment of Pyramidus and glared at the surrounding
stars. They had been out a full day,
and still had no word from Zordon’s numerous contacts concerning Kyn'raem’s
ship. Alone in this small compartment,
staring at the vast expanse of space surrounding him, he found his fears for
his friend intensified. Given the time
and lack of anything else to think about, it was all too easy to remember the
scenes of the violence that occurred in the Power Chamber when Billy was
taken. The shootings, the beating, the
ominously large pool of blood left behind…
Jason
shook his head angrily, irritated that he’d let his imagination run amuck with
him again. Forcing his thoughts away
from their morbid path, he focused on checking the instruments’ readings for
the hundredth time in 24 hours.
“Hey,
Jase, how’s it going?” Zack’s grin looked a bit forced as Jason turned to him.
“Okay. All systems are working fine. No word on anything, though. How’s it going below?”
“Oh,
long stretches of tedium broken up by the occasional bout of boredom. Other than that, okay. The girls were starting to discuss ‘The
Americanization of European Fashion’ or something like that. I needed to find someone to engage in guy
talk with,” he grinned.
“And
out of the hundreds of choices, you picked me.
I’m flattered,” Jason joked back, grateful for Zack’s cheerful presence.
“As
well you should be,” he replied amicably.
He sat down on the only other seat in the compartment and looked around
in awe.
“You
know, it is really so amazing. What
we’re doing, where we are. I mean, this
is incredible. We are out in space man. Unbelievable. It’s so
beautiful. And so….vast. Times like these, I
kind of wish I had Billy’s vocabulary so I could say what I mean.”
“You
don’t need that, man. I know what you
mean. It is incredible. I just wish
it wasn’t necessary.”
“You
and me both. But, still, we are lucky
we have this chance at all. To help
him, I mean. And somehow, I just think
it’s going to be okay,” Zack smiled more openly, and Jason could see his friend
truly did believe things would be fine.
“Thanks,
Zack, I needed to hear that right now.”
“Anytime. Now, after you left, I met a sensei in
Switzerland who specialized in what he called a hybrid discipline…”
Soon
the two young men were deep in a discussion about karate as the stars continued
to stream past, undisturbed and unmindful of the concerns of those who moved
among them.
~*~
“Here
ye go, lad. A bite o’ real food. Now, ye be takin’ it slow, don’t wolf it
doon,” Ed admonished the former Blue Ranger as he handed the teen a bowl of
soup laden with what looked to be vegetables of some sort.
“Thanks,
Ed. It smells wonderful.” Though still very weak, Billy was obviously
mending quickly. Ed was frankly amazed.
“How
old are ye, lad?”
“I’m
eighteen.”
“Eighteen
years, right?”
“Yeah,
eighteen years. How old are you?” Billy
countered.
“I’m
not sure. I wasna born on Earth. Was born in the Gnorium system. My mother had been born on Earth, my father
I don’t know aboot. He was a trader,
according to Mother.”
“Is
your mother still alive?” Billy asked softly.
“Nae,
lad, she died long ago.”
“Mine,
too,”
Ed
gave the teen a sympathetic look. “Ye
spoke o’ her while ye were ill. Called
out to her. But somehow I got the
feelin’ ye weren’t expectin’ an answer.
I’m sorry, lad.”
“Your…um…your
accent. Your mother spoke that way?”
Billy asked, wanting to change the subject.
“Accent?”
“Ah,
never mind. My mistake. Have you ever been to Earth?”
“Nae,
lad. ‘Tis my dream, to see Earth. To see the city my mother so loved that she
named me after it.”
“I’m
going to find a way home, Ed. And when
I do, I’ll take you with me. That’s a
promise.”
“Thank
ye, lad. I’ll hold ye to it,” the older
man smiled in the manner of an indulgent parent not wishing to shatter a
child’s dream.
Billy
accurately read his tone and expression, but made no comment on it. He had decided to keep certain aspects of
his life and experiences quiet until he knew more about his companion. So he opted for another change of subject. “How long have you been with Kyn'raem?”
“I’m
nae with Kyn'raem, lad. I’m her prisoner. Like ye are. I’ve
survived longer than any of the others, but I’m still a prisoner.”
“Others?”
“She’s
captured prisoners from time to time.
They dinna live long around her.
Ye musna anger her, lad. She’s
naught to be messed with. If ye can
escape her notice for a while, ye may have a chance of survivin’ to fight
another day. Promise me, lad. Promise me ye’ll avoid angerin’ her, defyin’
her. I don’t want to be sendin’ yer
body out to spend eternity driftin’ in space.
I’m wantin’ yer promise.”
“I
promise.”
~*~
The
insistent beep from the communications system got Jason’s attention as he
re-entered the pilot’s compartment.
“Zordon,
Jason here. What’s up?”
“Jason,
we have finally gotten word on Kyn'raem’s location. It appears she may still be heading toward Eltar, but she has
veered off to Proxicordia, intercepted communications indicate she is planning
to land there for a couple of days. You
may have a chance to overtake her there if you are lucky. We are transmitting the coordinates now. Good luck.”
“Thanks,
Zordon.”
The
Gold Ranger fed the information into the helm, entering the new coordinates and
setting the speed to maximum.
“Proxicordia,”
Jason murmured as the powerful engines propelled the massive zord toward its
new destination.
~*~
Kyn'raem
was not pleased with how the last few days had gone. First she missed getting Zordon, then the rendezvous she was
supposed to make with another bounty hunter had gone bad. She had gotten to the agreed upon location,
only to find space debris from the other ship.
Apparently it had been blown up by some unknown enemy.
“This
is just great,” she growled angrily.
She had been planning to trade the Human she’d picked up on Earth for a
couple of intergalactic traders who had worked against the Briardians ten years
before. Now that opportunity was gone
as well, and all she had left to show for the last few days’ efforts was a half
dead teenage Human.
“Might
just as well make him all the way dead, as much good as he is going to do me,”
she decided, heading toward the holding bay where the two Humans were
kept. “Set our course to Proxicordia,”
she barked at her helmsman as she left.
The
ship she commanded was quite large, yet required only four crewmembers to run
it, not counting herself. So the
corridors were quite deserted as she made her way deeper into the bowels of the
ship, until at last she stood outside the holding bay doors. Grinning unpleasantly to herself, she
unlocked the doors and entered.
She
found the two Humans sitting quietly by the far wall, looking apprehensively at
her as she approached. She had captured
Ed several months before, and had kept the older man alive because he had
turned out to be useful around the ship, fixing things. And, he also fixed the various beings she
captured, at least until she decided to get rid of them.
As
for the new Human, he was looking at her out of calm, pale blue eyes. His steady expression startled her a little,
considering he still looked half-dead.
She strode over to him purposefully, withdrawing a small device from her
pocket.
“You! You have been nothing but trouble. I don’t like trouble. At least not unless I’m the one causing it. Let me demonstrate how I deal with
troublemakers,” she yanked the teen to his feet, pushing him hard against the
wall and placing the device against the left side of his neck. Agony flared throughout the former Ranger’s
body, an involuntary scream of pain wrenched from him.
“Stop
it! Stop I say, ye witch! There’s no need to be killin’ the boy,” Ed
cried out, trying to push the bounty hunter away from her now helpless victim.
Startled,
Kyn'raem withdrew the device and turned to Ed with a speculative look. “So this one means something to you? Is it because he’s Human? What’s he worth to you, Edinburgh? Eh?
What’s this puny boy’s miserable life worth to you?”
