Chapters:

1. First Star

In the space between galaxies, there is no sound, no discernible movement, and precious little light. It's a place that dreamers overlook, a place that travelers pass by--and yet it is the stuff the universe is made of.

Deep space is full of a vast nothingness, a lack of anything but the occasional wandering molecule or microscopic piece of dust. Between the tiny islands of stars and planets and moons that sentient life inhabits, there is a great darkness. A darkness where the surrounding pinpoints of light are not individual stars, but entire galaxies, reduced to minuscule specks against the fabric of space.

It is the darkness of peace, not of evil. Evil can exist only where there is also good, and deep space contains neither. The emptiness is neutral--no allegiance, no concern.

But at the galaxy's edge, the light of a thousand million suns burns through the night. The blazing starlight pushes at the darkness, trying to force it back one more step… to make it care.

And in the face of such light, shadows spring up.

The alarm clanged noisily once more, and Tessa laughed aloud. "Showoff," she chided, pushing his shoulder gently.

The man behind the counter handed over a pink, floppy-eared, plush bunny, and TJ grinned at her. Tessa held the twin to his second prize in her arms--another long-eared stuffed bunny, this one with blue fur, and she smiled back at him as he turned to her.

"You're the one who wouldn't let me play before," he reminded her good-naturedly, taking her hand and strolling down the amusement park's gaming alley. "Something about not wanting to carry a toy around all afternoon?"

She giggled, hugging the stuffed animal closer to her chest. "So I knew you would win. Doesn't mean you're not a showoff."

A flash of bright pink caught his eye from somewhere up ahead, and he lifted his hand to wave. Cassie had gone to get a drink while he dragged Tessa over to one of the games, and now she was heading back toward where she'd left them.

The rabbit's long ears swung wildly as he gestured, but it caught Cassie's eye. She smiled and started in their direction, and Tessa shook her head. "TJ, that's animal abuse. Stop it!"

He grinned unrepentantly. "Cassie, catch!"

Cassie stopped, her eyes wide as he tossed the stuffed animal in her direction. Her drink in her favored hand, she was forced to use her left hand to reach for the toy. She managed to catch one of the ears as it sailed by, and she made a face at him as she came closer. "Thanks a lot!"

"You're welcome," he answered cheerfully, letting go of Tessa's hand. "A rabbit for each of my favorite girls."

He pulled Cassie closer and draped one arm over each of their shoulders, steering them toward the "Demon" exit. "Now let's go see if there's anything left of Zhane and Kerone."

Karen had been delighted to learn that neither Zhane nor Kerone had ever been on a roller coaster, and she had made it her personal mission to "educate" them. She and Carlos had dragged the two through every roller coaster in the park, the "Demon" being their last stop of the afternoon.

Tessa had never been overly fond of roller coasters, and Cassie had claimed she wasn't in the right mood to be "scared out of her mind". TJ had elected to skip the lines and stay with the two of them--Andros and Ashley had joined them after the second 'coaster ride, and then wandered off on their own.

"Hey!" Zhane's shout could be heard even through the park's noise, and TJ couldn't help grinning as he saw the foursome heading down the exit ramp.

Zhane and Carlos were always an odd pair, dressed as they usually were in opposite shades of light and dark, but Kerone and Karen only added to the image. Kerone's shirt was light lavender, while Karen, by coincidence or design, was wearing black jeans and a "Phantom of the Opera" t-shirt.

"It's a good thing you can't be arrested for an adrenaline high," Carlos complained, as he got close enough for TJ to overhear. "I've been on enough roller coasters today to last me the rest of my life."

"I didn't find them particularly scary," Kerone said calmly, but she smiled a little as Zhane elbowed her.

"Whatever," he exclaimed. "You screamed along with the rest of us!"

Karen was squinting toward the entrance of the ride they had just come from. "You know, I think the line's gotten a little shorter. We could always go again--"

"No!" Carlos interrupted, immediately echoed by Zhane.

Karen grinned at his reaction. "Just thought I'd check."

"Hey," Zhane said, a little too quickly. "Where did Andros and Ashley go?"

"The IMAX movie, I think," Cassie put in, offering her soda to Tessa.

"Still?" Karen asked curiously. "I thought they were going to do that as soon as they left."

Carlos coughed deliberately. "They're probably still there," he muttered, "in the last row."

TJ saw Karen grin, and tried to keep his own face straight when Cassie shot him a reproving look. "What?" he demanded. "*I* didn't say it!"

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Tessa glance at her watch. "I hate to spoil things, but I have a lab tonight…"

"Don't worry," TJ said, squeezing her shoulder. "If they're not back in ten minutes, you and I can head back to campus ourselves."

She smiled up at him, green eyes catching the sunlight and making him glad his uncle had let him borrow the truck. "Thanks," she said, taking another sip of Cassie's drink.

"Why do you have a lab so late?" Carlos asked, as they began to head, by common consensus, toward the park gate.

"It's an astronomy lab," she answered, as though that was the only reply he needed.

Carlos looked at Karen, who just rolled her eyes. "Observing, Carlos. It has to be dark out to see the stars, you know."

"There's Andros," Zhane interjected suddenly, pointing off to their right.

Andros and Ashley were strolling toward them, hand in hand and apparently oblivious to the time. Ashley was twirling an empty cotton candy cone in her free hand, and she smiled at something Andros said as they came closer.

"It's about time you guys showed up," Carlos said, when they were within hearing distance.

"How was the movie?" Karen added.

TJ had to grin at Ashley's blank look. "Good," Andros offered at last. "It was very… interesting."

"And what was it about?" Zhane asked, an innocent expression on his face.

Ashley and Andros exchanged looks.

"Bumper cars!" Cassie exclaimed, for all the world as though she hadn't been paying attention. "Tessa, do you have time for one more ride?"

"Sure," Tessa said, not even bothering to glance at her watch. Ashley shot them a grateful glance. "Let's go!"

Bumper cars, TJ decided later, were not an experience that could easily be explained to an offworlder. He heard Ashley, standing behind him at the end of the line, try to tell Andros what the point was. Her voice was too quiet for him to make out--Tessa was right in front of him, after all--but a moment later, Andros repeated, "You're *supposed* to hit the other cars? Why?"

TJ just shook his head.

Unlike Andros, Zhane didn't seem to have any trouble comprehending the idea of the ride. He, of course, had had a better view from his place in line, and once inside his own car he went after his more serious friend with no remorse.

One jolt from Zhane proved to be all Andros needed, and TJ couldn't help laughing as they focused on their "war" with the exclusive concentration of two little boys. His distraction was enough that Ashley crashed into him from behind before he even knew she was there, and across the rink, he saw Tessa ram Kerone.

*That* proved to be a mistake, for Kerone was second only to Andros in vindictiveness. Withdrawn from the proceedings until that point, she pursued Tessa with a single-mindedness that was interrupted only by her accidentally careening into Zhane's car.

Andros slammed into him from the other side, and TJ was close enough to hear Zhane complain about family ganging up on him. In his attempt to evade Carlos, TJ missed Andros' indignant retort, but Kerone didn't look at all sorry.

He heard Tessa's shout from somewhere nearby, and turned in time to see Carlos holding her rabbit hostage. It had been sitting in her lap while she steered, but she probably hadn't expected anyone to go for it, either.

Carlos didn't laugh long--just before the cars began to slow, Cassie grabbed the rabbit from him and tucked it next to hers under her right arm. "Kidnapping stuffed animals is pretty low, Carlos," she teased.

Ashley glanced over his shoulder as TJ bumped into her one last time, and he grinned. "Serves you right," he said, as the friction sparks stopped and everyone started to climb out of their cars.

"Carlos is just jealous that he didn't get a rabbit," he heard Karen say, just as Ashley wrinkled her nose at him.

Cassie returned Tessa's rabbit as the two of them made their way toward the edge of the rink. TJ went to follow them and found himself behind Andros and Kerone.

"Strange game," Andros said, as though he hadn't determinedly chased Zhane for as long as his car's steering would work. Kerone, who had thrown herself into it with the same abandon, nodded solemnly at his comment.

TJ just stared after them. A poke at his shoulder roused him, and he saw Karen slip past him. "You planning to stand there all day?" she inquired with a grin.

He shook his head, amused, and followed her with a muttered, "Aliens." It didn't matter that the three Kerovans were technically human--they were from a different *galaxy*, and right now that was close enough for him.

"Hmm?" Karen asked, looking back at him.

TJ sighed. "Nothing."

Seated on the hood of Ashley's car, Cassie was the first to spot Carlos' SUV as it turned onto their road. She and Ashley and Andros had been standing in the Hammonds' driveway, talking while they waited for him to drop Karen off--or more accurately, Ashley and Andros had been talking while she daydreamed.

As the car's engine slowed to silence, Zhane and Kerone climbed out of the back. Carlos slammed the driver's side door shut and pocketed his keys as he walked over to them. "Anyone need a place to go for dinner?" he asked, glancing from Andros to Zhane and Kerone.

Andros shook his head. "Thanks, but I'm going to head back to the Megaship. I'll get something to eat there."

"Me too," Zhane agreed.

Kerone shrugged slightly when their gazes turned to her, and said simply, "I'm not hungry."

That was her standard reply whenever someone asked her about a meal, and Cassie wondered if someday she would shock them all by saying, "I'm starving; can the Synthetron make donuts?"

"I'm tempted to come with you guys," Ashley was saying, as Cassie slid off the car. "My parents have probably eaten already…"

Cassie saw her friend glance in her direction, and she shrugged. "Sounds good to me." She didn't say, *Let's *go* before we waste any more time,* but she thought it.

"I'll see you guys tomorrow, then," Carlos said, drawing his keys out of his pocket again.

"Carlos?" Cassie caught him just as he was turning away. "Are you going to Aquitar tonight?"

For a moment, he hesitated, but then he shook his head. "Can't," he said. "I have too much homework to do--tell Aura that if she finishes the zord project without me I'll kill her, okay?"

That brought a smile to her face as she tried to picture Aura's reaction to those words. "Right… 'night, Carlos."

He waved and headed for his car. She picked up her backpack and gathered with the others, hearing Carlos' car roll down the paved driveway. Twisting her wrist, her morpher appeared in place of the pink-striped gold band and she reached out to flip it open.

It beeped before she could touch it.

She saw Carlos' brake lights come on, and his car halted at the end of the Hammonds' driveway. Beside her, Ashley sighed. "Don't they know it's dinnertime?" she complained quietly, as they all moved a little closer together.

Andros motioned impatiently to Carlos, who was climbing out of the driver's seat for the second time and jogging back down the driveway to them. As he joined the circle, Andros tapped his morpher. "What is it, DECA?"

The computer's tone was calm and her words to the point, but they sent a chill up Cassie's spine. "Emergency signal from Aquitar," DECA told them.

Andros' fingers clenched into a fist. "We'll be right there," he said quietly, and cut the transmission off from their end. Glancing around at the others, he nodded once. "Let's go."

Cassie saw Carlos take a quick step back as the rest of them reached for their morphers. *Probably going to move his car,* she thought, as the world swirled pink around her. For some reason, her mind latched onto that thought as the teleportation stream engulfed her… and as the Megaship reformed, she knew why.

Anything to keep from thinking about why Aquitar was sending out an emergency signal.

By the time TJ pulled up in front of Tessa's dorm, the sun was fading from the sky. He had insisted they stop to get her "dinner to go", since she wouldn't have time to go eat on campus before her lab, and she climbed out of the truck still holding her drink and the rabbit he had won earlier.

"Thanks," she said, when he walked her to the door and paused just outside. "I had a lot of fun, TJ."

"Me too," he said with a smile. "See you Saturday, then?"

She nodded, brushing a few strands of hair out of her face and looking up at him. He braced his left arm on the doorframe behind her and leaned forward to kiss her--just as his communicator went off.

She laughed, shaking her head at him as he lowered his arm and put his hand behind his back. "Do you reset that thing every day? I've never heard your watch alarm go off at the same time two days in a row."

"Always something to do," he said, giving her a quick kiss. "I have to go--good luck in your lab."

"Thanks," she said, smiling at him. "Thanks for inviting me this afternoon."

"Thanks for coming," he countered, and she waved as he turned away.

As he closed the driver door, he watched her disappear inside the dorm. Glancing over his shoulder, he tapped his communicator. "This is TJ. What's up?"

"We don't know," Andros' voice answered. "DECA just received an emergency signal from Aquitar--you'd better meet us on the Megaship."

"I'll be right there," TJ promised, turning his hazard lights off and putting the key in the ignition. There was no way he was getting a fifty dollar ticket when there was a parking lot just down the road.

Carlos found the other Rangers, minus TJ, on the Bridge when he teleported in. The comm link with Aquitar was already up on the main screen, and he couldn't help scanning the faces visible in the Aquitian Ranger dome.

Cetaci stood in front of the comm station in the Aquitians' auxiliary control room, and Delphinius could be seen conferring with Cestria on the other side of the room. But there was no large viewing screen in secondary operations, as there was in main control, and the comm screen didn't provide a wide enough field of view for him to see more.

"There were more than three million people in that colony," Cetaci was saying as Carlos joined his teammates. "Most of them fled to the outer planets, but the colony itself has fallen. They have no support, no organized defense if they are to evacuate further."

"What about their Rangers?" Zhane wanted to know.

"Rysia is not a League world," Cetaci said flatly. "The colony is non-aligned, but its inhabitants resisted Dark Spectre's forces, and for that he will destroy them."

*Non-aligned--no Alliance protection either, then,* Carlos thought. *Damn.*

"What about their homeworld?" Andros demanded. "They must have *some* protection!"

"The Rysian colony is all that's left of the homeworld," Cestria supplied, stepping into the picture. "Their sun went nova almost a hundred years ago."

"Do they even have the resources to get everyone out, then?" Andros asked.

Cestria shook her head, but it was Cetaci who answered. "The Inner Alliance will provide transports--if we can guarantee that they will be adequately defended."

Surprised, Carlos almost missed the looks Andros and Zhane exchanged. Before anyone could say anything, Andros turned back to the viewscreen and said, "Zhane and I will go. We'll take the new zords and escort the transports."

"You can't go alone," Ashley objected. "You need four zords for the Mega V transformation--I'm going with you."

"I will take the fourth," Kerone volunteered, but Andros shook his head.

"Zhane and I can handle it, and you're both needed here. Ashley," he said, catching her eye, "if Dark Spectre's assault has reached this galaxy, you, Cassie, TJ, and Carlos are Earth's only defense. And Kerone, you know Ecliptor won't talk to anyone but you--you *have* to stay, or we risk losing his help."

"This galaxy?" Carlos repeated, sure he had missed something in the few seconds that he had stayed behind to park his car in the Hammonds' driveway. "What are you talking about?"

"Rysia is on the edge of the Milky Way," Cassie offered, from her place next to the nav station. "Dark Spectre has started to invade our galaxy."

TJ knew something was wrong even before he heard Cassie's grim announcement. The comm link with Aquitar was caught off moments later, and he stood unnoticed in the doorway, listening to Ashley argue with Andros. Emergency signal aside, things had to be serious if the two of them were fighting.

"Look, at least find out where the Rysians are being evacuated to," Ashley insisted. "There's no reason *that* Ranger team can't escort the transports."

"The Alliance will take care of that," Andros tried to say, but Ashley interrupted.

"The *Alliance* isn't going to be out there with only two zords against Dark Spectre's invasion fleet!"

A movement by the nav console caught his eye, and TJ saw Cassie slip past Carlos, her hand on his shoulder as she headed quietly for the door. He went along with it, and Ashley and Andros paid no attention as Zhane and Kerone followed them out.

"Hey, TJ," Carlos greeted him quietly. As the five of them withdrew to the holding bay, he asked, "How much did you hear?"

"Enough," TJ answered wryly, glancing back toward the Bridge. "Dark Spectre's made it to the Milky Way in force, and Andros and Zhane are going to try and rescue his first victims alone. That about sum it up?"

"With Alliance help," Zhane interjected, but Carlos and Cassie exchanged glances.

"Yeah, I'd say that pretty much covers it," Carlos agreed, ignoring Zhane.

*And if tomorrow was Saturday instead of Friday, we'd be going with them,* TJ thought, frustrated. "High school sucks," he muttered, and he heard Cassie sigh in agreement.

"Hey," Zhane cut in. "Andros was right; you guys are needed here. Earth is the only planet without a permanent Ranger team, and it's only a League world by default.

"As long as it *has* Rangers, your membership in the League can't be contested, but if you guys aren't here, Earth has no one to speak for it. With Dark Spectre's forces in this galaxy, this planet needs your protection more than ever."

There was silence for a moment.

"I didn't think about it that way," Cassie said finally.

TJ frowned. "Neither did I--are you saying the League won't protect Earth if we're not here?"

"The League won't protect *anyone*," Zhane told them. "It's a political organization, not a military one. Ranger teams have always been enough in the past. It's the Alliance that won't protect non-aligned worlds, which Earth would be without your team. You can see how much trouble it is just to get the Rysian refugees evacuated, and their world has already been conquered."

TJ glanced at Kerone, and she folded her arms defensively. "I didn't know this would happen," she said. "I haven't heard from Ecliptor in days."

"I know," he said quickly. He hadn't meant to imply anything. "I didn't expect you to; sorry."

Ashley stalked into the holding bay, clearly not as convinced as the rest of them that most of the Astro team had to stay behind. She went to the Synthetron without a word, and a moment later, Andros appeared in the doorway.

Zhane caught his eye, and Andros shook his head. TJ wanted to ask when the two of them were leaving, but if Ashley's stony silence was anything to go by, it was not a topic that should be brought up again. Maybe after they'd eaten and had a chance to calm down.

The Aquitians' auxiliary control hummed with activity. The main control room was still not fully functional, and the only thing that kept the smaller room from being filled past capacity was that it contained no time warp. With Zordon confined to the research domes, anyone seeking an audience with him was forced to go there instead of the Ranger dome.

Cassie had seen the sight many times in recent weeks, so she just leaned against the doorframe and waited. Saryn was morphed, but she knew exactly when he noticed her presence. He looked up from the console he was working at, glancing over his shoulder and turning his head in her direction.

He made some final adjustment to the readout in front of him, then caught Cestria's attention as she passed. She stopped, glancing Cassie's way when he cocked his head in her direction, and nodded to him. Then he was striding toward the door, and she felt a smile spread across her face.

He caught her hand and drew her out into the hallway. As soon as they were out of line of sight from the door his armor flickered and vanished, and she saw an answering smile on his face. He stepped closer, and she found her back against the wall as he kissed her hard enough to take her breath away.

"I have waited to do that all evening," he murmured as he pulled away. "And you are late."

"I know," she whispered, backpack sliding from her fingers to rest on the floor as she put her arms around him. "I was with the others, and then Cetaci called about Rysia…"

He kissed her again, keeping her from explaining any more. "I have heard nothing but talk of the war all day," he said quietly. "Do you have time for less important conversations?"

"Yes," she breathed, hugging him quickly. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Anything, that I may hear your voice," he said, taking her hand and leading her down the corridor. "Tell me what you did this afternoon."

She smiled, and started to describe Kerone's reaction to the first theme park she'd ever seen.

"We can't protect ten transports!"

"Any less, and the convoy will have to make multiple runs," Cetaci said calmly.

"I *know* that," Andros told her. "I also know that even with whatever's left of the Rysian fighters, ten is too big a target!"

"Delphinius has already contacted the Cai system. It contains the nearest comparable planet to that of the Rysian colony--if the Cai agree to the relocation, their Rangers will accompany you."

Somewhat mollified, Andros relaxed a little. "Let us know when you get word."

Cetaci inclined her head. "Of course."

He turned away as the comm screen darkened, to find Zhane standing in the doorway. "Ten transports?" the Silver Ranger repeated.

Andros nodded wordlessly.

"That's some convoy." Zhane's expression was neutral, but he was watching his friend carefully.

"Dark Spectre has better things to do than shoot down unarmed civilians," Andros said, though he knew that wouldn't stop the Monarch of Evil.

"Never stopped him before," Zhane replied, echoing his thoughts.

"*We'll* stop him," Andros said firmly. "That's why we're going. Get some sleep; I'll wake you up when we know anything else."

"You should sleep too," Zhane reminded him.

Andros shook his head. "I have to find Ashley first."

Temporarily abandoning his homework in favor of stargazing, TJ found himself staring out one of the windows on deck six. Earth was between the Megaship and the sun right now, affording him a spectacular view of the stars that stretched away from the Sol system toward the edge of their galaxy.

He couldn't make out the small glow that was the Aquitians' galaxy. Even outside the atmosphere, the light from what Tessa called Lesser Magellanic was too dim be seen from Earth without a telescope. But it was there, and TJ couldn't help looking for it.

"Looking for something?"

Surprised, TJ looked over his shoulder. Kerone stood a short distance down the hall, watching him calmly.

"The Aquitians' galaxy," he said, turning back to the window. "Rysia. Dark Spectre. Maybe a sign that all this isn't for nothing; I don't know."

She came closer, and he moved a little to let her look as well. "It isn't all for nothing," she said after a moment.

"I know," he agreed automatically, and she glanced at him.

"It isn't all for nothing," she repeated, as though he might not have heard the first time. "When I was on the Dark Fortress, no one really cared, except Ecliptor. They didn't care about me, or about each other, or even much about themselves.

"Here it's different. Everyone on the Megaship cares about something. Everyone on your planet seems to care too. It's the caring that makes things happen, TJ. And it's the caring that makes things matter." She paused for a minute, then added, "I think that as long as you care, it can't be for nothing."

A motion from farther down the hallway caught TJ's attention, and he saw Carlos standing in the holding bay entrance. "I didn't mean to overhear," the other apologized. "I just came for a snack…"

TJ waved it away. "Don't worry about it. Kerone was just explaining to me about the meaning of life."

Carlos grinned. "And doing a darn good job of it, from what I heard. Want to come care about some hot chocolate with me?"

"Sure," TJ agreed, giving the window one last glance.

When Kerone did not refuse Carlos' offer, TJ held out his arm to her in a mock-gallant gesture. She must have seen him do the same for Tessa, for she put her arm through his tentatively and smiled a little when he grinned. "Let's go," he suggested, and they strolled down the hallway.

Just outside the holding bay doors, he stopped suddenly. "Kerone…"

She looked over at him.

"Thanks," TJ told her with a smile. "And for what it's worth--I think you might be right."

It was early for him to be trying to sleep, but if there was fighting at Rysia he would need all the rest he could get. He had wanted to go to the observatory--he found himself sleeping there more and more often lately, finding comfort in having the view of space above him--but DECA had told him someone was already up there.

He sighed, turning on his side and sliding his arm under his pillow. It was depressingly dark in his room, but he knew turning the lights on wouldn't help. Then he would just be able to see how closed in he was.

"DECA," he said suddenly, and he saw a red light flicker on across the room. "Would you play some music?"

"Please specify," the computer reproved mildly.

Zhane sighed again. "I don't care. I just want to know there's a world outside, you know?"

"Receiving radio broadcast from Earth," DECA said, more quietly, and he smiled a little.

"Thanks." The words of some Earth-based musical group started to flow into his room, a welcome sound rather than an intrusive one.

"Zhane and I will go." Andros' words echoed in his mind, and he sought the familiar spark that was his best friend. It lingered on the edges of his awareness, never fading completely even while they slept. "We'll stop Dark Spectre. That's why we're going."

And go they would, together, as always. He closed his eyes, reminding himself that whatever happened, they would have each other. *We'll vow to fight as a team forever…*

The music continued, its soft strains reminding him that he wasn't alone in the darkness, that he wasn't trapped anywhere, and that he was not lost again in the timeless limbo of hypersleep. As he started to relax, the words that drifted gently through the room made him think, not of Andros, but of Andros' sister.

Did she too have trouble sleeping? The Megaship wasn't the Dark Fortress, and there was no constant bustle of activity to comfort her when she lay down in her own room. He wondered if she noticed the quiet, and if it bothered her the way the darkness bothered him.

He couldn't help glancing at the time display on the Aquitians' comm console. He had returned to auxiliary control hours ago, when the Cai had insisted that sending Rangers to protect the Rysians would leave their own system undefended. Delphinius had not been able to sway them, and Cestria had asked if he would try.

Cassie had said she would stay up a while longer, working in their room on her homework. But though it was early evening here on Aquitar, he knew that on her planet it was late, and the vague awareness of her in his mind had faded some time ago. He knew she was probably asleep, and it only increased his irritation with the Cai that they had cut short his time with her.

He had managed to keep it from showing, though, and with Zordon's assistance the Cai Rangers had been persuaded to help with the evacuation effort. When he was finally able to excuse himself from the discussion, he drew Cestria aside.

"It is late," he said quietly, and she nodded her understanding. The statement might have sounded odd, except that she knew he got up soon after Cassie left each morning--seven o'clock in Angel Grove was before two in the Ranger dome.

"Sleep well," she answered. "The evacuation will proceed, and we will see you in the morning."

He nodded and moved out into the corridor. The hall was empty as he made his way toward the lift--nearly empty, anyway. As the lift doors opened, he heard Aura's voice in his mind.

*Good night, Saryn.*

He turned to see her emerging from one of the diver exits at the other end of the hall. Billy was with her--they must have just returned from the zord bays. Without a word, he let his armor vanish as he took a step backward. He raised his hand in farewell, and he saw Billy smile just before the lift doors closed on him.

"Level two," he said, not bothering to morph again. The control room was a priority destination; the lift would not stop for other passengers until it arrived. And with the control room closed for repairs since the Barox had destroyed it, there would be no one who did not already know him inside.

He glanced around when the lift let him out, and he had to admit that the room was looking better. The floor had been completely rewoven, and a force field now protected the center while the coral grew back. Most of the consoles had been replaced, and the remainder were recovered.

Skirting the edge of the energy field, he walked around the control room and paused in front of the door leading to the Rangers' living quarters. He placed his hand against the keypad, and the scanner flashed as it registered his Power signature. The door slid open.

He hesitated again in front of the door to his own room. This close, he could tell without even trying that she was asleep, so he did not announce himself. He just reached out and tapped in his code, and the door opened onto darkness.

Stepping inside he waited for his eyes to adjust to the dim glow from the window. Cassie was sleeping curled up, with her arm around the stuffed toy TJ had won for her, and he tried not to sigh. At least the animal was pink and not blue, he told himself. Blue would have been worse.

*My fault,* he reminded himself. He wished he could spend more time with her, but there always seemed to be something more urgent, more… important.

"You are the most important thing in the universe to me," he had told her once. But she had always insisted that he put his life first, and he still did not know how she managed to juggle both her Ranger duties and her civilian life. He had once known how to do that, but no matter how hard he tried to reclaim the ability he couldn't seem to do it.

Leaving his overshirt draped over the chair, he pulled off his boots and sat down on the bed beside her. He thought he could watch her sleep all night, but she would not be happy to find out if he did.

He smiled, for as long as there had been no one to care what happened to him, it had been easy not to care himself. But now that it mattered to someone else whether he was tired, or hungry, or cold, he found it was starting to matter to him. And more than that, he found he enjoyed caring for her the same way.

And so he lay down beside Cassie, putting his arm over her and her "rabbit", as she called it. He hugged her close, careful not to disturb her sleep. He closed his eyes, and the darkness embraced them both.

"Ash?"

The observatory portal was open above her, but she turned away from gazing at the wall when Andros called to her. "Hey," she said, a rueful smile on her face. "I wanted to apologize--I was pretty awful earlier."

Walking across the room to join her, he shook his head. "It's okay. I'd feel the same way if you were going somewhere alone."

She sighed. "I just worry, you know? I don't want to lose you, Andros."

He sat down beside her, putting an arm around her shoulders, and she leaned into him. "I don't want to lose you, either," he said quietly. "But I won't, and neither will you. We're not going to Rysia to fight, Ash. We'll get those people out, and that's all."

"I know," she whispered. But she also knew that it wouldn't be that simple. So did he. He was just trying to make her feel better. "Take care of yourself. Please."

"I will," he promised.

For a moment, they were quiet, and she took some comfort in the feeling of his arm around her. Then he took a deep breath and squeezed her shoulder. "We heard from Aquitar a few minutes ago. The Cai Rangers will meet us outsystem of Rysia in less than an hour."

She drew back, searching his expression. "Did you get any sleep?"

His lips quirked. "Not really. Remind me never to argue with you just before I'm trying to rest."

She turned and hugged him, hard. "I'm sorry. It was my fault."

"No it wasn't, and don't worry. The Power will give me plenty of energy, and it won't be that long. We should be back by the weekend."

He hugged her back, and she smiled a little. "I'll hold you to that."

"Good," he whispered.

Finally, he pulled away. Getting to his feet, he reached for his morpher, and she watched the gold numbers fade into the air. Crimson light sparkled around him, and the Red Ranger stood looking down at her.

She took his hand and stood up, searching for an expression she could no longer read behind his visor. "I love you, Andros."

She heard his answer in her mind, and it took some of her tension away. *I love you too. See you soon.*

*See you soon,* she echoed, feeling better to know that he truly believed it.

Then he stepped back, into the teleportation stream, and he was gone. Turning her eyes up toward the observatory dome, she thought she could almost see the red and silver sparkles that flew out to meet the new Astro zords--a gift from Zordon little more than a week before.

"Starlight, star bright," she whispered, watching them shine down at her. "First star I see tonight…"

Perhaps it wouldn't work, if she wasn't wishing on the first star. She picked one anyway and gazed at it, willing the heavens to listen to her. "I wish I may, I wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight."

The star stared back at her, drifting slowly across the dome as the Megaship continued on in its orbit of Earth. Hoping against hope that her wish counted for something out there in that vastness, Ashley wished for the war to be over.

2. Defector

It was too quiet. The halls rang with it, a silence that grew louder the longer she listened. The Megaship was deserted save for herself, and no matter where she went she was greeted by empty rooms.

Most of the Rangers were on Earth now, attending "school". It was an activity she had observed on occasion from the Dark Fortress, but one she had little memory of herself. She had barely begun her own lessons when she had been… removed, from KO-35, and nearly everything she learned after that had been taught to her by Ecliptor.

She had sometimes mused, watching the students of Angel Grove High, that their "school" was more of a social event than an educational one. She knew somehow that it had not been that way on KO-35, at least not to this degree, and it had certainly never occurred to Ecliptor that his young pupil might want friends.

It had not occurred to her, for that matter. The separation from her family had been traumatic, to say the least, and Ecliptor had taught her that by not caring about anyone else the way she had cared for them, she might avoid hurting that way again.

She had not known it then, but caring was not something one could turn on and off. She had not sought companionship, but it had found her anyway. First through Ecliptor, and then, years later, through Zhane.

She felt annoyance welling up in her at the thought of Zhane, and she tried to ignore it. He was the first to make her realize that she was not who she thought she was--that she hadn't managed to turn off the part of her that cared all those years ago, and that it was resurfacing with a vengeance as she grew up.

He had made her care about her past, about the truth of who she had been and who she had become, and about the meaning of her own feelings. That she could care about truth, and about the people around her, had proven to her that she wasn't what she was pretending to be.

And she did care about the people around her. She cared about Ecliptor, and she cared about her brother… and heaven help her, she cared about Zhane. So she had left the Dark Fortress, knowing that those feelings would be her undoing if she stayed, and she tried to adapt as best she could to the incredibly different life aboard the Megaship.

It wasn't easy. And the quiet was only part of the problem. The Rangers had been surprisingly quick to welcome her, even if the Phantom still avoided her as diligently as Zhane sought her out.

Suppressing another flash of irritation, she turned away from the window she had been staring out and headed for the lift. She missed her windowseat on the Dark Fortress, but there was one place on the Megaship that afforded an acceptably wide view of the stars. Zhane had shown it to her, the night after--

She gave her head a sharp shake as she stepped into the lift. *Must every thought lead back to him?*

"Deck one," she said aloud.

Unnecessarily, the computer replied, "Megalift destination: observation deck."

She smiled a little as she leaned back against the wall. "Thank you, DECA," she said, just to hear the computer reply.

As she had expected, DECA responded, "You're welcome, Kerone."

There was something terribly familiar about the voice of the Megaship's onboard computer, but she hadn't yet been able to figure out what it was. And DECA was always exceedingly polite to her, to the point where she almost wondered if the computer treated her better than she treated even the Rangers.

She told herself that was silly; DECA had no reason to care about her above the others--in fact, she had every reason to treat the newest resident of the Megaship with cold disdain. And yet she did not. She answered promptly when questioned, and there was more warmth in her tone than existed when the computer was dealing with anyone--except maybe Andros.

That could be it, she decided. The computer was partial to Andros, as he had been aboard the longest, and DECA must be transferring some of that favoritism to Andros' sister.

After all, it seemed to work that way with Zhane. Despite numerous pranks, including some that he had openly admitted to, the computer refused to punish him. There had been stories of the war between DECA and the Blue Ranger, TJ, but Zhane seemed to remain in her good graces no matter what he did. Apparently, Andros' best friend was also beyond DECA's reproach.

Tossing her head, she felt her fingers twitch at her side. *Zhane again.*

The lift slowed to a gentle halt and the doors slid open. She found herself standing just outside the observatory door, and she reached out to key it open.

Her hand hesitated halfway to the control pad as she remembered Zhane doing the same thing two weeks before. He had been telling her how beautiful the sight of the stars through the observation dome was, as though she had not seen the same view a thousand times before, and she had impatiently reached for the keypad just as he went to open the door himself.

She sighed without meaning to as she walked through the door. Things had been awkward between them for some time now… or maybe they had never *stopped* being awkward. From the moment they met, the two of them had been on opposite sides of the same fight. Perhaps that awkwardness had not disappeared, but simply changed, so subtly that she hadn't been aware of it.

In retrospect, she could point almost to the moment it had happened. The campfire, when she had kissed him… or maybe even before that, when she had taken a bite of the marshmallow he held out to her.

That had been easy. Surrounded by his friends and feeling truly free for the first time in a long while, she had been anxious to prove she wasn't their enemy. Zhane had been the logical person to reach out to, since he was the one she knew best.

He had seemed startled by her sudden playfulness, but she had seen Andros' amusement out of the corner of her eye. That he approved of her friendship with Zhane made her feel better, safer in the midst of people who were almost strangers to her. To her own surprise, she found that she wanted Andros' approval, and so she had stayed close to Zhane for the rest of the evening.

The next day, though, Andros had caught her after "breakfast". The idea of eating as soon as one woke up was new to her--on the Dark Fortress there were few creatures who ate food, and fewer who dared to wake her up in the morning. Thus it was usually some time after she got up that she remembered to order someone to bring her food.

But on the Megaship, it seemed to be a morning ritual before the Rangers went their separate ways. So on her first morning of participation, Andros took her aside afterwards to talk to her. They had ended up talking for quite some time, as she found that she remembered more of him and their childhood the longer they spoke.

She had felt strangely flattered by his attention--she knew she shouldn't need someone else to justify her own existence, but some long-buried voice inside said that he was her brother, and his love and respect was the one thing in the universe she *did* need. She wasn't quite sure about that, but she did know that she listened more attentively to him than she had to Ecliptor at first.

When the conversation turned to Zhane, she found herself telling him everything that had happened the night before, after he and Ashley had left. She had never been one to volunteer information, on the Dark Fortress, but she instinctively trusted Andros.

Everyone on the Dark Fortress had been her subordinate, and often a potential enemy, yet Andros was neither. If anything, he was her superior--though he had told her every one of the Rangers was equal, the others called him their leader. She might not be one of the Rangers, but he was her older brother, and that brought back memories she had thought lost forever.

So when he warned her about Zhane, she had not laughed. She remembered frowning, and she had asked what he meant.

*The Yellow Ranger,* she thought now. *The color I should have had.*

She examined the thought briefly, as she had several times before, but it still brought no feelings of regret or jealousy. Her magic was a part of her, even as the Yellow Astro powers were a part of Ashley now, and she could not imagine living without it.

It helped, too, that she found that she liked Ashley. From the Dark Fortress' point of view, the Yellow Ranger had always been the most annoying, for anywhere the Red Ranger went, she went too. It was nearly impossible to catch the Astro team leader alone, for his Yellow Ranger bodyguard seemed to follow him constantly.

From the Megaship, though, it was clear that the association was one of affection, not necessity. Ashley was far from her leader's "bodyguard"--instead, she stuck by his side out of a genuine desire to be there with him, in any circumstance.

Perhaps it was her loyalty to Andros that had made her reach out to his sister. Ashley was by far the friendliest of the Astro Rangers, and she had gone out of her way to befriend the former princess of evil. When Andros and Zhane weren't around, she was the one who always remembered to include their new ally, and more than once Ashley had simply listened when she needed to talk.

The others were nice too, of course. She supposed she should have expected no less--Zhane had told her that what was important to one Ranger was important to all of them, so she shouldn't have anticipated that her presence would divide them when nothing else had been able to. But it was still a little overwhelming to go from enemy to accepted in a matter of days.

Putting her hands behind her, she leaned back on them and stared up at the dome. The Megaship was just ducking out of the planet's sun side, flying over the terminator into darkness, but there was no twilight in space. As soon as the sun was gone from view, the stars shone as brightly as they would when the Rangers' ship crossed "midnight" on the Earth below.

And somewhere out there, among those stars, Zhane and Andros were fighting for other people's lives. Would they call the Megaship when the convoy arrived safely? Or would they simply expect their friends not to worry, and return without warning?

Would she know if something happened to them? Would she be able to feel it, or would she have to wait for the news to be relayed to their teammates?

Zhane hadn't even said goodbye. Her irritation flared again, but this time she recognized it as barely disguised concern for his safety. He could have at least told her when he was leaving--she felt sure that Ashley had known exactly when the two Rangers took off for Rysia.

*But I'm not Ashley,* she thought. And he wasn't Andros. Whatever relationship she and Zhane had, and lately she wasn't sure exactly what to call it--not really just friends, but not quite anything more either--apparently it wasn't enough for him to tell her when he was about to put his life in serious danger.

*I knew he was leaving,* she argued with herself. *I could have said goodbye just as easily.*

Or maybe she was making too much of this. Goodbyes weren't required. The Pink Ranger and the Phantom had been around for a couple days after she arrived on the Megaship, and then both had seemed to simply vanish. It had been days before she found out that Cassie was teleporting to Aquitar every evening after school, to join the Phantom and her Aquitian friends.

Carlos and TJ seemed to disappear nearly as often, spending more of their free time on Earth than they did on the Megaship. DECA seemed to keep track of everyone efficiently, and she would supply their locations on request, but the freedom with which they moved about was amazing to someone whose every step had been under careful scrutiny for years.

So perhaps it had simply not occurred to Zhane to announce his departure. Andros had said they would not be long, and the Rangers had been off on several brief missions in the short time that she'd been aboard. This was probably not as uncommon as she had thought.

"Incoming transmission," DECA remarked quietly, her camera light blinking on.

She started despite the computer's soft tone, her rationalizations scattering. "From who, DECA?"

"The signal is being relayed from Station MW-37J," the computer replied, as though the designation should mean something to her.

In a way, she supposed, it did--the sheer randomness of the source meant the sender was trying to keep anyone from tracing the signal. And she knew who it would be.

"Route it through the Bridge comm console," she said quickly, rising to her feet. She hurried to the lift and stepped inside, waiting impatiently for it to let her out five decks down.

When she stepped up to the console a moment later, Ecliptor was waiting for her.

"My princess," he greeted her, bowing his head as he had always done. She had told him, once, that she had relinquished her former title by leaving the Dark Fortress, and he no longer needed to use it. But only once.

"It is who you are to me," he had told her. "And who you will always be, no matter what others call you."

She knew him too well to think that he would permit argument on the subject. And… it was comforting in a way that she couldn't explain, to hear him address her as he always had.

Sometimes, growing up, she had dared to hope "princess" might be a term of affection as much as a title of respect. She had never asked, knowing it was not something she should care about. But now, hearing him say it even when her "rank" was gone, forsaken in search of something new, she thought her old dream might be closer to the truth than she had believed.

"Ecliptor," she replied, careful to repress her smile.

Wordlessly, he held up a data disc.

The unspoken agreement between them was that the less said during these illicit comm conversations, the better. The routing of the signal made it harder to track, but it could still be intercepted. And if the person doing the intercepting could decode the signal itself and recognize the participants, they would know both source and destination without the trouble of tracking it.

While she was relatively safe, Ecliptor's position would be unquestionably compromised by the discovery that he was still in contact with the former princess of evil. Should such a situation occur, she fully intended to declare herself a plant, a spy within the Astro team itself. The less evidence they gave to the contrary during their brief conversations, the more likely the story would be enough to protect Ecliptor.

Knowing that, she did not ask what was on the disc he held. She could tell from his manner that it was intended for her. "Something I should know?"

"It awaits only your convenience," he said, inclining his head slightly. He did not take his eyes off of her, though, and the "only" before "your convenience" tipped her off. Whatever information he had, it was more urgent than it sounded. It must be something too sensitive for him to transmit directly to her, and important enough that he didn't want to be caught with it.

"The Dark Fortress is at Rysia," she said, and he inclined his head again.

She thought quickly. She had assumed Dark Spectre's flagship would be at the forefront of his latest invasion, but she was not entirely pleased to have that thought confirmed. The fleet at Rysia would be on alert, probably on the lookout for guerillas, and it would be nearly impossible to sneak in undetected.

"I'll be there," she told him. She wasn't a sorceress for nothing.

"I will expect you, my princess."

She reached out and cut the transmission, watching absently as the screen flickered back to darkness. It would be tricky, but she had come and gone from the Dark Fortress more often than anyone--even Ecliptor--had known. Even in the middle of an invasion force, she had little doubt that she could do it again.

More of a problem was transportation. She could fly the Mega V zords, thanks in large part to her velocifighter training and in some small part to Zhane's eagerness to teach her. But the zords were not hers to command, and there was no member of the Astro team currently available to request permission from.

A small smile flitted across her features. *No available Earth or Kerovan Rangers, anyway.* There was one member of the Astro team who was not in the middle of fighting or out of touch due to security concerns. He would probably not be best pleased to hear from her, but there was no other choice.

"DECA, open a comm link to Aquitar," she said, somewhat amused by the thought of startling him this way.

"Comm link open," DECA replied promptly.

The Aquitian swirl logo appeared on small comm screen, followed almost immediately by one of the Rangers. "This is Delphinius, Black Ranger of Aquitar," he introduced himself. "How may I be of assistance, Astro Rangers?"

She lifted her head, startled, but determined not to show it. She had not encountered the Aquitian Rangers since she had left the Dark Fortress, and for a moment she was at a loss to explain his reaction to her.

*The logo,* she realized then. Of course. The transmission would have been flagged as a priority signal from the Megaship, and the Astro Rangers' logo would have appeared on the Aquitians' screen even as their logo appeared on hers. They might not recognize her face, but they knew where she was calling from.

"I wish to speak to the Phantom Ranger," she said, wondering how far the authority of the Megaship would get her.

Apparently, far enough. "One moment, please," Delphinius said, and he turned away from the console.

To her surprise, it really was only a moment later that the Phantom took Delphinius' place in front of the small comm screen. He did not greet her, but neither could she detect any hesitation in his tone when he asked, "You wished to speak with me?"

"I need to borrow one of the Mega V zords."

He seemed to consider that. "Why should you tell me this?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Because they're team zords. If Andros was here, I would ask his permission to take one, but he isn't. So I'm asking you."

He was silent a moment longer. "So far as it is mine to give," he said at last, "you have my permission."

Surprised, she only just remembered to say "thank you" before she ended the comm transmission. *He didn't even ask why.*

"DECA, would you summon Mega V4?" Though the team had allowed her to fly with them, without the Power she was unable to call the zords herself.

Her mind was already far ahead of her, wondering what Ecliptor could have that was so important he dared not transmit it even over an encoded channel. Preoccupied as she was, she didn't notice right away that DECA had not answered.

"DECA?" she asked, frowning curiously.

"You plan to take the zord to Rysia to rendezvous with the Dark Fortress." It wasn't really a question, but when the computer said nothing more, she nodded.

"I do. You disapprove?"

Most of the Rangers insisted that DECA was only programmed to speak the way she did, and that she had no real feelings of her own. But she had noticed that didn't stop any of them from treating her like a person, albeit a disembodied one, and the behavior was contagious.

"What Ecliptor calls 'information' could just as easily be a trap," DECA answered.

She considered that for a brief moment, then shook her head. "No. Ecliptor is loyal above all others."

"Loyal to the princess of evil," DECA said. "Not to you, Kerone."

Stung, she glared at DECA's camera. "I am not used to having my decisions questioned by a *computer*. Summon Mega V4, or I will find someone who can!"

"Teleporting." DECA's tone was curt, but she barely had time to recognize that before the world sparkled white around her. The next thing she knew, the Megaship's teleportation stream had released her and she was firmly ensconced in the V4 zord cockpit.

She threw a glare in the direction of the Megaship. It was undeniably rude to teleport someone without warning, and though DECA had given her one, it had been almost too brief to be considered a "warning" at all. The computer was clearly upset with her.

She frowned, looking down at the instrument panels. Her destination and recommended vector had not been uploaded from the Megaship, although DECA could do it faster than the zord's computer. *She must have learned how to sulk from Andros,* she thought, unbidden.

The zord offered up the vector she requested a moment later, and she threw it into hyperrush without a backward glance. The stars smeared across the forward window even as it darkened to black, protecting her eyes from the disconcerting--to human vision, at least--"view" of faster than light travel.

"My least favorite part of space travel," she remembered Zhane saying the first time they'd gone to hyperrush in the new zords.

They'd been in Mega V6 then, him standing behind the pilot's seat as she pushed her knowledge of small spacecraft to its limits in an effort to keep up with the others. The others, of course, had the Power to guide them--Andros had told her beforehand that another of the Power's benefits was instinctive understanding of Power-enabled devices, from weapons to spacecraft.

She had not realized what he meant until later, when, on the Megaship, she caught Zhane and Andros staring across the table at each other. Something clearly passed between them, but she heard nothing.

Her presence was apparently forcing them to learn better focus. They could send thoughts better now, directing them so they couldn't be picked up by just any telepath. Since that day, she had heard them in her mind less and less, until finally their voices vanished altogether except when one of them spoke specifically to her.

Though she had appreciated the effort for the sake of her own peace and quiet, she found she missed them sometimes. She knew they had a bond with each other that she would never have with either of them, and she couldn't help but wonder how different things might have been if she had grown up on KO-35.

With a sudden flash of insight, she wondered if Ashley ever felt the same way.

The nav computer chimed, drawing her thoughts away from her brother and his best friend. She transferred her focus instead to the magic that would cloak her vessel when she reentered realspace, and she dropped the zord out of hyperrush.

Purple sparkles swirled around her fingers as the magic came to life within her, and she drew in a sharp breath as its strength enhanced her every sense. She wouldn't trade this feeling for all the Power in the universe.

The zords' intership comm channel lit up even as she soared through the system's perimeter guard unchallenged, and she stared at it. No one should know--

*The network,* she thought, dismayed. Of course--each of the zords was linked to all the others; Andros and Zhane would have known the instant she entered the system. But she had not expected them to still be here…

She accepted the transmission hesitantly, not sure what she was going to hear.

"Ashley!" The distress in Andros' voice got her attention like nothing else, despite the fact she wasn't who he thought she was. "One of the Cai zords was damaged--can you take their place?"

Glancing across her tactical map, she could see the situation clearly. One of the convoy ships lingered in realspace on the edge of the system, its hyperrush engines apparently disabled or destroyed. There was no sign of either the other convoy ships or the Rysian fighters, and she assumed they had fled into the safety of hyperspace.

Only three of the Cai zords remained, and she hoped their fellows had gone with the convoy. One of them was just sitting there, though, nearly on top of the transport and firing at anything that got too close, and she surmised that it was the one Andros referred to.

She really didn't want to give her position away with a comm transmission, but she couldn't ignore him. *I'm not Ashley,* she thought at him, scanning for the other Astro zords.

Her heart clenched as she realized only Mega V1 was showing on her tactical map.

*Kerone?* Even his mental voice sounded strained. *What are you doing here? And why aren't you showing on my scanners?*

*Magic,* she answered, ignoring the first question. *Andros, where's Zhane?*

She felt his concentration waver, and on the tactical map she saw his zord diving after a velocifighter that had gotten too close to the convoy. Then, for just an instant, she saw his memory superimposed over her own vision, saw stars swirl before her eyes as his zord spiraled out of control.

She blinked as the vision let go, startled to find tears in her eyes. Andros' own emotion had caught her up until she thought she might be reliving the moment instead of witnessing it secondhand.

*His zord survived reentry,* Andros told her. *He spoke to me right after he crashed--I can still feel him, but I can't hear him anymore. I have to--*

*I'll go,* she interrupted. Whatever information Ecliptor had, it couldn't be as important as Zhane's life. *I can't fly formation; you can. Join the Cai, Andros.*

Her own proximity alert abruptly began to shriek, and she jerked her zord to the side, wondering what could possibly have gotten so close without her noticing. For a half-second, there was nothing on the scanners.

Then, directly behind her a transport erupted from hyperspace, flanked on either side by Cai zords and close enough that it blotted out half her scans. *The problem with being invisible to scanners,* she thought, as she pushed her zord's thrusters as hard as they would go in an effort to clear the area, *is that no one knows to avoid you.*

*The cavalry's here,* she heard Andros say. *I'm going after Zhane.*

She didn't understand his first sentence, but she had to keep him from acting on the second. *Andros, you can't! Listen to me--if you go after Zhane, you'll lead the velocifighters right to him *and* you. Neither of you will get off that planet alive. But they can't see me. Let me go and *I'll* bring him back.*

His silence was all the answer she needed. He didn't like it, but her words had gotten to him. *You know I'm right. I swear--* she swallowed, but it was the only way to get him to voluntarily leave Zhane. *I swear as your sister, Andros; I'll bring Zhane back.*

On her tactical map, she saw his zord arc off in the direction of the returning and presumably empty transport. They would need all the teleporting ability they had to make the transfer work before even the new zords were worn down.

*Be *careful*, Kerone,* she heard in her mind, even as the Rysian fighter wing burst into realspace around the transports. *I can't lose either of you again.*

The comm link flared to life once more, and a data burst dumped all of his scans from the previous battle into her zord's computer. His words, and his trust, meant more to her than he probably knew.

Correlating the position data from Andros' zord with her own location and vector, she left the fighting, her guardian on the Dark Fortress, and the Rangers and refugees behind. Mega V4 slipped past scanners and weapons' tracking systems alike on its determined course for the planet below.

3. Worlds Apart

Cassie shrieked as strong hands grabbed her from behind, doubling over and lashing out herself. The reaction was as futile as it was instinctive, and she heard TJ laughing from somewhere behind her.

"TJ Carter! If you don't let me go *this* second--" She couldn't finish the threat as his tickling made her burst into giggles, stealing what breath her indignation hadn't already taken.

"You'll... keep laughing until I do?" he guessed, tickling her harder.

"TJ," she protested through her mirth, and finally he relented.

He grinned at her as she straightened up, one hand on her locker to support herself as she tried to catch her breath. She gave him an affectionate shove with less force behind it than she had intended, and he took the abuse good-naturedly.

"Hey, Carlos brought his car today," he offered, as she turned back to her locker and pulled out her books. "Want a ride?"

"Cassie!"

Ashley's voice was just recognizable over the clatter of lockers and the muted roar of conversation in the hall, and she waved at them as she fought her way through the crowd. Cassie couldn't help grinning as one of the boys tried to get her attention--Ashley just gave him a distracted smile and pushed past.

Andros had made several appearances at Angel Grove High the spring before, but he and Ashley had been no more than friends at the time. This fall, though, he was there to meet her almost every other afternoon, and the way the two of them looked at each other as though there was no one else in the world should have been a dead giveaway for any would-be suitors. Cassie couldn't figure out why some of them still didn't seem to get it.

"Sure," she told TJ as Ashley joined them. "That'd be great; thanks."

"How 'bout you, Ash?" TJ asked, taking her books from her quickly. She flashed him a quick smile, swinging her bag off her shoulder and unzipping it so he could dump the textbooks inside. "Want a ride home? Carlos brought his car."

"Actually..." Ashley looked over at Cassie, and her expression was strangely guilty. "I was hoping to talk to Cassie for a few minutes."

"She's coming too," TJ assured her, completely missing the point.

Cassie rolled her eyes and gave him another friendly push. "Girl talk, silly."

Ashley nodded, and TJ shrugged at them. "We can wait," he offered, but Cassie caught Ashley's eye and the brunette shook her head.

"Thanks, Teej," Cassie said with a smile. "But we'll walk."

"All right," he said, a knowing grin on his face. "See you guys tomorrow, then, at the lake?"

Ashley made a face at him for his expression, but Cassie promised, "We'll be there."

His grin did not fade at Ashley's look, and he waved unrepentantly as he turned and headed down the hall. "Boys," Ashley muttered under her breath, watching him go.

Cassie laughed as she slammed her locker shut. "They're not *all* bad," she reminded her friend, throwing an arm over her shoulder and steering her toward the main doors.

"Easy for you to say!" Ashley exclaimed. "No one gives you any grief about Saryn, but every time I turn around someone's teasing me about Andros."

Cassie must have been silent for a moment too long, because Ashley twisted away from her arm and gave her a concerned look. "I didn't mean... I mean, I know it's hard having him--away so much of the time..."

Cassie's lips quirked at Ashley's hastily edited sentence, but she shook her head. "It's not that. I mean, I see him almost every day."

"But not for very long," Ashley countered, studying her friend's expression.

"No, it's enough," Cassie assured her. "It's just--" Glancing over her shoulder even though she knew no one would recognize the name, she hesitated. Ashley had clearly wanted to talk about something, and Cassie didn't want to monopolize the conversation.

"Just what?" Ashley persisted, as they pushed through the double doors and out into the sunshine.

Cassie sighed. "Linnse has been talking to him about me again. I don't know what I did to get on her bad side, but she 'warns' him about me every chance she gets, and when we're in the same room together she pretends I don't even exist."

Ashley tucked her arm through her backpack's second shoulder strap as they skirted the edge of the parking lot, silent for so long Cassie thought she might not answer. Then Ashley asked, "Did Saryn tell you that? That she's still 'warning' him?"

Cassie shook her head. "I don't think he wants me to worry. Aura told me."

"Aura?" Ashley asked, sounding surprised.

"Yeah." Cassie kicked a stone off the edge of the sidewalk as they left school grounds behind, and smiled a little as Ashley skipped once to shrug her backpack more snugly over her shoulders. Only Ashley could put such energy into so simple an action.

"The Aquitian Rangers are really protective of Saryn lately," she continued, "and they think Linnse is upsetting him. What they expect *me* to do about it," she added, knowing her frustration was showing, "I have no idea."

Ashley sighed. "You're probably doing it, you know. Just being there for him, and *not* doing whatever Linnse seems to expect of you."

"I wish I knew what it *was*," Cassie muttered. "She said once that she thought I'd tell people who he was or something. I'd never do that, but I don't see why *she's* so worried about it."

Ashley shrugged, wrapping her fingers around the straps of her backpack. "Maybe if you ask Saryn?"

"I might," Cassie admitted. "It's getting to the point where I don't even want to walk into a room if she's there."

"Is she there that much?" Ashley asked, glancing over at her. "Shouldn't she be taking care of the Defense or something?"

"She's doing it from Aquitar," Cassie said. She too had hoped that Linnse would not stay long on Aquitar, but it seemed the wish had been in vain. "I get the feeling she's keeping an eye on me."

"Well, at least she's trying to look out for him," Ashley offered, trying to give her a more optimistic outlook.

"I wish she'd find some other way to do it!" Cassie burst out, then took a deep breath and forced a smile. "Sorry. You're right; I'm doing the only thing I can. And he's coming here this weekend, so at least we'll be away from her for a little while."

"That'll be nice," Ashley said, squeezing her friend's shoulder in an attempt to cheer her up. "And you know how *he* feels, so Linnse doesn't really matter that much, right?"

"Yeah," Cassie agreed automatically. She could still do without Linnse's constant disapproval, but she didn't say so aloud.

"So," she said abruptly, changing topics. "You wanted to talk about something."

Ashley didn't answer right away, and Cassie caught her friend blushing. That, combined with the fact that she wouldn't quite meet Cassie's eye, was totally unlike her friend, and Cassie's curiosity was piqued. "What's going on?"

"Well..." Ashley actually hesitated, capturing Cassie's attention even more completely. "You know yesterday, when everyone else was off on rides and Andros and I went to watch the movie?"

Cassie tried to suppress a grin, and was only partly successful. "Yeah. That was a, uh... convenient excuse to get away from the rest of us."

Ashley looked dismayed. "Was it that obvious?"

Cassie couldn't help laughing at her expression. "Yes, but no one minded. Tessa thought it was cute."

"You *talked* about us?" Ashley exclaimed.

"Ash, you were gone for two hours," Cassie reminded her. "The movie was only forty-five minutes long."

Ashley blushed again. "We didn't actually watch much of it," she confessed, and Cassie shook her head in amusement.

"Carlos figured as much," she told her friend.

Ashley groaned. "How come you and Saryn were never this obvious?"

Cassie gave her an odd look. "I can't believe you just said that. The entire team knows we're *sleeping* together. It doesn't get any more obvious than that."

"Yeah, but..." Ashley trailed off.

"But nothing," Cassie said indignantly. She couldn't believe her friend was truly troubled by her teammates' gossip. "You can't imagine how many times I wish we were like you guys, Ash. That Saryn and I could be together and just have everyone tease us, the way they tease you and Andros, instead of giving us strange looks or trying to ignore us."

Ashley looked puzzled. "No one ignores you."

"Not either of us individually," Cassie agreed. "But no one treats us like a couple, either. Not the way they do you and Andros."

Before Ashley could say anything, she added, "I'm not mad; I know we're sort of strange. You guys are so much more of a normal couple--but you shouldn't worry about the rest of the team. They just think you two are sweet; they're not making fun of you."

Ashley thought about that for a moment. "No one makes fun of you and Saryn either, you know. They might not treat you quite the same way, but... we don't know Saryn as well as you do."

Cassie blinked, and her friend continued, "I mean, I totally respect your feelings for him, but to the rest of us, he's like someone we just met. Andros is different; we've known him for months--he's teasable, you know? Saryn isn't, not until we know him better."

Cassie tried to remember how little the rest of the team *did* know about Saryn, and found she couldn't. She felt like she'd known him forever, as much as any of her friends, and she found it hard to accept that they didn't see him that way.

"It's nothing against either of you," Ashley added quickly, apparently afraid she had offended her. "Just--remember how hard it was to get to know Andros at first? Saryn's almost worse, 'cause even though he *wants* to get to know us, he's almost never around. With Andros, we saw him every day."

"Yeah," Cassie said softly, knowing that, at least, was true. Saryn *wasn't* around much, and while she wouldn't give up the time she herself had with him, the constant commute to and from Aquitar was an unavoidable reminder even as it was wearing her down.

"Cassie?" Ashley looked worried.

"You're right," Cassie said, giving her the best smile she could manage. "That's all it is; I just never thought it that way. Thanks."

"Are you okay?" Ashley didn't look convinced.

"Sure." She put more effort into her smile and tried to distract her teammate. "So what does the way you and Andros spent the movie have to do with what you wanted to talk to me about?"

Ashley bit her lip. "Well, I was wondering... what kind of birth control pills do you use?"

Cassie choked. "What?" Though she tried, for her friend's sake, she couldn't stifle her giggles. "Now I know why you didn't want to ride with Carlos and TJ!"

Ashley gave her a long-suffering look, and Cassie did her best to appear serious. But then the thought of Andros' expression if he found out what Ashley wanted to know set her off again, and she couldn't help laughing.

"I'm sorry," she gasped at last, trying to get herself under control again. "Really, I am--I'm not laughing at you," she said, but she suspected her grin made her words less believable. "Really, Ash, I promise. It's just... it's been a really long day. I'm sorry," she said again, and Ashley cracked a smile.

"It's okay," she said. "I've been thinking you needed some cheering up lately, even if I never thought of this as the way to do it."

"Well, it worked," Cassie said, trying to smother her grin. "So, if I asked you..."

Ashley shook her head quickly. "We haven't. And we're not planning to, honestly. I just thought it would be--a good thing to know."

Cassie glanced at her, and saw her fidgeting with the loose end of her shoulder strap. "Not planning to?" she repeated. "Have you talked about it?"

"Yeah," Ashley said ruefully. "More than once, actually."

There was more to it than her friend was saying, but she wasn't sure she could ask. Finally, she said, "Not planning to doesn't mean it won't happen, though."

Ashley shot a relieved glance in her direction. "I know. Believe me, I've thought of that, and... I think he has too."

"But?" Cassie prompted.

Ashley shrugged. "I don't know. I guess--I won't know unless it comes to that."

"Fair enough," Cassie said, sensing that was as much as her friend would, or could, say. "I'll show you what I use when we get home, if you want."

"Thanks," Ashley said gratefully.

They walked in silence for a few minutes, turning off of the road they were on and onto the residential street on which they lived. As they crossed the street to pick up the sidewalk again, Ashley asked, "What did you do, the first time?"

Cassie gave her a startled look, and Ashley giggled. "No, I mean for birth control. I know you didn't use it, um, the first time, but..."

She remembered Ashley finding her, their first day back on Earth, alone in her room and suffering from self-inflicted color withdrawal. She had been depressed enough with Saryn leaving and the uncertainty of her own situation that she hadn't cared, but Ashley had managed to convince her that other people did and that she couldn't just shut herself away.

"I went to the emergency room at the hospital," she said now, knowing Ashley had not wanted to ask at the time. "I didn't know what else to do."

"You could have asked my parents," Ashley chided, and Cassie smiled a little.

"So could you," she countered.

Ashley considered that, then grinned ruefully. "Okay, point taken."

As the Hammonds' house came into view around the corner, Cassie squinted at the front door. "Were you expecting anyone this afternoon?"

"Hmm?" Ashley asked, following her gaze.

"There's someone on the porch," Cassie said unnecessarily. A dark-haired woman was standing at the top of the steps, scuffing her foot against the porch as though she had been there for some time already.

As she and Ashley approached their driveway, the woman paced the few steps to the door and pushed the doorbell idly. It was the gesture of someone who had done the same thing several times before, but did it again only for something to pass the time.

Ashley frowned. "No, not that I know of. You don't recognize her, do you?"

Cassie was about to shake her head when the sound of their voices made the woman turn around. Stopping dead in her tracks at the end of the Hammonds' driveway, she could think of nothing to do but stare.

"Cassie?" Ashley asked, noticing her reaction and giving the woman on the porch a more probing look. "What's wrong?"

The woman waved at them, a smile spreading across her face as she descended the porch stairs and came toward them. It was a smile Cassie almost dreaded, because it had always meant bad news in the past.

Swallowing hard, she tried to compose herself, to not give this woman anything to use against her. Straightening, she greeted the approaching figure coolly. "Hi, Mom."

*"Mom"?* Ashley thought, startled. She studied the woman who walked toward them, suddenly seeing the similarities between her face and her daughter's.

She had never met either of Cassie's parents, or even the aunt that Cassie had supposedly been on her way to join in Stone Canyon. None of the Hammonds had met Cassie's family, though they had spoken extensively over the phone, and eventually Ashley had stopped wondering about them. The kind of people who could hand over their daughter to a family they had never met just hadn't seemed worth the trouble.

After Cassie's first few weeks in Angel Grove, and her unofficial "adoption" into the Hammond household, Ashley had assumed the absence of her friend's relatives would continue indefinitely. She was surprised to be proven wrong, and she wondered what could have happened to bring Cassie's mother here now, of all times.

"Hello, darling!" Cassie's mother was close enough now to envelop her daughter in a hug, and she did so without hesitation.

It was an affectionate and perfectly innocent gesture, but Ashley's eyes narrowed. Cassie remained stiff, not reciprocating in any way. Her friend clearly did not welcome the presence of one of her parental units, and Ashley couldn't blame her. She had been essentially abandoned in Angel Grove, and this sudden act of caring seemed to ring false.

*I don't like her,* Ashley realized, studying her friend's mother. It was a strange feeling, to dislike someone at first sight and without really knowing anything about them.

"Hello there," the dark-haired woman said, letting go of her daughter and holding out her hand to Ashley. "I'm Patricia Chan; Cassie's mother."

Ashley tilted her head to one side, giving the woman her most charming smile. "Pleased to meet you--I'm Ashley Hammond. Cassie's almost-sister," she added as an afterthought, putting an arm around her friend.

Cassie shot her a grateful glance, and she squeezed her friend's shoulder. Patricia Chan did not look the least bit perturbed. "Well, isn't that nice," she said. "I'm glad to finally meet one of my daughter's friends."

Ashley had to work to keep her smile in place. *She makes it sound like it's Cassie's fault that she doesn't know her friends!*

"Are you staying long?" Cassie asked, not bothering with pleasantries and completely ignoring the "friend" comment.

"Oh," Patricia said vaguely, "the weekend, at least. But I have reservations at a local motel; you won't have to find a place for me." She gave Ashley a bright smile, as though she was doing her a favor by not barging into their household.

"Well, if you're sure," Ashley said wryly, and she saw Cassie glance in her direction. "Will you come in for a while?" she suggested, making an attempt to be more polite.

"That would be lovely, thank you." Patricia accepted the invitation as though it was her due, and Ashley almost regretted offering it.

Leading the way up the porch stairs, she dug her key out of her pocket and slid it into the lock. Normally, her dad would have been home in the afternoons, but his car wasn't in the driveway and she assumed he was out running errands.

Cassie's mother entered the house without waiting for either of them to precede her. Ashley caught Cassie's eye and gave her a disbelieving look, asking silently, *Is she *always* like this?* Cassie's expression flickered from neutral to unhappy for just a second before she looked away.

"Can I get you something to drink?" Ashley offered, dropping her backpack by the counter and moving over to the refrigerator.

"Oh, don't trouble yourself," Patricia replied, surveying the kitchen. "Some ice water would be nice."

Ashley tried not to raise an eyebrow at the conflicting statements. Opening one of the cupboards above the counter, she asked, "Cassie?"

She heard the refrigerator open, and turned to see Cassie pulling out one of the juice pitchers. "Yes, thanks," her friend said. "You?"

"That looks great," Ashley said with a smile, taking out three glasses. She was glad they had both come straight home from school today--they could deal with Patricia Chan together.

Their communicators went off simultaneously.

She and Cassie exchanged glances--hers apprehensive, Cassie's dismayed. Pushing the glasses toward Cassie, she promised, "I'll be *right* back."

"Don't hurry," Patricia said, and Ashley only just stopped herself from shooting a withering glare in the woman's direction.

Slipping out the front door, she made sure it was pulled tight behind her. Checking to make sure she was out of sight of the kitchen windows, she walked down the steps and around the edge of the porch so there was no chance of her being overheard.

Tapping her communicator, she said quietly, "This is Ashley. Whatever it is, don't signal Cassie's communicator again."

"Ashley," Carlos' voice came back. "DECA's detected five ships on an intercept course with Earth. They're not registered with the League, and they don't look very friendly."

Ashley groaned. The timing couldn't have been worse. "If we have to, can we deal with them without Cassie?"

"Are you kidding? Even if we could fight five ships with three people, she's the best of us on the Megalasers. Why, what's going on?"

"I'll tell you later--" She was interrupted by the familiar and extremely welcome noise of her father's car humming down the road. She closed her eyes and breathed silent thanks. "We'll be right there, Carlos; just give us one minute."

"Right."

The transmission was cut off, and she waved to her dad as he pulled up beside her. Sticking his head out the window, he gave her communicator a significant glance. "Problems?"

"You could say that," she said. "Dad, Cassie's mom is inside--she was waiting on the porch when we got home from school. We don't know why she's here, but we have to--" She held up her left wrist, and he nodded.

"I'll keep her company while you're gone," he promised. "Come on inside and we'll get Cassie."

"Thanks, Dad," she said, stepping back as he climbed out of the car. As he straightened, she gave him a quick hug, and he mussed her hair affectionately.

His arm around her, they made their way inside, where Cassie was leaning silently against the counter while her mother chastised her for something about school and lost time. *The first week,* Ashley realized with dismay.

Cassie had missed most of the first week of school, thanks to an unfortunate encounter with Dark Spectre's evilyzer ray, and the Hammonds' had not known to call in for her. Instead, the school had contacted *them* about Ashley. They had covered for both her and Cassie, but it must not have been before the school called the number listed on Cassie's student sheet--the Hammonds' were not her legal guardians, and the secretary must not have known Cassie wasn't living with her biological parents.

"Hey there," Ashley's dad greeted the duo, as sudden comprehension of what must have brought Cassie's mom flashed through her mind. "How was your day, Cassie?"

"Good," Cassie mumbled, straightening up from the counter. "Mr. Hammond, this is my mom."

"Patricia Chan," the woman introduced herself, sweeping forward with her free hand extended.

"Joseph Hammond," he responded, clasping her hand firmly. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Mrs. Chan--"

"Patricia," Cassie's mother interjected, and he nodded pleasantly.

"Of course, Patricia. Here, allow me to show you around the house--I'm sure you're eager to see where your daughter has been living all this time." He gave her his most winning smile, and Ashley smothered a grin at the surprised look on Patricia's face.

"I'd really--" she began, but he interrupted smoothly.

"Oh, I insist," he said, putting a hand on her elbow and leading her out of the room. "Girls," he called over his shoulder. "Would you mind running out and getting the mail? I forgot to pick it up on my way in."

Ashley bit her lip in an effort not to smirk. She had seen the mail sitting on the front seat of his car when he climbed out, but he had conveniently forgotten to bring it into the house with him. *Thank you,* she repeated silently, and she tilted her head at Cassie.

"Let's go," she whispered, and a reluctant smile tugged at the corners of her friend's mouth.

"Incoming fighters!"

"Ash, *where* would be more of a help," Carlos said in response to her warning.

The ship rocked as enemy laser fire raked it, and she concentrated on resolving the scanner readings into some sort of useful information. "If you'd stop throwing the ship around, I could *tell* you where," she shot back.

He had been right in his identification of the five unidentified ships as "unfriendly", and she couldn't help but worry over the accuracy of Zhane's earlier prediction: "With Dark Spectre's forces in this galaxy, this planet needs your protection more than ever."

"Carlos, work with me here!" Cassie demanded, as the ship once more "rolled" out of the way. "TJ, make him stop doing that."

Ashley could hear the grin in TJ's voice as he replied, "Not up to the challenge, Cass?"

"I'll show you 'challenge'," Cassie muttered, and the Megalasers sprayed fire in every direction. As Carlos swung the ship around once more, the lasers' swath of destruction turned one of the fighters into a debris cloud and TJ whistled.

"Crude," he said mock-critically. "But effective."

"Carlos, port and down 30-by-20," Ashley snapped suddenly, and he followed her order without question. One of the fighters' strafing runs went wide, and Cassie swung the starboard laser array around to catch them as they shot past.

Another fighter, close behind with the intent to follow up on the original run, was almost caught in the wake of the explosion. Its frantic evasive attempts gave Cassie plenty of time for a target lock, and TJ announced unhelpfully, "Three down, two to go."

"Why can't we ever settle for best out of five?" Carlos complained. The port thrusters fired in reverse, and Ashley blinked as the numbers swam before her.

"Carlos, you can't *do* that in a ship this size!" she protested, as the arc of the Megaship's flight wavered unsteadily.

"Been spending too much time in those Aquitian zords," TJ opined.

"If the Megaship responded to thought the way they do, it *could* do that," Carlos retorted. "I just can't tell it what to do fast enough!"

TJ must have reprogrammed their vector, because the Megaship pulled up without Carlos' instruction. The Megalasers pummeled another ship into dust, and Carlos pushed the thrusters to their limit in a yaw that probably made structural integrity warnings flash all over TJ's console. But Cassie got her clear shot, and at last the sky was clear again.

"Carlos," TJ said, shaking his head as the Megaship coasted into a wide arc that would eventually return it to Earth orbit, "we need to have a little talk about what the Megaship can and can't do--at least with *me* at navigation."

"Great job, Cassie," Ashley added, leaning forward to catch her friend's eye across the pilot's console.

"Yeah, that was some good shooting," Carlos agreed, apparently not as eager as TJ for that "talk".

Before Cassie could answer, DECA broke in with, "Incoming transmission." She did not identify the source, nor did she wait for them to acknowledge it. Instead, the computer overrode the comm controls and broadcast the signal for all of them to hear.

"Megaship," a familiar voice said, a little fainter than usual over the comm channel, but unmistakable. Ashley breathed a sigh of relief as Andros identified himself. "This is Mega V1. Please respond."

"Confirmation sent," DECA announced.

"Open a visual link," Ashley said quickly, and the computer complied.

The Red Astro Ranger appeared on the main screen, surrounded by the zord's tiny cockpit, and she smiled at him from where she sat behind the scanner console. She couldn't see his expression behind his visor, but she felt his presence at the edge of her mind brighten as he focused on her briefly.

"Andros," TJ greeted him cheerfully. "You don't know how glad we are to see you, after Carlos' piloting."

"Hey!" Carlos exclaimed. "I'd like to see you do better!"

"Next time," TJ said with a grin. "You're on."

"Andros," Cassie interrupted, glancing up from her tactical readout. "Where's Zhane? And Kerone?"

DECA had informed them earlier, without being asked, that Kerone would not be joining them in the defense of Earth. In a tone that left no doubt as to how *she* felt about the matter, she told them that the girl had taken Ashley's Mega V zord to Rysia to rendezvous with Ecliptor.

Ashley had not actually expected Kerone to return with Andros and Zhane, but Andros must have known of his sister's activity, for he didn't act in the least surprised by the question. He did seem worried, though, and that coupled with Zhane's absence was enough to alarm Ashley.

"I'll tell you when I get back," he said at last, doing something to the controls in front of him. "I'll be there in a few minutes."

Looking over at the weapons' station, Ashley exchanged glances with Cassie. "Guys," she said. "Cassie and I were in the middle of something--we really have to go."

"That's all right," Andros put in. She snuck a glance at the main screen, wondering if it was her imagination that made him sound disappointed. "It can wait; I'll fill you in later."

She would have dearly loved to learn how his explanation for returning alone "could wait", but she and Cassie just didn't have time for it. "We'll be back as soon as we can," she promised, climbing out of her chair and nodding to Cassie.

They both reached for their morphers, and the world dissolved into gold sparkles.

*This,* Cassie thought, not for the first time, *really sucks.*

She knew it was not a very charitable thought, but she couldn't help it. Her mother had picked a terrible time to waltz back into her life--although, in reality, she couldn't think of any *good* time. When she tried, "not now" was the only criteria she could come up with.

It was almost dinnertime in the Hammond household, and her mother still showed no signs of leaving. Cassie knew it was only a matter of time before Ashley's father invited her to stay for dinner, and she tried to resign herself to the idea.

In all this time, her mother had yet to stop finding ways to disparage everything about Cassie's life. Missing school was only the beginning--she made sugarcoated but not very subtle remarks about Cassie's grades, her attitude, her friends... although she managed to leave out Ashley. It was as tactful as Cassie had ever seen her, to avoid rudeness to the family whose home in which she found herself.

Unfortunately, that small amount of courtesy was overridden by the fact that she had, to Cassie's dismay, found out about Saryn. No doubt Ashley's father had been trying to reassure her mother that she was well adjusted here, but Cassie had deliberately not mentioned her boyfriend to her parents.

Now her mother was convinced she had been hiding him, which she had been, and that it was because their relationship was beyond what her mother would approve of, which it was. Besides that, the only thing she could think of that would be worse than her mother knowing that she was seeing someone older--even if, as far as she knew, he was only "in college"--was her mother actually meeting the "someone older".

Saryn was a wonderful person, but he wasn't even human, let alone Asian. Both her parents had some very conservative ideas on the subject, and though she had managed to avoid it so far, she knew it would come up. On top of that, although he was nothing if not polite and considerate, he was simply not the kind of person her mother would be able to relate to.

Her lips quirked a little at that thought, but it was a smile with no real amusement behind it. She wouldn't inflict her mother on Saryn for anything in the world.

"You must have found an exceptional tutor here," her mother was saying, as Cassie looked out the window. She was back on the school topic again, and Cassie did her best not to listen.

The voice of Ashley's father cut into the "conversation", and Cassie looked around in surprise as he said, "Cassie pulled her grades up on her own. In fact, she tutored one of her friends over the summer."

Her mother had obviously not expected that, but it was only a moment before she waved the comment away. "Well, they do say high school gets easier as you go."

"Dinner," Ashley announced, appearing suddenly in the living room doorway. She shot Cassie a sympathetic glance, but Cassie kept her eyes straight ahead.

She didn't mean to shut her friend out--Ashley had put her own plans on hold to stay home this evening, and Cassie appreciated the moral support. But she couldn't let herself respond to her friend's sympathy; couldn't let herself feel grateful, or she would have to feel everything else that was simmering inside her, too.

When her mother made no move to leave, she heard Ashley's father make the anticipated offer. Her mother accepted, as Cassie had known she would, and she watched impassively as the older woman preceded Ashley's father into the kitchen.

Ashley waited by the door, catching Cassie's arm as she walked through. "How are you doing?" she whispered, as they lagged behind the adults.

"I'm fine," Cassie lied, smiling reassuringly at her friend.

Ashley smiled back, but her look turned to one of alarm when Cassie's communicator chose that moment to beep. Cassie looked down at it, almost amused by the timing, until Ashley gave her a push. Tilting her head toward the other side of the kitchen, she whispered, "It's probably Saryn. Go ahead--we'll cover for you for a few minutes."

Nodding wordlessly, Cassie stuck her hands in her pockets and edged around the table. "I'll be right back," she muttered, when her mother looked pointedly at her empty chair.

"You know girls that age," she heard her mother say as she walked down the hall. She could almost see the knowing smile on her mother's face as she continued blithely, "They think they have to rebel in even the smallest detail."

Ashley's normally cheery voice sounded annoyed as she replied, "I think she's just going to the bathroom, Mrs. Chan."

Cassie closed the door behind her and twisted the doorknob's lock. She heard herself sigh as she lowered herself to the floor next to the shower, and she tapped her communicator. "Yes?"

"Cassie?" Saryn's came back instantly, and she rested her head against the wall behind her. "Are you all right?"

"Of course," she responded, focusing on the stark white ceiling above. "I'm fine."

There was silence for a moment, and then he must have realized she was not going to elaborate. She had expected him to press her for a "real" answer, but instead he only asked, "Will you be arriving on Aquitar soon?"

She stared up at the ceiling, feeling tears sting her eyes. There was no one who didn't want something from her. "I can't, Saryn. I'm going to stay here tonight."

There was another pause, and then he asked, "Are you certain you will not reconsider? It... would mean a great deal to me."

She closed her eyes, and a tear slipped through, sliding down her cheek. He didn't even care why she couldn't come, just that she wouldn't be there when he came back from the control room tonight. "I *told* you," she whispered, trying to keep her voice steady. "I can't come."

Covering her communicator with her right hand, she cut the transmission off before he could reply. Letting her wrist fall to her side, she squeezed her eyes more tightly shut and felt another tear slide free.

Her communicator beeped again, and she almost jumped, startled by the second intrusion. Drawing in a trembling breath, she fumbled with her wristband for a moment until it came free. Laying it on the floor beside her, she buried her face in her hands and tried to stifle a sob.

It gave her a perverse satisfaction to ignore the device while she cried, for this, at least, was something she could control. She knew someone would come looking for her eventually, but she knew, too, that there was no way she could go back to the kitchen like this.

And so, dragging herself to her feet, she found herself doing something she hadn't done in a long time. She took hold of the screen through the wide-open window and pushed it out, not bothering to catch it before it fell to the ground. She climbed through after it and jumped, ignoring the complaints from her ankles when the ground was farther away than she'd expected.

She started walking, cutting across the lawn to the sidewalk and the residential street it followed. She headed toward the outskirts of the neighborhood, leaving the Hammonds' house behind without a backward glance.

Behind her, abandoned on the tile floor, her communicator finally stopped beeping.

An incoming transmission halted his futile attempts to reestablish contact with Cassie, and he glared at the screen. Refusing to morph, he activated the audio channel only and demanded, "What?"

He could hear the hesitation on the other end. "I apologize for the intrusion--"

Cetaci's voice.

"It is no intrusion," he growled. He wanted to say, "She is not coming." He wanted to say, "She has found what I cannot give," but there was no telling who would be in secondary operations at this hour and he couldn't afford to lose his temper.

"We are receiving a distress call from one of the Mega Voyager zords," Cetaci said, getting his full attention.

His conversation with Andros' sister that afternoon came back with startling clarity. "As far as it is mine to give--"

But it wasn't. The permission *wasn't* his to give, anymore than the normalcy Cassie so longed for was his to offer her.

*And now she has turned to another.* It was the only explanation for her sudden coldness, for her choosing not to visit for the first time in weeks--and on the one night he had planned so carefully. She had not known, of course, but it had simply not occurred to him that she would not come.

His heart clenched as he wondered who she was with, and his fingers curled into fists. There was no changing her choice. The problem Cetaci had given him was the only mistake he could rectify, and he would do it or die trying.

"Send the coordinates of the distress call to my starfighter." He didn't wait for Cetaci's acknowledgement. Ending the transmission, he turned and stalked out of the room.

4. Hear Me

The breeze stirred across her bare arms, and the scent of stone warmed by an alien sun wafted by with it. Eyes closed, she heard the unmistakable scrape of metal on rock, and she almost held her breath.

Squeezing her eyes tighter shut, she concentrated as hard as she could. Her magic pushed harder, and the creak of metal grew louder. Pouring as much energy as she could spare into the effort, she could feel the zord shifting upward, defying gravity to rise onto its side.

Levitating large objects had never been one of her stronger abilities, but when it was necessary she could manage. It helped, too, that the object in question had already been resting against the rock face at such an angle that it needed no more than a nudge to be perpendicular with the ground.

She took a deep breath, knowing that no matter her talent, only that fact had allowed her to do as much as she had. The Mega V zords were not velocifighters; they were bigger and much, much heavier. Now, having gotten this far, she was afraid there was only one way she would be able to flip the zord the rest of the way over.

Cracking her eyelids open, she inspected the shadow Mega V6 cast on the ground below. It was safe enough; the zord had been through this much and she doubted it would be damaged more by the impact. But Zhane was another matter.

She shook her head once. There was no choice--she wasn't strong enough to hold the zord indefinitely, and neither could she lower it to the ground on her own.

Giving the zord a last, magic-powered shove, she watched it crash forward. She couldn't help wincing as it hit the rocky ground and actually bounced forward a meter or two before coming to rest. *Zhane?* she asked, for maybe the tenth time since she had arrived.

There was still no answer, and she bit her lip. She could sense his presence, dimly, on the edge of her mind, and it had remained unchanged from the beginning of her effort to the end. The trouble was that she couldn't tell whether that was a good sign or not.

She rose to her feet and climbed over the rocks to stand beside the battered zord. It was in much better shape than it should have been, and she assumed Zhane had had thrusters throughout almost the entire descent. He had managed to crash the ship with what looked like minimal damage, but something must have gone wrong as the surface of the planet neared.

Squinting against the sun, she craned her head upward. The zord had been resting against the cliff face when she found it, and only the rocks themselves had prevented it from being upside down. She didn't know what could have catapulted it into such a position, considering that both the thrusters and the outer hull seemed intact--Zhane should have been able to land without so much trouble.

More than that, he should be responding when she called his name. Zords placed terrific emphasis on pilot safety, and if his ship had held together, he should not only be alive but conscious as well.

She frowned, considering the obstacle before her. While she couldn't see the zord's topside now, she had been able to get a good look on her way in, and there were no real obstructions up there. As long as she aimed too high instead of too low, she should be able to teleport relatively safely.

Summoning to mind the most vivid picture she could conjure of Mega V6's dorsal side and gazing up at what she *could* see, she called on the magic again. Purple sparkles enveloped her, swirling around her form and briefly obscuring her vision. The ground was suddenly gone, and she felt herself falling as the world reformed.

Then the hull was there beneath her feet, and she caught herself to keep from staggering forward. She had indeed teleported too high, but without an exact mental image of her destination, the line of sight teleportation was safer than anything else.

She crouched down, fumbling for the escape hatch that had been blocked by the zord's skewed orientation against the cliffs. It beeped insistently when she tried to release the seals, and she let out her breath in annoyance. It wasn't going to let her in without a Power source of some sort.

*Zhane,* she tried again. *Can you hear me? I need you to release the escape hatch.*

There was no answer, not even the slightest change in the dim glow that lingered just inside her awareness. She couldn't understand the feeling she was getting from that awareness--he didn't *feel* unconscious, but neither was he responsive. He must have been injured in some way she couldn't fathom when his zord went down.

If he wouldn't, or couldn't, open the hatch, she wasn't going to be able to use it. That left only one other way for her to get into the cockpit. She didn't like it, but she had spent a good deal of time in the cockpit of Mega V6. If it hadn't been distorted by the crash, her memory of it would be enough for her to teleport in.

In her mind, that was a big "if". But she could see for herself that the hull wasn't bent out of shape, which boded well for the compartment inside. And if she didn't get inside, she had no idea how she was going to get Zhane out.

Standing, she closed her eyes and remembered standing behind the pilot's chair while he explained basic zord functions to her. He would be right in front of her, with the back wall close behind--

The magic surged in her, and the sun disappeared from her back. The air was suddenly still and sterile, and when she opened her eyes she found herself looking out at the sand-colored stones from the dimness of Mega V6's interior.

A low tone emanated from one of the consoles, and she saw the "Emergency hatch obstructed" alert was stuck on. She waved her hand at it impatiently, and the alert cut off.

Her hand dropped to the back of the pilot's chair, and she forced it around as far as it would go. The blonde head didn't even register until she realized he was still morphed--where was his helmet?

His restraints were still in place, and she leaned forward to free him from them. Zhane was clearly unconscious, though she could still sense him, stronger than he should have been, at the edge of her mind.

She caught him as she pulled the second shoulder strap loose, and she wrapped her arms awkwardly around him. Taking a single step backwards--all she had room for in the small space--she managed to tug him to his feet, at least far enough that she could be sure she was supporting him.

Closing her eyes, she pictured the bare, sun-warmed stones outside, and the magic swirled around them both. Oddly, she felt silver streaking the familiar violet tones, and she had time to hope his Power wouldn't react badly to her sorcery--she had never teleported a Ranger before.

Then there was solid rock under her feet again, and she tried not to stumble with the added weight of Zhane's body. Bracing herself more firmly, she lowered herself to the ground and let him slide from her arms, putting one hand behind his head to make sure he didn't hit it when she let him go.

She couldn't help breathing a sigh of relief when he was settled, and she glanced back at his zord. As soon as there was a lull in the fighting, she knew *someone* would come looking for it, eager for the chance to study some Ranger technology.

She turned back to Zhane. Some instinct urged her not to leave him here alone, but her presence would do him no good if an orbiting ship tracked his zord to this location. She looked him over briefly, finding no external evidence of injury.

*Other than the fact that he's unconscious,* she thought, still at a loss to explain his condition. Aside from the lack of his helmet, his morph had held, and his restraints had done their job--he should be fine.

Shaking her head, she tore her eyes away from him and climbed to her feet again. There was nothing she could do for him now. Healing had not been considered a skill she would need, and without knowing what was wrong it wouldn't have done him much good anyway.

The magic engulfed her, sweeping her into the Mega V4 cockpit, and she ran the zord's preflight sequence as quickly as she could. The Power made the Rangers so aware of their zords that the preflight was unnecessary, but it was a convenience she didn't have. So she waited impatiently for the system lights to flash green, and she nudged the thrusters online.

The zord lifted off, edging closer to its sister ship than she had dared to set it down before. When they were side by side, separated by only meters, she let the thrusters lower the zord onto the rocks once more and power down.

Reaching out to wrap the magic's invisibility around the second zord, she felt it stretch a little, then settle back within comfortable limits. Then she caught herself up in it and rode the violet energy back to the stones outside.

Zhane had not moved since she left him, so she sat down at his side and considered her next move. She had not expected Mega V6 to be in such good condition--she would have to run a diagnostic to be sure, but she thought it might be able to fly.

Zhane was another matter. Without him, there was little chance she could get both zords off this planet and into hyperrush. And if she had to fly them both, there was no way she could maintain the invisibility cloak at the same time.

She frowned down at him, troubled by his continued unconsciousness. "Zhane, wake up," she told him impatiently. "We don't have time for this."