“Whatever
ye need me to do, that’s the price I’ll pay,” Ed said softly, looking worriedly
at Billy, who’d collapsed into a painful huddle on the floor.
“Even
completing the Extirpator? Are you
willing to go that far, Ed?”
“Aye,
I am. If ye’ll agree to leave the boy
be.”
“Oh,
I can promise that, Ed. But, if you
renege on the deal, I will kill him by inches, and you will be forced to
watch. Keep that in mind. I’ll have you moved back to the workshop.”
“I’ll
be wantin’ the boy with me,” Ed said firmly.
“I’ll
allow that for now. But, any signs of
you not doing your best, and he will be the one to suffer.”
~*~
Ed
watched the bounty hunter leave, then turned swiftly to Billy, kneeling by the
injured teen’s side.
“Easy,
lad. I’m sorry, I should’ve warned ye
about her fondness fer that device o’ hers.
It stimulates the nerves somehow, sending pain everywhere. I’ve tasted its sting a few times myself.”
“Oh,
man,” he moaned as he sat up gingerly.
“Last time I felt something like that was in a prison on Primeria. Never wanted to feel it again.”
“Ye’ve
been to Primeria? Ye never told me
that, lad. That’s not a good place for
a lad like ye to be.”
“I
know. It wasn’t by choice, believe me.”
“How
did ye come to be there?”
“Ed,
I really don’t feel up to telling the story right now, please. Ask me later?”
“Okay,
lad, I won’t be pushin’ ye right now.
But soon ye’ll be tellin’ me how ye came to be on Primeria, and the
other stories ye’ve held back on.”
Billy
looked closely at Ed, a bit surprised that he’d realized Billy’s
deceptions. But something else was
foremost in his mind at the moment.
“What
is it you agreed to do to make her stop?” he asked the older man.
Ed
sighed. “I believe ye could say I’ve
sold my soul to the Devil, so I have.
Or at least to the Devil’s handmaiden.
She’s got a device she stole from some unfortunate race, dinna ken who ‘twas,
and I suppose it doesn’t matter now.
It’s a nasty contraption, a bastard cross between a sonic transmitter
and a laser gun. Verra
destructive. Dependin’ on the setting,
ye can kill one, or a roomful, or stun them, even cause the explosion of small
objects, includin’ an unfortunate soul’s skull. It isna ready fer use quite yet, still needs some
modifications. And none of her crew has
the skills needed fer the job. I do,
but I’ve refused to do it. ‘Til now.”
“Ed,
you can’t complete that. Not for the
likes of her. You can’t. Even if it is to save my life.”
“I
know, lad. I have no intention of doing
so. But I needed time, so that’s what
we got. Now we work on a way of gettin’
ourselves out of here.”
~*~
Ed’s
workshop was much smaller than the holding bay, and was crammed full of various
devices he was either modifying or he needed in order to modify other
devices. Billy was reminded of his lab
at home, and felt strangely comforted by that fact. He assisted Ed as much as he could, hiding the fact that he was
quite capable of doing a lot of the same work Ed was doing, perhaps even a bit
more. When not holding something for
the older man, Billy wandered about the room idly, looking at the devices with
a mildly blank look plastered on his face.
“Ed,
what’s this?” he asked quietly, holding up a device that looked a bit like an
old fashioned projector.
“’Tis
a holographic image recorder/projector, lad.
Ye put it doon, now. ‘Tis a
delicate piece of equipment, that is.”
“What
do you use it for?” Billy asked, putting it gently down on the workbench.
“I
sometimes record images of what I’m workin’ on, then project it larger than
life so I can check details more closely.
‘Tis a useful tool in its place.
Now, come here, lad, and hold this for me, please.”
Billy
obeyed wordlessly, but behind his slightly vapid expression his overactive mind
was working frantically.
~*~
“Ed,”
Billy whispered, his mouth nearly in his companion’s ear. “Ed, wake up.”
“Wha…whass
up, lad. Why’re ye whisperin’?” Despite his confusion Ed matched Billy’s
quiet tone.
“Do
they monitor us here while we’re sleeping, like they do in the lab?” Billy
asked.
“Nae,
lad, I don’t think so. Why?”
“I
have an idea. What if we use the
holographic recorder, set it to record our work for a while, with us doing a
lot of very close work, not moving a lot. Then, we interrupt their monitoring
for a split second, move out of their camera’s range and set the projector to
play directly into their feed. The
recorder can do that, right? That could
give us time to escape. We can have it
set up to do the next time we land on a planet. You said it should be soon, right?” Billy spoke quickly, urgently.
“Aye,
lad, it should be. ‘Tis verra unusual
for her to be goin’ so long between planets.
For all that her work’s dependent on space flight, she’s not over fond
of being onboard ship for too long at a time.”
Ed fell silent for a moment, thinking.
“Yer
idea verra well may work, lad. ‘Tis
worth a try. We can take the Extirpator
with us. We’ll set it up tomorrow. Get yerself some sleep, lad, ye’ll be
needin’ it.”
Billy
settled back down on his pallet, pleased to know their time on this ship was
now limited. If only they could find
safe passage back toward Earth.
~*~
“How
long until we reach Proxicordia?” Kimberly asked as she handed out mugs of
coffee to go with their breakfast.
“About
nine hours according to the helm computer,” Jason replied, taking a grateful
sip of the fragrant brew.
“Do
we have a plan for when we get there?
Any information on what this planet is like?” Zack asked.
“It’s
a kind of a general spaceport, all sorts of space travelers land there: cargo
carriers, military, general exploration vessels. Fuel, supplies, and various forms of entertainment are
available. It’s a frequent meeting
place for all sorts of exchanges. In
short, it’s a busy, dangerous place,” Trini reported.
“Sounds
like fun,” Zack joked, albeit a little uneasily.
“Humans
would not be expected to be seen there,” Trini added. “However, a Triforian would not be that surprising.”
“I
guess I can add the facial tattoo, and uniform of a Triforian, but a scan will
reveal me to be Human,” Jason mused.
“The
Gold Powers will thwart that to a degree.
Just avoid being scanned,” Trini told him.
“Good
idea if it can be done. So, I can go
into the spaceport, and you three will remain on board?”
“That
would be the safest. I’ll set up your
communicator for continuous feed back to me so I can monitor your
activities. I can teleport you out in
an emergency. I’m also going to place a
tiny receiver behind your ear, so I can contact you if need be. We can also monitor the various messages and
transmissions, listening for clues that might lead us to Billy,” Trini
concluded.
“Good
plan, Trini. I think you have every
base covered,” Jason said with a warm look at the pretty Asian.
“I
hope so. We may only get one chance to
do this right.”
~*~
“Planetfall,”
Ed whispered as he reached past Billy for a tool.
“I
felt it,” Billy breathed back, his heartbeat quickening.
“Give
her time to get off and gone, lad. Then
we go,” Ed’s softly uttered instructions were all but inaudible.
“Okay.”
They
continued to work patiently.
Fortunately for them, the original design of the device had numerous
flaws, and setting them right was a painstaking task. Kyn'raem seemed content that Ed was doing his best, and the
younger Human was apparently trainable as an assistant. Perhaps she wouldn’t kill him after all.
“Lad,
go get me the harmonic distender there on the bench,” Ed directed him, using
the phrase that signaled they would put their plan into action.
Moving
sedately over to the bench Billy activated the holographic feed they had set up
step by slow step during the long day.
The crewmember watching their activities didn’t notice the slight
interruption of the visual, and a glance at the screen showing the workshop
revealed the two Humans working busily on the Extirpator.