He did not move, and she pushed at the mental glow on the edge of her mind. *Zhane.* Staring at him, she took one of his hands in her own and willed him awake.

It didn't work, of course, but she could think of nothing else to do for him. She turned her gaze out across the rocky slope that rose up to meet these cliffs, deciding she'd be better off to assume he was going to stay this way.

The first thing she needed to do was check out Mega V6. If it could fly, it would be the best vehicle in which to make their escape--Dark Spectre's forces already knew it was here, and if she could get the zord into hyperspace, there would be no reason for anyone to search the planet's surface. She could leave Mega V4 enspelled with stationary invisibility until someone returned for it, and be assured that it was relatively safe.

If Mega V6 *couldn't* fly, they could leave it under the same protective spell, but its chances of being discovered were higher. The surest way to make sure it remained out of enemy hands would be to destroy it, but somehow she didn't think the Rangers would appreciate that much.

"So those are our choices," she muttered. "I have to say I like the one where you're conscious better, Zhane."

She almost jumped when she felt his fingers tighten convulsively on her hand. "Zhane?" she asked, leaning forward.

His head twisted, a frown marring his peaceful expression, and she saw him squinting up at her. "Where…?"

"One of the Rysian planets," she answered. "You crashed, remember?"

He didn't answer, and she prompted, "Andros' zord was hit, and you picked the most suicidal of all possibilities to give him time to recover. You slammed into another ship, it exploded, and you were caught in the planet's gravity. You crashed here, and somehow turned your zord upside-down in the process."

He struggled to sit up, staring around with a look of bewilderment on his face. "I--I must have been knocked out by the explosion. I don't remember anything after that."

She tried not to frown. "You zord would never have landed as well as it did without you controlling it. You must have been conscious until you crashed."

He was silent for a moment, and she realized he was gazing at their clasped hands. She pulled hers free, and he looked up to meet her eyes. "I don't remember," he repeated, frustration evident in his expression.

She studied him critically. "How do you feel?"

He sighed. "Fine. And no, I don't think I hit my head, but since I can't remember, who knows?"

She shook her head, dismissing that. "You'd know. If you'd hit your head hard enough to affect your memory, you'd still be able to feel it."

"Done that before, huh?" he asked wryly.

She felt a small smile escape as she watched him run a hand through his hair. "Once," she admitted.

"And only once, I bet." He glanced around, and a look of puzzlement settled over his features. "Where's my zord?"

She looked over at the two zords, both surrounded by a faint shimmer of violet. "At the base of the cliffs. Here," she offered, holding her hand out to him again.

He took it, and followed her gaze when she turned her head again. "Magic?" he guessed.

She nodded. "I don't want anyone stumbling over us until we're ready to be found."

He gave her a sharp look. "You have a plan?"

"Of course," she replied, a little miffed. "You think I would have come without one?"

His surprise turned slowly to confusion, as though he was only now beginning to suspect what he didn't know. "Wait--why *are* you here? You--it should have been Andros."

"He wanted to come," she told him. "I wouldn't let him. I can only cloak one moving ship at a time, and I didn't want to fight half of Dark Spectre's army to get you out of here."

He frowned. "But what were you doing here at all? Did Andros call you?"

"I was coming to meet Ecliptor," she said calmly.

"What?!"

She had not expected him to respond well to the news, but she wasn't going to hide the truth just to spare his feelings. "Ecliptor has some information for me. I came to collect it. Unfortunately, your inability to think clearly in the middle of a battle delayed me."

"I saved my friend's life," he said indignantly. "I'd say I was thinking pretty clearly."

"Were your lasers offline?" she demanded. "I saw what happened, Zhane; Andros showed me. Why didn't you just destroy the velocifighter?"

"If Andros showed you what happened, you know I was right behind him," Zhane reminded her. "I didn't even have a partial shot; he was in the way until the last second.

"And I *did* destroy the velocifighter--it exploded, remember?"

She knew he was trying to make a joke, and she glared at him. "Your foolish risk endangered both your zords."

He gaped at her. "My… *my* foolish risk? In case you'd forgotten, you're the one walking into an enemy stronghold! Alone, and in a zord no less!"

She drew back, feeling as though she'd been slapped. "This accomplishes nothing," she informed him, her tone cold. "I do not have to justify my actions to you, anymore than you have to explain yours to me. But I promised Andros I would bring you back, and I'm going to keep that promise."

He blinked, looking taken aback. "You're here because you promised Andros?"

"I had to," she retorted. "He probably would have gotten himself killed if he came after you himself."

"Well, I owe you for that, at least," he muttered.

There was a brief, awkward silence.

Finally, she got to her feet and started walking toward their zords, feeling his eyes on her as she went. "Where are you going?" he called after her, when she did not volunteer.

"To run a diagnostic on Mega V6," she replied over her shoulder. "I need to know how badly you damaged it before I know whether it even can leave the atmosphere."

She heard him scrambling to his feet behind her. "I'm coming with you," he announced unnecessarily, his long stride bringing him even with her even as he finished the sentence.

She shrugged, saying nothing. She came to a deliberately abrupt halt next to his zord and couldn't help smirking when he ran into it.

"Very funny," he muttered, catching sight of her expression. "Are you going to let me see it, or not?"

She actually considered it, but he did know more about the zords than she. He could conceivably be more helpful than annoying, so she reached out to touch his face.

He turned his head in surprise, and she let out an irritated sigh. "Hold still," she ordered, and she laid her hand across his forehead. Purple sparkles briefly traced the outline of her fingers, and she saw his eyes widen as Mega V6 came into sudden view centimeters from where he stood.

Glancing up the side, he asked incredulously, "You climbed that?"

She snorted. "Of course not."

She took his hand and concentrated, and a flash of purple was the only warning before the top of Mega V6 appeared below them. Her aim was a lot better this time, but Zhane still stumbled when the hull wasn't exactly where his feet thought it should be.

"You could warn me next time," he said, regaining his balance and giving her a measured look.

She shrugged. "You know I don't need DECA to teleport. How did you think I got you out?"

"Escape hatch," he answered promptly.

She threw a look over her shoulder at him as she crouched down beside the hatch. When she tried to release the seals, as before, it beeped at her, and Zhane looked chagrined.

"Oh." Hunching down beside her, he held his morpher over the Power-sensitive seals. They popped open with a hissing click, and the hatch lifted without further complaint.

She swung her legs around, intending to jump through, but Zhane caught her arm before she could move. "Wait." His tone was harsh, and she turned to stare at him.

His face had gone suddenly pale, and he gazed down at the escape hatch as though he was seeing something else entirely. Something--terrifying. The frightened look on his face scared *her*, and she pulled away from the hatch instinctively.

"What's wrong?" she asked finally, keeping her voice steady with an effort. She had never seen him look like that before.

"Don't go in there," he whispered. "I--I remember."

"What do you remember?" she asked quietly, moving a little farther from the hatch. Maybe they should reseal it and leave the zord altogether…

She gasped, jerking out of someone else's memories for the second time that day. She stared around wildly, looking for the space to reassure herself that she wasn't confined--

And caught Zhane's terrified gaze. "I can't go in there, Astrea," he pleaded. "It won't let me out again."

Her heartbeat started to slow at last as the cold grip of his fear released her. "You're claustrophobic," she breathed, studying him in wonder.

He looked away. She saw him draw in a shuddering breath, his eyes sliding shut as he refused to meet her gaze.

She couldn't believe it. One of the Astro Rangers--the vaunted Silver Ranger himself--had a weakness. A critical one, at that, for she knew now what had caused his zord to flip over like that.

At the last moment, he had not been able to suppress his panic, and the nose of his zord had dipped when he let go of the controls. Striking the rocky surface, Mega V6 had been flung end over end until it came to rest at the base of the cliffs. Only Zhane's restraints had ensured that he was not killed.

"How long?" she asked finally. She had the faintest memory of playing hide and seek with him when they were younger, and she knew he had not always been like this.

"What do *you* care?" he demanded, opening his eyes and giving her a bitter look that made her draw back in surprise. "You're don't even want to be here. You wouldn't have come if Andros hadn't made you."

"That's not true," she protested. Catching herself, she added indignantly, "Andros can't make me do anything!"

The ghost of a smile flickered across his face.

"I came because I wanted to be the first one to yell at you," she added. "And believe me, I had to fight Andros for the chance. How could you have scared us like that, Zhane? How could you *do* something like that to us?"

She had only meant to make him smile a little more, maybe chide him lightly for his recklessness. He just stared at her, though, and she realized her voice had risen as she "pretended" to scold him. It wasn't a joke anymore--she was in earnest, and he knew it.

She tried not to blush, glancing down at the solid metal hull beneath them. "How could you let us think you might die?" she finished, her voice quiet.

"What do you care?" he repeated, more softly this time. His own voice was hesitant, as though he was somehow afraid of the answer.

"You're my friend," she said stubbornly. "I care."

He flinched, as though that was what he had both feared and expected. "Of course," he agreed.

She studied him a moment longer, knowing she had handled that badly but not sure how to correct her mistake. Finally she just turned away, sliding back over to the escape hatch. "I'll be right back," she promised, and he nodded, his eyes tight.

She swung through the hatch and dropped to the floor inside the cockpit. The stillness took her breath away as the dim lighting wrapped around her, and for just a second she felt an echo of the overwhelming fear that had paralyzed Zhane.

She shook it off, taking his place in the pilot's seat and bringing the diagnostic systems online.

Ashley pressed the "flash" button and punched in TJ's phone number. Catching her father's eye, she shook her head wordlessly, waiting for the call to go through. It was annoying to have to rely suddenly on Earth technology, she thought, with some amount of amusement.

Instead of ringing, she got a busy signal, and she sighed. Pushing "off", she set the phone down and exchanged worried looks with her father. "TJ's line is busy," she told him, "but Carlos hasn't seen her. He says he'll call if she shows up."

"Could she have gone--somewhere else?" her father asked.

She knew what he was asking, but she shook her head. Cassie had left her communicator behind, and it was currently resting in Ashley's pocket. She would have no way to contact the Megaship, let alone teleport there.

"She's done this before," Cassie's mother interjected, still seated calmly at the dinner table. "It's nothing to worry about. She'll be back in the morning when she gets hungry, or whenever she gets tired of hiding out at her friend's house."

"But she's not *at* a friend's house," Ashley pointed out, irritated by the woman's blasé attitude. "I checked."

Patricia shrugged. "She's probably with that boyfriend of hers. I'm sure a college boy won't want her hanging around all the time--she'll come back before long."

Not trusting herself to answer, Ashley returned to the table and rather pointedly began clearing the dishes away. She didn't think Patricia was done, but she and her father certainly weren't going to eat anything else.

"We'll let you know when she does," Ashley's father said shortly, and Patricia looked somewhat taken aback as Ashley stacked her plate on top of the others and carried it over to the counter by the sink.

"Of course," she said, recovering her poise and rising to her feet. "I'll leave you my phone number at the motel."

Her dad leaned back in his chair, retrieved a notepad and pen from their place by the phone, and tossed them down in front of her. She wrote out her phone number and name, as though they could somehow have forgotten it, and handed it back.

"I must thank you for putting up with my daughter all this time," she added, as she recapped the pen and set it down on the table. "Frankly, I don't know how you've dealt with her."

Ashley, who had been loading the dishwasher and doing her best to ignore Patricia, turned indignantly at that. Her father beat her to the retort, however, and she watched in satisfaction as he glared back at the overbearing woman.

"Cassie has been a joy to have in this house," he said, getting to his feet and using his height to his advantage. "She has never given us any reason to regret offering her a place to stay, and I, for one, am proud of the person she has become while she's been here."

Patricia looked irritatingly unintimidated. "And you see how she's repaid you," she said coolly. "Running off again, without so much as a 'thank you' for your trouble. She hasn't changed."

He stared down at her. At last, he just repeated, "We'll let you know when she comes back."

She nodded once, turned, and swept gracefully toward the front door. Ashley waited until the door had closed behind her to exclaim, "*She's* the reason Cassie took off! And I don't blame her!"

Her father didn't reply right away, but when he caught her eye, his gaze was troubled. "Neither do I, to tell you the truth. That's no way to raise a child. But legally, Cassie is still a minor, and Patricia Chan is her mother, whether she acts like it or not."

"But her birthday's next month!" Ashley protested. "If we told her not to come back, her mother couldn't do anything about it in just a few weeks!"

He sighed. "I'm afraid no one ever signed anything giving us custody of Cassie. If her mother decides she wants her back, there's nothing we can do to stop her. She could even file a kidnapping report, if it came to that."

Ashley stared at him.

"I don't think she will," he assured her, coming over to join her by the sink. "I don't know what she's after, but it doesn't seem to be Cassie. But until we know what she *does* want, we're just going to have to put up with her."

"And Cassie will be miserable," Ashley muttered, reaching for her communicator. "I'm going to ask TJ if he's seen her."

Her father put a hand on her shoulder, and she glanced up at him. "If she wants to come back here, you know I want her to," he said quietly. "This is her home now, and she's always welcome.

"But she's dealt with her mother before. She knows how she thinks, and maybe Cassie has the right idea. If she 'disappears' for a few days, maybe her mother will lose interest."

Ashley studied him for a moment, then nodded slowly. "I'll tell her," she murmured. "If I can find her--if she's not at TJ's, I don't know where to look."

"If they kill Beckett, that'll just be the last straw."

TJ turned away from the window, amused by the indignation in Tessa's voice. "All right, I give in. What channel are you on?"

"Channel 5," she replied promptly.

He tucked the phone between his shoulder and his ear and set about looking for the TV remote. He found it buried underneath a newspaper on the counter between kitchen and living room, and, turning it on the TV, pressed "power".

"Oh, this is really annoying," Tessa complained. "They just went to a commercial--sorry."

"That's all right," he said with a smile, flipping to the required channel. "Tell me what's going on, so I'll have some clue."

"Well, it's the first show of the season, and they're changing everything, so no one really knows--"

A tap on the window caught his attention, distracting him from Tessa's explanation. He glanced over his shoulder, and his eyes widened. "Tess, can you hang on a second?"

"Sure," she said, sounding puzzled.

"Actually--" He dropped the remote and motioned towards the door. The figure in the window nodded, and he went to open it for her. "Can I call you back? Cassie just showed up."

"Oh, of course," she said quickly. "I'm going to be up for a while--if you can, give me a call and let me know if she's all right?"

"I will," he promised. "Bye, and thanks."

"Bye TJ," she said, a smile in her voice.

He pulled the door open and gestured Cassie inside, dropping the phone next to the couch as he did so. "Cass, where have you *been*? Ashley called hours ago looking for you--are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she mumbled, letting him tug her away from the door.

"Don't give me that," he said sternly, closing the door behind her. Putting an arm around her shoulders, he led her over to the couch and made her sit down. "Ashley said your mom was there. Was she that bad?"

"I don't want to talk about it," she answered tiredly, leaning against his shoulder.

"Well, tough," he said. "You have to at least tell me if I can let Ashley know where you are."

She didn't answer right away, but finally she nodded a little. "Yeah. Tell her I'm sorry I ran out on her like that."

He squeezed her shoulders, making no move to stand up. "All right. Now, what did your mom do?"

"She didn't do anything," Cassie muttered. "She never does. She's just… herself. And then Saryn wanted to know why I wasn't on Aquitar yet, and I know he's been listening to Linnse and she's going to make him hate me…"

"He won't hate you," TJ soothed, patting her shoulder gently. "You know he won't listen to anyone when it comes to you. Here--" He edged toward the end of the couch, drawing her with him. "Lie down, okay? You look like you need some rest."

Cassie accepted the transition from his shoulder to the cushions without complaint, and he got to his feet. "Do you want anything to drink?" he offered gently. "Or eat? Ashley said you didn't have dinner…"

She shook her head a little, making a sound that could have been a negative, and he touched her shoulder again. "I'm just going to go call Ashley," he told her quietly. "I'll be right back."

"Okay," she murmured, her gaze fixing on the TV screen behind him.

He glanced back at it. The show Tessa had been watching was back, and he figured he might as well leave it on and give Cassie something to stare mindlessly at. He picked up the phone and headed for the kitchen, clicking the volume on the TV down a little as he passed.

The phone only rang once at Ashley's house before she picked it up, and he smiled at her breathless, "Hello?"

"Ash, it's TJ," he told her, glad to have some good news. "Cassie's here."

"Is she okay?" Ashley demanded. "Can I talk to her?"

He leaned on the counter, watching Cassie curl closer against the back of the living room couch. "She's pretty tired right now, I think. She said to tell you she's sorry for running out on you, though."

"Oh, I don't blame her," Ashley said, and the fervency in her voice surprised him.

He felt compelled to ask, "Is her mom really that bad?"

"Yes!" Ashley's exclamation startled him, coming as it did from someone who seemed to find something good about everyone. "She's terrible, TJ. She didn't even care that Cassie was gone! If I don't ever see that woman again, I'll be a happy person."

Surprised by her reaction, it was a moment before TJ replied. "She's not there anymore, then, I take it."

"No, thank goodness. She went back to her motel right after dinner."

"Do you want me to call her or something, let her know Cassie's safe?" he asked.

"No," Ashley replied. "Believe me when I say she won't care. We said we'd call her when Cassie came home, and that's exactly what we're going to do--not before. In fact, can you have Cassie call me when she's feeling better, before she leaves your place?"

"Sure," TJ said automatically. He glanced over at Cassie again, saw her unfocused gaze still resting on the TV. "Tomorrow morning. I think she's going to stay here tonight."

"All right. I'm going to have DECA teleport her communicator to you so you can give it to her when she wants it, okay?"

"That'd be great," he agreed, studying Cassie from across the room. He couldn't see her left wrist, buried underneath one of the sofa cushions, but he couldn't help wondering what had possessed her to take her morpher off.

He heard Ashley say something to DECA over her own communicator, and a moment later a sparkle of pink announced the arrival of Cassie's morpher on the counter next to him. "Thanks, Ash," he said, picking up the disguised device.

"Thank *you*," she said. "I'm glad Cassie went to you instead of just wandering around the city all night. I'll let you go now, but remember to have her call me in the morning."

"I will," he promised. "She'll be okay here."

"I know." There was a pause, and then Ashley added, " 'Night, TJ."

" 'Night." He waited until she hung up, then pushed the "off" button and set the phone down.

Glancing down at his communicator, he briefly considered getting DECA to put him through to Aquitar. He didn't know what Saryn had done to upset Cassie, but if there was one thing he was convinced of now it was that the other would never intentionally hurt her. If they just spoke to each other…

But one look at Cassie dissuaded him from that notion. Her eyes were closed and her expression peaceful as sleep finally rescued her from the stresses of the day. He wasn't going to wake her up now. She could work things out with her significant other in the morning.

Walking around the counter, he stopped to turn the TV off before going to Cassie's side. He picked up her left hand gently, watching her for a reaction. When she didn't stir, he wrapped her communicator around her wrist and fastened it there, where it belonged.

Then he pulled the afghan off the back of the couch, whispering, "Sleep well," as he settled it over her shoulders. He turned the living room lights off as he left, and dimmed the ones in the kitchen.

He left a note for his uncle, when he got back, and another for Cassie in case she woke before he did. Then he grabbed the phone off the counter and headed to his own room to call Tessa back.

"No!" She jerked awake, staring wildly about her in the unfamiliar darkness. "Saryn!"

"Whoa--" The kitchen lights came on, casting their glow over the counter and into the living room. "Cass, take it easy," a sleepy voice advised, but it wasn't his. He wasn't here; he was in danger--

Then TJ was there, sitting down next to her and trying to stifle a yawn. "Cassie, it's okay," he promised. "You just had a nightmare. Everything's all right."

"No," she whispered, staring at him. "It's not--Saryn's in trouble!"

TJ just shook his head. "You just talked to him a little while ago. He's on Aquitar, remember? He's perfectly safe."

"I told you, I can't come." The echo of her earlier words to him came back to her, and she closed her eyes in dismay. "I have to talk to him," she whispered. "I have to apologize…"

"In the morning," TJ tried to say, but she cut him off.

"No. Now." She reached for her communicator, determined to hear his voice. She had to make sure. "DECA," she said, tapping her communicator, "Can you establish a link to Aquitar for me?"

"Transmission sent," DECA replied calmly. "Aquitar accepts--link established."

But the voice that came back was not any of the Aquitian Rangers'. Instead, a woman's voice answered, "This is Linnse, of the Frontier Defense."

Cassie's eyes widened, and she stared at TJ. What was Linnse doing answering comm signals? "I need to speak to the Phantom Ranger," she said, trying to keep her voice steady.

There was a pause from the other end. "Please identify yourself."

She cleared her throat uncertainly, knowing that the incoming transmission would have identified her as an Astro Ranger. "This is Cassie."

"I'm sorry," Linnse said without hesitation. "The Phantom Ranger is unavailable. I'll tell him you called."

The link went dead, and DECA's voice informed them, "Aquitar is no longer transmitting."

Cassie stared at her communicator in shock, then reached trembling fingers out to turn the little device off. She lifted her eyes helplessly to TJ's, feeling tears threatening to fall once more.

His expression went from surprised to angry to sympathetic in the space of a heartbeat, and he put his arms around her and drew her into a fierce hug. "We'll contact him in the morning, Cassie," he murmured. "I promise. If we have to take the Megaship to Aquitar and kidnap him ourselves, we'll talk to him."

5. Storm Shelter

The sun still beat down on his back, but it was lower in the sky than it had been when he crashed. The breeze had picked up a little, but still couldn't be called anything more than a breeze, and the heat was intense.

Zhane sighed, running a hand through his damp hair and regarding the port stabilizer critically. Astrea had volunteered to switch off with him, for the environmental systems in the cockpit made it about twenty degrees cooler inside. But he still couldn't face climbing in there again, so he continued to do the exterior work while she repaired the zord's system interface.

They were minor repairs, really, and could have been accomplished in half the time on the Megaship. But the zords had only a minimum of repair equipment and few replacement parts, and the only way they were managing as well as they were was due in large part to her sorcery.

*You know, all you have to do is say the word and we'll come get you,* Andros reminded him, evidently picking up on Zhane's frustration. *The Rysians and the Cai are both long gone from that system--the Megaship could come in and just blast its way through.*

*Don't tempt me,* Zhane answered wryly. *But your sister is still determined to meet Ecliptor, and *I* sure can't change her mind.*

There was a brief pause, and Andros admitted, *I'm not sure I like the idea of her meeting him, no matter how helpful he's been. It sounds like the perfect trap, to me.*

*Me too,* Zhane agreed. He tilted his head, trying to wipe the sweat off his forehead with his arm. The wire junction he had been holding so carefully separate slipped, and a shock stabbed through his fingers. *Ow!*

*Are you all right?* Andros asked immediately.

Zhane nodded, though he knew his friend couldn't see it. *Yeah. Trying to rewire the stabilizer controls.*

Andros was quiet, probably letting him concentrate as Zhane used a pair of insulated pliers to retrieve the junction. His welder was already on the lowest setting, and he applied it to the junction with a little more concentration this time.

The metal melted into place, and he withdrew his hands. It stayed even when he tugged on the cluster from farther down the wiring, and he flipped the welder off. Taking new insulation from the repair kit, he used the pliers to prod it into place and thought, *Did she tell you what this information is that he has for her?*

*She didn't tell me anything. She just showed up in Ashley's zord and said she was going after you--I didn't even know why she was there until DECA told me later. And DECA says Ecliptor didn't tell her anything about what the information was. Kerone just seemed to think it was important.*

Zhane sighed involuntarily. *I asked her earlier, but she just told me to mind my own business.*

He could hear Andros' amusement when his friend asked, *Did she really say that?*

Dropping the pliers, he fished around for the repair kit's sealant. *Close enough that you wouldn't know the difference. I've... I've been thinking about trying to get her to take me when she goes to the Dark Fortress.*

Uncapping the sealant, he waited for Andros' reply. It was slow in coming. *Are you sure that's a good idea?* the other asked at last. *As much as I don't like the idea of her going alone, you might put her in more danger by going with her.*

*I know,* Zhane confessed. *But I can't stand the thought of taking off without her, and then having to wait for her to come back to the Megaship.*

*I know the feeling,* Andros said pointedly, and Zhane smiled a little.

*Well, I probably won't be able to convince her to let me come anyway, so I doubt it will matter.* Snapping the access panel back into place, he announced, *Done. And it's about time, too.*

*How much more do you have to do?* Andros wanted to know.

*Nothing, once your sister gets the interface calibrated again. She seems to think I sabotaged it deliberately, to make more work for her.*

*Did you?* Andros asked, and Zhane's eyes widened.

*Very funny! Of course I didn't!*

*Whoa, calm down,* his friend said, amusement giving way to surprise. *I was just kidding.*

Zhane paused, knowing he had reacted too strongly. It was her fault--spending so much time with her was making him defensive. He couldn't seem to say anything right, and there was no one else around to take the pressure off.

*Are you guys doing all right?* Andros asked, sounding suddenly concerned. *I mean...*

*Yeah,* Zhane said with a sigh. *I know what you mean, and yeah, we're doing all right. I just keep annoying her somehow, and I don't even know what I'm doing.*

Andros didn't answer right away, and Zhane turned to lean against the zord's hull. Gazing off toward the horizon, he frowned a little. He had been able to see until the sky met the planet's surface in this direction a few minutes ago, but now the line looked strangely blurred. Heat haze, he guessed, and slid down to sit on the ground, his back against the port thruster.

*I'm going to talk to Kerone, okay?* Andros' voice came back at last. *I won't say anything about you; I'll just ask her how she's doing.*

*Here, wait a sec and I'll get her attention,* Zhane offered. *Listen--you'll see what I mean.*

*All right,* Andros agreed. He quieted, but his presence in Zhane's mind did not fade.

Shifting his focus to the girl inside the cockpit, Zhane asked, *Astrea?* As soon as the word was out, he winced--he had been trying to call her Kerone around Andros. But it was too late now, and he tried to keep his tone completely neutral as he continued. *Andros is wondering how you're doing.*

*I'm working as fast as I can!* she replied, with some asperity, and it was all he could do not to throw his hands up in the air and appeal to his friend.

*That's not what I meant,* he tried to explain. *He's just wondering how you are.*

*Stuck on an uninhabited planet with a Ranger who won't even come into the cockpit to explain the interface system to me?* she suggested, and he fell silent.

*Kerone?* Andros asked, when Zhane said nothing more.

There was a brief pause, and her focus vanished from Zhane's mind. Andros kept his thoughts open, though, and by concentrating on his friend he could hear her reply. Her mental voice was completely unreadable, and all she said was, *Yes?*

*How are you?* Andros inquired idly, as though he had not just overheard her previous response to the question.

*I'm fine,* she answered. *Mega V6 is nearly ready for liftoff, if Zhane's finished with the stabilizer.*

*He is,* Andros told her. *You're finished with the interface, then?*

*Almost.* She didn't elaborate, and Andros didn't ask her to.

Instead, he wanted to know, *How's Zhane doing?*

Zhane rolled his eyes. So much for "I won't say anything about you." But he listened as closely as Andros for the answer.

*I wish I knew, Andros!* To Zhane's surprise, her tone sounded dismayed. *He's barely spoken to me since we split up to do repairs.*

It was all he could do to keep from exclaiming and giving away his presence in the mental conversation. "I haven't spoken to her because every time I do she snaps at me," he muttered.

*You're not doing the Astronema thing to him, are you?*

Zhane blinked. He had no idea what his friend was talking about, but it was a reference Andros' sister seemed to recognize. She sounded almost amused when she answered, *Oh, I hope not.*

*He's just trying to help, you know,* Andros reminded her gently.

*He'd be more help if he could *show* me how to fix this interface instead of just explaining it,* she retorted, and Zhane winced.

Staring toward the horizon again, where the heat haze was rippling wider and closer, he wished it could have been Andros who had found him. Better than that, he wished he hadn't crashed at all. He would give a great deal to have kept Astrea from finding out he was claustrophobic.

*He can't help it, you know,* Andros said sternly.

*I know, I know.* There was a pause, and then she added, *But he didn't have that problem when we were little, did he. What happened?*

Andros hesitated. Zhane said nothing, but he knew his friend was torn. Finally, Andros just said, *It was during the first evacuation of KO-35. You'll have to get him to tell you, though; I don't know the details.*

Zhane smiled a little, resting his head against the hull. Andros knew exactly what had happened--he had been the one to find Zhane afterward.

*But he won't!* she cried. *I just know it, Andros. Whenever I try to ask him something important, he just makes a joke and ignores me!*

"And whenever I try to ask you something, you say it's none of my business and ignore *me*!" he exclaimed aloud, just barely keeping himself from thinking it.

*He does that, Kerone,* Andros told her mildly. "You know that; it's just his way of protecting himself."

Zhane was glad there was no one there to see him blush--if it had been anyone else, he would have killed Andros for saying that. But then, if it had been anyone but his sister, Andros wouldn't have said it in the first place. He knew, probably better than Zhane himself, how his best friend felt about her.

*Are you sure he's not trying to keep distance between you because you're doing it to him, too?* Andros asked, and Zhane closed his eyes.

That, of course, was the problem. No matter how *he* felt about her, he couldn't read her at all. One moment, he was sure there was some feeling for him in her gestures--the kiss at the beach, her frequent smiles, or the way she'd been holding his hand when he woke up. The next, she'd be talking about their "friendship", and how much it meant to her that they *were* friends.

*Doing the Astronema thing?* Her voice was unusually timid, but it drew his mind back to the conversation like nothing else.

*Yeah,* Andros agreed, sounding fond. *Doing the Astronema thing. He's a terrific person, Kerone--he'll open up to you if you let him.*

*Maybe you're right,* she said at last. *I'll... remember that.*

*Good,* Andros said, sounding satisfied. His concentration wavered for a moment, and when he came back, he told her, *I have to go--will you be okay?*

*Of course,* she replied immediately. *No one on the planet can see us, and no one in orbit can track us. What could happen?*

*Never ask that,* Andros advised dryly. *I'd rather you didn't find out. Be safe, Kerone.*

*You too,* she said, and through Andros, Zhane could feel her focus shift away from the conversation.

*And you, Zhane,* Andros added, the words louder now that they were directed at him. *Be safe--will *you* be okay?*

*Yeah,* he said slowly, not sure how to thank his friend for letting him eavesdrop. *Andros... that really helped. Thanks.*

*You're welcome. Just never, ever tell her I did that!*

Zhane grinned in spite of himself. *I won't. I owe you.*

*You always do,* Andros reminded him lightly. *Let me know when you lift off.*

*Right.* His friend's presence retreated to a bright glow just beyond what his eyes could see, and Zhane pushed himself to his feet. He was going to have a talk with Andros' sister.

He walked around the end of the compact thruster and levered himself up on top of it. He had found that it was possible to climb the zord from the back, if one put one's mind to it, and the startled expression on Astrea's face when he first appeared at the escape hatch without the aid of her teleportation had been well worth the effort.

This time, as he pulled himself up and straightened to walk over to the hatch, he glanced out toward the rapidly approaching heat haze. It looked darker than it had at first, and as he squinted at it, he wondered if he could actually see something moving in that strange air mass.

*Air mass?* he thought suddenly, looking more closely. If it was moving air, not just heat--

"Oh, this is not good," he muttered, dread taking sudden hold in his heart. "Astrea?"

He strode over to the hatch and rapped sharply on the hull. "Astrea, I think you should see this..."

He heard her mutter something that he probably wasn't supposed to overhear, but a moment later she appeared at the bottom of the ladder that led up through the escape hatch. "What is it?"

He motioned to her to come up, still staring off across the desolate expanse of sand and stone that surrounded them. "Just trust me on this one."

She sighed, but he heard her sneakers on the ladder a moment later. He turned back just as she reached the top, and wordlessly offered his hand. She glanced over her shoulder as she reached out to take it, and she froze midmotion.

He clasped her hand anyway, and she gave her head a shake and let him pull her up the rest of the way. "We're going to have to secure the zords," she said, giving both of them a cursory glance. "Did you finish with the stabilizer?"

"Yeah, it's ready to go," he said, gaze riveted on the massive dust storm that was sweeping toward them across the plains. "Is there any way we can lift off?"

She shook her head. "The interface is close to being done, but not that close. We're going to have to wait it out."

He heard what she did not say--that they would have to wait it out inside the zords. There was no other option, of course; the cliffs would provide little to no shelter, and to remain outside in a storm like this would be suicidal. But to be inside, for him at least, might be almost as bad...

"Astrea," he said quietly. "I can't--"

"It'll be okay," she interrupted, pausing the checklist that was clearly running through her mind. She put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a reassuring smile, then pushed him gently toward the back of the zord. "Go make sure that access panel is locked shut, all right? I'm going to check Mega V4, and I'll meet you back here in a minute."

"But I--"

"Don't think about it," she ordered. "Just do it. I'll be right back."

He saw her gaze drift toward the oncoming storm, the stiff breeze whipping her hair around her face. Then a violet shimmer spread over her entire form, outlining her for a brief second before she vanished.

"Don't think about it," he muttered, climbing down over the back of the zord and hitting the ground hard. "Sure; easy for *you* to say."

He checked the stabilizer's access panel, but since he hadn't expected to return to it before they left, it was already locked down tight. He hesitated then, his eyes drawn inevitably back to the rushing sand and sediment caught up in the gale that howled across the plains toward them.

He could hear the storm now, a dull roar that escalated in intensity with each passing second, and the closer it came the more of the horizon it seemed to engulf. He supposed it wouldn't seem to surround them until it was on right top of them, but it looked like it might wrap around the two zords at any second and tighten the circle until there was nothing left.

"Zhane!" He heard Astrea's shout from somewhere above him, and when he glanced up he saw her gesturing urgently to him from the top of the zord. "Come on! We have to get inside!"

He swallowed, but he put one foot on the thruster and obediently hauled himself up the side. She caught his hand as he reached over the top, and he accepted the help gratefully. The wind gusted around them as he stood, and she kept her grip on his hand as she pulled him toward the escape hatch.

Sand stung his bare skin as they made their way across the zord, and suddenly a shimmer of violet sprang up around them. The shield dulled the wind and blocked most of the dust, but he balked when she pushed him toward the ladder.

It wasn't much of a choice--stay out here in the storm, or retreat to the safety of the zord. But with the screen completely obscured by blowing sand he knew he wouldn't last long in the cockpit, and he *really* didn't want her to see him fall apart.

Frozen next to the escape hatch, he simply couldn't make himself move.

He couldn't do it. She could see it in his expression, and they didn't have time to waste. Without another thought, she threw her arms around him and closed her eyes, picturing the interior of the Mega V6 cockpit.

She saw the strangely silver-streaked purple flash across her vision, and the wind dropped off sharply, the sound muted by the zord's heavily insulated hull. Letting go of Zhane, she turned and grabbed the ladder's rungs, climbing hand over hand to the escape hatch. Her fingers found the handle, and she wrestled against the ever-increasing wind until, with a last violent tug, the hatch slammed shut.

She twisted the handle until the electronic sensor flashed green, indicating it was not only locked but sealed as well. With a small sigh, she pushed herself away from the ladder and jumped the short distance to the floor. Nothing would be coming through there until it was opened again from the inside.

She glanced over at her companion. He was standing where she'd left him, leaning against the starboard bank of control panels with his eyes closed. "Zhane?"

"I'm fine," he answered. His tone was perfectly normal, though his face looked a little pale and he did not open his eyes.

"Are you sure?" she asked tentatively, not sure what she expected. After all, she had flown with him before, and he had been all right then. He rode the lifts on the Megaship without complaint, too, and that space was at least as small as this.

"Yeah," he said calmly. His eyes still did not open. "No problem."

"Okay," she said, wondering if she had overestimated his reaction. Maybe it was just the memory of the crash that had made him look so afraid before. "I'm just going to finish up the interface, then."

"Right," Zhane agreed, nodding once. "Maybe we can lift off once the storm blows over."

She studied him for a moment, but aside from the fact that he wouldn't open his eyes, he seemed to be fine. She shrugged slightly and turned the pilot's chair toward her so she could sit down. Letting it swivel forward again, she bent over the main console and picked up where she had left off when his knock interrupted her.

The recalibration prompts guided her through the last steps of the procedure, and she thought she almost had the system back online when she heard movement behind her. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Zhane seating himself on the small amount of floor space at the back of the cockpit.

She bit her lip to keep from asking if he was all right again, and she turned back to the interface. As she tried to complete the recalibration, though, the system froze, flashing a single, uninterpretable command up at her. She did everything she could think of to get around it, but it remained stubbornly unresponsive.

*Computers,* she thought with disgust. Much as she didn't want to ask for help at this point--she had gotten this far on her own, after all--it seemed she had no choice.

"Zhane?" she asked, suppressing a sigh. Turning in her chair, she saw him cock his head in her direction. "The interface is recalibrated, but I can't get the system to come back online. It keeps giving me the same error message, over and over."

"Can it wait?" he replied, his tone even.

She blinked. "Well, I guess so. We can't take off in this storm anyway, but you're the one who wanted to get it running again as soon as possible."

He just nodded, and she waited for him to explain.

When he did not, she frowned and looked at him more closely. Was he--shivering?

"Are you cold?" she asked curiously, at a loss to interpret his reaction.

He cracked one eye open at that and looked up at her, then closed it again just as quickly. He shook his head.

Now truly puzzled, she slid out of the pilot's chair to sit on the floor beside him. "Is something wrong?"

He swallowed, and when he spoke, his voice wasn't quite as strong as it had been before. "Maybe you haven't noticed, Kerone, but I'm not exactly at my best right now. I'd really rather not talk about it."

The "Kerone" took her by surprise. He rarely used it when they were alone together, seeming to prefer the name she had given herself when they first met. She found it pleased her to hear it, for she knew when he said "Astrea" that he meant it as a term of affection. For him to have switched back to her real name was unexpected and strangely discomfiting.

"All right," she said at last, leaning against the wall as he was and staring straight ahead at the pilot's console.

After a few minutes, though, she realized he wasn't going to apologize. She shot a sideways look at him, remembering Andros' words: "Maybe he's trying to keep distance between you because you're doing it to him, too."

Zhane didn't have anything to apologize for. He had only told her he didn't want to talk about something, and here she was sulking over him shutting her out again. Not that he hadn't been doing the same thing to her earlier--*It's no wonder we can never talk to each other anymore,* she thought, with a flash of amusement.

"Zhane," she tried again, keeping her voice quiet. "Is there anything... I can do?"

"You can stop asking me questions!" he burst out, reaching up to scrub his face with his hands. "I'm fine, all right? I'm perfectly fine!"

Her eyes narrowed, but then he ran a hand through his hair and let his head fall back against the wall, and the expression of despair on his face cut through to her heart. He was far from fine, she realized, and he couldn't be held responsible for anything he said.

"I just want to help," she insisted, pulling her knees up to her chest and turning a little to face him. "Do you want to talk--about something else?"

"No."

The word was curt, and his refusal should have been enough to deter her. But something wouldn't let her give up. "Zhane... I can't just watch you suffer," she said, studying his profile for any sign of understanding.

His eyes snapped open, and the desperate look in them startled her. "You think this is easy for *me*? I feel like I'm being buried alive in here and there's absolutely nothing I can do about it!"

She couldn't tear her gaze away from his, and she wished suddenly that she could just reach out and hug him. He was shaking harder now, and the temptation to hold him was instinctive, no matter how unwelcome she suspected the gesture would be. His was a fear she could not understand... and she couldn't remember ever feeling this helpless.

He tilted his head back against the wall again, turning his dismayed gaze toward the ceiling. A second later, though, he jerked his eyes away with a wild-eyed stare, and she looked up automatically. The ceiling looked perfectly normal.

"I hate this!" he cried, startling her. "I can't control it, and I *hate* it!"

She swallowed hard, aching to do something, anything, to ease his fear. She knew what it was to be utterly terrified of something that no one else was troubled by--years in the service of Dark Spectre had taught her to turn that part of her off. But the price for being fearless was that you felt very little of anything else, either.

He twisted his head to one side, eyes squeezed shut, and she stiffened as she felt the glow in her mind that was him start to flicker. "No," she breathed, knowing without being able to say how what he was going to do.

When Mega V6 went down, Andros said he had "talked" to Zhane. But she had seen it from Zhane's point of view; he had not been coherent enough to form any kind of sentence. Andros must have felt what she was feeling now--the flare as Zhane's mind tried to protect him the only way it knew how. He was going catatonic.

"Zhane," she said sharply, reaching out to take his hand. She had seen it from his point of view... the thought gave her inspiration. "Zhane, listen to me."

He didn't move, and she grabbed his other hand too. "I'm going to show you a game. You have to trust me--do you trust me, Zhane?"

For the longest moment, he did not respond. Then she saw him swallow, and, incrementally, he nodded. She let go of his right hand to uncurl the fingers of his left and lay them against her own. "Hold your hands up," she said sternly, when he didn't seem inclined to do so by himself.

Laying her left palm against his right, she closed her eyes and deliberately cast back, searching out the beginning of the memory she was looking for.

*No.* Zhane's thought rang through the scene. In his desperation to escape the zord's cockpit, he was strong enough to take control of her "game" and throw them back farther into her memory.

*Zhane!* She gave him a mental shove, trying to push him back a little. *Stop messing with my memory!*

*You didn't see it the way I did...* His tone was wistful, but at least it had lost the panicked edge.

She hesitated, but he had done it to her twice now. Before she could change her mind, she *pushed* against their mental beach--

Zhane said nothing when her own focus drifted back to that moment just before he'd given her the shell, and the memory replayed once more. But she felt his presence in her mind fading, and awareness of her own self began flowing back to take its place.

She opened her eyes, and found him watching her even as he had been on the beach two nights ago. He had let his left hand fall, but his right hand was still firmly pressed against hers as remnants of the memory dissipated between them.

She shifted, tangling her fingers in his and tugging lightly on his hand. He obeyed without a word, eyes fixed on hers as she leaned toward him. At the last moment, though, they fluttered closed, and she kissed him gently.

"Astrea?" he murmured, as she pulled away. He kept his eyes closed, and she was reminded of his reaction when she'd first teleported them into the cockpit.

"What's wrong?" she asked worriedly, wondering if they should escape back into memories of more open places for a while.

"Is this--" He forced his eyes open and stared at her intently. "Is this all just a game, to keep me distracted?"

She caught her breath, feeling as though she'd been slapped. Reality reinstated itself with a violent thud, and she found herself right back where she'd started: a telepathic sorceress, with the ability to keep her friend from hurting himself when claustrophobia drove him to the edge. Nothing they'd shared or remembered had to mean anything more than that.

"Is it..." She tried very hard to keep her voice steady. "Is it just a game to you?"

He shook his head slowly, his entire attention focused upon her. "It was never a game to me. But now--" He hesitated, stumbling over his own words as much as she had. "Now... it could mean something. If--if we wanted it to."

"Do you--want it to?" she asked, almost afraid of the answer.

"Do *you*?" He wasn't going to give her the easy way out this time. She would have to choose, and choose before he told her *his* feelings.

But she knew his feelings, didn't she? Andros had told her, and she had seen them for herself time and again. Their memory "game" was just the latest in a string of similar incidents. It was her own feelings she wasn't so sure of.

She looked at him, and knew only that she didn't want him to turn away. If she said "no", he would look away, make a joke, and things would continue the way they had for the past two weeks. Did she want to keep pushing him away?

But what if she said "yes"? What would change? Would anything? Would he, as Andros had once suggested, want to go back to being only friends in a few weeks anyway?

Was it worth the risk either way?

"Yes," she whispered, watching him carefully for his reaction.

He just gazed back at her, not moving, and she withstood the scrutiny as best she could. She had made her choice. She hated this feeling of dependency, the feeling that it all hinged on his response, but she knew there was no other way to get to where they were. She had to trust sometime, and she was going to start with him.

As he continued to stare at her, though, she felt herself fidgeting. "Well?" she demanded at last, reasoning that no one had said she had to be *patient* and trusting. "What do *you* want?"

He started to smile, and she got the irritating feeling that he had just won some contest she hadn't even been aware of. But his next words banished any resentment she might have felt. "I want you to kiss me again," he confessed. "It's all I've wanted since that night at the campfire--do you remember?"

How could she not?

She felt his palm press harder against hers, and he caught up the hand he had released as well. "I want to show you," he murmured. "Can you make it happen that way?"