In
the workshop Billy stepped back and began frantically waving at the small
camera. When no one came to check on
them, he turned to Ed with a triumphant look.
Ed
quickly picked up the Extirpator, handing Billy some of the extra parts they
would need, then he quickly and efficiently deactivated the lock on the door
and poked his head outside. The
corridor was quite empty.
Motioning
for Billy to follow, Ed began moving quickly through the ship, working his way
confidently to the small access hatch that would let them off the ship. Only once did they encounter a crewmember,
and they were able to take refuge in an empty room until he was gone.
Opening
the hatch, Ed dropped down to the floor of the gigantic bay, followed closely
by Billy. Taking a quick look around,
they noticed the closest door and made their way hastily toward it, exiting the
bay less than ten seconds after leaving the ship. They heard no signs of pursuit from the direction of the ship,
indicating they had been successful in avoiding detection.
Pulling
the cloaks they had filched from Kyn'raem’s ship closer around themselves, they
endeavored to blend into the crowd, moving further and further away from the
bounty hunter’s spaceship and the certain death that awaited them there.
Once
he figured they had put sufficient distance between them and the ship, Billy
stopped and looked around, trying to get a feel for their location.
“What’re
ye doin’, lad? We’d best keep movin’,
lest she discover we’re gone and start a search for us.”
“I
know, Ed. But we need to have some idea
of where we are running to. I’m
thinking we should try to catch a ride out of here as quickly as possible. You agree?”
“Aye,
lad. ‘Twould be best to get gone from
here,” the larger man agreed. “Yer
thinkin’ of stowin’ away?”
“Yeah. If we can find a ship that doesn’t look too
hostile. Let’s head over toward those
hangars and kind of snoop around.”
Moving
quickly toward the indicated hangar, the two of them strolled along the open
doorways, glancing inside each one, hoping to spot a likely ship. Suddenly Billy stopped, shock evident in his
stance.
“I
don’t believe it,” he muttered.
“What
is it, lad? What do ye see?”
Billy
turned a warm smile on Ed. “I see our
salvation. Come on, we need to get on
that ship.”
Before
Ed could resist or question him, Billy had swiftly moved toward the ramp that
led to the open cargo door of the ship and sprinted up its gentle incline. Ed followed reluctantly. They moved among tall stacks of cargo until
they found a small area where they were surrounded on all sides by walls of
crates, with only a narrow entryway, easily defensible. Billy moved to the ‘wall’ across from the
entry and sat down gratefully. He was
still quite weak from his injuries, and it was quickly catching up with him.
“What’s
the big idea, lad?” Ed hissed at him angrily.
“This
is a good place for us to be, unless things have changed in the last few
months. Wait until we take off, then we
can talk.”
Glaring
at the teenager, Ed nevertheless kept quiet, keeping his eyes riveted on the
narrow opening to their small haven.
~*~
Jason
strode purposefully through the crowded main street of the spaceport. He was headed toward the largest
restaurant/bar/entertainment center there, a place one of Zordon’s resources
had indicated was the type Kyn'raem frequented when planet side. Seemed she liked a bit of social
interaction.
The
outfit he wore included a large hood that partially obscured his face. It allowed him to feel just a touch more
confident that no one would recognize him as Human. He entered the large establishment, and stepped aside for a moment,
scanning the crowd. He spotted the
bounty hunter at the bar, sipping a tall drink that was a veritable rainbow of
swirled colors. She was talking to a
fierce looking male humanoid who wore a uniform of combined orange and
purple. Not that Jason figured anyone
would mock his sense of color.
Moving
as unobtrusively as possible, he took up a position not far from her and
ordered a drink by pointing to one he wanted.
He took a cautious sip, hoping it wasn’t poisonous to Humans.
He
had been watching Kyn'raem for nearly a half hour when suddenly she became
agitated after speaking into a small device that Jason guessed was a
communicator. Moving cautiously closer,
he heard her say that there was a problem on her ship, that her prisoners had
escaped. She told him she was in hangar
43287, and that once she had recaptured the prisoners she would like to meet
him there.
With all the information he needed, Jason headed out the door, mindless of
where Kyn'raem might go.
~*~
The
throbbing of powerful engines signaled the ship’s take off from Proxicordia,
and Billy relaxed visibly. Turning to
his red headed companion he smiled a bit.
“We
should be okay, now. Trust me on this
one, Ed.”
“Trust
ye? Yer just a lad, from Earth no
less. What could ye possibly know of
space travel?”
“More
than you realize. I know this
ship. And more importantly, my friends
know this ship. If they traced us to
Proxicordia, and Jason discovers this ship was there, he should know where I
went, and they’ll find us that much quicker.”
“What
in heaven’s name makes ye believe yer friends are seekin’ ye? Ye looked more than half dead when Kyn'raem
threw ye into the room after she took ye from Earth. They’d be smart to think ye dead.”
“But
they won’t. Not unless they know for
certain. And they will come after me.”
They
had had this argument before, and Billy had never been able to convince Ed that
his friends would come looking for him.
“I
still have a hard time believin’ ye on this matter. And now ye’ve put us on a strange ship headin’ heaven alone knows
where.”
“It’s
not a strange ship. I know the owner of
this ship.”
“Oh,
ye do, do ye? And just who might that
be?”
“That
would be me,” came a deep, calm voice from the small entry. They turned to see a Humanoid standing over
seven feet tall, with thick muscles, blue eyes, and pale olive green skin.
“Hi,
Modil,” Billy greeted him.
~*~
“Guys,
Kyn'raem’s hostages escaped. Have you
heard anything?” Jason asked softly as he strode through the crowded street,
heading toward the outskirts of the settlement where he had landed the cloaked
Pyramidus.
“No,
not yet. But I have an idea. They probably escaped a while ago. I’m going to set up a bogus transmission
from one of the recently departed ships, saying they have found stowaways-you
said more than one, right?- and are taking them to….um….Seraptus? Wasn’t that the planet you found where
outlaws can live?”
“Yeah,
that’s it. And, yeah, she definitely
said plural. Can you do that without
them being able to trace it?”
“I
think so. It’s worth a try, and would
send Kyn'raem far away from us, at least for a while. Ever since we got within sensor range, I’ve been running tracers
on all departing ships, recording the information and any transmissions
made. I had already picked a ship to
use if the opportunity arose. Planning
ahead a little, just in case.”
“Excellent,
Trini. Go ahead, I’m heading back. I’ll teleport in momentarily.”
Finding
a quiet, deserted area, Jason touched his communicator and teleported to the
cramped bridge of Pyramidus. Trini and
Zack were both there, Zack speaking as if sending a message, talking about
finding stowaways and sending them to Seraptus. Trini was providing the dialog for the ‘home planet’. Jason stood there silently until his friends
finished.
“That
sounded very convincing, guys. Now if
only Kyn'raem will buy it. She’s in
hangar 43287, can you scan to see if the ship is still there?”
“It’s
still there, Jason. I’d picked it up a
while back. I’m also scanning for
Humans in the settlement, but only you showed up. It took some time to set up the parameters, plus Kyn'raem’s been
here a while, so they may have already left on another ship. But I’m pretty sure they aren’t here now.”
“Do
we have information on the ships that have left? Maybe we can pick a likely one out from them,” Jason suggested,
looking doubtful even as he advanced the idea.
“Sure. Here, I’ll print this out. It’s the information I could get on each
one,” Trini replied, punching a few buttons.
In a couple of moments she handed Jason the printout, which he began to
scan quickly.
“Hey,
it looks like our ruse may have worked.