Wordlessly, she nodded, and they were plunged back into his memories.

*I still can't think of a single thing,* his voice said softly in her mind, and she swallowed hard. It was strange to see herself through his eyes, to know--to really *know*--how much of his joking was just a cover for the feelings he tried to conceal.

The beach once more started to give way to the stark confines of the Mega V6 cockpit, but she barely even noticed. All she could see was the expression on Zhane's face, and all she could feel was the sensation of his fingers entwining with hers. It had been a long time since she'd had prolonged human contact, and she was still getting used to it again--but she found that his was as comforting as it was unusual.

He let go of her right hand, as he had before, and reached out almost tentatively to touch her face. Once, on the park swings in Angel Grove, he had tried to brush her hair away from her eyes. She had jerked away, not wanting to know what he would read into her expression.

But this time there was nothing to hide, and she let him do what he had not been able to then. His fingers touched her temple, tracing her hairline and tucking the blonde wisps behind her ear and away from her eyes.

She let him stare for a moment longer, charmed by the obvious delight on his face. Then she leaned forward and kissed him again, delighted herself by his sudden surprise.

"You did ask," she reminded him softly, her face lingering near his. " 'I want you to kiss me again,' you said..."

"And again," he murmured, making no move to pull away. "And again--forever might be just about long enough, I think."

She ducked her head, giggling at his contemplative tone, but he caught her chin and turned her face toward his again. "You don't know how long I've waited to see you look at me like this," he whispered. "Don't look away."

Her amused smile faded into one of simple contentment, and she gazed back at him as the storm that raged around the two zords began to subside.

6. Always

He stood by the nav console, staring idly out into space. DECA could have run the systems checks he was performing now more quickly, and in fact she did run them periodically, to make sure anything her diagnostic sensors didn't pick up was reported and fixed. But it gave him something to do while he talked with Zhane, and it kept him from feeling helpless.

Ashley had called to let him know Cassie was missing hours ago, and he had immediately used the Megaship's scanners to track down and isolate the Pink Ranger's Power signature. He had had DECA keep an eye on it while it wandered around Angel Grove, but Ashley had given him specific orders *not* to teleport their friend anywhere.

"If she hadn't wanted to be alone, she would have taken her communicator with her," Ashley had told him. "I think she wants to get away from *everything* for a while, and that includes us. Just let her be by herself for a while."

Ashley had not elaborated on how long "a while" was, but he knew he would face her wrath if he brought Cassie back to the Megaship before she was ready to come. So he let DECA watch Cassie, and he kept himself occupied with unnecessary systems checks.

Zhane, he found soon after, was just as bored as he was, and between the two of them they managed to pass the time. Their chatter made the dull tasks bearable, and Andros found himself amused, as they talked, at how willing Zhane was to discuss anything--except Kerone.

His friend wasn't very subtle about avoiding the topic, but Andros didn't push him. He went along with whatever distractions Zhane found to change the topic, but he was somewhat relieved when Zhane at last brought it up himself.

They had been silent for a few minutes, working on their separate projects, and Andros hadn't been paying much attention. Until suddenly, his friend announced, *She knows I'm claustrophobic, Andros.*

He stopped, looking up as though he could see Zhane over the distance between them. *So?* he asked calmly. He had suspected that would happen sooner or later, and had been surprised Zhane had been able to fly with her in the Mega V zords without her finding out.

His friend hated the new zord cockpits, though he had voiced his dislike only to Andros. He had gotten in the habit of taking his helmet off as soon as he teleported into Mega V6, just so he would be that much less restricted. Considering his phobia, Andros had not expected his friend to volunteer as Kerone's teacher.

It seemed Zhane's crush on the girl had overcome his good sense, though, for as soon as she expressed an interest in the zords, Zhane had offered his for her to learn on. Andros shook his head--she was bound to find out sooner or later, and he figured it was testament to his friend's control that it had taken until now.

*So... I don't *want* her to know,* Zhane muttered.

*She's not going to think less of you for it, you know,* Andros told him. *Everyone's afraid of *something*.*

*Not her.* Zhane sounded torn between admiration and envy. *I don't think she's afraid of anything.*

Andros shrugged a little, though he knew his friend couldn't see it. Then he thought the better of what he had been about to say, and just reran the nav diagnostic. He was dying to ask how the two of them were getting along, stranded together on an uninhabited planet as they were, but he didn't want to sound like he was checking up on them, either.

After a moment, Zhane added, *Did I mention that this is the most boring job I can remember doing? Ever?*

Andros tried not to smile. *You know, all you have to do is say the word and we'll come get you. The Rysians and the Cai are both long gone from that system--the Megaship could come in and just blast its way through.*

*Don't tempt me,* his friend shot back, and this time Andros did smile.

They talked a while longer, the conversation turning inevitably back to Kerone, and finally Andros volunteered to talk to her himself. It was clear Zhane wasn't going to do it, and someone had to. He let his friend listen in until the morpher on his wrist beeped, and he glanced down automatically.

Activating the communicator, he said curiously, "This is Andros."

"It's Ashley," a voice came back, and he couldn't keep from smiling.

*I have to go,* he told his sister. *Will you be okay?*

"Cassie just showed up at TJ's house," Ashley continued, and he shot an annoyed look in DECA's general direction. She must have known, at the very least, when Cassie's Power signal got so close to one of her teammates', but apparently she didn't consider that useful information.

"Is she all right?" he asked quickly, saying goodbye to Kerone and touching Zhane's mind briefly on his way out.

"TJ says she's tired, but she seems okay. She's going to stay at his house tonight."

Andros couldn't help wondering if Saryn knew about that. The other Ranger seemed jealous of nearly every relationship Cassie had, and of TJ and Zhane's friendship with her in particular.

"I'm glad," he replied, deciding not to ask why she had chosen not to go to Aquitar for the first time in weeks.

"Me too," Ashley agreed readily, but she made no attempt to end the conversation. He waited, not wanting to say goodbye but not sure what else *to* say.

"I was wondering," she said at last. "It's kind of late for dinner, but do you want to get together and watch TV or something?"

He looked around automatically, and noticed the autopilot readout brighten pointedly. He gave DECA a wry look. *I can take a hint,* he thought, amused.

The Megaship was empty except for him, but so had it been often enough in the past weeks. Most of the Rangers chose to maintain some semblance of a normal life while they were in school, socializing on their own planet and living at home whenever possible. The ship would be no more quiet with him gone than it would be any other time the whole team was on Earth, and Zhane could still contact him instantly if he needed to.

"That sounds like fun," he agreed, turning away from the nav console.

"Good," she said happily. "I'll see you in a few minutes, then?"

"I'll be there," he promised, heading out into the hallway.

The red glow from his jump tube seemed stronger than usual, and he shook his head. DECA really wanted him off the ship. Sometimes, he'd swear she acted more like a mother than a friend.

He grabbed the railing and swung up underneath it, just for the fun of it, and turned to grin at DECA's camera before he jumped. "Don't get into too much trouble while I'm gone," he advised. Spinning around, he managed to catch the bar over the red jump tube and vanish into it before she could answer.

Crimson light flashed around him as the tube dumped him onto his Glider, and hyperspace opened up around him. The tunnel would appear as little more than a colored streak of light to an observer in realspace, but to him it was a gateway of infinite possibility.

He couldn't say how the ability to navigate hyperspace had come to him, but he assumed it was a gift granted by the Power. After all, the other Rangers had the same almost instinctive ability, and they certainly had never had a use for the talent before they had come into space.

He could sense his destination beneath him within seconds, and the tunnel of hyperspace responded to his wish, collapsing behind him as he slid back into realspace. He glanced around, confirming there was no one near enough to see him, and demorphed in a flash of sparkling red. Leaping to the ground, he heard his Glider escape back into hyperspace as he strolled down the Hammonds' front walk.

The door swung open before he could ring the doorbell, and he grinned as Ashley pounced on him. "It took you long enough!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around him and kissing him soundly.

"I just left a minute ago," he defended himself, when she let him talk again.

"A minute too long!" she said cheerfully, dragging him inside.

He laughed at her mock-petulant expression, but he couldn't disagree. After their fight last night, and then a whole day without even being able to *talk* to her, he had been terribly disappointed when she cancelled their dinner plans. Not that her reasons weren't valid; he was glad she had stayed with Cassie--but the Megaship had seemed so much more empty after that.

"Hello, Andros," Ashley's dad greeted him, looking up from the work he had spread across the kitchen table.

"Good evening, Mr. Hammond," Andros replied politely.

"We're just going to watch TV for a while," Ashley chirped, going over to the cabinets next to the refrigerator. "Want some popcorn, Andros?"

"Sure, that would be nice." He watched her stand on tiptoe to reach the microwaveable popcorn, and reflected that it must be strange to live in a place where most of the people you were living with were taller than you.

"Here, let me," he offered, joining her. He knew she could have gotten it on her own--Ashley wasn't short, no matter her size relative to her father and brother--but it gave him an excuse put a hand on her shoulder and reach around her.

She let him do it, beaming at him when he handed her the package. "Thanks!"

He shook his head, unable to keep from smiling back. Her good humor was infectious, and when he glanced over his shoulder, he saw even her father smiling as he returned his attention to the paperwork in front of him.

"I'll get a bowl," Andros said, for something to do other than watch Ashley's every move. Not that he wouldn't like to, but it was a fine line between affection and lust in a father's eyes, and he didn't want to know how close he could come to that line before Ashley's dad decided there were plenty of nice Earth boys she could be dating instead.

The smile Ashley tossed in his direction on her way to the microwave made the offer doubly worthwhile, though, and he went over to the sink. Pulling a bowl from the cabinets above, he heard the muffled beep as she started the microwave, and he couldn't help but think how much the little appliance resembled a Synthetron.

On the outside, at least. It couldn't *make* food, of course. *But,* he thought with an amused grin, *it does sometimes do a better job than DECA of warming food up.*

He joined Ashley by the microwave, setting the bowl down and watching her idly tap her fingernails against the counter. "No color," he observed after a moment, and she gave him a questioning look.

He reached out and caught her hand, spreading her fingers across his palm. "Your fingernails," he explained with a smile. "No color today."

She looked down at them too, as though they weren't her fingers at all and she hadn't noticed them until now. "No," she agreed at last. "Yellow was getting old, and I feel weird wearing silver now that Zhane's around. There aren't a lot of choices anymore."

"Red," he suggested softly, kissing her hand before letting it go again.

She giggled. "Yeah, red would work. I don't think I'm really a red fingernail kind of person, though."

He only just stopped himself from reaching out again to touch her hand. "I like them the way they are," he told her. "They look nice this way."

"And less fake," she said with a grin. "You wouldn't believe how many people think I wear acrylic nails. Like I have time for that."

Any reply he might have made was interrupted by the beep of the microwave. "Dad, do you want some popcorn?" Ashley asked, looking over her shoulder as she popped the microwave door open.

He waved the offer away. "No, thank you--enjoy it yourselves. Just don't be surprised if you hear me making more in a minute."

Ashley laughed. "All right," she agreed, tearing the bag open and pouring it into their bowl. "Hey!" she exclaimed, as Andros stole a piece as she poured. "You know the rule! You can only eat the pieces that fall on the counter."

"Then what was the point of getting a bowl at all?" he teased, and she slapped his hand gently.

"Until I finish pouring, silly." She crumpled the empty bag up and tossed it into the trash can, and when she rejoined him she nodded in satisfaction. "Okay, now you can eat it."

When she reached for the bowl, though, he picked it up and turned away. "You don't want any?" he asked innocently, and she wrinkled her nose at him.

He had to smile at her expression, and he held up one piece of popcorn. "Well, all right then," he conceded. "You can have this piece."

She smirked at him, and, as he had hoped, leaned forward and ate it out of his hand. He almost melted when he felt her lips touch his fingers, and she smiled happily at him.

Then she threw a sheepish look in her father's direction, and he couldn't help glancing that way too. But her father was studiously bent over the table, doing a good job of pretending not to notice them.

Ashley caught his hand and, stopping only to reach for more popcorn, she pulled him toward the living room. Andros followed obediently, watching her munch on her handful of popcorn. He reached out and managed to push the light switch with his elbow as they entered so she wouldn't have to get it for him.

"Now the only challenge is finding something on TV that's actually worth watching at this hour," she remarked, taking the popcorn from him and setting it down on the coffee table. Perching in the middle of the sofa, she picked up the remote and pointed it at the television.

"Do we have to?" he murmured, sitting down right beside her.

She giggled. "Yes," she answered, just as softly. "Because my dad's still in the kitchen."

*An unofficial chaperone,* she elaborated, and he smiled.

*We should have stayed on the Megaship,* he kidded, not meaning it but amused by the idea of suddenly having a "chaperone".

"But the furniture's more comfortable here," she whispered, and his smile widened when she winked at him.

He glanced over at the TV screen as she started pushing the "channel" button on the remote, apparently flipping through at random. "Doesn't Carlos watch something tonight?" he asked, in an attempt to at least seem like he was helping.

"Star Trek," she said with a grin. "We can watch that, if you want. Or we can put in a movie--we have plenty."

He shrugged a little. *I didn't come to watch TV; I just came to be with you. Whatever you want to watch sounds good to me.*

She stared at him for a moment, and he thought for just a second that she might kiss him. But then she gave her head a shake and turned her attention back to the TV. "Star Trek it is, then," she said lightly.

"--tell you a story," someone was saying, as the TV finally settled on a channel and Ashley dropped the remote back on the coffee table. "An ancient legend among my people."

Ashley reached for another handful of popcorn, and offered him a piece as he had done for her earlier. He took it from her fingers, his loose hair falling forward as he did so, and she brushed it away from his face.

"It's about an angry warrior," the person on the television continued, "who lived his life in conflict with the rest of his tribe. A man who couldn't find peace--"

Suddenly Andros was paying closer attention. "Listen," he told Ashley softly. "He's talking about me."

She smiled indulgently, turning her attention back to the TV.

"For years," the man explained, "he struggled with his discontent, but the only satisfaction he ever got came when he was in battle. This made him a hero among his people, but the warrior still longed for peace within himself."

He glanced over at Ashley, and saw her entranced by the quiet story. He smiled a little at her concentration, studying this character that Andros had so flippantly labeled "himself" as he recounted the story of meeting a woman warrior, brave and beautiful and wise.

"That's you," Andros whispered, putting his arm around her shoulders and giving her a squeeze. She flashed a smile in his direction, and they were silent another moment, listening to the end of the tale.

Ashley turned to him, searching his expression, and he smiled. She smiled slowly in return, and he couldn't resist leaning forward to kiss her, just once.

She closed her eyes, pressing closer to him, and he kissed her again. He didn't mean to, but her arm slid around him and he didn't want her to let go. She didn't seem to mind, but they both started when the front door slammed and they drew apart guiltily.

The murmur of voices said that Ashley's mother had finally arrived home, and they could hear the clattering in the kitchen as her father warmed up what was left of dinner for her. He and Ashley exchanged glances.

Then, with a smile, Ashley shifted a little and leaned against him again, more companionably this time, and turned her attention back to the TV. He hugged her shoulders, relaxing against the sofa's cushions and just enjoying the feel of her snuggled up to him.

A moment later, Ashley's mother poked her head into the room. "Hi, kids," she said, smiling her approval of the scene. "How was school?"

"Hey mom," Ashley answered, tearing her gaze away from the TV as though she had been totally entranced by it. "It was all right."

"And you, Andros?" her mother asked. "How was your day?"

"It was good," he said, figuring he shouldn't say any more than that. *Well,* he narrated silently, *I helped evacuate about three million people from the front lines of Dark Spectre's assault, my best friend was shot down over an alien planet, and my sister disappeared to "rescue" him. How was *your* day?*

Ashley smothered a giggle, but her mother saw it anyway. "I don't want to know, do I," she said ruefully, and Ashley shook her head.

"Probably not," Andros admitted.

"As long as you're both safe," Ashley's mother said, resignation warring with a fond look on her face. "And don't stay up too late--it sounds like you've earned your sleep today."

"Definitely," Ashley agreed, not quite suppressing a yawn, and Andros smiled.

When he looked back at the doorway, her mother was gone. "You didn't tell her about Cassie's mom," he said quietly.

"Dad'll tell her," she murmured.

He nodded his understanding, and she squirmed a little closer to him. "Hey," he said, patting her shoulder. "If I'm going to be your pillow, at least give me that one at the other end of the couch."

She giggled, but she sat up to retrieve it for him obediently. He put it between him and the end of the couch, and pushed it into the most comfortable position he could manage.

"Comfortable?" she teased, putting her head back on his shoulder as he finished rearranging the cushions.

"Almost as comfortable as you," he said, kissing the top of her head to show he was kidding.

"Good," she said with a small sigh, rubbing her cheek against his shoulder. "I'm glad you're safe, too, Andros."

He smiled, a little surprised. He heard the reference to her mother's comment in her words, but he hadn't been expecting it. He was touched that her parents seemed to extend their protectiveness to all of Ashley's friends, and to him and Cassie especially, but he hadn't thought more of her mother's remark than that.

"I'm glad you're safe, too," he replied, seeing with sudden clarity just how true it was. "Promise me you'll stay that way," he added impulsively.

"I promise," she murmured, reaching out for his free hand. "You promise too."

He caught her hand, letting her fingers rest loosely in his and breathing in the soft scent of her hair. "I promise," he whispered.

"Good," she said again, her voice content.

Neither of them said anything more for a few minutes, and after a while he found his attention wandering back toward the TV show that still played in front of them. The two warrior characters were teleporting back to their ship, suddenly wearing what he assumed were their shipboard uniforms, and their whole attitude had changed.

Suddenly the two were nothing more than teammates, treating each other with a kind of cool distance that reminded him more of Cetaci and Delphinius. *Not like us, after all,* he thought drowsily, hugging Ashley and feeling her squeeze his hand reassuringly.

He was vaguely aware of her resting comfortably against him, and he thought it was only a moment later that he felt Zhane's sudden presence in his mind. But when he tried to blink his eyes open, his eyelids felt heavier than they should have, and he couldn't remember when Ashley had turned the TV off.

He twisted his head slightly, trying to get a glimpse of Ashley's face, and found her eyes closed too. The living room lights were still lit brightly, though, despite the enveloping silence--her parents had apparently gone to bed already. Ashley must have still been awake when they left the kitchen, or perhaps her parents had left the lights on as a less than subtle hint.

*Andros,* Zhane repeated, and Andros tried to focus on him.

"Yeah?" he asked sleepily, and only when his voice broke into the quiet did he realize he had spoken aloud. *Yeah?* he repeated, a little more clearly. *What's up?*

*We're about to lift off,* Zhane answered. *I just wanted to let you know--sorry for waking you up.*

There was a brief moment in which Andros didn't have the faintest idea what his friend was talking about. Then the memory of that morning crashed home, and he remember exactly where Zhane was. *Are you all right?*

Zhane sounded amused. *Of course we're all right. We're getting ready to leave, remember?*

Andros shook his head once, careful not to disturb Ashley. *Yeah, sorry. Are you--is Kerone going to the Dark Fortress?*

There was a pause, and it let his tired brain catch up a little. Of course she was going to the Dark Fortress; she had been set on the idea since the moment she left the Megaship. The question was whether Zhane was coming back without her or not.

*We're both going to the Dark Fortress,* Zhane said finally. *Don't ask me how I convinced her, because I really don't know. We're taking Ash's zord--we'll come back for mine afterward.*

Andros tried not to sigh. *You're sure it's safe?*

*Oh yeah, I'm totally convinced,* Zhane said wryly. *We're just going to sneak onto Dark Spectre's flagship, leave our *zord* with its impossible-to-miss Ranger markings on the side in a hangar bay somewhere, meet with one of Evil's most ruthless villains, and sneak out again. No problem.*

Andros felt his lips twitch. *Oh, well if that's all, I feel a lot better. Thanks.*

*Anytime,* Zhane replied. *I'll let you know when we're back.*

*Be *careful*, Zhane.*

*I always am,* he answered lightly, and Andros rolled his eyes.

Zhane's focus faded, and Andros found himself wide awake. He didn't think he was going to be able to fall asleep again after that, and he gently tried to disentangle himself from Ashley's embrace.

Her hand was still in his, and she felt heavier now than she had when he had fallen asleep. He smiled to himself. It was as if she had taken all her bounce off into unconsciousness with her, and he was left only with the body she had deserted in favor of dreaming.

When he pushed gently on her shoulder, though, trying to lever himself into a sitting position, she stirred. "Shh," he whispered, when she murmured something incomprehensible. He had hoped not to wake her. "It's okay, Ash; go back to sleep."

His voice proved to have the opposite effect of the one he had intended, for she shifted again and her fingers twitched in his. Her hand curled automatically into a fist as she lifted it to her eyes, and he found her blinking sleepily at him as her fingers relaxed again.

"Andros?" she murmured. "Where are we?"

"At your parents' house," he said softly, brushing a disheveled strand of hair out of her eyes. "We must have fallen asleep watching TV."

"Oh..."

Her confusion was charming, and he kissed her forehead gently. "It's still nighttime. Go back to sleep."

"But what about..." She glanced around the room, squinting her eyes as though whatever she was looking for might be hiding. "I thought--Zhane was here, for a second."

He regarded her in surprise. "I was just talking to him. He and Kerone are on their way to the Dark Fortress."

She craned her neck to look up at him, blinking. "Both of them?"

He nodded silently.

She seemed to think about it for a moment, then curled up against him again. "Kerone will protect them," she said, with a certainty he envied. "They'll be fine."

"Yeah," he said softly, hoping she was right. "Hey, Ash?" He had to say something before she fell asleep again. "I'm going to head back to the Megaship."

"No," she protested immediately, lifting her head again. "Stay?"

He shook his head, smiling so she wouldn't take offense. "I'm not sure your parents would be too thrilled to wake up and find us both still on the couch."

She sighed. "I guess not," she admitted, but she made no attempt to sit up.

He stroked her hair, waiting for her to move, and at last she stretched reluctantly. Her arms extended out in front of her, he looked away as she arched her back and stretched her long legs until they touched the end of the couch.

Then he felt her struggling into a sitting position, and she let out an amused chuckle when she realized he had averted his eyes. "It's okay; you can look now," she teased, touching his shoulder.

He turned his head in her direction, and without warning she was there to ambush him with a kiss. "You're so cute when you're embarrassed," she whispered, pressing her lips to his again.

His skin tingled as his body started to wake up the rest of the way, and he leaned into her kiss with a hunger he couldn't explain--or deny. He felt her hands on his chest and he shifted restlessly, wanting her closer than she was.

*No, Andros...* Her mental whisper echoed in his mind even as he slid his arms around her, kissing her harder and feeling her fingers tighten on his shirt. *Don't you let go, too,* she said, sounding almost amused. *Or we'll never stop.*

*I told you,* he started to say, and then felt the thought vanish as she slipped her arms around his neck. Her fingers were warm on his bare skin, and she turned her head to kiss his cheek, his jaw, and he wondered why *he* always had to be the one who was in control.

*Not to kiss you when you're waking up,* she finished. *I know, I shouldn't have...*

She started to pull away, tilting her head to lean against the back of the sofa. He watched her eyes slide closed, and he heard her draw in a sharp breath as he leaned forward and kissed her neck lightly. When she didn't protest, he kissed her again, tracing the curve of her neck until he reached her t-shirt. Brushing his fingers against her lips, he whispered, "It isn't fair, you know."

He kissed her mouth then, and he felt her responding to his touch. "What isn't?" she asked breathlessly, when he drew back at last.

"To make me always be the one that stops us," he murmured, watching her flush and trying not to feel guilty for doing that to her.

She looked down, reaching for his hand. She only played with his fingers for a moment, and he let her, watching her bite her lip nervously as she tried to catch her breath. "You're right," she admitted finally, her voice husky as she raised her eyes to his again.

The expression on her face startled him, but not half as much as the demanding kiss she pressed against his mouth a second later. "I'll stop," she promised softly, pulling away enough to catch his eye. She ran her fingers across his face, stroking his cheek and brushing his hair back. "Just... do that again?"

"I don't--" He started to say that he didn't think that was a good idea, but she kissed him, sliding closer and wrapping her arms around his neck before he could finish.

*That's not a good idea,* he managed, but he felt himself kissing her back with an intensity belied by his words.

*Don't trust me?* she asked, pushing him back against the cushions and sliding her tongue into his mouth. He groaned softly, feeling his insides go weak and knowing he couldn't push her away now if he wanted to.

*I promise, Andros,* she said again, her hands clutching his shirt as she relaxed on top of him. He could do nothing with his arms but put them around her, and she shifted within his embrace. Her mouth did not leave his, though, and he found he wanted her to pull away less with every passing second.

She let her arms slide under his, and suddenly her whole body was pressed tightly against his. He could feel her hands behind his shoulders, between him and the sofa, and he was totally surrounded by her. He gave himself up to the feeling, knowing with startling certainty that he had been lost the moment she kissed him.

He didn't know how long they were there--with his heart pounding in his ears to the exclusion of all else, he had no sense of time. All he knew was that his blood was on fire, and anything she did just seemed to make it worse. But something in him was perversely convinced that she was the only thing that could quench it, and that instinct was all he could listen to.

That, and the one that cried out for her when she pulled away from him. With a quick twist, she slipped out of his embrace, and for the briefest instant he might have done anything to get her back.

Then he closed his eyes, reminding himself that this was exactly what they had been trying to avoid. "Ash," he whispered hoarsely, propping himself up on one elbow. All he could see was the back of her head as she sat on the floor, leaning against the sofa.

"I think you're stronger than me," she said, and her tone beneath her utter breathlessness sounded odd. Almost... amused? "That was *hard*," she added, and this time he was sure he could hear a grin in her voice.

He just stared at her, not sure what to say. She was treating this like--a game. *Ash?* he repeated, not trusting his voice this time.

At that, she turned. "Yeah?" she asked, catching his hand and kissing his fingers. Her face was flushed, but she was smiling.

"Nothing," he muttered, suddenly uncertain. His fingers twitched, longing to touch her again, and he pulled his hand away.

"No," she insisted, twisting further to face him. "Tell me."

"It's just..." He gazed back at her, worried that he was the only one to feel this way. "We can't just keep joking about this. It's serious."

She frowned a little, reaching for his hand. "We're just making out, Andros. It's not like we're getting married or anything."

He swallowed. "That's what I was afraid of," he whispered, seeing her hand still on his. "Does this--not mean anything to you, then?"

"What?" she breathed, and the expression of complete shock on her face reassured him somewhat. *Andros--I *love* you. I thought you knew that.*

*I do know that,* he said, finding some comfort in the unshakable truth of their mental rapport. *I just don't know if it means the same thing to you that it means to me.*

She stared at him for a moment, concentration evident in her posture as she hastily tried to decipher that. *What, because of what I said about marriage?* she asked at last. *We're only seventeen!*

*But we've said "always",* he reminded her softly. *Is that so different?*

He could see the turmoil in her expression, and at last she asked slowly, "Andros, are you asking me to marry you?"

He blinked. "No."

"Then what *are* you saying?" she persisted, giving him a searching look. "I love you. I always have--"

"And I always will," he repeated, even as she said the words herself.

A brief smile touched her face. "Yeah. But marriage--that's a whole legal thing, with signatures, and justices of the peace... and it's something you just don't do this soon." Her smile widened for a moment, and she actually giggled. "My parents would freak, for one thing."

"Our love isn't about paperwork, Andros," she continued more softly, turning his hand over and tracing the fate line that ran across his palm. "It's more than that, to me. What is it to you?"

"It's 'always'," he said simply, taking her hand and pressing her palm to his so that their fate lines melded together. "It's never been any less than that to me, and I guess I was just worried that when you said it, you didn't mean it."

"Why?" she insisted curiously, looking up at him. "What did I do to make you think that?"

He shifted uncomfortably, and she sighed. "You're going to make me guess. Okay. Is it because I made a joke?"

He gave her a guilty look, wanting to find the words for her, but unable to do it before she spoke. "That's it, then," she said, with a rueful look.

"Andros, I had to do *something* to break the mood," she told him. "You said it wasn't fair to make you always be the controlled one, and you're right. But you know why it's always you? Because I'm *terrible* at it."

He cracked a smile at that, and she tilted her head to one side to grin affectionately at him. "I'm serious. You saw how badly I handled things, just now--I *knew* how hard it would be when I promised you I would stop, but I told you I could do it anyway. And I almost couldn't. Damn it, Andros, but you're so sexy!"

She immediately clapped a hand over her mouth and glanced over her shoulder, totally missing his blush. "I probably shouldn't have said that so loudly," she muttered.

He felt his lips twitch, and she turned in time to glare at him. "Don't say a *word*," she threatened--but at least she did it quietly.

He let go of her hand at last, reaching out to tuck her hair behind one ear. "You're not exactly easy to resist yourself," he murmured, fingers lingering near her face a moment longer than they had to.

"Maybe we just need more practice," she said impishly.

He shook his head, drawing away from her and pushing himself to his feet. "I think I'm going back to the Megaship now."

"But it's so lonely up there," she purred, looking up at him with dangerous eyes.

He knew she was only teasing, but even her "jokes" got a reaction from him. "Don't tempt me," he whispered, smiling to show he was kidding. He almost was.

Then she laughed, standing up and abandoning the seductress act that she did so well. Too well for his peace of mind, in fact. "Sleep well," she said fondly, and even those words were suggestive to his overactive imagination. "See you in the morning?"

"Always," he promised, reaching for his communicator. He saw her smile at him just as he escaped into the teleportation stream.

Cassie twisted restlessly, feeling the couch beneath her and wondering if she had slept at all since the last time. She felt like she had been awake for hours, and she couldn't remember ever wanting morning to come as fervently as she wished for it to arrive now.

Finally, she threw off the afghan and sat up, wandering over to the sliding glass door between living room and porch. The sky was starting to lighten, almost undetectably, but it was enough for her. She wasn't going back to sleep.

Every since her nightmare about Saryn earlier, her dreams had been increasingly interrupted by bouts of wakefulness. And even odder, as the night wore on, things had been growing more and more loud.

She couldn't explain it; the house itself was perfectly silent. But there was a noise just beyond her ability to hear it, pressing against her mind and keeping her awake. She could pin only one label on the feeling: Saryn.

But the label, no matter how satisfying in its ability to explain away what she would be forced to call hallucinations otherwise, did not make any logical sense. Their empathic bond had only worked over a distance like the one between them now once before, and it had been at a time when he was feeling so strongly about her that his strength had let him project the feeling onto her.

Guilt she had at least been able to understand, even if she didn't agree with it. But this *noise* didn't seem to have any meaning at all, and she couldn't imagine what could be upsetting him so much that he would unknowingly project background noise onto her. He had never done that before, no matter how strong or unintentional some of his broadcasts were.

She sighed, staring out at the shadows visible on the screened-in porch. Cestria said he was unusually strong--strong enough to impress even the Aquitians, who were gifted with their own phenomenal mental abilities. He had admitted to her, though, that he had never had any real training, and that he had, to the best of his ability, shut his empathy down for the last three years.

She would dearly love to see him work with Cestria to try and learn to use his talent, or at least control it better. But she wouldn't suggest it, knowing how many bad memories he associated with empathy. Her own training was limited, and mostly directed at dealing with him, since her own empathy was virtually nil when it came to anyone else. It had gone a long way toward helping her control what she felt around him, though, and she wished he could have that confidence too.

Clenching her teeth, she clapped her hands over her ears. Thinking about something else wasn't helping, although there were admittedly better topics she could have chosen than empathy. This noise was going to drive her insane.

*Come on, TJ,* she urged, watching the pale color of sunrise begin to streak across the sky. *Wake up.*

7. Stone's Throw

"This is ridiculous," Zhane muttered, trying to look over Astrea's shoulder as she peered around the corner. "Tell me why we couldn't just teleport onto the Bridge in the first place?"

"Because thanks to your impromptu rescue attempt a few weeks ago, Ecliptor will have rigged an alarm system around the primary operation areas. I doubt we can teleport directly onto the Bridge without the entire Fortress knowing about it."

He put a hand on her shoulder and leaned closer in an attempt to see what she was seeing, but she quickly disabused him of that notion by elbowing him--none too gently--in the stomach. "Back off," she hissed. "You're distracting me."

"What are you *doing*?" he demanded, and she shot him a glare.

"If you'd be quiet for a minute, you'd see." She turned back to the corridor off of which theirs branched, and proceeded to do absolutely nothing.

Nonetheless, she stepped out into the corridor a moment later and motioned for him to follow. He did, warily, and glanced over his shoulder out of habit. He stiffened--a quantron had come around another corner at exactly the same instant and was heading straight for them.

"Come *on*," Astrea whispered, grabbing his arm. "It isn't seeing us, but it can *hear* us, so be quiet."

"We're invisible?" he guessed, shooting another look over his shoulder. The quantron seemed complete unconcerned with their presence, turning down the corridor they'd just come from without so much as a twitch of its serrated Q-blade.

"No," she said, eyes darting across the walls as they walked. "We look like quantrons. At least to most of them."

"*Most* of them?" he repeated, not sure he liked the sound of that.

Another quantron stepped out of a branching corridor into theirs and stopped in its tracks. Zhane tensed, for even with the limited expression a quantron possessed, this one seemed to be staring right at them.

Astrea took her hand off his arm and extended her fingers, turning her palm in the quantron's direction. He thought he saw a brief flash of purple across the quantron's visor, but it was gone too quickly for him to be sure.

Then the quantron continued down the corridor as though nothing had happened, and Zhane caught her hand as she let it fall. He turned her hand over, palm up, and saw nothing. "What did you do?" he demanded.

"Some of the quantrons are programmed to recognize anomalous behavior in their fellow soldiers," she answered calmly. "That one is one of the more advanced machines, and it isolated us as possible intruders."

"You didn't answer the question," he said, as she pulled her hand away. "What did you do?"

She actually looked a little smug. "The advanced quantrons were all programmed by me. They have a magical failsafe embedded into their intelligence matrix, making them loyal to me above all others."

His eyes widened as she started walking again. "Your own private army," he breathed, staring after her.

"Exactly." She looked over her shoulder and cocked her head, and he blinked.

Hurrying to catch up, he asked, "So they're still loyal to you, even now?"

She nodded. "They'll obey the commands of others, but no matter how they're reprogrammed, the override can't be deleted. It's magically triggered--it can't even be detected with electronics."

He shook his head, impressed.

"I didn't become the princess of evil because of my looks, you know," she murmured, as another quantron passed them without a second glance.

"I can see that," he said, trying not to freeze as a half dozen quantrons appeared at the other end of the hallway. She gave him a wry look, and he realized that probably hadn't been the best choice of words. "Not that you couldn't have," he amended hastily.

She stepped deliberately to the side of the hallway as the quantron troop approached, her back to the wall, and he imitated her. The quantrons marched past, and he wished his heart would stop pounding. No matter what she said, he couldn't completely trust something he couldn't see, and her spell was apparently invisible to both of them.

She crossed the hall as soon as the troop was out of the way, and he realized with surprise that they were standing just outside the Bridge. He moved away from the wall himself to catch up with her, and was caught off guard when she simply strode through the doors, without announcement or hesitation.

He tried to follow with the same determination, but it was hard not to falter when Ecliptor's imposing figure looked up from one of the main nav consoles and fixed his gaze on them. "You," he ordered, pointing a finger in their direction. "Come with me."

He turned without another word and stalked toward the back of the control center, where Astronema's private tactical room had been located. Zhane saw her grimace at his tone, but she did as she was told without question and he forced himself to follow.

Walking into the room, Ecliptor motioned them behind the secondary screen that shielded it from the main control area. Turning toward Astrea, he put one hand on the hilt of his broadsword and inclined his head. "My princess," he said, keeping his voice low.

"Ecliptor," she returned. "I was unavoidably delayed."

He made no comment on Zhane's presence, in fact avoided even looking at her companion. "It was not unexpected," he said, taking what looked like nothing so much as a cubical paperweight from the middle of the room's strategy table.

He offered it to her, and she traced her finger along one edge. The "paperweight" split diagonally down the middle, revealing a data disc concealed inside. "Thank you," she said, snapping the pieces back together and raising her eyes to his.

He gestured over her shoulder, and Zhane spun. A quantron turned away from the doorway on its way back to its post, and a violet glitter sparkled momentarily across its visor.

Startled, Zhane turned his gaze first on Ecliptor, then Astrea. She raised her eyebrow at his expression. "You didn't think the bracelet I gave Ecliptor was just a decoration, did you?"

He couldn't think of anything to say. She must have known she would have little use for her "army" when she left the Dark Fortress--but it could protect Ecliptor where she could not.

Apparently giving up on his response, she looked back at Ecliptor. His attention had not wavered from hers, and when he caught her eye again, he said, "There is something else."

She frowned, absently stuffing the "paperweight" into her jacket pocket. Zhane blinked--she hadn't been wearing a jacket a moment ago, and the casualness with which she pocketed the information she was risking so much for surprised him.

Seeming to take her silence as question enough, Ecliptor continued, "I must tell you that the Phantom Ranger was killed shortly after his capture. The ship that took him considered him too much of a security risk, and though they have been severely reprimanded, the fact of their action remains unchanged."

Astrea tilted her head to one side. "The Phantom Ranger has been captured?"

Zhane tried not to roll his eyes. Saryn was on Aquitar, had been for weeks. There was no reason for him to have made an unscheduled trip to the edge of the Earth Rangers' galaxy when two other Ranger teams already had the evacuation under control.

"Last shift," Ecliptor told her. "His starfighter responded to a falsified distress call."

He reached out to the only solid wall in the room and punched some kind of code into a little control panel. A section of the bulkhead slid open, and he removed something from the space within. A glitter of red caught Zhane's eye as Ecliptor offered the object to her without a word.

Saryn's ruby rested in Ecliptor's outstretched hand.

"I don't understand how you can be so calm about this!" Zhane's voice continued to rail at her over the zords' intership comm frequency. "Is this just another part of the war to you?"

She glared at the comm panel. She knew he was feeling the effects of being closed inside his zord again, so, with an effort, she bit her tongue and stayed silent.

As hyperspace yawned open around them, though, their gateway out of Rysian space, his wrath did not abate. "How can you just ignore what this means? If you're so tactically minded that you can't even consider what it will do to the team, at least you must know that we've lost an incredible warrior!"

She clenched her teeth, punching the hyperrush controls with more vehemence than they required. Just because he was scared didn't mean he had to insult her.

There was a brief pause, and when Zhane's voice came back, he sounded much calmer. Frighteningly calm, even, and his words chilled her when he asked, "Do you even care?"

That was the last straw. "Of course I care!" she snapped, dropping one hand to the inner pocket of her denim jacket. She could feel the ruby's energy through the thin material, although there was no sign of it from the outside.

"Well, it certainly doesn't show," he muttered.

Her eyes narrowed. "*I* don't show it? How can *you* write him off so easily? Have you no faith in the person that he is?"

There was a startled silence from the comm link. "What do you mean?" he asked at last, the animosity now gone from his tone.

"Zhane, he's the Phantom Ranger," she said. He didn't seem to have much confidence in his teammate. "He doesn't give up, and he's impossible to kill. Everyone from Dark Spectre down knows that."

"He's a living being," Zhane protested.

"He's a *legend*," she said firmly, cutting him off before he could finish.

"He isn't invincible! He has weaknesses, just like everyone else--maybe he and Cassie fought and he took off to sulk!"

She tried to picture that, and found it utterly impossible. "Is it so easy to believe the worst of your teammates?" she countered, and to her surprise he had an immediate answer.

"Is it so easy to believe the best of heroes?"

She didn't know what to say to that. At last, she touched the place where the ruby rested and declared, "Cassie will know. We'll go to Aquitar and find out the truth from her."

"What makes you think she knows even as much as Ecliptor told us?" Zhane demanded.

"Cassie will know," she repeated. Of that she had no doubt.

"You were missed last night."

Cassie blinked, TJ on her heels as she stopped just inside the doors of auxiliary control. She was surprised by the lack of a greeting, and even more so by the subtle accusation in the White Ranger's cool voice.

"I tried to call," she said uncertainly. "Linnse wouldn't put me through."

Cetaci's eyes narrowed. "Linnse responded to your signal?"

"Yeah," Cassie said, exchanging glances with TJ. "Your comm system accepted it, and then Linnse asked me to identify myself."

"Linnse is authorized to use the comm system for Defense message traffic only," Cetaci declared. "She should not be intercepting signals coded for Ranger business."

Cassie couldn't tell if Cetaci didn't believe her, of if the other Ranger's anger had actually shifted. "I called maybe four hours ago to... explain. She said Phantom was unavailable, and that she'd tell him I called."

Cetaci studied her. "She said nothing else?"

Cassie shook her head.

"Then you do not know." Cetaci's accusatory expression had faded, and she actually looked sympathetic. "The Phantom Ranger responded to a distress signal from one of your Mega Voyager zords yesterday afternoon. He left for the Rysian system and hasn't been heard from since."

Cassie stared at her, feeling her heart clench. "But none of our zords has sent a distress signal."

"So we determined when we lost contact with both him and the original signal," Cetaci agreed. "I fear he has been captured by Dark Spectre. As displeased as I am with Linnse for overstepping her authority here, I cannot believe she said nothing to you."

Cassie swallowed, her mind desperately trying to sort events into some sort of order. "She and I--don't get along as well as we could."

"Your status as an active Ranger gives you priority on all Ranger-related Aquitian channels," Cetaci said sternly. "Do not let her intimidate you, Cassie. You outrank her."

Before she could reply to that, Cetaci had turned away. "Delphinius," she said, motioning to the Ranger nearest the comm console. "Contact Cestria for me. I want her to summon Linnse."

"The offworlder?" Delphinius tilted his head, no doubt reminding her that it wasn't polite for a telepath to simply "summon" someone without good reason. Especially someone unused to dealing with telepathy.

"Yes, the offworlder," Cetaci snapped. "I want her here."

Delphinius looked down at the comm console for only a moment before motioning to *her*. "Two of the Astro zords are requesting permission to enter the system."

She joined him, looking over his shoulder to catch a glimpse of the scanner display. "Clear them for system entry and dome access," she said. "Cassie will want to speak with her teammates."

Cassie nodded, but Cetaci didn't look for confirmation. "Confirmation sent," Delphinius reported. "I am paging Cestria."

"Have you been to your room yet?" Cetaci asked, shooting a glance in Cassie's direction.

Cassie frowned at the non sequiter, forcing her mind to stop worrying about Saryn long enough to process the question. "I--no, I haven't. I thought he would be here, so I came to control first. Why?"

Cetaci shook her head. "You should go," was all she said.

Two teleportation beams lit the auxiliary control room, one a violet shimmer and the other a shower of silver sparkles. Before Cassie could wonder what they were doing on Aquitar, Kerone had caught her eye, and the serious expression there made Cassie freeze. Somehow, the day was about to get worse.

"I need to speak to you, Cassie," Andros' sister said calmly. Her tone did nothing to alleviate the cold fear that had settled around Cassie's heart, and it was all she could do to nod and gesture toward the hallway.

Zhane caught TJ's arm when he made a move to follow, and Cassie took a deep breath. *Whatever it is,* she promised herself, *I will *not* fall apart. I won't.*

The corridor was deserted save for the two of them, and Cassie halted just far enough from the doors to auxiliary control that they couldn't be overheard. She turned to Kerone, searching the other's gaze but not able to bring herself to ask. It was as though, by asking, she would bring this news upon herself.

"Where's Saryn?" the blonde-haired girl asked, without preamble.

Cassie swallowed, barely having had time to take in the information herself. "In the Rysian system--he was captured by Dark Spectre last night."

The other girl looked at her intently. "You know he is there, then. You have heard from him since?"

Her nightmare replayed itself suddenly, taking over her mind for the space of several seconds, and she knew beyond a doubt that it had been more than a bad dream. "I know he's there," she said softly. She hesitated, then shook her head. "But I haven't heard from him."

"Not at all? Not even here?" Kerone asked, tapping her temple.

Cassie looked at her in surprise. The feeling of noise persisted, mostly buried by her other thoughts but ever-present nonetheless, and she wondered how Kerone could have known. Their bond was hardly a secret to the other Rangers, but no one else knew exactly how strong it was. "I--I can feel him, yes. How did you know?"

The girl actually sighed a little. "I did not know," she admitted. "But I am relieved to hear it. I hoped Ecliptor was wrong when he said..."