Kyn'raem’s ship is powering up.
That would make things so much easier.
There she goes,” Trini announced, watching the viewer which was showing
the bounty hunter’s large ship make a gradual climb away from the crowded
spaceport.
“Which
way are they headed?” Jason asked anxiously.
There
was a pause as Trini studied the information from the computer.
“Headed
in the general direction of Seraptus.
It worked,” she said quietly.
“Excellent. Trini, you’re a genius!” Jason told her with
a wide smile as Zack gave her a quick hug.
“Not
really. But I used to spend a lot of
time with one,” she replied.
“And
you will again, soon,” Zack told her firmly.
“I
think he may be right. I have it. This is where he is, I’m sure of it,” Jason
said with mounting excitement, pointing to a page of the printout that Trini
had given him.
“How
can you be so sure?” Zack asked.
“Because,
we know this guy. If Billy saw this
ship, and I’m betting he did, he’d find a way to get on board. It’s Modil’s ship.” Jason poked his finger emphatically against
the printout as he spoke.
“One
of your ‘gut feelings’?” Zack queried.
“Actually,
yes, partially. And partially simple
logic. We have nothing else to go on at
this point. Lay in a course to follow
this ship, but don’t try to contact them.
I don’t want any chance someone could overhear our transmissions.”
“I
agree. Extreme caution would be best at
this point,” Trini stated, entering data quickly into the helm. “They’ve got a couple of hours head start on
us. Modil, huh? The guy you and Billy ended up with after
the Briardians kidnapped you, right?”
“Yeah. He’s a good guy. I know he’ll help Billy if he can.”
Within
minutes they were leaving Proxicordia behind.
~*~
“Billy,
what are you doing here?” the huge Nebulan asked, his tone somewhere between
exasperated and angry.
“Would
you believe I got kidnapped again?” the former Ranger asked with a sheepish
look.
“What’d
you do this time?”
“Um,
a bounty hunter, Kyn'raem, came after Zordon.
I got him hidden, but didn’t have time enough to get away myself.”
“Zordon
is safe?”
“I
believe so. He should be.”
“Do
ye mean to tell me ye knew all along where Zordon was? ‘Tis a good thing she dinna ken that,
lad. Ye’d been in a world of hurt,” Ed
interrupted, giving his younger friend a surprised look.
“I
figured as much. Modil, I’m truly sorry
to barge in on you like this, but we really needed to get away from her,” Billy
said, looking at the huge Humanoid with a hopeful expression.
“I’m
not the safest ride you could have picked up.
I've been sneaking supplies in to Eltar for the last few weeks. They’re standing tough against the
Briardians, but it’s only a matter of time before they fall. I’m hoping I can find a way to help more
than this little bit. I owe them a
lot.”
“As
do I. Zordon has done so very much for
Earth. Perhaps we can find a way to rid
them of the Briardians once and for all,” Billy replied.
“Ye
can count me in as well. The Eltarans
have always been good to me, helped me out once when I had nae where else to
go.”
“We’ll
have even more help when Jason or the others turn up,” Billy added for Ed’s
sake more than anything.
“Yer
so sure of yer friends. Ye know they’re
coming as well as ye ken yer name is Billy Carter, is that right?” Ed asked,
with more than a touch of sarcasm.
“Um,
Cranston,” Billy muttered, flushing a little.
“What?”
Ed asked sharply.
“Cranston. My name is Billy Cranston. I lied about that. Sorry.”
“Ye
lied aboot it? And ye lied aboot Zordon
as well. Anything else?” Ed looked
uncharacteristically angry.
“No,
that’s all,” he said softly. “I’m sorry
Ed. I didn’t know for sure if I could
trust you, or if Kyn'raem was monitoring our conversations. Zordon’s safety was the most important
thing.”
“But
ye dinna even tell me yer true name, lad.”
“Like
I said, I thought she could be monitoring us, and the Briardians would be very
pleased to have me turned over to them.
I didn’t think that would be a good idea to give her.”
“Nae,
lad, it wouldn’t have done atall.” The
bigger man sighed. “I suppose I can’t
fault yer reasons. Ye plannin’ on
introducing me to the green giant yonder?”
Billy
chuckled a little. “Modil, this is
Edinburgh. Ed, this is Modil, the
ship’s captain and a Nebulan.”
“A
pleasure I’m sure,” Ed said, his tone wary.
“Perhaps,”
Modil replied, then turned his attention back to the younger Human. “You’ve managed to get injured again,
haven’t you? Let’s get you to the
sickbay and get you fixed up. We’ll be
arriving at Eltar sometime tomorrow.”
With
that he led his two unexpected guests toward the sickbay, the three of them
already tentatively discussing possible strategies to use against the
Briardians.
~*~
“I
still say yer insane, lad. There has to
be another way of getting on board that ship without putting ye in so much
danger,” Ed argued for the third time in the last fifteen minutes.
“If
you can come up with a better idea, I’d be thrilled to hear it,” Billy shot
back.
“Any
idea would be better than walking straight into the mouth of the shark,” Ed
replied sharply.
“Then
let’s hear it!”
“I
don’t have one, yet. Modil, ye tell him
he’s insane.”
“You’re
insane,” Modil told the former Ranger, only slightly kidding. “But, that idea might actually work,” he
added reluctantly.
“Okay,
then let’s get ready. I’ll use some of
the instruments in the sickbay to make me look like you’ve roughed me up. You should send the transmission now, so
they won’t be surprised by our approach and just shoot us before asking any questions. We have the explosives already. Ed, you should start studying the layout of
the ship so you can finish as quickly as possible. I have your personal cloaking device just about ready. Anything else?” Billy asked.
“Nae,
lad, that’s all fer now. I still say
it’s too dangerous for ye, but I guess I’ve been outvoted,” the redhead
muttered.
“It’ll
work, Ed. It has to. The Eltarans have to win this fight,” Billy
declared quietly, trying to hide his own unease with the plan. For all his intelligence, Billy was not
really a tactician. Modil was a
freighter pilot with no battle experience, and Ed was inexperienced as
well. The former Blue Ranger sighed,
wishing Jason or Tommy were around to provide advice. They were much better than he was at planning battles.
Their
plan was fairly simple. None of them
were comfortable with the idea of doing something like blowing the Briardian
ship up, as it was Billy still felt guilty over his part in doing that to the
Briardians that had been attacking Aquitar.
They would prefer to disable the ship, making it vulnerable to the
Eltarans’ defensive strikes. Billy knew
that if the Eltarans defeated the Briardians they would be safe from the
Briardians for a hundred years, per Briardian cultural decrees. They decided that planting explosive devices
in the shield and weapons systems to disable them would work best. The problem was how to get on board. Billy had told them that the Briardians
wanted him because of what had happened at Aquitar. So, he suggested that Modil offer him to the Briardians as a
means of establishing Modil’s ‘loyalty to the mighty Briardian Empire’, and
while that was going on, Ed could sneak off their ship and onto the Briardian
ship and set the devices. Billy had
devised a personal cloaking device that would keep him from being seen by the
other Briardian crewmembers. At the
last minute Modil would ‘change his mind’ and get Billy back on board his ship
and away just before the explosions.
Ed
had been amazed at the ideas that the teenager came up with, and his ability to
make those ideas a reality. Having
believed the young man to be at best of normal intelligence, he had been
unprepared for the demonstrations of Billy’s considerable intelligence and
creativity.
“I
still say yer insane, lad.”
~*~
“What
are they doing now?” Jason asked tersely, unable to believe what they’d been
seeing.
“It
appears that Modil’s ship has docked with the Briardian vessel. I though you said this Modil was a good
guy?” Trini said, giving Jason an accusing look.
“He
is. I swear it. He saved both our lives. I can’t believe he would do anything to hurt
Billy. He likes Billy,” Jason replied, clearly upset.
“Well,
we know he has had two Humans on board, and according to these new readings,
one of those Humans has disappeared, presumably in a shielded part of the
ship. And the other is on board the
Briardian vessel. And the signal for
that Human matches computer records for Billy.
What else can we think, Jason?”
They
were less than two hours behind Modil’s ship, moving at maximum speed. With the beefed up sensors, they had been
able to track the life signs on Modil’s ship for the last few hours, and had
been thrilled to find two Human readings.
Now, they were confused as the Nebulan’s ship rendezvoused with the
Briardian vessel.
“There
has to be a logical explanation. Is the
cloak working right?” Some time back
Billy had perfected a device that would render the ship invisible. They had been using it almost continually,
and maintaining communications silence to hide their presence in this sector of
space.
“Perfectly. We will be right up beside them and they
won’t even know we are there. Now all
we need is a plan,” Trini replied with a determined look.
“For
a good plan, we need more information.
Let’s keep our ears and minds open to any opportunities.”
Trini
nodded her agreement, and quietly spoke into the intercom, updating Kim and
Zack on the situation. Jason looked out
the large view screen toward their destination and fought down his feelings of
fear for his childhood friend.
“Just
what do you think you’re doing, Little Bro?”
~*~
Modil
and Ed both gave involuntary starts when they saw their companion for the first
time. Using the medical equipment in
Modil’s sickbay in a manner it was never intended for, Billy had given himself
some vicious looking bruises, enough to hopefully convince the Briardians that
Modil had become tired of his hostage’s smart mouth and attitude. He had trashed his clothes and added other
outer signs of neglect and abuse. He
looked terrible.
“That
isna a good look fer ye, lad. Let’s
hurry and get this folly over with so’s ye can get back to normal.”
“You
can undo that, right?” Modil asked, flinching at the appearance of the young
Human.
“Yeah,
I can undo it. Don’t worry about
that. I made this transmitter so if we
should become separated some way you can track me,” he said, holding up a tiny
device about the size of a pencil eraser.
“Be
careful where ye hide that, lad.
They’ll verra likely search ye quite thoroughly.”
“Good
point.” Billy looked at the transmitter
thoughtfully for a moment, then popped it in his mouth and swallowed it. “That should solve that problem. At least for a few hours. Anything else?”
“Nae,
lad, that’s all. I suppose I should be
getting’ meself into hidin’ afore we dock with the Briardians. Ye be careful with the lad, got it?” Ed
declared, poking Modil in the chest.
“I’ve
got it,” the huge Nebulan growled.
They
all looked up a little surprised as they drew ever closer to the Briardian
ship. Ed scurried off to his hiding
place and Billy to the room they had designated as the brig. They were now in range of the Briardian
sensors and would be docking in a few minutes.
The
next couple of hours were bound to be interesting, to say the least.
~*~
Modil
stood with his ‘hostage’ in front of a group of Briardian officers, trying to
work out a deal with them. He spoke
slowly and thought over each counter offer thoroughly, using as much time as
possible so Ed would have a chance to set the explosives and get himself back
on board Modil’s ship. The Nebulan
could all but feel Billy’s nervousness.
He glanced down at his Human friend and saw how pale the teen looked
underneath the bruising. Modil wanted
nothing more than to tell the Briardians to forget it, he would keep his
hostage, and get out of there. But he
hadn’t received the signal from Ed to let him know the explosives were
set. Modil was wearing a small receiver
made to look like an earring, through which he would receive Ed’s signal that
all was in readiness.
“I
want the Briardian Empire’s guarantee that I will be exempt from any sort of
prosecution when making deliveries in areas under Briardian rule. Plus, exemption from having to pay the safe
passage toll ever again, in addition to the four million standard credits to my
intergalactic account,” Modil stated firmly, rejecting the latest counter
offer.
“Fool! You should be on you knees in gratitude that
we do not kill you right now!” the Briardian captain growled.
Modil
wasn’t worried about that. For all
their ruthlessness, Briardians had one of the strongest codes of honor known
anywhere. They had agreed to negotiate,
and negotiate they would. Modil knew he
was safe from them. Regardless of the
outcome of the negotiations, he would be free to return to his ship and leave,
unless they captured Ed setting the explosive devices. That would alter things considerably. Modil was still formulating his reply when
he felt his ‘earring’ vibrate, the signal that Ed was done and safe.
“Then
your offer is completely unacceptable.
I shall take my hostage back with me, I’m sure I can find someone
willing to meet my demands, or I will simply enjoy killing him myself,” Modil
replied angrily, tugging roughly on Billy and turning to leave.
“Wait! We accept your offer,” the captain said
hastily.
Modil
and Billy turned to the captain with wide eyes.
“You
do?” Modil asked incredulously.
“Yes. As we speak the arrangements are being
made. Ah, here it is now,” the captain
reached out for some documents a crewmember arrived with. He read them over while the two guests
waited nervously.
“These
appear to be in order. Just sign under
my name and we will be done,” he said at last, handing the papers to
Modil. The Nebulan read them over and
sighed. The Briardians had agreed to
everything, and his account had been credited for the requested fee, he had
unlimited permission to fly in Briardian controlled space free of charge, and
documents granting him immunity from prosecution. He looked at Billy wordlessly, then reluctantly signed the
papers. Two large guards came forward
and took the helpless Human away.
“What
are you planning to do with him?” Modil asked, his voice carefully neutral.
“That
is none of your concern, Nebulan. He is
ours now, and our emperor has a great desire to see him. Our business here is finished. Get to your ship and get out of here before
I change my mind,” the captain snapped, dismissing Modil from his presence.
“It’s
been a pleasure,” Modil replied acidly as he was escorted from the room and
toward his ship. Once on board he
disengaged from the dock and moved quickly away from the Briardian ship.
“Did
it work? Where’s the lad?” Ed asked
coming up behind Modil’s seat.
“It
worked, just not the way we expected.
They accepted the offer,” Modil mumbled.
“Ye
left him there? How could ye?” Ed
exploded angrily.
“I
had no choice. We had discussed that
possibility, you know that! I just
can’t believe they accepted that offer.”
“We
must find a way of getting’ him off that ship.
I set all the explosives, it should blow in less than an hour. When that happens they’ll be bound to blame
the boy. Ach! I knew we shouldna listen
to the lad.”
“We’ll
find a way to get him back,” Modil promised.
“Get
him back from the Briardians? Why was
he left there?”
The
voice from the hatchway startled the two, who turned to unison to look at the
newcomer.
“Jason! How did you get on board?” Modil asked,
surprised to see the young Human.
“We
came to find Billy. Did you actually turn him over to the Briardians? I can’t believe you’d do that, Modil.”
“It
wasn’t really the plan, but I didn’t have a choice,” the unhappy Nebulan
replied.
“What
were you doing on the Briardians ship in the first place?”
“I
was going to offer to turn Billy over to the Briardians, just as a distraction
as Ed set explosives to disable the ship and give the Eltarans a chance against
the Briardians. Our plan backfired a
little. They accepted our offer and
kept Billy,” Modil explained.
“We
need to make a plan to get him back. If
you have no objections, I’ll get the rest of us over here, and we can
brainstorm.”
“Rest
of who, lad? Where’s yer ship?” Ed
spoke up at last.