She trailed off, looking uncomfortable. "Cassie--" Reaching into her jacket pocket, she pulled out her closed fist and held it out. "Ecliptor gave me this."

Kerone uncurled her fingers slowly, and Cassie could only stare. The world darkened, narrowing to the single stone that glared accusingly up at her, silently reprimanding her for not being there. "No," she whispered, and she felt a hand on her arm.

"Cassie, it's all right," the other girl was saying soothingly. "He's all right; you told me so yourself. This has to be a trick--one good enough to fool Ecliptor, but still, a trick. If there is one thing evil excels at, it's deception."

Cassie reached for her hand, her own fingers trembling, and Kerone let her take the ruby without a word. The moment she touched it, her hand clenched into a fist around it and she closed her eyes.

"No." Energy flared the instant her skin touched the stone, and she could feel Saryn's raw Power flicker through her. "It's real--it's his ruby."

She reminded herself to breathe; she would do him no good if she suffocated herself. Hopelessness was not an option--Kerone was right, he was alive. He *had* to be. She would have known, otherwise.

And she had his ruby. That was something; it could still have been in enemy hands. "Thank you," she managed, opening her eyes. "Without this..."

She made her fingers relax, and forced herself to stare down at the ruby in her hand. She could find him. She had brought him back before, and she would do it again.

Looking up, she realized finally that Kerone had not answered. The other stood stiff, staring over Cassie's shoulder, and Cassie whirled.

"Traitor," Linnse hissed, her icy blue glare trained on Cassie from only a few feet away. "I warned him that you would betray him, but he was too blinded by emotion to listen."

Her heart stood still, given pause by the viciousness in Linnse's expression. She could not tear her gaze away, held riveted by the other's conviction. Her fingers tightened on Saryn's ruby, as though it could give her strength, and Linnse saw the movement.

"You had it planned from the beginning, didn't you? You and your pet princess of evil," she said disgustedly, her eyes flicking to Kerone.

"Don't think I don't recognize you," she added, when the other girl glared at her. "You may have been able to fool the Aquitians, but I'd know you no matter how you choose to appear."

"I am not *fooling* anyone!" the former princess of evil shot back. "I am who I am. And I do not aid others in the betrayal of our teammates!"

"*Your* teammates?" Linnse sneered. "I don't care what name the princess of evil goes by now, but Phantom is *not* one of you."

"Kerone, stop," Cassie said quietly. "Linnse, neither of us betrayed Phantom. He was captured last night when he responded to a false distress signal and has been reported dead within Dark Spectre's monarchy. His ruby came to us through one of Kerone's spies."

She didn't know where the calm words came from, but they were on her tongue and she said them before she could analyze them. Saryn's ruby dug into her palm as Linnse gave her a malevolent glare.

"The distress signal came from one of your zords," the other woman snapped. "Who do you claim *sent* it?"

The ruby felt like it was burning against her skin, but she did not look down. "I'm a Power Ranger, Linnse," she told the Eltaran coldly. "Maybe that means nothing to you, but the Power doesn't choose traitors. I don't need *your* opinion, and I certainly don't have time to stand around listening to your ridiculous accusations."

She spun, about to walk away, until she remembered Cetaci's odd words in control. "Have you been to your room? ...You should go."

With a sigh, she caught Kerone's eye. "There's something I have to do. Delphinius is in auxiliary control--would you ask if I can borrow his starfighter?"

To her mild surprise, Kerone nodded. "I will. But--"

Cassie waited.

"May I give you something?" the other girl asked.

She hesitated, struck by the odd note in Kerone's voice. "Yes," she said at last. She had never doubted that Andros' sister could be trusted, not since the other had helped Saryn reverse the evilyzer spell.

Kerone held out her hand, palm up, and Cassie took it without hesitation. A violet glow enveloped their clasped hands, and she closed her eyes involuntarily as knowledge of what she was being given flooded into her mind.

"Two spells," Kerone murmured. "One for you, one for the starfighter. Don't forget."

"I won't." She opened her eyes, and found Kerone staring back. "Thank you."

"What are you doing?" Linnse demanded suspiciously, finally finding her voice again.

"None of your business," Kerone snapped, rounding on the woman. "If I had wanted you to know, I would have told her out loud!"

"I'm going to find Phantom," Cassie remarked simply. She caught sight of Linnse's speechless expression as she turned to head for the lift, and she couldn't help a tiny glimmer of satisfaction.

The lift was waiting for her when she reached it, and she stepped inside. "Level two," she told it, fidgeting impatiently as it hummed to life. She couldn't imagine what Cetaci thought was so important, but she knew better than to ignore the White Ranger's "advice" by now.

The lift let her out in the almost-operational control room, and she walked quickly over to one of the side exits. Touching the keypad by the closed door, it slid open for her, and she tapped Saryn's code into a panel at the other end of the hallway.

The door opened onto darkness, and, unwilling to wait for it to register her presence, she waved her hand in front of the motion sensor. As the lights came up, she looked around warily, not sure what to expect. The room looked perfectly normal--except for a glitter from the workstation.

Curiously, she went over to the small computer terminal. Her breath caught in her throat as she stared down at the little shieldsphere, so like the one Ashley had given Andros not so long ago. She remembered admiring the little device, remembered Saryn's hand on her shoulder as she watched Andros play with it...

She swallowed. A delicate coral heart shape floated within the sphere, deep pink and crimson merging into patterned swirls along its entire length. She reached out to touch it, saw the etching along the edge of the sphere's base, and realized the sphere itself was as elegant as the fragile object it protected.

With trembling hands, she laid Saryn's ruby down on the desktop and picked up the shieldsphere. The heart tumbled end over end as she tilted the invisible globe back and forth, and light glinted off the etched lines of the base.

Not just a pretty pattern, she thought, looking closer. It looked like--words. She held the base at an angle, and she realized it wasn't the writing that was hard to read. She rubbed her tearing eyes impatiently, blinking to clear them.

The words sprang into sharp relief when she looked again. "Forever loved," the sphere's base said simply, and underneath was the inscription, "one year".

"One year?" she whispered, rolling the sphere into her other palm and trying to puzzle that out. A year ago... she cast back. Junior year, her first time trying to be a normal student with the Power always there in the background. And then, only a few weeks in, things had gotten even more complicated when--

"Oh," she murmured miserably, sinking into the chair beside the workstation. She stared without seeing at the complicated gift, knowing with a sudden certainty why he had been so eager to see her the night before.

The two of them had never officially dated, and so had nothing that the average person would consider an "anniversary". But one year ago yesterday, on the nineteenth of September, she and Saryn had spoken for the first time.

Meeting him had thrown her life into turmoil, wreaking havoc on her heart--in more ways than one--and bringing her more sorrow and greater joy than she had ever thought she could feel. It was a day she had thought she could never, ever forget.

"Saryn," she whispered, feeling a tear slide down her cheek. "Why didn't you just tell me?"

He must have been planning something, something the Aquitian Rangers had known about. That would explain Cetaci's coldness when she arrived this morning. After all her complaints about them not being "normal", he had gone out of his way to do something both ordinary and wonderful for her, and she had brushed it off.

"Why didn't you *tell* me?" she asked again, lifting her tearful gaze and appealing to the empty room.

*Cassie.*

Cestria's whisper-soft voice broke into her reverie, and she tried to force her thoughts into something coherent enough for the telepath to pick up on. *Yes?*

*Cetaci has asked Darian to let you take your starfighter, and he has agreed. It's ready for launch anytime.*

For a moment, she couldn't answer. Though she had sometimes thought of the starfighter she flew as "hers", she knew it belonged to the wing. She had never considered that they would let her take it for her own personal use--and out of the system, at that, where she couldn't be called on in the event of an attack.

*Thank you,* she managed at last, pulling herself to her feet. She didn't have time for self-pity. She had been wrong, and she would never be able to make up for it if she didn't get a move on *now*. *I'll be at the launch bay in minute.*

She put the shieldsphere down and reached for his ruby. Gold links trailed behind it as she picked it up, and she shook her head. She would never understand how that worked.

Sliding the chain over her head, she tucked his ruby under her t-shirt and headed for the door.

"Could someone please tell me what's going on?" TJ demanded, just as Kerone walked back into the control room with Linnse right behind her.

"Cassie needs a starfighter," Kerone said, ignoring him. "And your friend arrived while we were in the hallway." She gave Linnse a scornful look. "In the future, perhaps she could consider her accusations more carefully before she makes them."

"Get Darian to release Aq-24," Cetaci told Delphinius.

"What does Cassie need a starfighter for?" TJ was one breath from dragging Kerone back into the hallway and not letting her go until he had some answers. Something more than "Ecliptor had Saryn's Power ruby", which was all Zhane had told him.

"She's going after Phantom," Kerone said.

It was probably better for him that she had answered without him putting his plan into effect, TJ decided, seeing the way she looked at him. Kerone was mad about something, and making her turn her displeasure on him suddenly seemed less wise.

"But what does she need a starfighter for?" Zhane asked, obviously more willing than TJ to risk life and limb by getting her attention. "She has a zord."

Kerone just stared at him. "As I recall, *you* were the one complaining--loudly--about taking a single zord into the middle of Dark Spectre's fleet."

"Linnse." Cetaci's sharp tone cut through the conversation, but Zhane didn't seem fazed.

"And a starfighter has a better chance?" he demanded.

Between their argument, and Cetaci's just-starting tirade against the field commander of the Defense, TJ knew he wasn't going to get any answers. He did briefly wonder what would happen if Kerone and Cetaci ever got into a fight, since they seemed to have similar stubbornness and decibel levels, but that was the extent of his participation.

There was nothing to do now but wait it out.

The noise pounded into his skull, overwhelming every effort he made to shut it out. Anger, fear, and hatred pressed into his mind, threatening to make him insane with the sheer weight of their malicious intent.

The only thing that seemed to help was thinking of her, and he concentrated on her sweet face to the exclusion of all else, struggling against the tide of emotions to hang onto the one thing that gave him purpose. If there was anything worth living for, anything worth keeping his sanity for, it was the hope of her.

He had long since ceased to be aware of the cell into which he had been thrust, and he knew the absence of his ruby was slowly draining his life force away to nothing. He knew too that without it he was entirely too recognizable, despite the years since he had been a public figure, and that whoever was holding him probably wanted their own personal hostage.

They must not know that without his ruby he would not be of use as a live hostage for long. Or perhaps they didn't care--a dead Eltaran was still worth something, to those that knew the planet, and giving his ruby up to their supervisors would assure that belief in his death went unquestioned.

His empathy, though, they could not possibly have reckoned with. No one but his teammates had known of it, and it was the empathy, which he could no longer control without the energy to even keep his eyes open, that would be the end of him in this wretched prison.

His mind cried out for peace, hammering against the walls of sound that seemed to be closing in from all directions, and it made no difference. There was no escape and no refuge, no help for it but to suffer through the agonizing din of other beings' most negative emotions.

*Cassie,* he thought desperately, counting himself lucky to even be able to remember her name at this point. Her calm and somewhat understated mental presence, despite her flamboyant façade, had always been a welcome counterpoint to those around her.

He needed that quiet but unyielding strength now, needed it more than anything. He knew he could not survive this much longer, but something in him refused to buckle. Somehow, he endured, long past the point when he thought the unending noise would drive him beyond any hope of return.

Or was he already beyond that? He was hallucinating, of that he had no doubt, but it was the most welcome hallucination he had ever had. Cassie was near, her free and loving spirit reaching for his and drowning out the loudest of the voices as she came closer.

For that simple dulling of the static that raged in his mind, he would be forever grateful. It couldn't be her--it was his mind, slowly losing touch with everything that mattered--he knew it, and he didn't care. It should have frightened him that nothing seemed to matter anymore, but fear took energy, and energy he did not have.

All he wanted was the quiet. It was slowly sneaking into the edges of his consciousness, a blissful relief as the mental weight began, almost imperceptibly, to lighten.

Then he could feel someone beside him, someone come to take him away, and he made no effort to move. He could hear Cassie, and that was the only thing that meant anything now.

"Saryn," an odd voice whispered, shaking him gently.

He moaned involuntarily, not wanting to leave the dream. But the voice would not be put off, and the shaking grew more insistent. He forced his eyes to open, knowing the distorted voice should mean something to him but unable to recognize anything more.

He tried to squint at the dim figure beside him, and as its outlines resolved themselves more sharply he sighed and let his eyes slide closed again. Another hallucination, this time of himself--the Phantom Ranger was kneeling at his side, trying to shake him awake.

"Damn it, Saryn," she hissed, seeing him drift back into unconsciousness. "You are the most stubborn person I've ever met. In everything."

She tugged his arm around her shoulder and pulled him to his feet, keeping her other arm firmly around him as she staggered toward the door. The trek back to her hangar bay was looking a lot longer all of a sudden, but the Power coursing through her started to compensate by the time she'd taken a few steps. It was dangerous to be morphed in the middle of such an overpowering enemy force, for she would be that much easier to track, but she had no choice--Saryn was clearly not capable of walking.

There were fewer quantrons on these lower levels, but there were enough to give her serious pause. Each time she heard footsteps, she glanced down automatically. Sometimes her right palm would glow, and she would continue on, holding it out to the quantron when the being stopped to regard her and displaying Astronema's infamous diamond symbol.

More often, though, the violet glow was absent and she would be forced to take cover as best she could until the danger had passed. One quantron proved to be a little too suspicious for its own good, and she was forced to leave Saryn while she ambushed the mechanical being and disabled it. Another quantron happened along while she was hiding the first, and for one sinking moment she thought she was going to have to fight her way off the ship.

But the second quantron responded to the shimmering diamond outline on her palm, and it sounded no alarm. It continued down the hallway and disappeared, and she stowed the disabled quantron in a storage locker.

With their nerve-rackingly slow pace, it seemed forever before they made it back to the bay where her "velocifighter II" was stowed. It could have been hours after the time she arrived or it could have been days, but they were there, and the prisoner transfer bay was still thankfully empty. She made her way over to her disguised starfighter, resting tandem with Saryn's captured ship.

If her fighter had actually been one of the second generation velocifighters, equipped for minimal cargo and passenger transport--in other words, the transfer of stolen goods and prisoners--she would have put Saryn inside without another thought. But the illusion that Kerone had woven for her before she left was nothing more than a shift in wavelengths and ID codes, and there was no room in the starfighter for a second person.

She was depending on his ship. If it had been too badly damaged, she was going to have to improvise, which meant stealing another ship. A velocifighter, no doubt, which she wasn't sure she could slave to her starfighter. Back on Aquitar, that hadn't seemed important--she had figured he would be conscious and able to pilot himself, rather than having to link the computer system of whatever ship he was on to her own.

But luck was with her, and his ship powered up on command. She started the preflight and reached for the comm, intending to complete the slaving process while the preflight was in progress.

She hit the wrong button, and a small flash of pink light took her by surprise. His comm didn't have a holomatrix unit, and yet that was exactly what she seemed to have activated. Her eyes widened as a tiny image of herself twirled on the console, arms over her head and a peaceful smile on her upturned face.

The preflight chimed, and she blinked, realizing she'd been staring for several seconds. She linked the comm system to her own starfighter and slaved the computer system as Billy had taught her, trying not to be too distracted by the image on the console. She had no idea how to shut it off.

Finally, she left the cockpit and returned for Saryn. There was no way she would be able to lift him into that space, even with her morph--another factor she had not considered.

With a sigh, she closed her eyes and teleported. It might set off half the alarms on the ship, but there was nothing else to be done. She settled Saryn as quickly as she could, fastening restraints around his limp body and praying his unconsciousness wasn't a symptom of something worse.

She noted distractedly that the image of her was gone now, and she stroked Saryn's cheek as she leaned over him to seal the cockpit. There was no point in not teleporting now, so as the cockpit seals flashed green, she checked the ship slave once more and then sent herself directly into her own starfighter.

It was on standby, flashing a confirmation of the starfighter slave from this end, and she powered the engines up. Her ship slid forward across the deck, the bay doors recognizing her fake ID codes and opening in front of her.

To her immense gratification, Saryn's ship mimicked her forward thrust, engines firing even as hers did as her starfighter slipped out into the welcome blackness of space. A warning flared on her console, and she grimaced. It had taken them this long--she had been luckier than she had any right to, when it came right down to it. Now it was a race between her navcomp and their targeting scanners.

Laser fire burned past even as her computer flickered confirmation of her hyperspace vector, and she threw their ships into hyperrush as fast as the engines would comply.

"I don't understand," Carlos was saying. "When was he captured, again?"

"Late evening, by your time," Aura murmured. She was leaning against a console next to him, listening as Cestria tried to explain the sequence of events to the Astro team.

"Why weren't we told then?" Andros wanted to know.

"At the time, there was nothing to say that the signal wasn't real," Cestria said. "Clearly, we should have confirmed with your team first, but we did not."

Carlos frowned. There was more to that than she was saying--it wasn't like Phantom to just rush off without knowing what he was rushing *into*. Information might not stop him, but he always had it.

"Incoming starfighters," Billy interrupted, and Carlos swung around. He wasn't the only one--Billy had the attention of everyone in the room.

"ID..." Billy hesitated, then a grin broke over his face. "One of them is Phantom's."

Ashley's clap was audible over everyone else's muted exclamations of relief, and he saw Andros reach out to hug her. Carlos caught the grateful gaze of the Aquitian next to him, and he returned Aura's smile.

Then an oddly distorted voice came over the comm as Billy let the lead starfighter link in with the control computers, and Carlos frowned. It was Cassie's voice... but it wasn't. Familiar, but only when he was listening for it--he didn't know what to make of the sound.

"I have Phantom," she told them, and from where Carlos stood he could see the tactical display tracing her path to one of the orbiting stations high above Aquitar. "He's unconscious--can you lock onto him and teleport him to the Medical bay for me?"

"Done," Billy responded, doing something to the panel in front of him.

"I'll be there as soon as the fighters are secured," she said. "Thanks, Billy."

"Congratulations, Cassie," he answered. "You did it again."

Carlos didn't understand, but Cassie must have. "As long as I don't make a career out of it," she said lightly. "I'm still planning to sing, you know."

Billy laughed. "We'll meet you in the Medical bay."

"Right."

The comm link cut off, and Carlos turned to find most of the team already out the door. He caught Aura's eye and she straightened, moving to lead the way out of auxiliary control. Cestria reached the door before they did, and Billy was right behind them. Carlos had a moment to wonder if it was wise for control to be completely abandoned, before he decided that since *he* wasn't going to stay behind he'd better not say anything.

A healer was just entering the infirmary from the other side as the Rangers crowded inside, and Andros and Cestria were already at Saryn's side. Carlos barely got a glimpse of his unconscious form lying on a patient bed before a dark glow momentarily brightened the area by the doorway.

His eyes widened as the Phantom Ranger teleported into the Medical bay.

He looked from Saryn to Phantom in utter noncomprehension before seeking out Aura with his eyes. She was right next to him, and he felt a little better when she looked almost as startled as he felt.

Then Phantom did something he had never done before--he reached up and twisted the helmet that concealed his features, breaking the seal and pulling the helmet up off over his head.

Their Asian teammate shook her long dark hair free, letting it fall over the Phantom Ranger's armor with complete unconcern. "How is he?" she asked worriedly, stepping in front of Billy to join Andros and Cestria at Saryn's bedside.

Carlos could only gape at her. "Cassie?"

8. Listen

Carlos' startled exclamation echoed the only word TJ was capable of uttering, so he said nothing as "the Phantom Ranger" reached for Saryn's ruby. In a flicker of light the armor dissolved, and Cassie stood before them in jeans shorts and a pink t-shirt.

She ignored their confusion, taking Saryn's hand in hers and wrapping his fingers around the ruby. "Come on, Saryn..." Her whisper was audible to the entire room, but her concerned gaze was only for him.

TJ swallowed his own questions and watched intently as a faint crimson glow seemed to flare through Saryn's fingers. The dark-haired Ranger didn't stir, but his eyes opened slowly--not squinting, but not focusing on anything yet either--until Cassie lifted their joined hands and hugged them close to her chest.

Saryn turned his head in her direction, and TJ thought he sighed a little. "Cassie," he murmured, and she smiled.

"Stop doing this to me," she scolded gently. "What is it with the dying every other week?"

Saryn actually smiled faintly. As he struggled to sit up, Cassie rolled her eyes but went to help him anyway. "I will endeavor not to cause you so much trouble in the future," he told her, as she put a supporting arm around him and sat down beside him.

"You do that," she replied. "I can't keep rescuing you, you know. It's bad for the Phantom Ranger's image."

He gave her an odd look at that, and seemed to hesitate before answering. Just as TJ was about to jump in, Saryn said at last, "I think not. Unless I am gravely mistaken, you have taken care of that."

Cassie flushed, shooting a guilty look around the room. TJ took that as his cue. "You're not mistaken--want to tell us how long you've been the Phantom Ranger, Cassie?"

"Just since this morning," she muttered. "Honest. Kerone brought the ruby back from Ecliptor, and... it seemed like the best way to protect Saryn's identity."

"The cameras in the holding cells," Kerone said, her tone one of satisfaction and approval. "They showed the Phantom Ranger coming to rescue Saryn of Elisia--no one will know what to make of that."

Cassie shrugged, looking a little embarrassed. "I'm hoping they *will* know what to make of it--that Saryn isn't the Phantom Ranger, and Phantom's identity is still a mystery."

"But they saw me demorph," Saryn protested.

"*Quantrons* saw you demorph," Kerone corrected. "Quantrons are easily fooled. No one will be able to dispute the evidence provided by the battleship's security cameras."

TJ hoped this wasn't going to sound as offensive as he thought it might. "I hate to say this, but--was it really that big of a deal?"

As soon as the words were out, he winced. It sounded just as bad out loud as it had in his head. "I mean," he hurried to add, "I know you don't want anyone to know who you are, Saryn. I swore I wouldn't tell, and I won't--but why is it so important?"

Saryn looked away. Cassie grimaced in TJ's direction, and he tried not to sigh. *Excuse me for not being able to read his mind,* he thought, in the privacy of his own mind. *Unlike other people I could mention.*

It was Billy who broke the silence. "Eltarans are... valuable hostages," he said, giving Saryn a quick look. "Eltare was the center of the League for hundreds of years, and its people wielded a tremendous amount of influence. And more than any other planet, it needed the appearance of strength and invincibility as a counter to the forces of evil.

"It's like on Earth," the Blue Aquitian Ranger explained, seeing their bewildered expressions. "If a US citizen is taken prisoner by another country, the United States will take extreme measures to get them back--because it can't afford to be seen as too weak to protect its own.

"Eltare was the same way, only more so. To have an Eltaran prisoner was to show that, in some way, you were stronger than the strongest force in the League. I think there were only two Eltarans ever *taken* prisoner by evil, and both were rescued by massive retaliatory strikes."

Saryn shifted on the patient bed, still staring toward the windows that lined one side of the Medical bay. "We were strong together," he muttered. "Alone, any of us is as vulnerable as any other League member."

Billy nodded. "Eltare's reputation didn't fade with its fall. Saryn fights alone often enough to make him an easy target, if anyone knew who the Phantom Ranger really was."

TJ glanced around at the others, wondering if he was the only one who had missed a vital part of this explanation. He felt like he was standing here, taking in every word of a story about someone else entirely. "But Saryn *isn't* Eltaran," he said finally.

The statement was greeted by nothing but silence, and he raised an eyebrow in Saryn's direction. "Are you?"

Saryn swallowed, but didn't answer. Cassie kept her eyes downcast, and none of the Aquitians seemed inclined to answer for him. TJ tried not to roll his eyes. *A simple "yes" or "no" would be enough,* he thought, but managed not to say it aloud.

"Elisia was *of* Eltare," Saryn said at last, his voice even. "It was the first colony ever established by Eltaran... empaths."

TJ caught Ashley's eye, and she shrugged minutely. He couldn't help feeling relieved that he wasn't the only one not understanding. *In other words, "yes",* he told himself. *That's all I was asking.*

He wasn't sure if the beep of the Astro Rangers' communicators made the situation more or less tense, but he was grateful for the distraction. Andros didn't even bother to separate himself from the Aquitians before touching his communicator. "What is it, DECA?"

"Two Barox are on an intercept course with Earth," the computer replied, her calm inflection at odds with the news she presented.

"We'll be right there," Andros said, dropping his wrist and gathering up his teammates with a glance.

"The Barox again," Aura commented, as they caught each other's eye. "Their increasing numbers trouble me."

"Join the club," Carlos told her wryly, as TJ reached for his morpher. "These two are the second pair we've seen this week."

"You're not coming," Cassie said firmly, her voice making the entire team hesitate.

Saryn was getting to his feet at her side, clearly intending to follow them to the Megaship. "I will come," he said, as though he hadn't heard her.

"You won't," she repeated. "You just got your ruby back after twelve hours without it--you're not up to combat."

"I have been without it for longer periods," he said calmly. "I'm coming."

"We don't have time for this," Andros broke in. "Saryn, you're coming--let's go."

A smart move on Andros' part, TJ thought with amusement, since Saryn was obviously determined to join them no matter what anyone said. But Cassie paused again, glancing at Cestria. "Tell Linnse," she said quickly. "She should know he's all right."

"She'll be notified," Cestria agreed, and Andros motioned impatiently.

Cassie reached for her morpher as he did, and the rest of the team followed suit. Sapphire swirled around TJ, dropping him onto the Megaship's Bridge and leaving him feeling more alert for the Power's brief manifestation.

The return journey to Earth was a tense one, for DECA informed them that the Barox would arrive at their planet almost a full minute ahead of the Astro team. *We can't keep counting on the Megaship to get us back in time,* TJ thought, knowing it was on everyone's mind. With Dark Spectre's forces in their galaxy, they had to start being more careful.

"The Barox have reached Earth," DECA announced finally, and the seconds until the Megaship dropped out of hyperspace ticked by agonizingly slowly.

Finally the ethereal patterns of hyperrush faded from the main screen, and the stars flickered into view as the Megaship dove towards Earth. "DECA, locate the Barox," Andros snapped.

"The Barox have teleported offship already," Ashley said, before DECA could reply. "They're in Angel Grove."

"Surprise, surprise," TJ heard Carlos mutter.

Andros was already on his feet. "Where?"

"The lake," Ashley answered, doing something to her console.

TJ almost swore. The lake. They had planned to meet at the lake later that morning, just before lunch. Tessa and Karen were supposed to be there too--and it would be just like Tessa to arrive early.

Then Ashley stood too, and TJ wasted no time in going for his morpher. They wouldn't be gliding, not with Kerone and Saryn with them, so he punched in the morphing code without hesitation. He saw holographic gold flashing across the Bridge before blue light flared around him, and his morpher, preprogrammed with the lake coordinates, took him immediately to the lakeshore.

"Andros! Get down!"

TJ would never understand how the Kerovan Rangers seemed to get everywhere faster than the others, but he saw Andros diving out of the way of a Barox fireball even as the world reformed around him. Zhane already had his Super Silverizer out, and was bombarding the Barox with a hail of energy blasts.

*Tessa...* TJ spun, trying to find the other Barox or his girlfriend, whichever appeared first.

"Star Slinger!"

He drew his Astro blaster, hearing Ashley yell for her weapon and turning automatically in that direction. There was the second Barox, squaring off against Ashley and Cassie, and for a split-second TJ felt relief that Tessa hadn't come early after all.

Then he saw her, sunlight on her flyaway blond hair as she stared at the battle in stunned amazement from the water's edge--not six meters from where the second Barox stood.

"Galaxy Glider--hang ten!" His Glider was there in less time than it took to call it, and TJ leapt onto it and swept toward Tessa without a thought. She saw him coming and her eyes, if it was possible, got even wider as he reached down and wrapped an arm around her waist.

"You shouldn't be here," he told her, holding her tightly as the Glider swerved away from the fight and zipped a little ways down the shore.

"It's a free beach!" she answered--indignant, if a little breathless, and he would have smiled if he wasn't so worried.

"Stay here," he said, setting her down gently on the sand.

Shaking her hair out of her face, she nodded quickly. He was already turning away when he heard, "Thanks, T--Blue Ranger."

His head whipped around, and he stared at her. "What did you say?"

She gave him her most innocent look. "Nothing..." Then her green eyes widened again, and she yelped, "Behind you!"

He threw himself out of the way without question, hitting the sand and hearing a detonation far too close behind him. One of the Barox had somehow gotten across the beach in seconds, without him even noticing, and a fireball had exploded on the ground where TJ's Glider had been a moment before.

He looked for Tessa first, found her safe as he scrambled to his feet. "Astro Axe!" The roar of Zhane's Silver Cycle almost drowned out TJ's cry, but the Power didn't care. His weapon appeared on his hand, and Zhane's Cycle sprayed sand in all directions as it slid to a halt behind the Barox.

TJ almost laughed as *Astronema* climbed off the bike behind Zhane. Kerone had very nicely solved a problem he hadn't even thought of--how to hide her identity without a Ranger uniform to disappear behind. Although how they were going to explain why the former villainess was now working with the Rangers, he had no idea.

There was no time to wonder, however--he could keep the Barox from firing again, for a time. But his Axe was meant for delivering the final blows, not taking out an enemy all by itself, and when Zhane yelled for him to move, he *moved*.

Conveniently, he moved in Tessa's direction. He didn't want to draw the Barox's attention to her, but he also didn't want to leave her undefended, and she seemed perfectly willing to remain still and inconspicuous at his side.

Astronema, wrath staff in hand, was anything but--both her staff and Zhane's Silverizer worked over long distances, and they had gone in different directions while TJ distracted the Barox. They were at an angle to each other now, catching the Barox in a deadly crossfire with every shot they let loose.

The Barox wouldn't go without a fight, of course, and TJ stared as a fireball meant for Zhane simply disappeared before it could reach him. No more than a foot away from the Silver Ranger, the fire exploded into an apparently harmless flash of purple energy, dissipating before it even touched Zhane's uniform.

The Barox stumbled, and Astronema's wrath staff crackled with energy as Zhane's Silverizer shifted to blade mode. Leaping forward, the Silver Ranger slashed the Barox across its chest. The air seemed to ripple and distort as the alien bounty hunter fell to its knees, and Zhane spun away as the Barox exploded behind him.

Another luminescent flare caught TJ's eye from farther down the beach, where the other Barox was still on its feet. Andros, Ashley, and Carlos had it surrounded, but the brilliant light wasn't coming from any of them. Instead, the glow burst away from Cassie and Saryn, enveloping the second Barox in a massive flash of heat and flame.

There was nothing left of the hunter when the air cleared, and TJ saw Zhane and Astronema exchange glances. "What was *that*?" he could hear Zhane mutter, but there was no answer.

"Are you all right?" TJ asked, suddenly remembering the girl at his side.

"Yeah," she assured him, tearing her eyes away from the scene she had been watching with as much interest as he. "I'm fine. You'd better get going--your teammates are waiting."

Actually, Zhane and Astronema didn't seem concerned with him at all, but it gave him the perfect way out. "Sorry," he said, though as the Blue Ranger he knew he had nothing to apologize for.

It was her stammer earlier that was bothering him. As TJ, he would have a *lot* of explaining to do if her hesitation had been what he thought it was. He barely kept from promising to "see you soon"--she only nodded to him, and lifted her hand a little as he left to join the others.

"What *was* that?" Carlos demanded, even as the afterimage of the explosion faded from Cassie's vision.

"Are you okay?" Andros added immediately.

She turned a concerned look on Saryn, who had not moved since the explosion. He still clasped her hand, but there was no way she could see his expression behind his visor. "*Are* you okay?" she asked, worried. As Cestria had pointed out, using their combined Power could only be expected to drain him.

But he tilted his head toward her at the sound of her voice, and asked calmly, "Are *you*?"

They stared at each other for a long moment, until Ashley threw up her hands in disgust. "Well, someone answer the question!"

The hum of Zhane's Cycle overrode any possible answer, and TJ's Glider drew even with the group at exactly the same time. "Can we get out of here?" he asked, without preamble. "I need to talk to Tessa."

"She's right there," Zhane said, gesturing over his shoulder.

TJ threw an irritated look in his direction, taking the attempt at humor more seriously than it had been intended. "Unmorphed. And I'm not demorphing here."

"Let's go," Andros agreed, reaching for his morpher.

As the other Rangers vanished into a rain of sparkles, and Astronema into her shimmering violet silhouette, Cassie shot another uneasy look at Saryn. "You didn't answer the question," she said quietly.

"Neither did you," he said, amusement in his tone. "We should go; they'll wonder what happened to us."

She squeezed his fingers, trying to keep her worry--and her temper--under control. "I'm all right. Are you?"

He just looked at her for a moment, then nodded. "I am."

She tried not to sigh. He was hiding something, but he was also right--the others would wonder, and they couldn't just stand here at the lake morphed for the rest of the morning. "Let's go," she said, resigned to his silence for now, but vowing to figure it out later.

The world went crimson before she could touch her morpher, and her eyes widened as the Megaship's Bridge appeared around them. *Crimson...* His teleportation was subtly more red every time she saw it. What if *that* was part of the problem--

"There you are," Andros said, oblivious to her musing. "What happened down there?"

TJ was already gone, she noted distractedly. The others remained, though--Astronema was once more an innocent looking blonde teenager, and the Rangers had demorphed. Cassie let go of Saryn's hand to fling her arms out to the side, following their example. "Power down!"

Saryn, to her surprise, did not. It only worried her further, but when he volunteered an answer to Andros' question, she couldn't interrupt.

"Cassie and I have the ability to share Power," he said, as though it was nothing out of the ordinary. "We seem to have been able to combine it in this instance into a force greater than either of our weapons alone."

" 'Seem to'?" Carlos repeated. "You didn't know that was going to happen?"

Saryn turned his head, and Cassie glanced back at him. It was disconcerting to be staring at his visor, and she had to fight not to snatch his ruby away from him impatiently. It was childish, but she couldn't help feeling that he was once again hiding from her.

"No," she said at last, when he didn't answer. "I still don't know *what* happened. Your guess is as good as ours."

"But you did *something*," Andros insisted, and she tried not to sigh.

"We did what we had to. We didn't plan it, it just... happened." *Like saving him after the detonator exploded on Aquitar,* she thought, shooting another glance in his direction. It scared her sometimes that these things just seemed to *happen* around him, unpredictable and uncontrollable.

"Well, it's a good thing it did," Ashley put in. "We were having a hard enough time just containing that Barox, let alone destroying it."

"Who got the other one?" Cassie asked, hoping to change the subject.

"Zhane and Kerone," Carlos told her, and Ashley nodded.

"The power of magic," Zhane informed them lightly, and Cassie studied him more closely. He and Kerone weren't standing *too* close, but there was something about the way he leaned on the console beside her--leaning toward her, rather than away. And she smiled faintly at his words... an inside joke?

"The power of hunger," Ashley corrected, when Cassie didn't reply. "Are we ever going to have our picnic, or should I just give in and go to the Synthetron myself?"

Cassie smiled, and Zhane laughed at Ashley's mock-indignation. "I say we have the picnic," he declared.

"I'll second that," Andros put in, and Zhane reached out to cross wrists with his best friend. Andros grinned and returned the gesture, but Cassie turned her attention back to Saryn.

"You're going to the Medical bay," she said softly.

Not softly enough. "What's wrong?" Carlos asked.

Trying not to glare, she replied, "He won't *tell* me."

"There is nothing wrong," Saryn put in. "But if it will make you feel better to have DECA's opinion, I will go to the Medical bay."

That in and of itself worried her. Under normal circumstances, he never would have agreed to visit the Medical bay. But she pressed her opportunity. "Right--we'll meet you guys at the lake in a few minutes, then."

Ashley gave her one of those "you'd better tell me what's going on later" looks, but she led the others off to raid the Synthetron. Kerone, to Cassie's surprise, gave her a sympathetic look as she passed. Carlos clapped her shoulder on his way out, and Cassie saw Saryn shift.

*Good,* she thought. *They know exactly how stubborn you are, and yes, we're "taking care of you".* She didn't care if he knew it at this point.

He stepped into the lift of his own accord, and she followed, but neither of them said anything until they reached the Medical bay. She because she was trying to out-stubborn him, and he... she didn't know why he said nothing, but she rather thought he was sulking.

"Demorph," she told him, as soon as they were inside the Medical bay. He just looked at her.

"Saryn, I mean it. You always demorph around us--I know something's wrong, so stop trying to hide it!"

"Am I nothing more to you than someone to be taken care of?" he asked quietly. There was an odd note in his voice.

She stared at him. Saryn was pulling away from her. The one person she had known beyond a doubt she could still trust--spending so much time on Aquitar was putting distance between her and her teammates, and seeing Zhane and Kerone together this morning made her realize exactly how much she was missing.

She had no idea what things were like between Andros' sister and the Silver Ranger, or how things were going for Ashley and Andros... she couldn't even remember the last time she'd heard Carlos mention Karen. And what about TJ's sudden insistence that he had to talk to Tessa? What was that about?

And now Saryn? Was he upset about last night? What if her mother was right--was she nothing more than a child to him, one he was growing tired of at last?

She swallowed hard, turning away so he wouldn't see the tears in her eyes. "Cassie?" she heard him ask, and his hand was on her shoulder. Still morphed...

At his touch, she squeezed her eyes shut and felt a single tear leak through. "I don't know who anyone is anymore!" she burst out, ashamed to cry in front of him again but unable to help it.

Suddenly both his hands were on her shoulders, and she could feel the warmth of his skin through her t-shirt as he turned her around. He had demorphed, and she let him pull her close against him, wanting nothing more than to hide in his arms forever.

"It's all right," she heard him whisper. "Everything will be all right, Cassie."

She tried to take a deep breath--she choked on it, and she felt him rub her back soothingly. She gave up any pretense of not crying and buried her face in his chest, grateful just to feel him holding her again.

He said nothing more, letting her cry until the tears stopped coming, and then holding her still. She stood there, listening to him breathe, slower than her, and calmer, and tried to feel what he was feeling.

The noise was blissfully absent now, but in place of it she felt nothing. She drew in a deep breath at last, feeling her hopelessness abate further, and it was only then that she realized what she *was* feeling from him. It wasn't nothing--it was peace, a quiet calm that was so subtle she had almost missed it.

But it wasn't what he was *feeling*... she turned her head up to search his expression. His bright eyes stared back at her, and she could feel that peace seeping into her. He wasn't feeling the calmness, he was only *projecting* it--onto her.

Behind the intensity of his gaze, she could see the concern and turmoil of his own feelings; feelings he was blocking, for her sake. She hadn't known he could do that.

"Thank you," she whispered, and the ghost of a smile flickered across his face.

"You must forgive me," he murmured. "Please understand that I have not done this in almost four years... it is a hard skill to relearn, and Cestria tells me I am too strong for my own good."

"Just strong enough for *my* good," she said, meaning it, and he smiled again.

"Will you--tell me what is wrong?" he asked hesitantly, and she drew back enough to give him a sharp look.

"Are you going to tell me what's wrong with *you*?"

He sighed, but he did not look away. "Truly, I do not know."

"So something *is* wrong," she pressed.

"Possibly," he admitted. "I--am more tired than I can account for, of late. Unable to focus, sometimes, except when you are near."

"Except when I'm around," she repeated. "A problem with your Power, then." The idea triggered by his teleportation was back, and she wondered what Andros would say if she snuck into his room without permission.

"So I assumed," he agreed. "But--until today--I have done nothing to put strain on my crystal. There should *be* no problem."

His hands were still on her shoulders, and she thought he might not be supporting *her* so much as letting her support *him*. "Saryn," she said slowly. "On Elisia, did you ever have--Zhane calls it 'color withdrawal'..."

She didn't know how else to explain, but he cocked his head at her without puzzlement. "Power withdrawal, yes. The withdrawal your body goes through when the Power leaves it. You minimize the effects by wearing the color that chose you, thus giving the Power a conduit to you even when unmorphed."

"That's what I mean," she agreed. She waited for him to see what she was suggesting, but he didn't seem to understand. Finally, she pointed out the obvious herself. "You're wearing black."

His expression went stony. "Black is my color now."

She bit her lip, worried by how quickly he had closed off. "But red is the color that chose you," she said softly. "You can't just pick a new color, Saryn; it doesn't work that way."

"I did not choose it." He wasn't stepping away, and that was the only thing that reassured her now. "I did not deserve the color that chose me, thus I accept the absence of color as my only rank as a Ranger."

"There was no Black Ranger on you team," she guessed. Somehow, she didn't think Carlos would take kindly to hearing his color described that way.

Saryn shook his head. "I mean no disrespect to Carlos," he added, more quietly. "But I wear black because I am not worthy of red."

"That," Cassie said calmly, "is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard."

He stared at her in surprise.

"You were *chosen* red," she insisted, putting her hands on his arms. "Nothing changes that, and the Power doesn't pick people who aren't 'worthy'. You may have been able to change your uniform, but you can't change the Power--your crystal's still red."

"Maybe the Power doesn't know everything," he murmured, but his gaze was locked with hers and the pleading look in his blue eyes said that he *wanted* to believe.

"The Power knows," she told him firmly. "It knows better than us. Linnse tried to call me a traitor this morning, but even she couldn't deny that the Power doesn't *pick* traitors. It chooses people who *deserve* it, and will do good with it."

"Linnse *what*?" His eyes narrowed, and his fingers tightened on her shoulders. "What did you just say?"

She sighed, but didn't answer. She shouldn't have told him that. "It's not important. What matters--"

"It *is* important," he countered. "I have told you what is wrong with me..." He must have realized how tightly he was holding onto her, for his grip relaxed a little and he reached up to stroke her cheek gently. "Please do no less in return."

She hesitated, not wanting to bother him with it.

"It bothers me not to know," he retorted, and she blinked.

"Did you..." She paused. *Just read my mind?*

He stared back at her, an unreadable expression on his face. But she couldn't quite tell if he was actually hiding something, or if he was just waiting for her to speak.

She sighed, looking away. If she was going crazy, now was as good a time as any to do it. "It *is* Linnse," she said finally. "And it's my mom. And you. It's just--everything's happening at once, and I feel like I have no control over anything anymore..."

"You have control," he said softly. "More than you know. You need only *say* something."

She sighed again, inadvertently. "I can't control my mother. Or Linnse. Or you, for that matter." She knew that sounded strange, but it wasn't *him* she wanted control of, so much as some aspect of their relationship that she wasn't even sure she recognized herself.

He actually chuckled. "You have control of me, Cassie. In everything you say and do, you control me. I don't understand how you can not see this... I only wish it was as easy for me to reach *your* heart as it is for you to reach mine."

"You wish..." she stared at him, unable to finish repeating what he had said. "You *are* my heart," she said, suddenly finding her own words. "Why do you think I keep coming after you when you pull this 'make everyone think I'm dead' routine? I can't live without you--how can you not know that?"

"And yet you so rarely tell me what you feel," he told her quietly. "How am I to know?"

*What else is empathy good for?* she wondered wryly, but didn't say so aloud.

He smiled anyway, and she gave him a suspicious look. Deliberately, she thought, *You *are* reading my mind.*

"I'm not," he replied immediately.

Cassie smirked. *You are.*

His eyes widened as he realized what she was doing.

*How long have you been doing that?* she demanded. *And why didn't you tell me?*

He shook his head ruefully. "Too fast," he admitted. "I do not know what you said."

"I didn't *say* anything," she reminded him pointedly. "I wondered how long you've been reading my mind, and why you didn't tell me."

"Not long," he muttered. "I am not entirely sure when it started."

"But you have *some* idea," she persisted. "Today? Yesterday, last week?"

"Today, maybe," he conceded. "Or the day before yesterday, when you were last on Aquitar. I remember... knowing things before you said them, even then. It is hard to differentiate--to know when it went from feelings to actual words."

Somewhat mollified to know that he hadn't been keeping this secret for more than a day or two, she couldn't keep from asking, "When were you going to tell me?"

"When I understood it," he said quietly. "When I realized it was happening again--I told you, it is not so easy to notice the shift from just emotion to thoughts as well. And your thoughts are so clear..."

He sounded almost wistful. "You might as well have been speaking aloud," he whispered, touching her face gently.

She swallowed, trying not to let his attention distract her. "Happening again?" she repeated. "What do you mean?"

He paused for a moment, and when he answered, it wasn't at all what she expected. "You have done it again," he said, and his tone sounded almost accusatory.

She blinked. "What are you talking about?"