“Are
you the other Human who was on Kyn'raem’s ship?”
“Aye,
lad, I am. Ed’s the name.”
“Ed,
I’m Jason, a friend of Billy’s. From
Earth. Our ship is cloaked, and I want
it to remain so in case the Briardians try scanning us. ‘Us’ being myself and three friends. Let me get them over here so we can find a
way to get our wayward friend back. I’m
assuming there is limited time?”
“Aye,
lad, that there is.”
Jason
nodded and moved his communicator closer to his mouth. “Trini, put Pyramidus on remote and you guys
teleport over here, okay? We need to do
some planning.”
Within
moments three beams of while appeared, then faded to reveal Trini, Zack, and
Kimberly. Introductions were quickly
made.
“Now,
what exactly happened, starting with when you first met Billy, Ed. We need to know exactly what has been going
on,” Jason requested.
He
and the other former Rangers settled in to listen.
~*~
The
Briardians’ new prisoner was first taken to the captain’s conference room,
where he was formally placed under Briardian arrest, and informed that he would
be transported to Briard as soon as Eltar was defeated. Once on Briard he would be executed in the
traditional 14-day ceremony. The teen
winced at that idea, but remained silent.
His captor took delight in detailing all the ways the young man would be
made to suffer before he would finally be put out of his misery. He then ordered the guards to take the
former Ranger to the brig.
Billy
was still wearing the manacles Modil had placed on him. That had been another part of their plan,
just in case. The restraints were designed
with a child’s toy in mind. As children
Billy, Jason and Zack had been fascinated by ‘Chinese handcuffs’, a woven tube
that you placed at the end of one finger, then put another finger in the other
side. The more you tried to pull them
apart the firmer they held. You could
only get your fingers out of the tube by releasing all pressure. Similarly, the restraints Modil had put on
Billy could not be released by force, but by a careful twist and
manipulation. So as Billy was
forcefully propelled by the brutish guards toward the brig of the ship, Billy
carefully released the manacles, keeping his wrists together to hide what he
had done. As he was pushed ahead once
again, he suddenly whirled and grabbed one guard’s weapon, striking the hapless
guard sharply across the head. He was
able to knock the other guard out the same way before he could raise an alarm,
then dropped the weapon and sprinted down the hallway, looking for a way to
conceal himself while he made his way to the area of the ship that would house
smaller space craft.
~*~
“…and
we headed out so as to not arouse suspicion.
That’s when you showed up,” Modil concluded.
Jason
sighed. “So, he’s there alone, and
pretty much defenseless. You say he has
a transmitter…inside…him? Can you get a
reading on that from this distance?”
“Yes. Here,” Modil pulled up a display that showed
a blinking blue dot moving sporadically through the huge Briardian ship.
“That’s
strange. He most likely should be in
the brig by now. Maybe he’s escaped,” Modil
commented.
“Fat
lot of good that’ll do him. Where’s the
lad to go on a ship full of Briardians?” Ed asked.
Jason
turned to Trini with an expression that indicated he was forming a plan. “Trini, could I teleport through the
Briardian’s shields? Or will they
deflect that?” He had vaguely
remembered hearing Billy and Adam discussing once what could and could not
penetrate a space ship’s shields. He had been surprised to find some things
could penetrate.
Trini
had remotely accessed Pyramidus’s computers for her information. “Yes, you could get through. It appears they are designed to repel pure
energy only. Teleportation is not pure
energy, and should be able to penetrate it easily. You have a plan?”
Zack
and Kimberly perked up as well, turning to Jason hopefully.
“It’s
not much of a plan, really. I’m going
to take Pyramidus up close to them, teleport in and grab Billy, and teleport
back out. When the explosions occur
that should distract them from attempting pursuit. Unless someone has a better idea?” He looked around hopefully.
They
all looked at Jason silently.
“Okay. Modil, since this out of the Briardian
sensor range, you keep your ship here.
We’ll meet back up with you when we’re done. Kim and Zack, why don’t you two stay here, just in case. Trini and I will be enough for this
effort. We need the frequency for the
transmitter he’s wearing, and I think that’s it. How long until the explosives go off?”
“Aboot
twenty minutes, lad. Not a lot of time
fer ye.”
“It’ll
do. Come on Trini, let’s do it.”
With
that the Gold Ranger and former Yellow Ranger teleported back to Pyramidus and
set a course toward the Briardian ship.
~*~
Billy
knew he was in big trouble. He couldn’t
find any kind of ventilation system to hide in, no hidden access shafts. No place to hide. He scurried along the corridors, hiding as much as possible, well
aware his escape would be discovered soon.
The only thing in his favor was the fact the ship was so large and the
crew so small. But it was only a matter
of time before he would be discovered.
He
heard the announcement of his escape all too soon. He gave up all pretense of stealth and set out as fast as he
could toward what he hoped was the engine room. His memory of the ship schematics was shaky at best, but he
believed from that location he could access all other parts of the ship. It was the only idea that occurred to
him.
He
turned a corner at a dead run and found himself facing pursuing guards at the
far end of the corridor. He turned
immediately into an offshooting corridor that terminated at a door that led to
the system’s control room, according to the sign on it. He stopped in a panic. This was one of the places Ed was to have
planted explosives. He tried to backtrack only to find his way blocked by the
arriving guards. One of the guards shot
him in the leg with an energy weapon, causing the teen to collapse in
pain. They advanced, raising their
weapons and training them on the fallen former Ranger. Billy closed his eyes and turned his face
away, convinced his life expectancy had been reduced to mere seconds. His only thought was a vague sense of relief
that at least he’d be spared two weeks of torture.
He
heard the sound of a weapon discharging, and stiffened against the expected flare
of agony. It didn’t come. Before he could even fully process the fact
he wasn’t dead, he was hauled roughly to his feet and found himself gazing at
an all too familiar face.
“Jason!”
Billy gasped, his mind having a hard time grasping this totally unexpected turn
of events.
“In
the flesh.”
Billy
turned to look at the guards and saw them all lying unconscious on the floor,
then his gaze shifted to the weapon in Jason’s hand. It was the Extirpator, set for stun.
“It
works,” Billy mumbled, still not quite processing things as quickly as normal.
“Yeah,
it does.”
They
both glanced up at the sound of approaching footsteps.
“We
need to get out of here,” Jason said, pushing the pad that would open the door
behind them. He dragged the protesting
former Blue Ranger into the room with him, closing the door before the arriving
guards could get off a shot.
“Jason,
there’s a bomb in here! This is not a
good plan,” Billy protested.
Jason
didn’t bother with a reply, but touched his communicator, teleporting them to
Pyramidus seconds before the explosion that would disable the Briardians’
shields and weapons occurred.
“You
were saying?” Jason smirked as he deposited Billy gently on the floor of the
pilot’s compartment of Pyramidus.
“Nothing,”
Billy sighed, collapsing gratefully, for the moment too stunned to even
register the pain from his injured leg.
Jason
quickly turned to Trini.
“Did
the explosives work?”
“Yes! Shields are completely down. Weapons systems show as totally
disabled. You guys did it!” she crowed,
turning her smile toward Billy.
“Good.” He smiled back at her, seemingly not
surprised to find her there.
“The
Eltarans will have a chance now. Let’s
get back to the others,” Jason said.
“How’re you doing, Bro?” he asked gently, seeing that Billy seemed to be
a little overwhelmed by the recent events.
“Truthfully?
I think I finally hit overload when you appeared at the last minute to save
me. Thanks, by the way. It’s good to see you. How did you know where I was? What are you doing with the Extirpator? Hi Trini,” he added as she approached him,
looking concerned about his odd and disjointed comments.
Trini
knelt down and looked at the wound on Billy’s thigh. It was a graze, rather than a direct hit, but she knew it had to
be extremely painful. She looked up at
his pale face and slightly glazed eyes.
“We’ll
be on Modil’s ship in a few minutes, and we’ll get you to the sickbay
then. Why don’t you lie back a little
and rest?”
Billy
made no protest, but settled down quietly.
Trini went back to the helm to check their route back to Modil’s ship.
“Is
he okay?” Jason asked softly.
“He’s
in shock, I think. Was it that close?”
“Actually,
yeah, it was. Well, he’ll be fine once
Kim takes care of him. I hope.”
“If
she doesn’t kill him first for worrying her.”
~*~
Kimberly
scolded Billy for taking chances with his life while she treated his leg
wound. She berated him for risking his
safety while she undid the damage he had done before they had gone onboard the
Briardian ship. And she chewed him out
for destroying her favorite earrings, in one of his experiments when they were
both thirteen, as she checked him over for any other injuries.
“Kim! That was years ago,” he protested feebly as
he was lying on the treatment table.
“Yeah,
well, I’m still ticked off about it,” she said sternly as she moved yet another
device over his prone form.
“Really?”
“No,”
she sighed. “But, dammit Billy, you
really scared us this time. When we got
to the Power Chamber and saw all that blood…” Tears filled her eyes at the
memory of how she’d felt at that moment.
“I’m
sorry. I never meant for any of this to
happen. Please, Kim, don’t cry,” he
looked at her with a stricken expression.
She
dried her eyes and gently took his hand in hers. “I know you didn’t intend it to happen. But it did. I just can’t
stand the thought of losing anyone I care for,” she sighed, then forced herself
to perk up. “I guess I’ve scolded you
enough for one day. I want you to sleep
for a while, give your leg a chance to heal.
No arguments.”
“No,
ma’am. No arguments.” He closed his eyes and almost immediately
drifted into sleep, much to Kim’s surprise.
“Well,
that’s a first.”
~*~
Trini
monitored the communications between the Briardian ship and Eltar. The Eltarans had monitored the explosions
and the Briradians’ loss of shields and weapons, and immediately afterward
trained all available planetary weapons on the now vulnerable ship. The Briardians had no recourse except to
surrender, but rather than do that they had turned tail and run. The Eltarans opted to not pursue, sensing
the captain and crew of the vessel would punished by their own government more
than adequately.
“The
transmissions also indicated that Billy Cranston and a mysterious would be
rescuer were killed in an explosion onboard the ship. That was a happy accident, I’d say,” Trini concluded.
They
were seated around a large table to enjoy one meal together before the Humans
all headed back to Earth in Pyramidus, and Modil made his scheduled delivery to
Eltar. The Eltarans knew of the
sabotage done by Modil and the Humans, and had invited them all to the planet
surface to be rewarded for their efforts, but Jason and his friends had
respectfully declined, wanting to head home as soon as possible. They had already contacted Zordon to tell
him they had been successful and would be heading home with all available
speed.
Jason
had told the others a while back about Modil’s horrible meals, so Kimberly,
Zack, and Ed had commandeered the kitchen, preparing a gallimaufry that turned
out to be exceptionally tasty.
“This
is wonderful. Where did you get the
ingredients?” Modil asked after tasting a few bites.
“You
had them all in there,” Zack said with a smile. “It’s just a matter of mixing them correctly. Actually, Ed here shows signs of true talent
for cooking.”
“Ah,
lad, I’ve spent many a year working my way across the galaxy, often as a cook
and general handy man. ‘Tisn’t a bad
life, really. Lonely sometimes.”
“Same
as working freight,” Modil added. “If
you’re interested in remaining out here, I’d be happy to have you on my
crew. Well, actually, as my crew.”
Ed
looked thoughtful at that, but before he could reply there was a soft voice
from the doorway.
“That
smells great. Is there enough for
me?” Billy asked entering the room.
“Of
course. Come in and sit down before you
fall down, I’ll get you some,” Zack ordered him, indicating a vacant seat.
The
former Blue Ranger sat down gratefully.
He was still quite weak, though the pain was completely gone after Kim’s
treatment. “Is everything okay?” he
asked.
The
others filled him in on what had happened with the Briradians, the Eltarans’
offer, and their plan to head home immediately.
“Sounds
good to me. I’ll be happy to see home
again,” Billy sighed. “And my dad.
Geez, he must be going nuts,”
“I
doubt it. He thinks you’re in Europe with the rest of us,” Zack told him with a
smug look. He’d been in charge of
covering their absence.
“Really? Great!”
Billy perked up at that. His
father had been through enough recently when it came to Billy’s
misadventures. Zack went on to regale
them with how he had set up the deception in the first place, generating
several rounds of laughter.
“Well,
if everyone’s done, let’s get this mess cleaned up and we can get going,” Kim
said at last. The table was soon
cleared, and Modil went back to the bridge to radio the Eltarans of his
intention to dock soon. Kim and Jason
set about cleaning up the kitchen, while Zack and Trini did the dishes. Billy went to the sickbay to set that to
rights after his treatments there. Ed
went with him.
“I’m
grateful yer alright, lad. Ye had me
worried plenty. I thought I’d have to
kill the green giant when he came back alone,” Ed said quietly.
“I’m
glad it’s all worked out. Are you
looking forward to seeing Earth?”
“That’s
what I wanted to talk to ye aboot, lad.
I’m stayin’ here,” he said softly.
“Here? You mean with Modil?”
“Aye,
he asked me, and I’m thinkin’ I’ll take him up on it. ‘Twould be nice to have a friend I could be dependin’ on. He’s a good man, Modil is. Despite bein’ stubborn and pig headed.”
Billy
bit back a chuckle. “Yes, he is a good
man. You’re sure about this?”
“Aye,
lad.” He looked away pensively. “’Twas because of yer faith, really. Ye believed yer friends would come for ye,
no matter what. I dinna believe ye, but
ye never gave up on them. I canna say
for absolute sure, of course, but I’m believin’ Modil could be that kind of
friend. I’ve never had that before in
my life. And I’m thinkin’ ‘tis more
important than seein’ a city where I don’t know a blessed soul. Besides, he’s lonely,” Ed concluded
self-consciously.
As you have been, my friend Billy thought. “I guess I see your point. I hope you’re happy. If you ever change your mind and want to see
Earth, you’d always be welcome to stay with me. Of course, you’d have to find me first,” Billy chuckled.
“Ah,
lad, I could find ye, easy enough. And
thank ye for the offer, lad.”
“Billy,
Ed, we should probably get going,” Jason said from the doorway.
“’Tis
only Billy ‘twill be goin’,” Ed told the burly teen. Jason nodded as if not surprised, then led the way toward the
bridge to say goodbye to Modil.
They
found Modil already saying goodbye to Kimberly, Zack and Trini. Even in the short time they’d been around
him, they’d all gotten fond of the huge Nubulan.
“You
take good care of yourself, or I’ll hunt you down and make you sorry,” Kim
teasingly told him.
“Yes,
ma’am,” Modil replied to the petite girl who stood almost two feet shorter than
him.
Ed
walked up to Modil diffidently. “If ye
were meanin’ yer offer to work with ye, then the answer’s yes,” he said
stiffly.
Modil
grinned at the older Human. “The offer
still stands. I can use someone to do
all the work while I get all the profit.”