"You distracted me." He gave her a stern look. "We were talking about you. We never talk about you, because you always change the subject before you say anything. I do not wish you to continue diverting me like this."

She folded her arms, closing her mouth and staring at him. *I'm not saying anything,* she thought slowly, *until you tell me how you're reading my mind.*

His hands were still on her shoulders, though he lifted one hand to brush his hair carelessly away from his face. *Then--* He gazed down at her, his expression no less determined than her own. *We will be here for a very long time.*

She gasped, startled beyond words to hear his resonant voice, complete with alien inflection and unyielding tone, speaking inside her head. It was nothing like hearing Cestria, or even Aura, who always sounded as though they were speaking from somewhere far away, sending the words to her from a distant place. Saryn sounded like he was... inside her mind.

"How did you--" She completely forgot her promise not to speak, watching his stern expression breathlessly for any change. "You talked to me! You're not supposed to be able to do that!"

His expression didn't so much as flicker. *You are changing the subject again.*

Her eyes widened. His mental "voice" was both frightening in its strength and addictive in its very presence--she wasn't sure if she wanted to clap her hands over her ears or beg him to keep talking... Was this what Ashley felt when Andros "spoke" to her? No wonder she always went dreamy-eyed on them!

"Cassie?" Saryn asked softly, his real voice suddenly quiet and distant after the reverberation in her mind. "Is it--troubling?"

"No!" she assured him hastily. "It's..." She didn't know what words to use. "I don't even know; it's--strange, but in a good way."

He smiled a little, but there was no putting him off this time. "Then tell me what *does* trouble you," he told her. "I am not leaving this room until I know."

She turned away, sitting down gingerly on the edge of the patient bed. "But your Power..." she gestured helplessly. "It must be affecting you more now, because you're demorphed all the time. Maybe you should--"

"I will be fine, as long as I am with you," he said firmly. "I will consider what you said about my Power later. Right now I wish you to tell me what led you to cry just now--so that I may do everything I can to fix it."

She sighed. "It isn't that easy..."

"Tell me," he repeated, sitting down beside her.

"Tess!"

She was sitting down by the water, some distance from where the fight with the Barox had taken place only a few minutes before. She looked over her shoulder at his shout, and she smiled back at him.

TJ jogged over to her, sitting down in the sand beside her without hesitation. "Hey," he said, with as bright a smile as he could manage. "I heard there was some excitement here earlier."

"Yeah," she agreed, turning her gaze back to the water. "Some bad guys showed up; the Power Rangers came and blew them away. The story of Angel Grove."

"I guess it is," he agreed, following her gaze nervously. She didn't sound upset, but he had a sinking feeling that the worst was yet to come. "I'm glad you're all right."

"Thanks," she said simply.

They sat there in silence for a few minutes, listening to the breeze stir the leaves of the trees lining the lakeshore. The breeze gradually increased, until he realized he was hearing the chatter of picnic enthusiasts over the wind. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw most of the team headed in his and Tessa's direction.

With a jerk of his head and a quick wave to the side, he managed to redirect them. As if it had been their intent all along, the group turned and walked along the water's edge, finally throwing themselves down in the sun-dappled shade beneath the trees.

"Tessa," TJ began, turning back to her. Not quite sure what he was going to say, he was almost relieved when she interrupted--until her words sank in.

"Your color-coded friends are here," she said with a smile. "Shall we go join them?"

"Color-coded?" he repeated, knowing how stupid it sounded but unable to come up with something else.

She glanced pointedly at his outfit. "Nice blue shirt, TJ. Do you own any other colors?"

He sighed. "You know." It was not a question.

"Of *course* we know," Tessa replied. She sounded, if anything, amused. "I thought *you* knew we knew, until today."

" 'We'?"

"Stop repeating everything I say," she said, leaning forward to kiss him on the cheek. "Me and Karen. We've known who you are for two or three weeks now."

"But how?" He had to ask, though he knew he wasn't racking up any points for elegance with his one and two word sentences.

"Your 'watches'," she said, holding up two fingers of either hand to make little quotation symbols. "You're not very careful about when they go off, or who's around when you talk to them, you know. And the fact that they don't actually tell time? That was sort of a tipoff."

He couldn't help cracking a smile at that, relieved that she still didn't seem upset. "Plus the 'color-coded friends'?" he teased tentatively.

"Plus the color-coded friends," she agreed, returning his smile. "And--you might want to tell Zhane to stop yelling his friend's name in the middle of battles. 'Andros' isn't really that common."

TJ rolled his eyes. "I'll mention it to him, but it probably won't do any good. He's notoriously 'forgetful'." He mimicked her finger quotation marks, and she grinned.

"I'm sorry I couldn't tell you," he offered, studying her expression. "I would have, you know... but there was this silly rule we had--"

"I know," she said, her grin widening. "Carlos told Karen last night."

She laughed outright at his chagrinned expression. "It wasn't on purpose. He goofed when he was trying to explain how everyone knew Cassie was all right, even though you didn't know where she was."

"I thought Carlos was quicker on his feet than that," TJ muttered.

Tessa cleared her throat. "I'm sure he is--normally." She shot him a suggestive glance, which he tried to take only in the spirit it was intended.

"I see," he said, forcing a wide smile.

"Of course, the fact that Karen was already convinced of who he was didn't help his case," Tessa admitted.

This time, his grin came naturally. "I'm sure it didn't. Too bad we didn't know you were smarter than us all along--it would have saved us a lot of grief."

"Oh, but TJ," she said, smirking mischievously at him. "You should have remembered rule number one in the Relationship Book of Rules."

He raised an eyebrow at her, perfectly aware he was being set up. "Which is?"

"Girls are born smarter than guys, and the difference only increases the older you get."

She shrieked with laughter as he lunged forward and wrapped his arms around her, tickling her mercilessly.

9. Learning to Live

A sparkle of violet energy crackled in the air, and Zhane yanked his hand back. "Ow!"

Astrea tossed her head, giving him a defiant look. "I *said* I can do it."

"I was just trying to help," he exclaimed indignantly, grabbing a different corner of the blanket and moving away from her. "You didn't have to shock me!"

Ashley gave him an affectionate shove as he laid his edge of the blanket down next to her. "Maybe you should have listened to her when she said she'd get it."

"Nineties women are all the same," Carlos complained, tugging at the blanket from the other side to get it to lie flat. "You offer to help them, and they hurt you."

Karen slapped his shoulder, and he clutched it dramatically. "Ow! See what I mean?"

Karen laughed. "I wouldn't have to hit you if you didn't say stupid things!"

"Zhane," Ashley whispered, before he could straighten up. She gestured him closer.

He crouched down next to the cooler she was rummaging through and cocked his head. "What's up?"

"Tell Kerone not to do that, okay?" she murmured, glancing in Karen's direction. "There aren't many sorceresses on Earth."

"Like she'll listen to me," he muttered, rolling his eyes. At Ashley's look, he added hastily, "But I'll try."

"Hey, TJ," Andros' voice greeted their teammate, and Zhane looked up to see TJ and Tessa strolling in their direction.

"Hi Tessa," Ashley chimed in cheerfully, giving Andros a pointed look. Zhane grinned as his friend pretended not to notice.

"You guys," TJ said, not bothering to say "hello" in return. The serious note in his voice got Zhane's attention, and the rest of the team looked up. The Blue Ranger said simply, "They know."

Zhane raised an eyebrow. Glancing around, he wondered if that was some sort of cryptic message he was *supposed* to understand, for the glances everyone else was exchanging looked more apprehensive than confused.

"Both of you?" Ashley was staring at Karen as though she'd never seen her before, and Zhane followed her gaze.

Karen caught Carlos' eye and nodded. "We've been pretty sure for a couple weeks now."

"And I screwed up last night," Carlos admitted. "Andros called me about Cassie…"

"And not only did he get up and leave the theater when his 'watch' beeped," Karen added, "but the first thing he said when he came back was, 'Cassie's all right.'"

"Sorry," Andros said, looking a little sheepish. "I should have checked where you were before I called you."

"Yeah, well, just remember that next time I walk in on you and Ashley in the observatory," Carlos muttered. Andros blushed, and Zhane heard Ashley trying to stifle a giggle.

"And no offense, but Zhane doesn't help either," Tessa added.

"No kidding!" Karen exclaimed. "You're not very good at the secret identity thing, are you."

Startled, Zhane held his hands out to the side. He had assumed the conversation would eventually become clear to him, but it hadn't happened yet. "What did I do? I don't even know what you're talking about!"

"Tessa and Karen know we're Power Rangers," Carlos said, taking pity on him. "They seem to think you're the worst at keeping it a secret."

Karen shoved him. "At least he didn't talk to his 'watch' right outside my open window two weeks ago!"

Carlos grabbed the hand that had shoved him and pulled her close, leaning in to give her a kiss. She relaxed visibly, clearly willing to forgive the slip, and TJ cleared his throat.

"So anyway, Zhane, Tessa's right--do you think you could possibly remember not to use names when we're fighting?"

"I don't," he protested, trying not to let his exasperation with the need for secrecy show.

"You used Andros' this morning," Tessa put in. "You yelled to him to get out of the way."

He shrugged helplessly. "So what was I *supposed* to call him?"

"Red Ranger," Ashley supplied. "We should all get in the habit of doing that--calling each other by our colors when we're morphed. At least on Earth."

"So people… not on Earth… know who you are?" Karen asked curiously.

Ashley nodded. "Andros says most planets know who their Rangers are. Earth's just too primitive to deal with it."

"I didn't say that," Andros objected immediately. "I didn't call it primitive, just… isolated."

"You're right, though," Karen admitted. "If I was a Ranger, I wouldn't want anyone to know who I was either. Can you imagine the media attention? You'd never have a normal life…" She trailed off, then added quickly, "Well, not that you do anyway, I guess."

"At least this way we can go to school, though," Carlos said. "And play sports, and hang out at the Surf Spot without having people following us around every minute. It's more normal than it *would* be, if people knew."

Karen nodded, but Tessa was regarding Andros quizzically. "Where are *you* from, then?"

He looked up in surprise, then glanced over at Zhane for support. Zhane just shrugged. *She did ask,* he told his friend silently.

"You said Earth was isolated," Tessa persisted. "That's not a very… human statement."

This time, Ashley did giggle, and Andros looked indignant. "We're as human as you are. We're just from a different planet."

"'We'?" Karen repeated, deadpan.

Andros caught Zhane's eye again, and Tessa and Karen followed his gaze.

"Oh, come on," TJ said, into the ensuing silence. "With a name like 'Zhane', where did you expect him to be from?"

"Hey!" Zhane complained good-naturedly. "Your name's just letters, so leave mine alone."

"We're from KO-35," Andros added. "Me and Zhane and Kerone."

"Kerone?" Karen repeated, shooting Carlos an amused glance. "Carlos, when I asked if she was an alien I was *kidding*."

Before Zhane could correct her, Tessa asked thoughtfully, "Astronema?"

Astrea looked up, her expression perfectly calm. "Yes?"

"What?!" Karen yelped.

Andros put a hand on her shoulder and stared back at Carlos' girlfriend. "She's my sister."

"And she's not evil," Zhane added.

"Anymore," Ashley amended. "She's on our side now."

"How did you know?" TJ demanded, studying Tessa. "They don't look *that* much alike."

Tessa gave him a fondly exasperated look. "Process of elimination. If you all wear your respective colors, then counting Cassie, that's six. That means Kerone can't be a Ranger, and Astronema was with Zhane this morning during the fight."

"So…" Karen didn't look at all intimidated by Andros' gaze. "You're still Astronema, but you're fighting *with* the Rangers?"

"I was born Kerone," Andros' sister replied. "That's the name I use now. But yes, I'm the same person I was when I was Astronema."

"Then what made you switch sides?" Karen asked, frowning.

Zhane, watching her, blinked when her gaze swung in his direction. Startled to be caught staring, he couldn't look away, and her hazel eyes locked with his. "Zhane," she said quietly.

He roused himself from the trance her eyes had put him into, trying to focus. "Hmm?"

Her lips curved gently, and she elaborated, "Zhane made me switch sides."

"You're kidding," Tessa said, then clapped her hand over her mouth when Zhane looked over at her. "Um… I didn't mean that the way it sounded."

Beside him, Ashley laughed. "I hope not. Don't mess with someone who has a sorceress for a girlfriend."

Startled into looking at her, Zhane was just in time to catch the wink she threw in Astrea's direction. To his infinite surprise, Astrea returned it even as Karen squeaked, "Sorceress?"

Carlos poked her. "You didn't think Astronema's staff was supertechnology, did you?"

She poked him right back. "I didn't know it was *magic*!"

A muted purple flash caught their attention, and a sparkling violet sphere appeared over Astrea's upturned palm. "Magic is magic," she said, and the glow shrank a little. "And mine won't go away just because I'm good again."

Catching him off guard, she tossed the tiny globe in his direction and his telekinesis reached for it instinctively. The light responded to his mental push and skidded to a halt just in front of his upraised hands.

He lowered his hands a little, so the sphere appeared to float over them the same way it had when Astrea "held" it. "What am I supposed to do with this?" he demanded, and she actually smirked at him.

Karen's eyes were wide. "You have it too?"

He frowned, keeping one eye on the sphere as he glanced over at her. "What, magic? No."

"Telekinesis," Andros put in.

"Just as useful, and a lot more subtle," Zhane cracked--and the violet light burst into a miniature explosion in front of him. He let his hands fall and blinked rapidly in a futile attempt to clear his vision. "Okay, not *quite* as useful," he admitted.

"More subtle though," Andros said with a grin.

"Definitely more subtle," Zhane agreed, rubbing his eyes. "I think you blinded me!"

"Ashley told you to be careful," Carlos reminded him, obviously amused.

"She told Tessa to be careful!" Zhane protested, giving Astrea his best wounded look. "I thought I was safe!"

"No, before," Carlos said, laughing. "When she shocked you. I'm telling you, you have to walk the line around women these days--"

"Or before you know it they're running the universe," Karen interrupted, grinning at Astrea.

Astrea smiled back, a little uncertainly, and Zhane tried to change the subject. "Hey, are we just going to talk all afternoon or do we actually get to eat at some point?"

"Maybe you should ask Kerone's permission," Ashley teased, and he tried not to wince.

*Ashley, I'm trying to get the attention *off* of her.*

She looked a little startled, but one glance in Astrea's direction must have convinced her. "Andros," she scolded suddenly, "stop standing on the blanket. You're getting it sandy. And Kerone, TJ, Tessa, sit down. Unless you *want* to eat standing up…"

TJ just laughed. "Yes, ma'am!" he said good-naturedly.

Tessa took his hand and pulled him down onto a corner of the blanket, and Andros wandered around the edge to join Ashley. "Any more orders for me?" Zhane heard him whisper, and she favored him with a bright smile.

Astrea still looked a little uncomfortable, even if, from Ashley's reaction, it wasn't obvious to everyone else. He motioned to her, cocking his head at the empty space next to him. She lifted her chin, staring back at him, and he sighed inwardly.

*I'm not trying to "help" you,* he thought, this time counting on her to be listening for him. He could project to Ashley now, barely and only most of the time, but he still relied on Astrea's claim that she could "link" with anyone to get things across to her. *But if you sit across from me I'll stare at you all afternoon and be totally distracted.*

He knew she had heard him when her lips quirked a little, and without a word she walked around the blanket as Andros had done. She stopped next to Ashley, and the Yellow Ranger grinned up at her. "First choice?"

"An apple?" Astrea said tentatively, and Ashley handed her one.

"Done. No sandwich?"

"I'm not hungry," she answered automatically, and Ashley wrinkled her nose.

"How could I forget? How 'bout you, Andros?"

"Favoritism," TJ complained. "You're supposed to serve the people farthest away from you first!"

"Oh, right, the lazy people," Ashley agreed. "Feel free to come over here and help me!"

"I'll help," Andros said quickly.

Watching Astrea carefully seat herself next to him, Zhane missed the reply. He smiled as she bit into her apple, and she looked up, seeming to sense his regard.

Then someone tapped his shoulder, and he twisted to see Andros holding a sandwich out to him. "Thanks," he told his friend, and Andros grinned at him.

"No problem." Silently, he added, *Remember to eat it.*

*Oh, like you should talk,* Zhane retorted. *I've seen you stare at Ashley!*

Andros' irritatingly smug look didn't fade as he turned away, and Zhane rolled his eyes. Andros seemed to get no end of amusement out of his best friend's attraction to his sister, and Zhane had no idea why.

*He's probably getting even with you for all the times you've teased *him*,* Astrea said, calmly taking another bite of her apple.

*Don't do that!* he exclaimed, glaring at her.

She only shrugged. *How am I supposed to know what you do and don't want me to pick up?*

"Thanks, Andros," Karen said, cutting into his train of thought as she reached in front of him.

"Wasn't Cassie going to come?" Tessa was asking, as Zhane became aware of the spoken conversation again.

"She got held up," Ashley said over her shoulder.

"She's still on the Megaship," TJ added, and Ashley shook her head.

"Yeah. Sorry, Tessa. I'm so in the habit of watching what I say."

"It's all right," Tessa said quickly. "The Megaship is--your ship?" she guessed, looking over at Andros.

"It was," he agreed, sitting down on the blanket with his own sandwich. "It used to be mine and Zhane's. It belongs to all of us, now."

Zhane looked up automatically, though the trees overhead made it impossible to see even the sky, let alone anything beyond it. Things were different now, Andros was right about that… but at last "now" was starting to feel like the present and not the future. The Megaship was beginning to feel more like home than Rayven, and the Astro team once more seemed like *his* team.

There was movement beside him, and he felt Astrea's hand brush against his. He glanced over at her, but she was scrutinizing her apple as though the next bite was the most important thing on her mind.

He smiled, once more losing the thread of the conversation as he looked at her. *Thanks for being here when I woke up.*

She didn't look up, but he heard her words echo in his mind nonetheless. *You too...*

The room was almost completely silent, save for the hum of the air recyclers and the steady whisper of their breathing. With her leaning against him, her head on his chest as they perched on one of the patient beds, he didn't dare move. And after her story, he found himself, for once, at a loss for words.

"I hadn't seen either of them for more than a year," Cassie murmured at last, breaking into the quiet. "And then to have *her* turn up at our front door… something inside me just turned off. It--it was the only way I could deal with it."

He lifted his fingers to stroke her hair, keeping his arm wrapped around her as he tried to decide what to say. "I'm sorry," he said at last, knowing it wasn't enough but not knowing how else to start. "I… you never spoke of your family."

"I never *think* of my family," she said, with a bitterness that shouldn't have surprised him. "I used to call them, almost every week. I don't think they noticed when I stopped."

"Cassie," he whispered, not knowing how to comfort her. He was so used to having words for every situation, to always knowing what and how much--or how little--to say. But he didn't know what to say to help the one person who meant the most to him.

She sighed, shifting a little as she leaned on him. "I'm sorry I was so short with you last night," she said. "I didn't mean it--"

"Do not apologize," he said quickly. "*I* am sorry; I should have asked, I should have *known* something was wrong. I'm sorry," he repeated. "I was only thinking of myself."

"You weren't," she protested, tilting her head a little as though she was going to look up at him. "I saw your present, Saryn; it's beautiful. I didn't even think of yesterday as…"

She trailed off, and he managed to smile a little. "It was a somewhat--unconventional choice, even by your traditions. But I knew you were not content, and I wished to cheer you up somehow."

"It was a wonderful thing to do," she murmured, and he sighed.

"The intent was there. But you must admit it backfired in spectacular fashion."

She actually giggled, and he smiled again, somewhat relieved. "The intent was there," she repeated. "That's all that matters."

"It is *not* all that matters," he contradicted her, trying not to be sharp. He was angry with himself for not seeing this, for not realizing how Linnse's suspicions were grating on her, how the constant time away from her friends was making her lonely, and for reacting as he had the night before, in a way so completely opposite to what she had needed.

He was trying very hard not to let her feel his distress, but he couldn't help saying, "I have failed you, Cassie, as both your friend and your love."

"No," she objected, trying to pull away from him. "You never have--"

He let her sit up, but he put two fingers over her mouth and did not let her pull his hand away. "I have," he said firmly. "Do not try to take the blame, because it is not yours and it will only make me feel worse."

Her lips curved a little under his fingers, and he tried his hardest to concentrate on what he had to say. "Please, Cassie," he said quietly. "Tell me when you hurt. I will know--I *will* learn to know--but I do not wish for anything like this to happen to us again in the meantime."

Her smile faded a little, and he let his hand fall. "I love you," she whispered after a moment.

He could only stare at her, finally giving in to the tug of her emotions as they engulfed his senses. "I love you, too," he murmured, feeling the words even as they were spoken, and trying to deny the disturbance he felt growing with his simple statement.

She bit her lip and stared back at him, until he could no longer ignore that discontent. "What?" he pleaded at last. "What have I done?"

He could feel her bracing herself, feel her longing to throw herself into his arms and fighting it. "I know you love me," she said quietly. "But do you believe me?"

She should never have to ask something like that--the question latched onto his heart and he knew, somehow, that he would hear those sad words in his mind for days to come. "Above all others," he answered seriously, willing her not to look away.

She swallowed, and he tried not to clench his fingers on her shoulder when she looked away. She glanced back at him after a moment that was far too long for his peace of mind, and the distress in her eyes caught him off guard. "Then *why* don't you trust me?"

The question once more rendered him speechless--he couldn't believe he had been at such a loss twice in only the past hour. "I--I *do* trust you," he managed to insist at last. "Without question, and without fail. How can you doubt that?"

"How can you doubt *me*?" she cried. "Last night, how could you have thought I was with someone else? Why can't I even *talk* to a guy without you glaring at me from across the room?"

He stared at her, knowing he had no defense against her accusation. "How--how did you know about last night?" he asked, trying not to flinch as he realized how that sounded. But he could think of nothing else to say…

"Aura had to block you again," she muttered. "The third time in as many weeks, Saryn; I *wish* you would think about having Cestria help you."

He closed his eyes. Her tone was that of someone repeating advice given often in the past, but she had never mentioned it before. He had long suspected that she hid her true thoughts behind that beautiful smile and somewhat flamboyant exterior, and he had yearned to know them.

He had thought, with the return of his empathy, that perhaps he had been wrong. That maybe he *did* truly know the girl behind the mask, and that his doubt was just what she confronted him with now--the all-consuming fear that he would somehow lose her to things he didn't understand.

But as she had pointed out, his empathy was long out of practice, and he had never been properly trained to deal with it. He suspected now that it had been Lyris' constant presence that had allowed him to control it as well as he had after he joined the Elisian Rangers. And Cassie had had years of recent experience in concealing her feelings…

"You are right," he whispered. "I will ask Cestria for assistance."

He expected her to protest, expected to have to reword his declaration to make her believe he was not doing it merely for her. But instead she asked only, "And you'll stop being so jealous?"

He opened his eyes in surprise. It was the first time she had demanded anything of him, without apology or reassurance, but that was one thing he could not do. "I can't control what I feel," he pleaded, reaching for her hand. "If I am--jealous, of some people you spend time with, it is only because I love you too much to bear the thought, however unreasonable, of one day losing you."

"You *won't*," she said fiercely. "Saryn, I've never loved anyone like this, and I don't think I ever can again. You're stuck with me--forever."

He caught his breath, suddenly struggling to get the words out. "Do you… mean that?"

"No, I'm lying!" she exclaimed. "Of *course* I mean it! I'm tired of you not believing in us, Saryn!"

Her anger hurt him in a way he could never have defined, and his soul ached as it hadn't since he had awoken alone in a medical ward on Eltare three and a half years ago. But… something in him was perversely--glad, to hear her shout at him. He knew at last that he was hearing exactly what she thought, with nothing held back.

"And yet," he said quietly, clinging to the hope her declaration had given him, "you said 'forever'."

"Because I *mean* forever," she answered, wilting a little as her temper seemed to drain away. "Every time I say I love you, I mean I'll always love you. I can't change it, and I don't think you can, either."

"I would not wish to," he said fervently. "Your love is what I treasure most in the universe, and it is the one thing I could not live without."

She sighed, looking away. "Not when I'm like this. I'm sorry; it's been a really long week--"

"*Especially* when you're like this," he corrected firmly. "I love who you truly are, Cassie, not just the person you want me to see. In all truth, I… have sometimes wished for you to lose your temper with me more often."

"You're kidding." Her expression was startled when she caught his eye, and he smiled involuntarily, starting to relax.

"I'm not. It is a side of you that you restrain too often, and I wish you wouldn't. Not around me."

"Are you saying you can take it?" she teased gently, edging closer to him.

"That is exactly what I'm saying," he agreed, drawing her into his embrace as she leaned against him again. "And--" He took a deep breath. "I will endeavor to… control my jealousy, as you say."

"You don't *have* any reason to be jealous," she insisted. "Not if you trust me. I *love* you."

"I know," he whispered. He would tell himself that next time, over and over--it had never worked before, but he would try it again, for her. At the very least, if it came to that, he would do his best to keep her from sensing his feelings.

She seemed content to let him hold her, and they stayed that way, silently, for several minutes. He didn't know exactly how much time passed, but he knew it wasn't long enough when she pulled away with a reluctant sigh. "I suppose the others are wondering what happened to us."

"No one has called looking for us," he pointed out hopefully.

She smiled a little at his tone. "I'm sure it won't be long… they tend to have the worst timing."

She slid off the edge of the patient bed before he could protest further, taking her energy with her. It was the first time he had been without her touch since he had demorphed, and he was shocked by how quickly exhaustion overtook him. This wasn't the mild fatigue he'd been pushing aside for the last few days--he was *tired*, and all of a sudden nothing but sleep sounded even remotely appealing.

"Saryn?" She turned back to him, surprise in her dark eyes. "*I* can feel that--are you all right?"

He nodded quickly, then changed his mind. "No… I do not think I am." He barely heard his own words, his focus somewhere just past the edge of his consciousness. He thought he heard her communicator beep… He knew that should be funny, but couldn't remember why.

Then her hand was on his arm, her own awareness crashing home and bringing his concentration back to something like its normal clarity. She tilted her morpher to snap it shut one-handed, and to his surprise a red glow lit the Medical bay as Andros teleported in.

"Come on," he said without preamble. "Saryn," he added, heading for the door, "you could have said something before this, you know."

Cassie sighed, tugging him to his feet to follow Andros. "Believe me, I've told him. He doesn't think he's 'worthy' of red."

"No," he tried to protest, realizing their intent. "I do not--"

Neither paid any attention. "If it doesn't work, I promise to stop bothering you about it," Cassie said, as the lift doors closed on them. Then she seemed to consider. "Well, I might. But you could at least *try* it first, and see."

He couldn't organize his thoughts quickly enough to come up with a counterargument, and within moments she was hesitating outside Andros' door. "I was going to change, too--should I wait?"

"No," Andros said, when he didn't answer. "We'll be okay; go ahead."

She hesitated, and he tried again to protest. But then she was gone, and the world blurred into something he almost couldn't recognize, let alone care about. He managed to wonder if he looked as bad as he felt, but he wasn't aware of Andros' reaction until the other pressed something into his hands a moment later.

He blinked, suddenly noticing they were in Andros' room. He didn't even remember entering it--but when he glanced down, he found his fingers wrapped around a bright red t-shirt, with a single black stripe across the chest.

"Andros," he said with a sigh.

Andros shrugged. "TJ used to wear it, but it's a little big for me. And it's not really my style."

The Red Ranger tilted his head to the side then, an exasperated look crossing his face. "I can't believe I just said that," he muttered, talking at least half to himself. "Ashley's a bad influence on me."

He stared down at the shirt in his hands, trying not to see it, not to think about it. There was no denying that Cassie had been right--he was still tired, but not overwhelmingly so, and things around him made sense again. He didn't understand why this "withdrawal" had chosen now to affect him so strongly, but logic told him to accept their gesture.

"Andros," he repeated, lifting his gaze to regard the Astro team leader. "I do not wish to infringe in any way--"

"We're not going to throw you off the team because you're a leader, Saryn," Andros said, sounding amused. "Just put it on."

He hesitated, but it seemed to be that or depend on Cassie for the rest of the day. He didn't want to put that kind of burden on her, so he shrugged out of his overshirt and pulled the black tunic off as well. He drew in an inadvertent breath as Andros' red t-shirt settled over his shoulders.

He felt Andros' gaze on him, and he closed his eyes. He wasn't sure if he would smile or cry, and for a moment, as his emotions warred within him, he honestly didn't know which would win. Finally, he managed a tentative smile, opening his eyes to find Andros still waiting.

"Thank you," he said quietly. "It feels--" He stopped. He couldn't quite bring himself to say it felt *right*, because he wasn't sure it did anymore. But it did feel *better*, and he swallowed. "Cassie was right."

Andros smiled a little in return. "She'll be glad to hear it. Are you up to joining us, then?"

He nodded slowly, glancing down at his abandoned tunic. Then his gaze shifted to his overshirt, and he picked it up and put it on over his t-shirt. Andros watched with a wry look on his face. "That's convenient," he remarked.

The red, while still unmistakable, was now mostly hidden by the long-sleeved black shirt he so rarely went without. He folded his tunic without a word and nodded to Andros. "Thank you--I will leave this in my room."

He froze when he realized what he had said, but Andros just smiled again. "Right," he agreed, making no comment on the "my room" statement.

He tried not to sigh as he stepped out into the hallway. He *was* a part of the team--they had told him so often enough, and he knew he was always welcome on the Megaship. Why was it so hard to break his old habits, his old reactions?

He left his tunic and reemerged into the corridor just in time to witness Cassie's entrance. She was still wearing her jean shorts, but her t-shirt had been replaced with a skintight pink top that made him catch his breath and stare.

She grinned at his reaction and lifted her hands over her head, twirling around once in the hallway. "You like it?"

"Cassie…" He tried not to stammer over the words and failed miserably. "Wh--what are you *wearing*?"

"Swimsuit," she replied, waving at Andros as he came down the hall. "Actually--" She regarded him curiously. "Have you ever been swimming? It never occurred to me to ask."

"Swimming," he said uncertainly, trying to stop staring at her long enough to answer the question. Kris could swim, he remembered. But she had never worn special clothes for the activity…

From somewhere next to him, Andros cleared his throat, and he blinked. "I--we used to…" He tried to sort his thoughts out into some sort of coherent sentence. Cassie was grinning, and Andros' obvious amusement only made him more flustered.

"There was a river, near where I lived," he said quickly, fixing his gaze on Cassie's eyes. "But I never--swam, as such."

"Well, we'll have to teach you," Cassie decided. "Do you have some shorts?"

He wasn't sure this was a good idea, but reluctantly he admitted, "Yes. Carlos insisted--"

"Good," she interrupted. "Go put them on; we'll wait."

He tried to come up with a reason to argue, and found he couldn't. Not with her smiling at him and wearing… almost nothing. He tore his gaze away and retreated back into his room, wondering if he wouldn't have been better off to have DECA keep him in the Medical bay.

As the door slid shut, he was sure he heard Andros' chuckle from the hallway.

"Cheating!" Zhane exclaimed, as the beach ball bounced to the ground centimeters from the line drawn in the sand. "That was on your side until half a second ago!"

"Oh, it was not," Karen shot back. "What, you think it moved on its own?"

Stilling the ball's roll with a glance, Zhane extended his hand and summoned it toward him. The inflated toy rose into the air and came to rest gently on his palm, and he gave Karen a pointed look. "No. I think it moved without someone *touching* it."

She smirked. "Well, if it was you or Kerone, I think you've forgotten which side you're on."

"It wasn't us," he said firmly, and he turned his stare on Ashley.

"You can't blame Andros," TJ said, amused. "He's not even here. So they get another point--there's no way we're going to win this anyway, Zhane."

"What are you looking at me for?" Ashley demanded, ignoring TJ. "*I* didn't do anything."

"She's not telekinetic," TJ reminded him with a grin. "Nice try."

"That's what she wants you to think!" Zhane exclaimed. "Andros has been teaching her for months!"

Tessa looked interested. "You can do that?"

"No," Ashley interjected. "I can move a telekinesis ball, and that's *it*. Really!"

"A beach ball isn't that much heavier," Zhane said suspiciously. "And *someone* moved it."

"Zhane, beach volleyball isn't a competitive sport," Carlos put in, looking smug. "Chill."

"You would say that," Astrea observed, speaking up for the first time. "The point went to your team."

Zhane tried not to grin as she came in on his side. "I move we suspend Ashley until Andros gets back," he said, pretending to be serious. "He can tell us if she's telling the truth."

Karen burst out laughing. "Oh, whatever! That leaves our team *two* short!"

The flare of red sparkles nearby put an end to the debate, and they all turned to see Andros arrive, Cassie and Saryn behind him. Zhane's eyes widened as he saw a flash of red through Saryn's unbuttoned overshirt, and he looked to Andros for an explanation.

His friend had stepped out of the volleyball game almost half an hour ago to check on Cassie, and had left for the Megaship without comment moments later. Zhane said nothing, trusting Andros to tell him if something was wrong. He had half-expected his friend to return with Cassie and Saryn, but he certainly hadn't thought to see the latter wearing *red*--and shorts, no less.

*Color withdrawal,* Andros said, using their old phrase. *I'll tell you later.*

"Hey Saryn, Cassie!" TJ greeted them cheerfully. "About time you showed up."

"He knows too?" Karen demanded, and Zhane tried not to roll his eyes.

"What?" Cassie asked, looking uncertainly from one to the other.

"He's a Ranger too," Carlos told Karen.

"Tessa and Karen know we're Power Rangers," TJ told Cassie, and her eyes widened. "Don't ask how they found out," he added, and she closed her mouth.

Ashley laughed. "They're girls, of course they found out."

"So you're saying a guy wouldn't have?" Carlos challenged, and she made a face at him.

Zhane was sure her answer was going to be "yes", but Karen interrupted before she could say it. "How long have you been dating guys, Carlos?"

TJ snickered, and Carlos sighed in defeat.

"That makes seven of you," Tessa said, glancing at TJ. "There's only six Rangers."

He shook his head. "There are seven--the Phantom Ranger's from another planet, but he's been helping us ever since we were Turbo Rangers."

"He's never on the news." Tessa looked puzzled, and Ashley laughed.

"There was a reason we called him 'Phantom'," she reminded them.

"Because Cassie liked it?" TJ suggested, and Zhane saw Carlos grin.

"So are *you* an alien?" Karen wanted to know, and her boyfriend gave her a playful push.

"You're really fixated on this alien thing, aren't you," he teased.

"I just want to know!" she protested, and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders affectionately.

"I am… not human," Saryn said slowly, and Zhane almost felt sorry for him. The other looked as though he would rather be anywhere but here right now. "By your standards, yes, I am an alien."

"You *look* human," Tessa added helpfully, and he cocked his head at her.

"The physiological differences are minimal," he answered, obviously uncomfortable with the questioning.

Saryn's attention shifted to Cassie as she was suddenly overtaken by a coughing fit, and Zhane found himself hard-pressed not to laugh. Not so far away, Ashley dissolved into giggles, and he was sure he heard TJ laugh once before catching himself.

"I see," Karen deadpanned. "Glad to hear it."

At her side, Carlos choked, and she elbowed him hard. "Beach volleyball?" she offered innocently.

"Yeah, you guys can take my place," Ashley said quickly, getting herself under control. "I've been banned," she added, shooting a mock-glare in Zhane's direction.

"Not--" Very faintly, he heard her voice whisper in his mind. *Go along with it, Zhane?* "Suspicion of cheating," he amended. "You're not allowed to play until we know who moved the ball."

"What?" Andros asked, and Ashley rolled her eyes.

"You can't play either," she informed him. "New rules. Cassie," she said, grabbing her friend's arm and drawing her forward. "You have to teach Saryn how to play this game--it's just Carlos and Karen now, and to tell the truth, they need all the help they can get."

"Hey!" Carlos protested.

"Were we winning?" Karen demanded. "I think yes!"

Ashley grinned unrepentantly at them. "That's just because Andros turned out to be so good. Now Saryn, come over here and I'll show you where to stand."

"I would rather not," Saryn said, surprising Zhane.

Ashley blinked, then shrugged amiably. "All right. Me and Andros will keep you company; hang on."

Cassie stepped away from them as Ashley proceeded to give Carlos and Karen a mock lecture on the "proper" way to keep up "their" team's reputation. Cassie's words were still perfectly clear to Zhane, despite Ashley's monologue. "Tired?" she asked.

"No," he said calmly. "I simply do not wish to play."

Zhane suddenly wished there were some graceful way *he* could get out of the game--he recognized the look on Saryn's face. He didn't know what exactly had happened on the Megaship, but the other had the look of someone who had been pushed too far. Now he was done, and the expression on his face said clearly, "No further."

Although it was obvious to Zhane, Cassie didn't seem to see it. Instead, she turned away with a hurt look on her face. "Fine," she said softly, returning to her place on the arbitrarily designated "volleyball court". Saryn took a single step forward, as though he might stop her, but after a brief moment he said nothing.

Coincidentally, Ashley's "lesson" stopped at exactly the same time and she joined Andros and Saryn on the sidelines with a bounce that was not lost on Zhane. She was determined to cover for Saryn, keeping the mood as cheerful as she could until she could get him away from the rest of them.

He wanted to talk to her, but it was easier to reach for Andros, and he did so without hesitation. *Andros, he *is* tired,* Zhane said, knowing he didn't have to specify whom he was talking about. *He's tired of being pushed around--just back off and give him some space. He looks like you, when you're trying to take in too much.*

Andros caught his eye with a quick smile, and Zhane knew his best friend understood. Turning back to the game, he tossed the ball in Astrea's direction, underhanded and just hard enough that she didn't have to reach for it.

With a cocky grin, he told her, "Your serve."

10. Jealous Love

"Zhane said that?" Ashley murmured, letting Andros draw her away from the volleyball game. She did her best not to glance over her shoulder.

"Surprised?" Andros asked, sounding amused by her reaction.

"No, of course not." His hand slid down her arm to take her hand, and she smiled. "Well, maybe a little," she admitted. "I didn't expect him to be concerned for Saryn."

"I think he's trying not to be overwhelmed himself," Andros confided, and he *did* glance over his shoulder. "That's why he recognized it in Saryn. But Zhane's always been good at adapting to situations."

"And he's more social than either of you," Ashley teased, squeezing his hand. "Zhane makes friends instantly, no matter where he is."

"Like you," Andros said fondly, leaning over to kiss her on the cheek.

She shrugged. "Character trait," she informed him. "Some people are just like that."

"And the rest of us are just attracted to people like that." He smiled when she looked at him in surprise, and she couldn't help giggling.

"Lucky for us," she agreed, swinging their clasped hands happily. "Hey--" She broke off, frowning as they approached the picnic blanket. "Did we, or did we not, tell everyone to pick up their stuff?"

"You did," Andros said. "I think I was too busy making fun of Zhane to pay attention."

She laughed, shaking her head. "You shouldn't be so mean to him; you'll scare him away from her."

"I don't think there's much chance of that," Andros said wryly. "And believe me, he deserves it. You have no idea how much grief he gave me over you those first weeks."

She dropped down onto the edge of the blanket and glanced casually back toward the volleyball game. Zhane was trying, for maybe the third time, to explain what were and were not considered appropriate serving and hitting techniques to Kerone.

Somehow, Ashley didn't think Andros' sister was having half as much trouble with the concept as she pretended. But every time she complained, Zhane would call a halt to the game and demonstrate serving, setting, or bumping for her again. It was funny how he was always the first one to volunteer, especially considering how many of those demonstrations seemed to require him to put his arms around her.

"I think you're right," she said, as Carlos complained about the delay and Zhane completely ignored him. "It doesn't seem to be stopping him."

Andros sat down beside her, just as Carlos accused Zhane of postponing their inevitable victory. "Nothing does," he said, his gaze turning in their direction as well.

"Part of his charm?" Ashley suggested with a smile, and Andros nodded.

"Although I wouldn't have said 'charm'," he added a moment later.

Ashley giggled. "I knew what you meant."

They watched in silence for a few minutes, as Zhane's team proceeded to score two more points before being defeated by Cassie's "spike"--an interesting feat, in a game without a net. There seemed to be some indecision about whether to play again, until Ashley realized that they were just trying to switch teams in some way that would keep things even.

She frowned a little as TJ once more invited Saryn to join them, and the other politely declined. Saryn was sitting closer to the game than they were, alone beneath a tree whose branches reached almost to the water's edge. "Are you sure we should just leave him there?" she whispered.

Andros followed her gaze. "Yeah," he said quietly. "He knows he can come join us if he wants to, and if he was really upset, I think he'd try to leave. Zhane's probably right; he *does* just want to be alone for a while."

"Alone, with all the rest of us?"

He smiled a little. "There's a difference between being by yourself and being alone," he observed. "He just got thrown into the middle of Earth culture for only the third or fourth time, and believe me, it can be overwhelming. I think he needs time to figure out how to react."

She paused, looking sideways at him. "Is it strange to suddenly be the adjusted one?" she asked, only half joking.

His expression was surprised. "What?"

"For the longest time, it was us helping you get used to things here," she said idly, watching the breeze stir his loose hair. "Now you're trying to help them--Saryn, and Zhane, and Kerone."

His eyes darted back toward the volleyball game. "Was I as bad as Saryn?"

She tried not to smile at the barely restrained dismay in his tone. "Yes," she said honestly. "But we didn't care. You were worth it."

He turned to her with a smile, and she reached out to pull him close enough to kiss. He leaned into her willingly, sliding an arm around her shoulders and opening his mouth to hers. She forgot the rest of the sheltered beach for a moment, melting into the kiss.

She didn't forget what he had said about control the night before, though, and she pulled away just before she thought he would have. "You're a good kisser," she murmured breathlessly, and he smiled.

"Lots of practice," he whispered.

"All with me?" she teased gently.

His hazel eyes stared into hers, and his innocent question made her smile in return. "Why would I want anyone else?"

"In!"

"Oh, it was not," Karen shot back good-naturedly. "See this line here? It has to be on *this* side to be in."

"It *was* on that side!" Carlos exclaimed. "You're experiencing selective blindness!"

"You must be near-sighted--how could you possibly tell from way over there?"

"It was out," Zhane broke in, turning to Cassie for support. "It's our serve!"

"It wasn't out!" TJ protested, but Cassie interrupted before he could continue.

"TJ, they're called rules! This side is in, and that one's out--Tessa, which side was the ball on?"

"It looked like it was out, to me," she admitted, and TJ laughed at her.

"Tessa, you're not supposed to be *honest*. You hit it, so it was in. Got it?"

"It's four against two," Cassie declared. "That was out!"

"Your serve," Karen said with a grin, tossing the ball to her.

"It's Zhane's," Carlos corrected, from the other side of their "court", but Zhane shook his head and waved his turn off to Cassie.

"Don't be silly," she said, laughing at his gesture. "You serve better than me; get over here."

"Nope," he insisted cheerfully. "I'll enjoy watching you serve more than I would doing it myself."

"Oh!" Karen exclaimed. "No sexual harassment on the court!"

"This isn't law school!" TJ reminded them. "Serve the ball!"

"Here, I'll help you," Zhane said, with a devilish grin. He went over and grabbed the ball from her, stepping around behind her and putting his right arm under hers.

Some distance away, Saryn closed his eyes and let his head rest against the tree he sat beneath. He didn't want to watch, but he had to. She was right when she said his jealousy was unfounded, and these were her *friends*--of course they would be... comfortable with each other.

And Zhane was that way more than the rest of them, he thought, trying desperately to suppress a flash of irritation. The fact that Kerone didn't seem to mind only added weight to Cassie's assertion that he *shouldn't* feel like this. Was it possible that he really didn't trust her, and he just couldn't admit it to himself?

The music of Cassie's laughter found its way across the beach to him. It was a sound he had delighted in many times, and only now did he realize that he hadn't heard it in several days. Unwillingly, he opened his eyes and followed her giggles to their source.

She was doubled over, leaning on Zhane, who ostensibly was making attempts to help her up. His eyes narrowed, watching the Silver Ranger's hands slide across Cassie's waist as she clutched at his arms and tried to straighten up.

"How was I supposed to know you're ticklish?" Zhane demanded good-naturedly, which only set her off into another round of giggles.

"Hey, some of us are trying to play a volleyball game here," TJ told them, and Cassie stuck her tongue out in his direction.