“We’ll
be negotiatin’ that point, ye can be sure of that,” Ed growled, his blue eyes
twinkling with good humor.
“First
day and you’re already arguing with me?” Modil demanded.
“Just
ye wait until the second day,” Ed threatened with a grin.
“Well,
looks like you two will be getting along just fine,” Billy commented
dryly.
“Care
to join us, lad?” Ed offered with a challenging look.
“No
thanks. I’ll just head on home with
these guys. Modil, thank you
again. You were in the right place at
the right time to save my tail once again.
If ever I can do something for you..” he began.
“You
can not get yourself in so much danger anymore. I would consider that quite a favor,” Modil scolded the teen
gently.
Billy
just smiled at the Nebulan and tuned his attention to Ed. “Thank you.
You saved my life, no doubt about that.
I can never thank you enough.”
He reached out to shake the redhead’s hand.
Ed
took the proffered hand and pulled the blond teen into a warm embrace. “Thank ye, lad. Ye gave me back my hope, got me out of Kyn'raem’s possession, gave
me the chance to change my destiny. Ye
reminded me that there are times ye have to fight, not take the path of least
resistance. Now, I don’t ever want to
see ye again unless it’s on Earth or yer out here in yer own ship, chasing yer
own dream. Hear me?”
“I
hear you.” Billy backed away and smiled
at the older man, then joined his friends.
“Jason,
despite the circumstances, it was good to see you again. But next time let’s make it less exciting,
okay? Give my regards to Zordon.”
“Will
do. Thanks again for taking care of
Billy.”
With
that the five teens disappeared, teleporting back to Pyramidus for the long
trip home.
~*~
As
Mondo’s latest monster exploded in a geyser of smoke and flying debris the
Power Rangers gave a shout of triumph, and prepared to disengage their
individual zords and send them back to the holding bay. They teleported back to the Power Chamber to
find newly repaired Alpha bustling around in a state of excitement that was
unusual even for him.
“What’s
going on, Zordon?” Tommy asked worriedly.
“Good
news, Rangers. Pyramidus is landing as
we speak. They are home,” the Power
Ranger mentor announced.
The
assembled Rangers gave a collective gasp of joy as four pure white and one
black/gold beam landed in the Power Chamber and revealed the five former
Rangers.
“Billy!”
Katherine and Tanya cried as one, hurrying forward to greet their friend
enthusiastically. Rocky and Adam were
right behind the girls, to give him their own quick bear hugs. As they stepped back Tommy looked closely at
his oldest teammate for a long moment before pulling the smaller teen into his
own firm embrace. Ten voices mingled as
the weary travelers were welcomed home.
The
hubbub finally died down and Zordon’s voice could be heard.
“Let
me add my thanks to those of all other Eltarans for what you did. It was in incredibly brave act and one that
probably saved the lives of thousands of Eltarans.”
“We’re
just glad it worked,” Billy said quietly.
“And
if someone ever again tries to use
himself as bait, I’ll kill him myself,” Jason added with a stern look at his
friend. Billy blushed and looked down
at his feet uncomfortably.
“Can
we go home now?” Zack asked to distract the conversation away from the
discomfited former Blue Ranger.
“Once
Katherine done medical scans on you, you are free to go home if she clears
you,” Zordon said.
The
five teens headed toward the Med Room with Kat, talking quietly amongst
themselves.
~*~
“Zordon,
I suspect you wish to speak to me,” Billy said as he arrived alone in the Power
Chamber. He’d slept for almost twelve
hours the night before, then met with the rest of the current and former
Rangers to exchange news of the last few days.
Billy had found himself at the receiving end of quite a scolding from
his friends. He decided he might as
well let Zordon have his turn.
“Are
you okay?” the Eltaran asked.
“Yes,
I’m fine. I have a couple of scars I’ll
have to hide from my dad, but otherwise I’m okay. I’m sorry I disobeyed you, but I felt it was necessary.”
“I
realize you acted in the way you thought best, but my sworn duty is to the
Power Rangers, to guide and protect them.
That is hard to do if one of them tires to sacrifice himself in my
place,” Zordon chided him gently.
“I
didn’t intend to sacrifice myself. I
intended to get out of here before she arrived. My timing was a little off.”
“Yes,
it was.”
“And,
I felt it was necessary for you to be here to continue your sworn duty. We need you, Zordon.”
The
ancient mentor looked down on this most unusual charge of his. In eons of training Power Rangers, this one
stood out as unique, on a team that was itself unique.
“Next
time, if I tell you to get out, I will expect you to do as I say. Otherwise, I cannot allow you to continue in
this capacity. Is that
understood?” Though the words were
stern, the tone of voice was gentle.
“Yes,
sir. Understood.” Billy looked up at
Zordon with a questioning look. “Is
that all?”
Zordon
sighed mentally and shook his head.
“Yes, that is all. Go relax some
more, there is nothing critical that needs to be done, and you still need to
recover some. Come back in a couple of
days.”
“Thanks,
Zordon.”
~*~
A
few days later, Trini found Billy in the auxiliary engine room, working on a
device that appeared to be part of the electrical system.
“Hi
Billy. I’ve been looking for you. What
are you working on now?”
“Zordon
keeps getting a minor flux reading from this.
I thought I’d take this quiet time to tie it down for him. What did you need, Trini?”
“I
just wanted to talk to you. We haven’t
had a chance to talk face to face for a couple of years now. I’ve missed you,” she admitted softly.
“I’ve
missed you, too,” he smiled back.
“Can
I ask you something?”
“Of
course,” he replied easily.
“You
seemed to be very comfortable out there in space. With Ed and Modil. At
ease, more so than I have ever seen you.
Why?”
He
looked at her, a little taken aback by her perception. Though thinking about it, he realized she
had always been the one who had truly understood him, and what it was like for
him.
“I
guess I feel like I fit better out there,” he answered at last.
“Why?”
“Trini,
out there I’m not so smart. You know,
in comparison to others. Earth is
really a fairly primitive planet, when you look at, say, Aquitar. Here, my intelligence sets me apart. Out there, it doesn’t. In fact, in some
places, a lot really, I’d be considered average to below average. I guess I find that oddly comfortable.”
Trini
considered his words for a moment. She
knew, perhaps better than any of the others, how much and how often Billy’s
extraordinary intelligence had hurt him.
The times other kids had proffered friendship, when all they had really
wanted was to pass Chemistry. Especially
once they became teenagers, that age when fitting in is often of paramount
importance, Billy’s intelligence acted to single him out more than a handicap
would have. As for that, most children
are taught not to mock or torment those who have physical or mental
handicaps. But geeks and nerds are open
to any and all types of abuse. And
Billy had been subjected to them all, despite Jason and the others’ attempts to
counter the other kids’ cruelty.
Considering
this, Trini could understand why Billy would relish a situation where he was
considered normal. It hurt her to think
that her gentle friend could not find such acceptance so easily on his home
planet, but she understood.
“I
hope that doesn’t mean you are thinking of eventually going out there to stay,”
she said at last.
“I
don’t think so. I wanted to get home,
more than you can imagine. However,
that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t consider the occasional trip to other galaxies. Just, it would be nice to be doing it
voluntarily, not being kidnapped.”
Trini
chuckled softly at that comment. Then
she stepped up to Billy and gave him a friendly hug and a kiss on the
cheek.
“I
guess it’s okay that you want to go back out there, just don’t forget all the
people who love you at home, okay?”
He
returned her hug and kiss gladly.
“I
won’t forget.”
The End