"The rest of us are trying to have fun!" Zhane shot back, and Karen laughed.

"It's supposed to be the same thing, Zhane," she reminded him.

"I think they want us to serve," Zhane told Cassie, and she grinned.

"We'd better, because I've almost reached my maximum sun tolerance." She pushed her long hair back over her shoulders again and shifted to resume her "serving" stance. "If this game goes much longer, I'm going to get burned."

"We can't have that!" Zhane exclaimed in mock-horror. "We'll have to win quickly!"

"Shut up and serve!" was Carlos' retort.

Cassie giggled again, and Saryn's heart ached. He was trying, but he still couldn't remember when he had last heard her laugh. Not since last weekend, surely.

"You hold the ball," Zhane was telling her. She took it, and his left hand settled on her hip as he wrapped his arm around her and stepped closer. "On three?"

Saryn wanted to close his eyes again, wanted not to see this. They were pressed against each other, and Cassie's obvious delight was a bittersweet thing to watch. He was blocking her awareness out of his mind as best he could, and could only hope it was working to keep her from sensing his emotions as well.

His whole body was stiff with tension, and he had long since stopped trying to make himself relax. He couldn't control this. There was simply no way to do it. But he *would* deal with it; he had to. He forced himself to watch as Zhane took Cassie's right hand and started to count.

When he reached three, Cassie let go of the ball and they swung their joined hands at it. The ball's wobbling trajectory sent it across the sandy line--barely--and Cassie looked over her shoulder to catch Zhane's eye. He grinned at her, holding her hand above her head and letting her spin out from under his arm.

"That never would have gone over if we had a net!" Carlos complained, lunging after the ball.

Peripherally, Saryn saw Karen leap forward to intercept the beach ball's return course. But all he could focus on was that image of Zhane and Cassie together, her turning to him with a smile and seeing it mirrored on his face.

Something in him was dangerously close to snapping, and he didn't dare push it any further. He couldn't watch this anymore. No matter what Cassie said, he couldn't watch her with someone else and be happy. A failing on his part, obviously, but if he didn't leave now there would be nothing left of his heart.

Leaning forward, he was about to get to his feet when movement behind him got his attention. "Drink?" Andros' sister offered, dropping to the ground beside him and passing him a water bottle.

Startled, he could only stare at her. He hadn't even noticed when she left the game. "No--thank you," he managed at last. "I was just--"

"Leaving?" she suggested. "Don't; I won't have anyone to talk to."

He blinked, uncertain what to make of that. Her statement was half-command, half-plea, and he could not understand why she had picked him, of all people, to talk to.

"I will stay if you wish," he said reluctantly. She tilted the water bottle in reminder and he reached up to take it, embarrassed to realize his fingers were clenched into tight fists.

"I do," she said. "I feel like I don't know you at all. We've seen so little of each other, on the Megaship."

He twisted the cap off the water bottle and looked at it for a moment, studiously avoiding the scene in front of him. "I have not been on the Megaship very much, of late."

"No," she agreed. "The Phantom Ranger's life is a busy one, it seems."

He lifted the water bottle, but as soon as he tilted his head he saw Cassie crash into Zhane in what turned out to be a futile attempt to return Tessa's set. His arm went around her automatically, steadying her before she stepped away, and suddenly it was all Saryn could do to swallow.

"Yes," he said shortly, replacing the cap and setting the water bottle on the sand next to him. "If you will excuse me--"

"I won't." The sudden authority in her voice made him pause, and she turned to give him a level stare. "We're teammates, now, whether you like it or not. If you won't tell me about yourself, then I will tell you something about me."

Her tone reminded him of who she used to be, and he felt a flare of curiosity. He didn't appreciate being ordered around--did *everyone* feel the need to order him into things today?--but he couldn't deny that the princess of evil had insight he might, at almost any other time, have found interesting.

"I was kidnapped before I was old enough to remember properly," she said, not waiting for his reply. "I was told I had no family anymore, that Power Rangers had killed them all and that my home had been destroyed. Needless to say, I didn't respond very well."

He stared at her, shocked into listening.

"It fell to Ecliptor to raise me," she continued. "He came to care for me, and he worried about the safety of a small human girl in the middle of Dark Spectre's monarchy. He called in a favor from a friend he had made longer ago than he would tell me, and suddenly I found myself with something to occupy me. The beginning of my sorcery," she elaborated, as though she did not expect him to make the connection.

He hadn't, and he wondered at her use of the words "care" and "friend" in reference to Ecliptor. He had never thought of the dark being as anything more than a villain to be outwitted--a dangerously intelligent villain, and one unfailingly loyal to Astronema, but a villain nonetheless. Villains, in his experience, did not care for anyone.

He didn't even notice when she picked up his water bottle and unscrewed the cap, and she continued talking as though she had rehearsed a speech for him. "I turned myself into a sorceress who could do more than just protect herself, as I'm sure you noticed. I used my magic, and the power I began to accumulate, to hunt down Power Rangers. They had destroyed my family, and I wanted to destroy them in return.

"Of course it didn't happen that way," she added, raising the water bottle to her lips and taking a casual swallow. "Dark Spectre doesn't allow personal vendettas to interfere with the running of his forces, and before long, I was being promoted higher and higher--mostly to keep me out of trouble."

She shrugged then, as though the story didn't really affect her one way or another. "I assume you can guess the rest. From the Dark Fortress, I met Zhane, and I learned the truth about what had happened to me. I broke away from evil and rejoined the family I had thought was gone."

It was a moment before he realized that she would say nothing more. "It is certainly not so easy as you make it sound," he said, trying to comprehend what she had told him. "You do not simply 'break away' from evil."

She smiled a little, a friendly smile that took him by surprise on a face that he still associated with Astronema. "We do what we have to. Do you believe in fate?"

He frowned, not sure how to answer that. An exclamation from the others' game diverted his attention momentarily, and he glanced over in time to see Tessa helping TJ to his feet. "Gravity always wins," she was telling him. "Remember that."

On the other side of the imaginary net, Cassie was laughing at her friend's predicament. A breeze off the water tugged at her hair, making it ripple behind her, and he sighed. "Yes," he admitted. "In some things, I do."

"So do I," she told him, holding out her hand. She turned it palm up and studied it for a moment, and he found his gaze drawn back to her by the strange gesture. "Andros tells me our parents always used to look at our hands and tell us stories about the people we were going to be," she said. "The funny thing is, everything he remembers them saying has come true."

"Like what?" he felt compelled to ask.

"That we were both strong, and that we would be able to overcome anything that happened to us," she said with a smile. "That we were both leaders, and that we would never be able to love anyone we didn't respect. And that we were meant to bring people together."

He looked down at her hand inadvertently, and she actually laughed. "Here, give me your hand. I'll show you how to do it."

"You know?" he asked, surprised. "I thought your parents--"

"Andros knows more than me," she said, reaching for his hand. "But it's funny what you remember from childhood. I barely remember Zhane from back then, even though he says we knew each other for years, but I remember what the lines on my hand mean."

She turned his hand over, and he tried to relax his fingers. He was a little surprised that she had managed to distract him so thoroughly. He couldn't quite forget the game taking place nearby, but he managed to some extent to ignore it.

"See this?" she said, tracing a line that started between his thumb and first finger and extended down to his wrist. "That's your life line. See how it's sort of frayed, here and here, and it's not very deep? You're looking for a purpose, not sure of what you really want. Here, mine hasn't changed much since I was Astronema--look."

She held out her own hand, and pointed to the corresponding line on her palm. "I knew--or thought I knew--exactly what I was fighting for, and where I was going. All my energy was focused into one thing, and it shows. My life line is really strong, and it only splits a little here at the end."

"It... changes?" he asked, puzzled by her reference to her time as Astronema. "It will be different, now that you are different?"

She shrugged. "Some. Major changes in your life, or the person you are, really don't happen that often. But when they do, yeah, the lines change."

She titled her head to look at his hand again and smiled suddenly. "You have an inner life line, too. Not everyone does." She reached out and ran a finger over a line almost parallel to his "life line".

He heard Cassie's voice ring out, announcing the score for their game, and he tried not to listen. "What does it mean?"

"It means you're not exactly what you seem," she said, and he thought suddenly that she was trying not to laugh at him. "I suppose that's to be expected. The Phantom Ranger doesn't even have a face, let alone a past, or a personality."

He raised an eyebrow, wondering if that was an insult or simply a statement of fact. "As it was intended."

She nodded once, but her smile didn't fade. "I assumed so. It's easier to fight like that. But it's almost impossible to live that way.

"Is this the hand you usually use?" she asked, and he blinked at the non sequitur.

"No." He held out his right hand, and she glanced at it.

"See, that's another way to tell. Your hands are different."

He frowned. "What do you mean?"

"The lines on your right hand are different from the lines on your left," she elaborated. "The hand you use shows what you let other people see, and the hand you don't use is who you really are. Your life line is much stronger on your right hand," she added.

He looked down, surprised. His palms did look different. He had never thought about it before.

"Mine are different too," she said, holding both her hands out for him to look at. "And so are Zhane's, I bet. But you and I have both had to show a certain face to the universe, and a lot of times that makes people develop two sides to their personality."

"And Zhane?" he asked, lifting his head to look at her.

"Zhane's just really bad at expressing his feelings," she said, with the hint of a smile.

"Funny," she added, glancing back at his hands before he could react to that. "Your heart line is much fainter on your right hand."

"My... heart line?" he repeated, not sure he wanted to know.

"Right here," she said, tracing a line on his left palm. "See how it goes almost all the way across your hand? But over here--" she reached out and took his right hand, pointing to a short slash above his life line. "It starts later, and it barely reaches the middle of your hand."

He stared down at his hand, refusing to ask what it meant. Not when he already knew, and just didn't want to hear her say it.

She laughed softly. "It's all right," she said, turning her favored hand over again for him to see. "I don't even have one on my left hand, and *everyone* has a heart line."

He didn't realize he had sighed until she reached out to touch his shoulder. "It doesn't mean you *can't* show your feelings," she said quietly. "It just means you don't, so much."

He winced as he heard Zhane shout Cassie's name from further down the beach, and his gaze shifted unwillingly in their direction. "Sometimes, I wish I did not *feel* so much," he muttered.

She followed his gaze. "You wish you didn't love her?"

"No," he said, startled and a little uncomfortable to be telling her. "I wish... I trusted her more."

She looked at him oddly. "You don't trust her?"

He almost didn't answer, but she had told him so much of her own life, with no prompting from him. And what little of his empathy was not caught up in the struggle to block Cassie told him that she was only curious, that there was no malicious intent behind the question.

"I thought I trusted her," he admitted quietly. "But I am not--content to watch her, when she is with others."

She asked frankly, "Jealous?"

He sighed. He was beginning to hate that word.

"It doesn't mean you don't trust her," she said, frowning slightly. She was silent for a moment, and he found himself watching her as she considered his words.

Finally, she told him, "Andros says jealousy is part of loving. When you care for someone, it's natural to be afraid of losing them. I guess it's kind of a compliment, even, to say that you love a person so much that you're scared to be without them."

"It is selfish," he said uncertainly.

"Maybe," she answered, tucking her hair behind her ear. "So what? Emotions aren't good or evil, you know. I should be proof of that. They're just whatever you make of them."

"Cassie does not see it that way," he said, trying not to sigh again.

She looked at him intently. "Does she know how it feels?"

Surprised, he looked up and caught her eye. "Of course. She must."

"Why? No one even knows who you are except our teammates, and there's no threat there, at least to her. What makes you think Cassie understands how you feel?"

"I can't be her first--"

"Kerone." Cassie's voice startled him, for he had been distracted enough that he didn't even notice her approach. "Saryn. Hi."

"Hi," Andros' sister said with a smile, but before she could say anything else, Cassie interrupted again.

"What are you talking about?"

"Relationships," Kerone said honestly. She made no move to stand up. "So who won?"

"Your team," Cassie told her. When Kerone did not reply, she added, "I think Zhane wants to talk to you."

Kerone's lips curved, and she murmured, "I'm sure he does." She gave Saryn an encouraging pat on the shoulder before getting to her feet. Stretching slowly, she glanced around for Zhane.

Spotting him over by the blanket with Carlos, she wandered in that direction. She was no more than three steps away when Cassie put her hands on her hips and stared down at him. "What was *that* about?"

He looked up, puzzled by her reaction. "Kerone was explaining--"

"Kerone?" Cassie repeated. "You never call her Kerone!"

"It is her name," he said simply. It was true he had tried to avoid using it in the past, for he had difficulty accepting that her time as Astronema was over. But if their conversation was any indication, she had most certainly put that life behind her. "Kerone was explaining some of her people's beliefs to me."

"She was *flirting* with you!" Cassie burst out.

"She was not," he said, startled. He could feel the jealousy inside him flare again, and he pushed harder against the block. To his shock, reestablishing the block between them helped, and his eyes widened as he realized that he was feeling *her* jealousy, not his.

"Oh, she definitely was." Cassie's expression was distinctly upset now. "You were holding hands! She shared her drink with you, and she kept touching your arm, and with the way you were staring at each other..." She trailed off, glaring down at him and clearly waiting for an explanation.

He glanced over his shoulder, toward the picnic blanket, and saw Kerone watching them. When he caught her eye, she winked at him and turned away.

"I did not realize you were watching so closely," he said slowly, not sure what to think. It had not even occurred to him that Kerone was "flirting", and he had had even less idea of her doing it for just this purpose.

He heard her words again--"Does she know how it feels?"--and he frowned up at Cassie. "Are you--jealous of her?"

She blinked, and her expression smoothed over a little. "Of course not. I just want to know why you two are suddenly so friendly. You've barely even talked to Kerone for the last two weeks. Why now?"

"Because she is an interesting person," he replied, watching her reaction closely. "I suspect I was wrong about her. She is certainly not evil."

Cassie frowned, and he hesitated. What Kerone had done was wrong--there was nothing between the two of them, and to imply that there was to Cassie was not appropriate. But...

"She seems very friendly," he added, before he could stop himself. "I would like to know her better than I do."

Her expression darkened, and her feelings surged against his block, completely overwhelming it. He winced at the onslaught, pressing his fingers against his temples in a futile effort to separate their emotions.

"I'm sure she'd be happy to tell you more," Cassie muttered, and he could no longer tell which of them was more upset.

"Stop it," he growled, glaring up at her. "You are doing exactly what you accused me of!"

"I am not," she snapped. "She obviously can't keep her hands off you, and you didn't seem to mind much!"

"That is ridiculous! I wish us to be *friends*, nothing more!" Provoked, he added, "You and Zhane were far closer than that while you were playing 'volleyball'."

"Zhane's *like* that," she insisted. "Kerone isn't. I don't want to see her around you like that!"

His eyes narrowed, and he got to his feet deliberately. Now he was looking down at *her*, and he ground out, "I may be, to a large extent, ignorant of your world and your traditions. But you will *not* tell me what I may and may not do!"

"If she'd stay away from you, I wouldn't have to!"

"Don't you trust me?" He threw her own words back in her face, getting a perverse satisfaction from seeing her flinch. "If you did, you would have no reason to worry!"

Her eyes flashed, and she opened her mouth to reply--

Then she spun away, her hair swinging free across her back as she walked away. The angry set of her slim shoulders made his fists clench--what right did *she* have to be angry?

He reached for his ruby without conscious thought, and the world washed away in fiery crimson.

Andros stared after Cassie's retreating figure, then glanced over at Ashley. Her eyes were wide as she gazed back at him, and the group gathered around the picnic blanket was uncharacteristically silent.

Cassie and Saryn had been far enough away that they had had some privacy, but as their voices got louder it became obvious that they were arguing. Andros had tried to ignore them, but when they started to shout at each other it became next to impossible.

The strained conversation by the blanket finally halted altogether as the rest of the team exchanged glances. Cassie and Saryn had never fought, to his knowledge, and it was more than a little unsettling.

When the two took off in opposite directions, no one said anything for a long moment. Finally, TJ cut into the quiet. "I'll go after her."

"No," Ashley said, shaking her head at him. "I... don't think that's a good idea. Maybe we should give them some time to calm down."

"Fine by me," Carlos agreed quickly. "I've never seen them fight like that."

"I've never seen them *fight*," TJ said, echoing Andros' thought. "What was that about?"

Kerone shifted uncomfortably. "I'm afraid it may be my fault," she admitted quietly.

To Andros' surprise, Zhane spoke up, and his tone was thoughtful in a way it usually wasn't around the rest of the team. "That wasn't about you," he said slowly. "I think that's come up before, just... never so strongly."

"You didn't help," Ashley said with a small smile. " 'I'll help you serve'? What was that?"

Kerone gave him a pointed look, and Zhane almost looked embarrassed. "Don't you know a joke when you see one?"

Quiet fell again, and no one seemed inclined to break it this time. Finally, Andros caught Ashley's eye again and asked silently, *Should we stay, or go?*

She frowned a little. *I guess there's not really anything we can do...*

"Why don't we stay here for a while, and see if Cassie comes back," Ashley offered aloud. "If she's not back in half an hour, I'll go after her and see if she wants to talk."

Kerone sighed. "I shouldn't have tried to interfere," she said quietly. "I didn't know enough about the situation to get involved."

"No--" Ashley put an arm around her shoulders and gave her a quick hug. "You meant well, and you didn't do anything wrong. It was nice of you to want to help."

Andros felt a smile tug at his lips as he watched, and he saw Kerone catch his eye over Ashley's shoulder. She smiled tentatively in return, and in his mind he heard, *You have a nice girlfriend, Andros.*

*I know. I have a nice sister, too.*

Her smile was more sure of itself then, and it probably helped when TJ added, "They weren't fighting over you, they were fighting over each other. It wasn't your fault, Kerone."

"It wasn't anyone's fault," Ashley said firmly. "We'll just have to let them work it out."

She glanced around then and frowned. "Where's the sunscreen?"

Andros tried not to smile at her abrupt annoyance, but he couldn't help it. Carlos laughed, although whether at her question or Andros' reaction, it was impossible to tell.

"Next to the cooler, where you left it?" he suggested.

Ashley rolled her eyes. "Do you *see* it next to the cooler?"

Karen reached down and flipped the cooler top over, revealing the sunscreen underneath.

"Oh," Ashley said brightly. "Thanks!"

"Saw you put it there," Karen said with a grin.

"Can I borrow some of that?" Tessa asked.

"What, are you planning to give it back afterwards?" TJ teased, and she made a face at him.

"Is anyone going swimming?" Carlos wanted to know, and Karen glanced over at him.

"Why am I putting on sunscreen, if not to go swimming?"

He pretended to think about it. "Oh, I don't know--so you won't get sunburned?"

Kerone sat down on the blanket, and Andros' eye was immediately drawn to her. "Do you want to swim?" he asked, sitting down beside her.

She shook her head a little, and he glanced over at Ashley. She looked up as he did, and he tried not to be distracted by her activity. Watching someone put sunscreen on, he decided, was not conducive to serious thought, especially when that someone was your girlfriend.

"I think I'll stay--" he began, but Kerone gave him a gentle shove.

"Oh, don't be silly, Andros," she said. "Zhane isn't going either; I'll have plenty of company."

Andros looked up at his friend in surprise, and Zhane shook his head. "Nope," he said cheerfully. "I figure after sneaking onto the Dark Fortress last night, which probably took about ten years off my life, I deserve a break."

"As though you had the hard part," Kerone remarked. "You just had to crash. I had to rescue you and then put up with you following me around."

TJ snickered, obviously overhearing. "That's enough to wear anyone out," he agreed.

Zhane sighed dramatically. "I get no respect!"

"You crashed?" Tessa asked.

"Here," Andros offered, getting to his feet as Ashley reached across her bare shoulders. "Let me help." She held out her hand willingly and he scooped some of the sunscreen up, rubbing it into her back carefully.

*You're hopeless,* Zhane informed him, taking his place beside Kerone.

"Long story," he added, turning his head in Tessa's direction.

"I'll tell you," TJ offered. "Do you want to go for a walk?"

"Sure," she said, tilting her head up to cover her neck with sunscreen up to the line of her t-shirt. "I burn so quickly--I put sunscreen on before I came and I'm probably sunburned already anyway..."

"Nope," TJ said, interrupting her complaint with a quick kiss. "You look fine."

"Just fine?" she asked, and even Andros heard the mischief in her voice.

"Beautiful," he amended.

"All right, we can go then," she told him with a smile.

*I'm sure that's good enough, Andros,* Ashley said, startling him, and he tried not to blush.

*Sorry,* he apologized, letting his hands fall at last.

She just giggled and turned around to look at him. *Don't apologize; I think it's cute.*

"Have fun," Carlos said wryly, taking Karen's hand as they headed for the water. "Remember you were planning to go swimming."

Ashley wrinkled her nose at his back, and Andros smiled. *You're cute when you do that, you know.*

*You're cute when you smile,* she replied immediately, and his smile widened.

*You're cute all the time.*

She sighed in mock-exasperation. *It's always a competition with you, isn't it?*

*You're just mad you can't beat "all the time",* he told her, leaning forward to kiss her gently. *And it's the truth.*

She sighed again as he pulled away, but this time it was a happy sound. He glanced over her shoulder, suddenly remembering his sister and Zhane, but they were both staring out at the lake--probably absorbed in their own silent conversation, he thought, with some amusement.

*Andros?* Ashley asked, a curious look on her face. *This is going to sound strange, but... do you trust me?*

He recognized the reference to the fight they had overheard, and his lips quirked a little. *With my life--and my heart,* he said simply.

She laid her head against his shoulder, and he hugged her tightly. Her mental voice was content as she answered, *I trust you with mine, too.*

11. Strategy Session

She tried not to laugh as Zhane's blue-eyed gaze stared accusingly up at her. "You said you couldn't swim!"

Putting her hands on her hips, she tossed her head smugly, wet hair clinging to her face. "I said I didn't *want* to swim. I never said I couldn't."

"Women," he muttered under his breath. Hooking one arm over the edge of the rock on which she stood, he stretched the other one in her direction. "Give me a hand?"

She should have suspected something, just by the sheer innocence of his expression. But she reached for his hand instinctively, preparing to haul him up, and was caught completely off guard when he yanked hard on her hand.

She shrieked as she lost her balance and tumbled forward, the cool water closing over her head with a violent splash. The world went silent save for the pounding of her heart, and she opened her eyes automatically as she struggled back up to the surface.

Zhane looked down at her from the rock she had just left, a smirk on his face as she broke through into the air. "I win," he declared.

"Oh!" she gasped, trying to rub the water out of her eyes and push her hair back at the same time. "You do not! The bet was the first person *to* the rock, not the last one standing on it!"

"Last time I checked, *I* was on the rock," he reminded her. "That means I make the rules."

Placing both hands on the flat surface of the rock, she pulled herself out of the water. Zhane pretended to back away from her dripping form, despite the fact that his long jean shorts were far soggier than her swimsuit. "Don't get me wet again!"

She lunged for him, shoving him hard enough to push him toward the other side of the rock. On the edge, he refused to let go of her arms, and for a minute it looked like he would be able to keep his balance.

Hand-to-hand combat was almost unavoidable in Dark Spectre's service, however, and over the years she had developed strength to rival the Rangers'. With a final push, she managed to send him over the side--but she couldn't quite disentangle herself in time, and she fell into the water on top of him.

She found herself choking as water splashed into her eyes and mouth and churned around her as Zhane twisted out from underneath her. He bobbed to the surface beside her, shaking his head to toss water out of his short hair and regarding her with concern.

She reached for the rock, bracing one arm against its rough surface and coughing harder. Then she felt Zhane's hands under her arms, lifting her out of the water and setting her up on the shallow ledge. He had to be standing on something, she thought distantly, realizing how lucky they'd been not to hit some underwater projection in their roughhousing.

Then Zhane was beside her, patting her back awkwardly as she struggled with the water in her lungs. She felt laughter bubbling up in her again, and as the coughing subsided, giggles took its place. "Zhane," she managed, "that doesn't help. You'd have to hit me harder than that to be any use."

"I didn't want to hurt you," he said sheepishly, his gaze still worried as he watched her brush her hair out of her face and draw in a deep, experimental breath. "Are you all right?"

She nodded, letting her breath out slowly and taking another. His hand still rested gently on her back, and she pretended not to notice. If she made him self-conscious, he would certainly pull away, and she found she liked him touching her.

"I'm okay," she said at last, lifting her head to smile at him. "It's been a while since I was in the water."

"That's what you get for pushing me," he teased, and her smile widened.

"I still won," she pointed out.

He sighed in mock-resignation. "Yeah, I guess you did."

"You *guess*?" she exclaimed. "This was your idea! I can swim faster than you; admit it!"

He sighed again, but he didn't take his eyes off of her. "You can swim faster," he agreed. "I was wrong."

She gave him a suspicious look, and he laughed. "You're never happy! If I argue with you, you argue back, and if I don't argue, you think I'm humoring you and you argue anyway!"

She looked down, trying not to blush. She had had to fight for every inch of ground she gained under Dark Spectre, and the truth was that she simply wasn't used to getting agreement easily. Maybe it *did* make her suspicious.

"Hey," he said quietly, reaching out to tap her chin. She looked up involuntarily, and he smiled. "I'm just kidding."

She felt a smile creep onto her face in return, and she nodded. The silver chain around his neck glittered with water droplets and reflected sunlight as he moved, and she focused on it in an effort to change the subject. "Nice," she said, touching the only silver thing he currently wore.

He shrugged, lifting the medallion with one hand and tilting it so it caught the light. "It used to be Andros'," he said. "He gave it to me years ago, but I only found it last night. Thought it might help with some of the color problems I've been having."

"Color problems?" she repeated, frowning a little as she looked up at him.

"You know Rangers have to wear their color, even when they're not morphed?"

Her frown deepened. "No. I didn't know that. Why?"

"Withdrawal," he said simply. "We control our Power through our morphers, but it's always with us. It's just a matter of degree. It's with us most strongly when we're morphed, and wearing our color keeps it from fading all the way when we demorph.

"Your body gets used to having that kind of energy, you know--it's addictive, in a way. When it's gone, you have to readjust to a lower energy level, and that takes time. It makes you really tired," he added, an expression of distaste on his face. "And it usually gives you a headache for a few days."

She tried not to smile at his annoyance. He had obviously had experience with the phenomenon. "So you have to go through that every time you demorph?"

He shook his head. "That's why we all wear our colors. The Power's drawn to the color that chose you--more so when you're morphed, obviously, but to some extent even when you're not. It keeps us from taking days to recover after every fight."

She couldn't help remembering Saryn's attire, and she said thoughtfully, "*That's* why he was wearing red, then."

"Saryn?" Zhane asked. "That surprised me, too."

Then *he* frowned. "Wait--how did you know he was a Red Ranger?"

She shook her head, amused. They continually forgot who she was. Or at least, who she had been. "Saryn's Power crystal was the only one that wasn't officially found by Eltarans after the attack on Elisia. Dark Spectre's forces spent weeks searching for it--undercover, of course."

He stared at her. "You've known who he was all this time?"

She shrugged. "I recognized the name the first time you said it, on the Megaship a few weeks ago. When he didn't deny what I said about Elisia, I thought it had to be him."

"And I was worried about telling you!" he exclaimed indignantly. "You could have said something!"

"You didn't ask," she reminded him.

He rolled his eyes. "Right. Next time I'll ask if you know what I'm not telling you before I tell you."

"If it will make you feel better," she agreed. Before he could protest, she touched his medallion again. "So this helps with your... withdrawal?"

"I don't know yet," he admitted, apparently willing to let the topic of Saryn slide. "I mean, I don't know if it will work for very long. But yeah, it does help."

She looked a little closer, trying to decipher the etching in the smooth metal. "What kind of bird is that?"

"A phoenix," he muttered, looking a little uncomfortable. Before she could ask what that was, he nodded to her own necklace. "Your locket can stand the water too, then?"

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Can Andros'?"

He grinned. "Usually. But he has this annoying habit of putting things in it, and they don't tend to respond well to water."

Without a word, she unclasped the chain and tugged at the metal pendant, tilting the open locket for him to see. He laughed aloud. "Well, you're definitely related. You didn't destroy it by swimming, did you?"

She shook her head. "One of the advantages of being a sorceress," she told him, gazing at the data disc sandwiched between the two pictures in her locket. "I can waterproof anything."

"That must be useful," he said, his grin lingering in his voice. "So what is it?"

She looked up suddenly, and he blinked at her serious expression. "You don't have to tell me," he said quickly, but she overrode him.

"It's the disc Ecliptor gave me."

He stared at her.

Her lips quirked, and she closed the locket carefully. She had fastened the chain around her neck again before he found his voice. "It's--you're carrying it *around* with you?"

She shrugged, pulling her legs up in front of her and resting her arms on her knees. "It's safer with me than it would be on the Megaship."

"What *is* it?" he repeated curiously.

She smiled, knowing he didn't expect her to have accessed it yet. But she had had some free time while the others were changing, and despite what she had said, she had not only looked at the data but she had downloaded backup copies into the Megaship's computer.

"It's a two week battle plan for Dark Spectre's fleet," she answered, staring down at the water. "Along with tactical data and the layout for his ship."

There was absolute silence, and she tried to suppress her smile. The sunlight danced across the lake, darting streamers of the stuff over the miniature wave tops that lapped against the side of their rock. For a few more seconds, things were calm, and she was just a teenager at the beach.

"It's *what*?" Zhane demanded finally, shattering the peace and yanking her from summer afternoon to intergalactic war in the blink of an eye. "And you didn't *tell* us? Didn't that seem kind of important?"

"I'll take care of it," she said, still staring determinedly down at the water. She knew she had irrevocably involved the others just by telling Zhane about the disc, but somehow shocking him, even for just a few seconds, had seemed worth it.

Now, of course, it was too late.

"What do you mean, you'll take care of it?" She could feel his stare on her. "We're all in this together!"

"I mean," she insisted, "that I'm best qualified to act on the information. I've been sneaking in and out of Dark Spectre's fleet for years; I can do it again."

"And then what?" he demanded.

"Destroy his ship," she said calmly. "Dark Spectre holds the forces of Evil together. They've never been able to agree on anything long enough to cooperate before, and without his power keeping them in line, they'll never be able to again. Destroy Dark Spectre, and his forces fall apart."

"And you're just going to sneak onto his ship, by *yourself*, blow it up, and get off alive?" Zhane was a little more upset than she had expected, but still she did not look up.

"That's the plan," she agreed.

"You're insane!"

She raised an eyebrow at the water. "I didn't just command Dark Spectre's flagship, Zhane. I was his second in command. I know this can be done."

"Not alone!" he retorted immediately. "Look, the Rangers are about teamwork. We can help you, if you let us."

"I won't. I won't risk your team for something I can do myself."

"*Your* team,* he corrected. "And your team will risk itself for *you*--that's the way it works. None of us will let you go into something as ridiculously dangerous as this without backup."

"No one else has to know," she said, looking up at him at last. "Zhane--"

"Too late," he informed her.

She winced as Andros' voice intruded on the conversation. *Kerone, if you think I'm letting my sister walk into the middle of Dark Spectre's fleet without reinforcements, you're out of your mind.*

"Zhane," she hissed.

"All for one," he replied, not looking at all repentant. "That's what a team is, Astrea."

"This is Cassie."

Ashley winced at the expressionless tone of her friend's voice. "Cass, we have trouble. Can you meet us back on the Megaship?"

"I'm on my way."

The transmission cut off without any further comment, not even a question on what the trouble *was*, and Ashley would have worried if she had had time for it. "Andros?"

Andros sighed. "Nothing. DECA says he isn't on the Megaship, and she can't pick up his Power signature anywhere on Earth."

"He couldn't have teleported back to Aquitar from here," she objected. "The Aquitians' system is the only one that can reach that far without burning out."

"And he couldn't have contacted them without being on the Megaship," Andros said, obviously frustrated. "I know. He may have told DECA not to tell us he was there--it would be just like her to suddenly side with him instead of me."

A crackle of electricity made them look up, and Kerone and Zhane stepped out of a double violet silhouette. Carlos and Karen were coming up the beach right behind them, and only then did Ashley remember that TJ wasn't with them.

"TJ," she said, touching her communicator.

His voice came back a moment later, even as she scanned what little she could see of the beach for him and Tessa. "This is TJ. What's up, Ash?"

"Can you meet us on the Megaship? It's sort of an emergency."

"Trouble?" he asked immediately.

She shook her head, though she knew he couldn't see it. "Strategy session," she answered.

"Now?"

"It's an emergency," she repeated.

She heard him sigh. "I'll be there."

Lowering her wrist, she looked up as Carlos objected. "Guys, it's almost one. Is this going to take long? The game starts in an hour..."

Ashley exchanged glances with Andros. She had given up cheering at games this semester, although she remained a "reserve" member of the cheerleading team. But Carlos stubbornly refused to quit soccer, and she, TJ, and Cassie had backed him up when Andros protested. After all, TJ had played baseball in the spring--it was possible, if difficult, to get to most of the practices.

"You'd better go," she said at last. "We'll tell you what happens."

"At least tell me what this is about first," he insisted.

She caught Kerone's eye, and the blond-haired girl lifted her chin. "I have tactical data for Dark Spectre's fleet."

"And plans for his ship," Zhane interjected. "She wants to sneak on board herself and destroy it."

"What?" Carlos exclaimed, staring at Kerone as though she had changed back into Astronema before his eyes. "That's crazy!"

Zhane threw his hands up in the air. "Thank you!" Turning to Kerone, he added, "See?"

She narrowed her eyes at him, and Ashley put a hand over her mouth so neither of them would see her grin. She thought they deliberately antagonized each other, almost as though each was circling a dangerous animal. They teased, they prodded, but the moment they got too close--if they ever got too close--they jumped back to gauge the other's reaction.

*It's really kind of cute,* she thought, amused.

"That's what Zhane said," Andros said dryly, and she blinked. He was talking to Carlos, completely oblivious to her musing. "We're going to try and talk her into something less... suicidal."

Carlos shot a dubious look in Kerone's direction. "Good luck," he said under his breath.

"I heard that," she said sharply, her gaze flickering away from Zhane.

"You were supposed to," Carlos shot back. "We're strong together, Kerone; that's why the Rangers are a team. You're part of the team, and we don't let our teammates risk their lives alone."

"Yeah, when we risk our lives, we all do it together," Ashley said, rolling her eyes. "Thanks, Carlos. I feel so much better. Go play soccer."

He looked about to protest, until she gave him a fond shove. "I'm kidding! We won't do anything stupid while you're gone; don't worry. None of us," she added, glancing over her shoulder at Kerone.

"Come on," Karen said, putting a hand on his arm. "They promised."

"They've promised before," he said darkly, giving Ashley a pointed look. But she just gave him her most innocent smile, and finally he let Karen lead him away.

"Are we ready?" she asked, turning around.

"No thanks to you," Zhane said with a grin, standing up. He was wearing his shirt again, the odd medallion she had seen before underneath it. The cooler was in his right hand, and Andros had her shirt in one hand and the beach blanket in the other.

"Thanks," she said, trying not to blush as she pulled her shirt on over her shoulders. "I would have helped--"

"Sure you would have," Zhane teased, putting an arm around her shoulders. "You and Carlos probably staged that so you wouldn't have to do any work."

She grinned, unable to resist the challenge in his voice. "And you fell for it! Isn't it nice to have slaves, Kerone?"

She heard Andros cough, and saw him trying to suppress a snicker. Kerone looked puzzled, and Zhane looked indignant. She tried not to smirk. Reaching for her morpher, Ashley said quickly, "See you on the Megaship."

Golden haze filled her vision before Zhane could come up with a reply.

"We can't involve the Alliance without telling them where the information came from," Andros argued.

"We can," Cetaci insisted. "The Alliance does not need to know any of the details. There are plenty of ships not involved in any active defense--they can fight on the front lines like everyone else."

"Just because they're not actively involved doesn't mean they're available." Zhane managed to catch the White Ranger's attention for a few seconds. "And they're not going to drop everything without at least a *reason*."

"Is League defense not reason enough?" Cetaci demanded.

"If that were true," Cestria interjected quietly, "the Frontier Defense and the Inner Alliance would not have the problems they do. Both have the same goal, yet they disagree on how to accomplish it."

Kerone frowned irritably in Saryn's direction. He had been usually silent through the entire argument, and she suspected it was his testimony that would tip the balance in favor of Andros and Zhane. The Aquitians knew and respected him, and if *he* told the White Aquitian Ranger that she was wrong, she might listen.

*It would be the least he could do,* she thought, *when this is his fault in the first place.* If he hadn't felt the need to come all the way to Aquitar just to sulk, there would have been no need for the Aquitian Rangers to be involved in this "strategy session" at all.

"Look," Andros broke in. "Let's just assume that somehow we *can* get a second strike force, Alliance or no. Maybe we can split the Rangers up. But that still leaves Kerone on Dark Spectre's ship alone."

"That isn't a problem," she interrupted. "I prefer it that way."

"It is an unacceptable risk," Cetaci answered, tilting her head to one side. Kerone bristled, but the other Ranger continued, "If you are in some way injured or captured, you will have no way to even notify us that the mission has failed."

"The probability of your success is greatly decreased if you go alone," Billy agreed.

She shot a suspicious look in his direction before she could stop herself. Ashley had assured her that Billy was human, but sometimes he sounded just as Aquitian as his teammates.

"What if you just take one person?" Andros asked mildly. "A partner, not a strike team."

Folding her arms across her chest, she shook her head. "I won't be responsible for someone else's safety in a place like that."

"We all know the risks," Zhane told her. "And all of us are willing to take them."

"Do you think it's going to be any safer in the zords?" TJ put in. "Do you think sneaking into Divatox's fleet was easier than this?"

"They are right," Saryn said, turning away from the window to catch her eye. It was probably the first time he had spoken since they arrived. "We all do what we have to."

She stared back at him thoughtfully, surprised to hear her own words repeated back to her. She felt her fingers twitch, but she managed to keep herself from looking down. "We do what we have to." Zhane was right. They knew the risks; they took them everyday, the same as her.

"On one condition," she said at last. "I choose my partner."

Andros shrugged, exchanging glances first with Zhane and then Cetaci. "Fair enough," he agreed. She thought he was relieved she had agreed at all. "It's your decision."

She knew he expected her to pick either him or Zhane. But frankly, either of them would be a liability--not because of their skills, but because of her feelings for them. She knew perfectly well that they would be able to distract her at the worst moments, making both her and her partner vulnerable to attack.

She knew too that neither Andros nor Zhane would be able to leave her and finish the mission themselves if the situation warranted it. If she were injured, or worse, she would become their first priority, and they would lose their chance to destroy Dark Spectre.

Her gaze swung across the room, fixing on the one Ranger whom she could count on to put the mission first. Coincidentally, he was also the one most used to working alone, without a team to back him up. "Saryn," she said aloud. "I want Saryn."

Andros did look startled. But turning toward the Phantom Ranger, he asked only, "Is that all right with you?"

She ignored the dark glare Cassie sent in her direction. On the opposite side of the room from Saryn, the other had also been strangely quiet. The two were obviously avoiding each other's gazes, and Kerone knew how her choice probably looked after her conversation with Saryn earlier.

But there was no way she was passing up his help just because of some ridiculous fight. He was best suited, therefore he went. It was as simple as that, and if it bothered the Pink Ranger...

*So much the better,* she thought, annoyed. She couldn't believe he had just let Cassie yell at him like that. She knew she shouldn't care, that it was none of her business, but people had tried to intimidate her all her life. The only way to get any respect was to show them that you wouldn't stand for it, and she had cheered silently when Saryn finally stood up and shouted right back at Cassie.

"It is acceptable to me," Saryn agreed, avoiding Cassie's gaze as studiously as he had all afternoon.

"All right. Then we're back to the external teams," Andros said decisively. "I'm still not convinced we can get the Alliance in on this without telling them what's going on, but they *will* protect Aquitar."

TJ snapped his fingers. "Which leaves the Aquitian zords free!"

Andros nodded. "That gives us two sets of zords--"

"What about Earth?" Ashley interrupted. "We can't just leave Earth undefended."

There was an odd look in Andros' eye. "I think we can get around that. Just for now, let's assume that we have two fully mobile teams."

Ashley folded her arms. "Right," she said slowly. Kerone could almost see her trying to puzzle out what Andros had in mind.

"One team is a diversion to draw Dark Spectre's forces away," Aura said, looking up. "But what about the other?"

"Also a diversion," Zhane guessed, looking to Andros for confirmation. "The second team goes up against Dark Spectre the old-fashioned way?"

Andros gave him a half-smile. "Yeah. The second team is courier and cover for Kerone and Saryn. The bad news is that once the second team is in position, they're going to be hard to miss. Which means you--" He caught Kerone's eye, and she knew what he was going to say before he said it.

"We'll have a time limit," she finished. "I was expecting that." She glanced Saryn's way, and he only nodded.

Cetaci tilted her head to one side and addressed Andros. "When do we start?"

Andros didn't look at all surprised to be the one giving orders, but Kerone suddenly saw her own words coming back to her again. "That we were both leaders... that we were meant to bring people together."

"You're right that we should at least try to get the Alliance involved," he was telling Cetaci. "Have Delphinius see what he can do. But if they demand more information than where and when, we're going to have to do this ourselves. We can't risk knowledge of Kerone's source getting out."

Cetaci nodded to Cestria. Something must have passed between them, for a moment later the Yellow Aquitian Ranger turned and slipped out of the rebuilt control room. Presumably, she was on her way to Delphinius in auxiliary control, but there must be more to it--Aquitians were telepaths; Kerone had expected her to simply relay the information from here.

"If that doesn't work," Andros continued, apparently unfazed by the departure, "we're going to need a little time to get our Earth defense organized. It can't be ready earlier than tomorrow."

"Can you have the new zord interfaces online by tomorrow?" Cetaci asked, turning to Aura.

Aura actually hesitated. "By myself, I intended to have them reinitialized in three days. But if I progress any farther on them now, they will be inoperable until the upgrade is complete."

"And if you have help?" Cetaci asked impatiently.

"Billy and Carlos are the only ones qualified to work on the new system," Aura told her. "With all three of us working on it, we could probably have the interfaces running by tonight."

"Billy?"

Billy nodded, stepping away from the wall to join Aura. "I'm up for it if you are."

She inclined her head slightly. "I am also--up for it."

"Carlos isn't," Ashley said, sounding almost apologetic. "He's busy; he won't be free for another few hours."

Aura cocked her head further, and Kerone watched carefully. The Aquitians *did* show emotion, it was just more subtle in them than it was in humans. And if she were to guess, she would say Aura looked--upset.

"Will he assist us then?" the Red Aquitian Ranger asked.

Ashley shrugged, exchanging glances with TJ. "I can't speak for him, but I'm sure he will."

TJ nodded in support, and Aura looked over at Billy. "With Carlos' help, we can complete the upgrade."

Billy straightened, apparently dragging his focus back to the conversation from somewhere far away. "Then let's get to work," he said firmly. "Keep us updated, all right?"

Cetaci nodded once, and Billy turned to leave the control room. Aura was right behind him, and Andros caught Cetaci's eye. "We need to get back to Earth," he said, indicating his teammates. "We need to get our defense together, in case Delphinius can't convince the Alliance."

"You must protect your planet," Cetaci agreed. "We will notify you when the zord work is complete."

"And we'll send Carlos to you as soon as he's free," Andros said, pressing his fingers together and nodding to the Aquitian Ranger team leader.

As she returned the gesture, Saryn's voice interrupted their leave-taking. "I will remain here," he declared to no one in particular. "I have work to do."

Kerone raised an eyebrow in his direction. "We need to go over the plans for Dark Spectre's ship. We can't just teleport on, you know--we need to know where we're going in advance."

"Of course," he replied. "That is my priority."

She considered fighting him for it--after all, Aquitar wasn't *her* home--but one command center was pretty much like another. They might as well plan here as on the Megaship. With a slight shrug, she stepped away from Zhane and TJ and joined him on the other side of the room.

"Saryn," Cassie said quietly. Her voice was audible to the entire room, but she wouldn't meet anyone's eye. "Can I--talk to you for a minute?"

It was all Kerone could do not to glance Saryn's way. Cassie's tone was appropriately humble, and it did take courage to make so obvious a plea in front of her teammates. She would not think less of him for granting such a request.

"I have work to do," Saryn repeated, and this time he turned around and walked out of the control room.

Cassie stared after him, shock obvious on her face for several seconds. Then Kerone saw her swallow hard and toss her hair over her shoulder, a gesture of defiance that she knew well. The Pink Ranger wasn't going to chase him--and Kerone couldn't help thinking that her reluctance to do so was part of the problem.

Andros looked over at Cassie when she said nothing more. "You're welcome to stay," he offered gently. "We can handle this."

"There's nothing for me to do here," she told him, her expression stony. "I'm going back to Earth."

He nodded wordlessly and reached for his morpher. Cetaci nodded again when he did, and Kerone saw Andros' best friend lift a hand in her direction. She smiled a little and waved back as they disappeared into a shower of colored sparkles.

The zord bay was oddly quiet when it materialized around Carlos, the cavernous bay enveloping him with its stillness. It was probably one of the largest maintained atmospheres on Aquitar, aside from the agricultural domes, but usually one person could make it echo with noise very easily.

Insulated by thick coral on all sides, there was little background noise, and the hum of the generator could be drowned out by a single murmured conversation. Exterior repairs to the zords were far louder, and often enough the zord bay must have been filled with the hiss of welders and the distinctive smell of sealant.

This afternoon, though--or morning, by Aquitian time--it was silent in a way that was probably the norm only when the bay was empty. Aura and Billy must be inside one of the zords, with the solid hulls muffling any noise they made.

But he and Aura had spent several evenings inside the zord cockpits. It wasn't the lack of noise that bothered him, he realized suddenly. It was the lack of any greeting as he entered the bay. He was used to her knowing as soon as he walked in.

"Hello?" he called, peering around curiously. "Anybody home?"

There was a brief delay, and then Billy popped out of the Sirethian zord. "Carlos!" The Blue Ranger waved, and Carlos grinned. The other could make any mechanical situation look complex, simply by running a hand through his already tousled hair and waving some obscure tool around.

Carlos happened to know that the upgrade to the Aquitian zord interface system required little more than a hydrospanner, concentration, and an incredible amount of patience. Yet Billy had a degausser in his hand--an electronic one, no less--and he stuffed it into the pocket of his Aquitian uniform with enviable nonchalance as he climbed out of the cockpit.

"Hey," Carlos greeted him. "Where's Aura?"

"She went to get something to eat some time ago," Billy said, climbing down the side of his zord and jumping to the ground. "She'll probably be--oh, here she is."

Carlos turned in time to see the Red Aquitian Ranger stride into the zord bay, and she lifted her hand in acknowledgement when she saw him. He waved back, reminding himself not to smile. To his knowledge, waving wasn't an Aquitian gesture--she must have picked it up from Billy.

"Kerone told us you were playing soccer," Billy was saying. "You didn't have to come here right after your game."

"Well, I did shower first," Carlos said with a grin. "And changed." He was wearing his Astro uniform. "I think taking Dark Spectre down is worth some sacrifice on my part."

Karen was still caught up in the novelty of being "in" on the Power Rangers' secret, and she hadn't objected in the slightest when he told her he had to go. He had hoped to take her with the team when they went out to celebrate their victory, but somehow the Aquitian zords seemed just a little more important. And Tessa had found her friend during the game, so he hadn't felt so bad about leaving them afterwards.

"It's hard to have a life without telling anyone, isn't it?" Billy said, his smile sympathetic.

Carlos chuckled. "It's hard to have a life, period. My girlfriend actually knows, but it doesn't make leaving her much easier."

"Your girlfriend?" Aura repeated.

At the same moment, Billy asked, "She knows?"

"She found me out," Carlos admitted. "I couldn't not tell her. You know," he added to Aura, "someone you're going out with."

She blinked. "I know. I have just never heard you mention her."

"So much for the secret identity rule, huh?" Billy asked ruefully.

Carlos shook his head. "It's impossible to keep up when you're going into space every other day. Our parents had to know, and a couple other people found out by accident. And most of the old Rangers know, of course."

"Your people do not normally know who their Rangers are?" Aura asked, looking puzzled.

"No," Carlos said fervently. "If they did, none of us would *ever* have a life. We'd just be 'the Power Rangers', and cameras would probably follow us everywhere."

Aura didn't look anymore enlightened.

"It's different on Earth," Billy told her. "They're a little more--"

He glanced Carlos' way, and Carlos grinned. "Primitive?"

"Isolated," Billy suggested diplomatically, echoing Andros' choice of words without knowing it. "Their technology is considerably less advanced than ours, so you have to realize that zords seem like magic to them. And they have no contact with the rest of the League, so they don't have any perspective on how common Ranger teams really are."

"Common?" Carlos echoed.

Right on top of him, Aura added, "I would not say 'common'."

"Sorry," Billy said, with the hint of a smile. "But as far as Earth is concerned, their Astro Rangers are the only ones. Some hero worship is inevitable, especially considering Earth's history. The Rangers do quite literally save the planet on a regular basis."

Aura seemed to consider that for a moment. "Earth is an interesting world," she said at last.

Billy nodded when Carlos did, but Carlos hadn't missed the fact that the Blue Ranger referred to the people of Earth as "they". It was the Aquitians that he included himself as a part of, despite his planet of origin.

Then Aura derailed that train of thought by adding, "I would like to see it sometime."

"Earth?" Carlos repeated, startled. He realized it was a ridiculous question even as he asked, but she merely nodded.

"You could," he said, after a brief pause. A truly amusing thought took hold in his mind. "You could," he repeated, trying to repress a grin. "I'll take you sometime, if you want."

"I do," she said surprising him again. "I think I would like that."

"The seaship doesn't give you a very good view," Billy agreed. "You could talk to Cestria, too--she's been to Earth several times."

Aura looked at him. "Has she?"

"Did you take her?" Carlos added.

"Yeah," Billy said with a fond smile. "I get homesick sometimes, and it's nice to go back and see the rest of the team. The old team," he amended, glancing at Carlos.

"The Zeo team?" Carlos guessed, trying to remember what little he had learned of Ranger history.

"Among others," Billy answered, a faraway look in his eyes. "They seem to like Cestria--although my dad did kind of freak out when he first found out I was dating an alien."

There was a pause, during which Carlos was dying to ask for the rest of the story. But Aura gave her head a quick shake and reminded them, "The zords."

"Right," Billy said quickly, glancing over his shoulder at the Sirethian zord as though he expected it to reprove him for the lapse.

Carlos followed his gaze. "It's too bad standing around talking doesn't get anything done," he said ruefully. "I was looking forward to hearing some stories."

"Next time," Billy promised with a grin.

Carlos nodded, seeing Aura shift at his side. She was clearly impatient to get back to work, so he turned to her. "So, what's already finished?"

"Canthris is online," she said, trading glances with Billy.

He smiled. Of course her zord would be first; he would have started with his if their positions were reversed. "And Sirethian?" he asked.

"Almost done," Billy assured them. "Another hour, at the most."

"I will begin work on Mireth," Aura decided. "Zaal's self-repair systems only shut down this morning, so I would prefer to give its energy reserves time to recharge before doing more work on it."

"Which leaves me Lissan." Carlos scanned the zord bay and located Cestria's zord, next to Delphinius' and on the far side of Billy's. "I can do that."

"Remember to change your communicator frequency," Billy said, as he turned away.

"Thanks," Carlos called after him, reaching for his communicator. In truth, he had gotten so used to hearing Aura in his mind that he might have forgotten to switch to the Aquitians' comm frequency altogether.

He looked up and caught Aura watching him make the adjustment. *Are you still listening for me?* he thought experimentally.

*Of course,* she replied immediately, and he smiled.

Her lips quirked in return, and he tossed off a jaunty salute in her direction. She lifted her hand hesitantly, and his smile widened as he turned away, heading across the bay toward the yellow-tinted Aquitian zord.

12. Distracted

"Let her retrieve the information herself. There is no need for my participation."

"She can not." Cetaci's words made Saryn pause and turn his head to the side, clearly waiting for an explanation.

Cetaci seemed to brace herself, but when she spoke her tone was firm. "She has been banned from the Ranger dome. Her misuse of Ranger equipment is unacceptable, and I will not allow her back until she learns respect for the chain of command."

There was silence for a moment, and Kerone waited impatiently by the door. Her brief encounter with the woman had convinced her that she was dangerous--the kind of person she would have had under guard on the Dark Fortress--so she couldn't say that the news bothered her.

Saryn did not seem upset either, though Cetaci seemed to expect him to be. "Good," he said, turning away again. "She can send someone else for the data, then. I have nothing to say to Linnse."

He strode through the door without another word, and only long practice allowed Kerone to fall into step beside and slightly in front of him. She fully intended to return to the control room, and wasn't going to change direction unless he said something.

He didn't, and when they reached the control room he simply folded his arms and waited for her to speak. Reaching for her locket, she raised her eyebrow at him. "Are you planning to stay morphed?"

He just tilted his head, giving the impression that he was looking at her. But he still did not speak, and she wondered if he had any idea how irritating that was.

With a deliberately casual shrug, she swept her arm upward, from waist to shoulder. Her magic wrapped itself around her, transforming her jean shorts and purple blouse into the attire she had last worn as Astronema. The weight of long hair wasn't as familiar as it used to be, and she twisted her head briefly, trying to get used to it again.

He did not react.

Reaching for her locket once more, she tugged it free and removed the data disc. Slipping it into one of the Aquitian readers, she felt the movement of air that meant he had stepped up beside her. He was quiet, too--she couldn't imagine how he did it in that armor.

The data flashed by too quickly for her to read on the main screen, and she frowned. "How do I make it display one frame at a time?"

He did something to the console, turning his head toward the screen. She followed his gaze and nodded in approval. The first frame had been enlarged to cover the whole screen, and the data had paused so that the layout it revealed was readable.

"That--" Saryn's voice made her look over her shoulder in his direction, and she saw him nod at her. "That is somewhat distracting."

Taking him to mean her Astronema guise, she retorted, "So is yours!"

"The Phantom Ranger is who I am," he said, his tone cold.

"And Astronema is who I am," she answered calmly.

"It is not. You have changed from the person you were."

She stared back at him. "So have you. Demorph, or deal with it."

For a moment, she thought he wouldn't answer. Then he sighed, a sound she found odd coming from the Phantom Ranger, and reached up to touch the ruby on his chest. There was a brief flash, a sparkle of light that was more red than black, and his armor melted away.

She watched as his uniform disappeared--she had never seen him demorph before, and it was a strange transition to watch. One moment, he represented one of the strongest forces for good on this side of the universe, an "enemy" she had tried to defeat many times over. The next, he was nothing more than a boy, one maybe her own age, whose too-long hair hid the saddest eyes she'd ever seen.

Without the flamboyance of her earlier gesture, the magic shimmered around her again. She didn't have to look down to know that her appearance had returned to normal. He nodded mutely, and she gave him a half-smile.

He turned back to the console without returning the expression.

"That's the heaviest shielding on the ship," Kerone was telling him, pointing to one link of their already established network. "A detonator there would be lucky to get *noticed*, let alone cause damage."

"You did not raise that objection before," he replied, staring up at the grid displayed on the screen.

"Because I thought the detonators had a limited range," she retorted. "I didn't know the network would stretch any thinner than that."

"If it will still respond to the signal from, say, here--" Kerone gestured at the screen, and a violet point of light glowed briefly next to an exterior section of the hull. "That's a much more vulnerable point."

The violet glow faded, and he stared without seeing at the map in front of them. They all had vulnerable points, didn't they. The Rangers, Dark Spectre... him. No one existed without weakness.

"Saryn?"

He looked over at her. "Yes?"

"The detonator network can handle that, right?"

"Of course," he answered, turning back toward the main screen. "If these schematics are correct, the ship is not large enough to test the limits of simultaneous detonation."

"They're correct," Kerone informed him, her icy tone barely registering. "Ecliptor would not betray us."

"He wouldn't betray *you*," he corrected, gazing straight ahead.

"As long as I'm with the Rangers, it's the same thing." She followed his gaze. "If you have doubts, say something now."

He had more than his share of doubts, and this mission was far from the least of them. Not only were they going into it without Alliance backing and with the barest minimum of planning, the very information they were basing it on was suspect. No matter what Kerone said, Ecliptor was a marginal ally at best.

"Saryn, talk to me," she demanded.

His control snapped. *Shut up!* he shouted furiously, trying to silence the memory. *Just let me be!*

For the briefest moment, the memory that seemed to be on continuous replay within his mind quieted, and he became aware of the echoing silence of the control room. Glancing over at Kerone, he found her staring back at him, her eyes wide.

He tried to remember what she had said last, but she spoke before he could recall the thread of their conversation. "Did I do something wrong?"

He frowned. "No. Of course not."

He gritted his teeth and tried to ignore the ceaseless reminder of that horrible exchange. "You have done nothing. What did you ask me?"

"I asked... if you have doubts about the information Ecliptor gave us," she said carefully, still watching him.

"No," he said with a sigh. "I have gone into battle with less reliable information. We do the best we can with what is available."

She didn't reply right away, and he hated the quiet. It only let him hear Cassie's voice all the more clearly, her tone apologetic even as he turned away from her. She had not followed. He had been given one chance to forgive her, and he had not taken it.

Was that all he was to be afforded? Once chance to dismiss an anger that had flared fast and hot on the heels of his jealousy, overwhelming him with its suddenness? After years of feeling little but the cold desire for revenge, his heart was waking up, and he wasn't sure he liked everything he found in it.

Kerone's words wrenched his attention back to the control room. "Saryn--I shouldn't be able to hear you in my head like that."

He focused on her again, dread flooding through him. "What?"

"You told me to shut up," she told him. She didn't seem particularly upset, but her expression was unavoidably curious.

He struggled not to let his dismay show on his face, but he suspected it was a losing battle. There was no way things could get any worse. Aura had been covering for him more lately, blocking his empathic projections without complaint or question, but his mental control seemed to be getting worse rather than better.

"I did not," he said, not knowing whether she would believe him or not. "I am--sorry; I did not mean for you to overhear that."

"But you can't *do* that," she said, clearly puzzled. "I thought you were an empath. Empaths don't project words."

He sighed, turning to the console and bracing his arms against its edge as he stared down at it. "So I'm told. I am sorry. That thought was not directed at you."

"Cassie?" she asked, and his head jerked up. "Do you fight often?" Kerone continued mildly. "Because neither of you is much use to anyone like this. How long does it usually take you to make up? And do you think you could you speed the process up some?"

He glanced over at her. Her expression was completely serious, and he felt a reluctant smile tug at the corners of his mouth. "We are that obvious."

"More," she agreed. "Does this happen a lot?"

He tried not to sigh, clenching his fists against the console before pushing away from it. "No. I have never fought with her like this, and this time I am afraid there may be no way to reconcile."

To his surprise, Kerone laughed. It was his greatest fear, and she waved it away like it was inconsequential. "Saryn, Zhane and I fight every day. What makes you think this is any different?"

He looked away. "Zhane does not want you to be someone other than who you are."

"You think that's what Cassie wants for you?"

*How could she not?* he wondered. *If she had been given a choice in whom she loved, I never would have had a chance.*

"I heard that," Kerone warned him.

He squeezed his eyes shut. "Thank you," he muttered, pouring as much concentration as he dared into the shield around his mind. It should not require this much effort--he could almost hear Lyris chastising him for working too hard--but it was the best he could do so quickly. Cassie had been right when she said he should speak to Cestria. He couldn't keep this up.

"Why do you think Cassie wants you to be different?" she asked, doing him the courtesy of ignoring the thought he had unintentionally projected.

He folded his arms, irritated to realize he was cold. He had not planned to demorph again, and his jeans and t-shirt were not adequate protection from Aquitar's chill. "She asked something of me today," he said with a sigh. "The first serious request she has made in weeks, and I could not honor it."

"For you to stop being jealous," Kerone surmised, and he couldn't help giving her a startled look.

"Yes. How did you know?"

" 'Stop it'," she said calmly. " 'You are doing exactly what you accused me of.' "

The statement confused him until he recognized his own words coming from her mouth. "You have a photographic memory."

She shook her head. "Sometimes. Saryn, you can't turn feelings off. Believe me, I've tried. What she asked was impossible."

"I tried, too," he said quietly. "She asks so little--it is a rare occasion when I can get her to tell me what she wants, of late."

There was silence for a moment, and he did his best to strengthen the shielding he had been able to establish. Kerone's curiosity finally vanished from his mind, unnoticed until it was gone, and he felt some measure of relief at that. Perhaps he would at least be able to control his empathy until all of this was over, and there was time to deal with it again.

"Do you always try to do what Cassie wants?" Kerone asked at last.

He shifted a little, wondering how she could stand the temperature of the control room. "I would do anything she asked, were it within my power."

Kerone tilted her head to one side. "Maybe she doesn't want that kind of responsibility," she said slowly.

He frowned, struck by the considering tone in her voice as much as by her words. "What do you mean?"

She didn't answer right away. Then, at last, she said, "Leadership. I asked Andros about it--why his team is so different from Cetaci's. He said they treat their teammates differently. Cetaci expects loyalty, and Andros expects cooperation."

"The Astro team is loyal," he said, trying not to take offense.

Her lips quirked upward. "That's not what I meant. And you're missing the point. Cetaci tells her teammates what to do. Andros asks us what we think. He *expects* us to question him, where Cetaci doesn't."

Obviously, she was trying to tell him something, but he had no idea what it could be. "I do not understand," he admitted.

"By doing whatever Cassie says, you're making her a leader," Kerone said carefully. "By not questioning her, you're giving her... responsibility for you. Cetaci takes that kind of responsibility naturally. Andros can--I've seen him do it--but I don't think he likes it."

She paused, staring thoughtfully at the console for a moment. When she looked up, she added, "Maybe Cassie doesn't like it either. Maybe she doesn't want to live your life on top of hers."

Stung, he drew back. "My life is my own. I do not ask anyone to live it for me."

She sighed. "Maybe I'm wrong. I don't know either of you that well." Then she proved she was more observant than he had given her credit for by adding, "Would you go put something warmer on? You've been trying not to shiver for the last five minutes."

"Elisia is a desert planet," he muttered, wondering how many hours they had been holed up in the empty control room. "Aquitar is too cold for me."

He surprised himself by complaining, but she did not seem to think it odd. "It's humid, too," she agreed mildly. "I never expect that, when spaceships are so dry. If you want to change, I'll rearrange the network and make sure we have the right passcodes for the new route."

He hesitated, but the offer appeared to be genuine. And he did not doubt her ability to handle the task. "Thank you," he said at last.

She only nodded.

He almost groaned. He did not want to relive that particular memory even one more time, but it seemed determined to haunt his thoughts forever. He made his way to the door leading to the Ranger quarters, touching the keypad and escaping into the safety of the deserted hallway before Kerone could see his distress.

What if she was right? What if he had put too much pressure on Cassie, however unintentionally? What if Cassie felt responsible for anything he did at her wish? Could she possibly think he would blame her for something he chose to do of his own accord? What if she flirted with Zhane to *escape* that "responsibility"?

What if he never got the chance to find out? What if he never had the chance to make amends?

He swallowed, resisting the temptation to lean back against the wall and let the world collapse around him. She had given him his chance. Now it was up to him to make another one. He didn't know precisely what time it was, but it couldn't be that late--he would finish his work with Kerone and find her, tonight.

He strode forward resolutely, inputting his code into the touchpad by his door. He didn't bother to turn the lights up; the dim light that already pervaded the room was enough to see by. Cassie didn't like the dark when she was alone--the newfound phobia seemed to be an unexpected result of her experience with the evilyzer ray--and he had gotten in the habit of leaving the lights on at some minimal level in their room even when they were both absent.

He was shrugging into a black wraparound tunic when the sound of movement made him freeze. He let the block he had struggled so hard to establish in his mind fade just a little, almost holding his breath as he cast about for a second presence in the room.

He turned slowly, not knowing whether to cry out in frustration or sigh in relief. Cassie lay curled up on their bed, pressed against the far wall and almost invisible under the blankets. Her breathing was slow and quiet, indistinguishable from the hum of the generator until he listened for it, and her expression was peaceful as she slept.

He didn't know how long he stood there, just staring at her. She couldn't be truly angry with him if she was here, could she? She could far more easily have slept on the Megaship--what *time* was it, that she was sleeping at all? Aquitar's time difference was not helping his already overloaded mind come up with any kind of answers.

Would she forgive him if he woke her? He would never be able to sleep for wondering why she had come, and he couldn't go back to work knowing that she was here...

But he had to. Some things had to be done, and this mission plan was one of them. It would distract him, for a time, and with luck, *something* would have changed by the time he had to decide again whether to wake her or not.

Tearing his gaze away from her, he finished tying his tunic and headed for the door. He couldn't talk to her like this anyway; he couldn't even keep his *own* emotions straight, let alone sort through someone else's. And if they fought again--

"Saryn?"

Her whisper, sleepy and vulnerable as the bed creaked underneath her, proved his undoing. He paused in the doorway, looking over his shoulder despite the promise he had made to himself to leave without looking back.

Her loose nightshirt slid off one shoulder as she struggled to sit up, and she swung her bare legs over the edge of the bed. His throat closed up and he couldn't speak, sudden desire for her making his skin tingle--this was all he needed; to think of her like that on top of everything else.

He turned around and fled.

"Saryn..."

For a brief moment, he was silhouetted in the doorway. The lost and lonely look she had seen that afternoon in the Medical bay was gone, and only a stern shadow remained. It regarded her, and she tried desperately to clear the fog from her mind. But even as she tried to sit up, his imposing figure turned and disappeared into the light of the hallway.

She pushed herself to her feet, stumbling across the warm floor toward the still-open door. "Saryn, wait!" she cried, catching the doorframe to steady herself.

Aura was in the corridor too, but she only had eyes for Saryn. He brushed past the Red Ranger, bumping her shoulder with no apology or even a backward glance. Her words had no effect on him, and the control room doors closed behind him before she could catch up.

"Cassie?" Aura's concerned query finally got her attention.

She glanced down, realizing how odd she must look, standing in the corridor in nothing but an oversize nightshirt. Why had she ever worried that Saryn took her too seriously? He had been a Ranger for six years with powers she was only beginning to understand, and he was known all over the universe. She was just a teenager from some backwater planet that barely even had spaceflight.

"What am I doing?" she asked the floor softly. "What was I *thinking*?"

"Cassie," Aura repeated. The other girl was suddenly at her side, a tentative hand on her shoulder. "Are you all right?"

"What have I ever done to deserve him?" Cassie whispered, lifting her head to meet Aura's gaze. "How could I have been so awful to him, when he puts up with so much and never even complains?"

Aura seemed to have no response for that, and Cassie looked away again. Saryn was strong--he had been alone in the universe since she was in junior high, and he had never needed anyone to tell him how to live. If he was devoted to her, it was only because he chose to be, not because he wanted someone to tell him what to do.

"He loves you," Aura said quietly.

Cassie looked at her in surprise. She had expected the Red Ranger to slip away without another word, her lack of criticism a kind of moral support in and of itself. But Aura was still there, studying her and reminding her of what Saryn had told her never to doubt.

"Yeah," Cassie murmured, looking toward the control room again.

"He does," Aura insisted. "He has told you so, has he not?"

She nodded wordlessly. He had told her so over and over, and she had thought it was the one thing she would always be sure of.

"Words like that do not fade because of a few angry moments," Aura told her gently. "Whatever argument you have had, it can not possibly be enough to make you question something like that."

Cassie sighed. "You don't know what I said."

"And he doesn't care," Aura replied quietly, an odd note in her voice.

She looked over at the other girl, startled by the look of envy that flashed across the Red Ranger's face. "I shouldn't tell you this," Aura whispered, her rain-grey eyes locked with Cassie's. "But he runs from you because he is afraid that you are angry with him, not because he is upset with you."

She stared at Aura, remembering Billy's words from a time that seemed so long ago now. "They're not really allowed into our heads unless it directly relates to Ranger business." With the close familiarity of the current Aquitian team, that rule had obviously fallen by the wayside some time ago. But there was a difference between touching someone's mind to say hello and searching through it for something they didn't want to reveal.

"I did not violate his privacy, if that is what you are wondering," Aura murmured, lowering her gaze. "Except by telling you what he projected--but you are both my friends, and I do not like to see you unhappy for no reason."

"He... projected that?" Cassie asked, torn between relief and dismay. "Why is his empathy so out of control all of a sudden?"

"It is not sudden," Aura admitted, glancing up at her. "I have been blocking for him more often than he knows, I think. It has been growing steadily worse."

"But why? He never used to have this problem."

"He did," Aura corrected. "It used to happen less, but anything he feels strongly he can not seem to contain."

Cassie sighed. "Cestria offered to help. She taught me; there's no reason she couldn't teach him."

When she paused, Aura agreed, "She would not mind..."

"But it isn't her," Cassie said finally, when the other trailed off. "It's him. He--blames his empathy, for something that happened a long time ago."

The sympathy in Aura's expression said she understood. "I am sorry for what he has suffered," she said quietly. "But I fear the longer he ignores this problem, the worse it will get."

Cassie nodded wordlessly. *What he has suffered...* The words rang in her ears, reminding her of how selfish she had been. Her friends were not his friends, and she couldn't just pretend he had always been one of them.

He had had his own friends, his own life--something that was now gone. She couldn't expect him to instantly adjust to hers, had no right to even ask him to be a part of it if he didn't want to be. That he loved her did not change the person he was.

"I have to talk to him," Cassie murmured.

She turned, meaning to return to their room, but Aura's words stopped her. "He is lucky," she said, "to have someone who cares so much for him."

"So am I," Cassie said softly, hoping it wasn't too late to tell him that. "Thanks, Aura."

"We *can't* teleport on," Kerone was reminding him impatiently. "You know as well as I that the entire ship is shielded against teleportation."

"But your teleportation is not dependent on the Power."

"It doesn't matter." She tossed a violet sparkle at the main screen, pointing out a line of data he had already seen. "The shield is magically generated; you can see that for yourself."

He knew she had almost reached the limit of her tolerance with his distraction, but no matter how he tried he couldn't get that image of Cassie in her nightshirt out of his mind. And every time Kerone spoke, he heard Cassie calling after him to wait. Had that been his second chance?

"Saryn." Kerone's hand on his shoulder yanked him out of his reverie, and he lifted his gaze to her inadvertently. "You need to--"

Doors slid open on the other side of the room, and she broke off.

"Kerone?" Cassie's voice asked softly.

Saryn stiffened, pulling away from Andros' sister and turning reluctantly to face Cassie. She was standing in the doorway, pink Astro sweatsuit over top of her nightshirt and a ribbon that had long since come unwound in her hair. He stared back at her, not sure he wanted to know what she would read into the situation after what had happened this afternoon.

She didn't look upset. Her tone didn't change as she asked, "Could you give us a few minutes?"

It wasn't lost on Saryn that Kerone looked to him before answering. He saw the gesture, but he couldn't look away from Cassie. Finally, Kerone nodded once. "I'll be in auxiliary control," she said, turning toward the lift.

Cassie watched her go, and Saryn watched her, frozen, waiting on her words. He couldn't seem to make himself speak, afraid that anything he said would be the wrong thing, that it would somehow make things worse between them.

As the lift doors closed, she turned back to him. Instead of coming over to him, though, she put her hands behind her on the monitor console and hopped up on it. He was tempted to smile, but couldn't afford to relax enough to allow that simple expression. Cetaci had objected loudly the first time she had done that.

"Saryn?" she asked, her voice more tentative than it had been a moment ago. "I'm sorry..."

It was the last thing he had expected her to say, and he could think of no way to reply. His silence only seemed to make her more nervous, and she looked down at the floor. "I was way out of line to say anything to you about Kerone," she continued, fidgeting where she sat. "I was wrong to assume anything, and I shouldn't have reacted like that."

He wanted to tell her that he respected Kerone, that he was finally beginning to think it was possible for them to be friends, and that that was as far as it went. How could she ever think he was interested in someone else when he had lost his heart to her so long ago?

Instead what came out of his mouth was, "Perhaps now you know better how I feel."

Her head jerked up at that, and he saw her flush. Hands braced on the console to either side of her, her gaze locked with his across the empty room. "I'm so sorry," she whispered at last. "You don't know how well you hide things, even now. I didn't--"

She took a deep breath, slowing the flood of words and starting again. "I thought if you knew I loved you, seeing me with Zhane or someone wouldn't matter. We're just friends...

"But when I saw Kerone take your hand this afternoon, I just wanted to run over and--" She gestured helplessly. "I don't know! She hasn't looked at anyone but Zhane since she came to Earth, and somehow I still thought..."

"I have never wanted anyone but you," he said quietly.

"I know," she said, looking away.

"But it doesn't help," he finished. "The fear comes anyway, isolating you and making you--"

"Angry," she said, lifting her head. "That's exactly it. I saw you with her, and I tried not to care, but I just couldn't, especially after you were mad at me for the volleyball thing--"

"Volleyball thing?" he interrupted, watching her reach up to flip her long black hair over her shoulder.

She blushed again, and he felt his lips quirk involuntarily. Did she have any idea how pretty she was when she did that? "When you wouldn't play," she explained, "I thought you were upset with me for something."

"I simply did not want to participate," he told her gently. "I am still uncomfortable with so many people, and I had not fully recovered from--the morning's fight." He knew it sounded like an excuse, but he had the right to make a simple choice without having to justify it.

She gazed at him, and he couldn't help adding, "You must not take it personally when I do not react as one of your friends might."

For some reason, that made her flinch, and he straightened. If he had known it would distress her, he would not have said it.

She tugged at one of her sleeves, twisting it around her fingers uncomfortably, and just as he was about to speak she said, "You're right. I'm sorry if I've ever made you do something that you didn't--"

"You have not," he interrupted, and she started a little. He tried to soften his tone, knowing he had been too vehement. "I make my own decisions, Cassie. You have never forced me into anything."

She looked up, and the look in her eyes made his heart melt. It was all he could do not to cross the room and wrap her in his arms. "If I sometimes do your bidding," he murmured, feeling her gaze draw him in, "it is only because I wish to please you. Not because you have made me act against my will."

She swallowed, but she did not look away. "Then... you weren't mad at me."

He smiled a little. "I was not."

"Even when--I yelled at you, about Kerone?" she asked tentatively.

"I was angry then," he said slowly. "But I understand what you were feeling all too well. And you must know that I could never stay upset with you for long," he added quietly.

"I'm sorry," she said, shifting her weight on the console and looking at him uncertainly. "I should never have said what I did--"

"I understand," he repeated, cutting her off. "Believe me when I say it."

She hesitated, and there was something in her expression that he didn't recognize. He felt the frustration she had so often complained of, that of not knowing her well enough to judge her reactions, and he tried to put it aside.

"I do believe you," she said at last, smiling a little. "You know I do. Can you--forgive me?"

"If you can do the same for me," he answered, daring to hope that this could all end now.

She actually giggled, and he felt the hope growing inside him. "I don't have anything to forgive you for. But I will, if you want."

"I do," he murmured, seeing her smile widen.

She slid off the console and practically skipped over to him, turning her face up toward him expectantly. "Yours is more important--you go first."

He couldn't help smiling back at her, his gaze flickering across her face as he said softly, "I forgive you."

She leaned into him when he kissed her, clutching his arms and reminding him suddenly, vividly, that she was still in her pajamas. He clenched his fingers, resisting the temptation to put his arms around her, knowing he would never be able to let go if he did.

With an effort, he turned his head away from her and said breathlessly, "Your turn."

"I forgive you," she whispered, laying her hand alongside his face to turn it back toward her. "I like making up," she added in a murmur, kissing him again.

He chuckled at that, tilting his head toward the ceiling as he put his arms around her. *Thank you,* he said fervently, addressing some spirit that might or might not be listening. *Thank you for this.*

Then he felt her lips brush against his neck, and he caught his breath sharply as she pressed closer to him. "Do not do this to me," he said softly, hoping she would not listen.

With a sigh, she drew back. "You're too busy," she murmured. "Sorry--I just... I missed you," she admitted, searching his expression.

It had only been that morning that they argued, but the empty place in his heart had made it seem so much longer. Delighted to hear her confess his own feelings, he leaned forward and pressed his mouth to hers, pulling her against him again.

"Not very convincing," he heard her murmur, but she could not have truly spoken. He kissed her harder, letting her thoughts swirl around him and hoping desperately that she could drown out all the other voices for a little while.

She relaxed into his embrace, but a moment later he heard clearly, *You're not blocking anymore.*

"No," he whispered, letting his forehead rest against hers as he tried to catch his breath. "I don't have to, around you."

She smiled, not understanding, and he didn't try to explain. He was so glad to be able to hold her again that nothing else seemed to matter. Her love was the one thing that the universe still had to take away from him, and without it he would be nothing.

"I'll let you and Kerone get back to work," she murmured, letting her fingers trail across his face.

He sighed, not meaning to, and found he couldn't take his eyes off of her. "Must you?" He didn't even realize he'd spoken aloud until she giggled.

The shriek of the intruder alert cut off any more conversation, and he hugged her closer instinctively before he recognized the sound. He grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the lift, responding without thinking to the piercing noise--

Until Cassie resisted, tugging on his hand and shouting his name above the sound of the alarm. He turned to her in question, and saw her pointing up at the flashing intruder alert... and the conspicuously silent Ranger alarm system below it.

"Another drill!" Cassie said loudly, leaning closer to be heard above the wailing of the alert. "I wish Cetaci would pick better times to mess with our heads!"

He shook his head, irritated by the timing. This was the second such drill since the Barox had overrun the command center dome, and Cetaci had not been pleased with the response time on the last one. "Why does she insist on creating crisis when there is none?"

"What?" Cassie tilted her head toward him, leaning even closer in an attempt to hear.

"We have to get to auxiliary control," he said instead, speaking almost directly into her ear.

She turned her head, and the look in her eyes caught him by surprise. "Don't we?" he said uncertainly. He didn't think he had spoken loudly enough for her to hear above the alarm, but she shook her head at him.

She pulled him toward the door leading to the living quarters, where they would at least be able to talk over the sound of the intruder alert, and he let her lead him. As the doors slid shut behind him, the noise was muffled enough that he could hear himself think, and he shot her a questioning look.

"I was sleeping when the alarm went off," she told him, wrapping her arms around him and resting her head against his chest. "You had just come in to change--pretty bad timing, huh?"

"Cassie," he warned. He knew where she was going with this already, and he knew, too, how tempted he would be if he let her finish.

"So we *heard* the alarm," she continued, oblivious. "But the containment protocols must have malfunctioned, because the doors wouldn't--"

"Cassie," he repeated, pushing her away and placing two fingers over her mouth. "We are Rangers. It is our duty--"

She kissed his fingers, wrapping her hand around his and stepping closer. "Duty isn't everything," she said quietly. "You know no one's in danger, Saryn."

"That is not the issue..." He trailed off as she wound her fingers through his hair, pulling him close for a kiss. He let her do it, his heart pounding as her lips teased his, making him long to remind her of the proper way to kiss one's lover.

"Kerone will be busy with everyone else until the drill's over," she whispered, brushing his hair away from his face and giving him another gentle, lingering kiss. "And you can't work with the central computer locked down anyway..."

He tried to remember why he was protesting. "Cetaci will ask--"

"I don't care," she replied, kissing him again. As before, it was only the fact that her mouth was pressed to his that let him know she was thinking rather than speaking. *I'm trying to seduce you, Saryn. If you want me to stop, all you have to do is say so.*

He closed his eyes, delighted by her frankness. But there had only ever been one answer that he could give, and he suspected she knew it.

*Do not stop,* he begged, kissing her hungrily as he gave in to her touch. He felt her freeze momentarily as the words echoed in her mind, and he ran his hands across her back in an attempt to soothe her. He had to remember not to talk like that...

"No," she insisted, burying her fingers in his hair and forcing him to look at her. "I like hearing you that way."

He stared back at her, and with her wide eyes only inches from his he could not doubt the truth of her words. *I am glad,* he said tentatively. She caught her breath, but she smiled at the same time and leaned forward to kiss him.

Then she squeaked as he caught her up easily in his arms, cradling her close as she threw her arms around his neck. Her gaze lifted to meet his as he carried her down the hallway, ignoring the wail of the intruder alert in favor of her warm embrace and the promise of her touch.

"You are a terrible influence on me," he murmured, kissing her forehead.

13. Guarded Affection

*Carlos?*

"Come in," he called automatically. He didn't look up from the interface, but he smiled when he heard Aura's soft boots on the ladder behind him. He couldn't help thinking the way she always asked permission to enter an area he was working in was sort of… cute.

Cute. He shook his head and tried to keep his amusement to himself. She was probably several years his senior, and was better with these systems than he would ever be. He doubted she would appreciate the appellation.

"Can I be of assistance?" Aura asked, dropping to the deck behind him.

"I'm almost done," he assured her. "You can keep me company if you want, but I don't think there's anything I'm going to need help with."

"Very well."

He felt his concentration waver, and he resisted the urge to turn around and look at her--but it was too late. The thread of the interface he had been rerouting slipped away from his focus and settled back into its former position, and he grimaced.

"Trouble?" she asked, and now there was no reason not to glance over his shoulder. Aura was leaning against one of the simple, contoured control panels, giving the impression of watching what he was doing without actually being close enough to see. "I can suppress the nav controls if it would help."

"That's okay; I can do it," he said quickly, embarrassed to have made such a basic mistake. Concentration was everything when it came to the mental interfaces the Aquitians used to control their zords, and he *knew* that--but he still wasn't completely used to it.

He brought his focus back to the main motor functions of the zord, guiding the major pathways into place to connect with the console in front of him. This time Aura was silent, and his hydrospanner hissed quietly as the last connection reached its contact point and stuck there.

"There," he said, tempted to pat the control panel as though it was a car. "The interface should at least be useable, now."

He heard a chime as Aura laid her hand against the panel in front of her, and new shadows fell across the interior of the cockpit. He turned around to see the soft glow of Cestria's Lissan symbol emanating from the rear wall.

"Well done," Aura told him, twisting to regard the lit symbol as well.

"Thanks." He turned back to the main control panel and tossed the hydrospanner up in the air, catching it by the barrel as it spun around. "Now I just have to fine-tune it enough that Cestria can actually fly it in the middle of a battle."

"I am sure she will appreciate your effort," Aura offered.

He grinned sheepishly at her sarcasm. "I'm working on it. How's Billy doing?" he added, as he gave the thruster controls a nudge. These adjustments didn't require nearly as much concentration, and he would just as soon get her focus off of him while he worked.

"The upgrade to the Zaal zord is almost complete as well," she answered. "Its energy reserves were not as depleted as I expected; Delphinius must have set the limits of self-repair lower than normal."

"Is that why it's taken so long to come back online?" Carlos asked, shifting the nav controls a little.

"Most likely. His zord suffered heavy damage during the Barox attack."

"What happened to it?" he asked curiously. "I don't think I ever found out what he did to crush the forward hull like that."

"One of the Barox set a collision course with the Ranger dome. Delphinius intercepted it."

Carlos froze at her matter-of-fact reply. "What?"

"Delphinius intercepted a--"

"I heard you," he interrupted quickly. "I was just--surprised. I never thought of the Barox as suicidal."

"Nothing I had heard of them made me think they would exhibit such a tendency," Aura agreed. "Recent events have led me to believe differently."

Carlos was quiet for a moment, tracing the path of the scanner controls to make sure they all lined up with their appropriate detectors. "But the dome is underwater," he said at last, satisfied that each scanner would supply the correct information. "Would the Barox's ship even be able to reach it?"

He winced even as he said it, for she had already given him the answer. "Not functionally," he realized aloud. "But if it was a suicide run, that wouldn't matter."

He sensed more than saw her shake her head. "Delphinius chased it into the atmosphere, and pressed it hard enough that it could not maintain its original course. It struck the ocean some distance from the city, with Delphinius still following."

"He crashed into the water?" Carlos asked in disbelief.

"I was monitoring his descent," Aura said. "I think he attempted to pull up. His zord must have been too badly damaged to respond, and his velocity was too great for the hull to withstand the impact."

"But he was fine when he teleported into auxiliary control," Carlos protested.

"The inertial dampers saved his life," Aura told him. "If they had been damaged he would not have survived, let alone walked away."

"No wonder Cetaci was so upset," Carlos said, remembering the White Ranger's anger when Delphinius appeared.

There was a brief hesitation, and he pressed one of the thruster circuits closed before turning to look at her. She lowered her eyes in the face of his questioning gaze and admitted, "Cetaci does not know."

He stared at her. "What?"

"At the time, I did not wish to trouble her," Aura said quietly. "We had no way to contact the rest of the team, and there was nothing she could do. I told her only that his zord had been damaged in the fighting."

"And afterwards?" Carlos demanded. "Didn't she want to know what happened?"

Aura didn't answer, and he realized he had inadvertently stepped over a line that would have been better left uncrossed. Team loyalty was stronger than the bond of friendship, and Ranger teams were bound more closely to each other than they could be to anyone else--even if that someone was a Ranger themselves.

"Sorry," he said, hoping she hadn't taken offense. "It's none of my business--I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

She looked up, and her silvery eyes held something he didn't quite recognize when they met his. *You may not tell anyone else this. But I will tell you, if you wish to know. For our friendship.*

He shook his head, though he was tempted. He knew there was something strange between Cetaci and Delphinius, and he would dearly love to know what it was--but not if Aura didn't want to tell him. *I don't want you to tell me anything you don't want to,* he thought carefully. *Your team is more important.*

*It is not our *team* that is the problem,* she answered, and he could almost hear the irritation in her thoughts. *Cetaci and Delphinius used to be lovers, before the Rangers came between them. They still care for each other very deeply, I think, but they cannot seem to keep their feelings and their duties from clashing.*

Carlos just stared at her, not sure what to say to that. He had assumed the two Aquitian Rangers had some sort of past, but no one ever mentioned it in his presence until now. Even Cassie, whom he suspected knew something about them, had been strangely close-mouthed. He wondered if she had been sworn to the same silence Aura had just asked of him.

"Cestria ordered Delphinius to break off, during the Barox attack," Aura continued quietly, when he said nothing. "The hunter's ship was put under enormous stress by his pursuit, and in all likelihood would not have held together long enough to reach the ocean floor had Delphinius pulled up while he still had time.

"So Cestria ordered him out. He would not go, and finally it was too late." She paused, regarding him solemnly. "Cestria did not report him, nor will the rest of the team tell Cetaci what he did."

He wouldn't take the chance, Carlos realized. Delphinius wouldn't allow even the slim possibility that the ship might survive long enough to damage the dome where Cetaci was, even if it meant his own life. "But… if she knew," he began.

"She must not know," Aura cut him off. "I would like to think, as you do, that she would be touched by such a gesture. But I have seen her react often enough to know that she will only be angry with him for such a foolish risk. So we keep it from her."

The way she said it made Carlos wonder what else they kept from their team leader. But it wasn't his place to ask, and before he could promise not to say anything to anyone else, there was a loud rap on the metal hull above.

"How's it going down there?" Billy called, peering into the cockpit.

"Almost done," Carlos answered. "If you think you can fit, come on in."

For answer, the other Ranger disappeared. A moment later, he was climbing down the ladder to join the two of them in the small cockpit. The Aquitian zords felt roomier than the Astro Rangers' zords, probably because the cockpits had fewer control panels, but the space was undeniably cramped with the three of them in there at once.

"The upgrade to the Zaal zord is finished," Billy informed them, leaning against the back of the pilot's chair. "I think we'd all better get some sleep as soon as Lissan is done."

"Don't wait for me," Carlos said quickly. "It's going to take me another few minutes to finish this; you guys go ahead."

"We will wait," Aura told him.

"We're the repair team," Billy added with a grin. "We ought to stick together."

Carlos chuckled. "In that case, you have to tell us that story about Cestria meeting your family. I want to hear this."

"Oh, it probably wasn't as strange as you think," Billy said, shifting a little as Carlos forced his hydrospanner back inside the forward control panel. "My dad had actually been to Aquitar once before Cestria came home with me, so he had some idea of what to expect."

"He came to Aquitar?" Carlos repeated, surprised.

"Yeah..." Billy sighed. "Not the smartest thing I ever did, but it worked out. And Cestria was sweet enough to try and soften the blow the first time they met--she wore Earth clothes that night, and she even shook his hand when I introduced them."

Aquitians weren't big on tactile contact, Carlos knew. And he doubted Billy would ever ask her to "act human" just for the sake of his friends or family, which made her effort doubly kind.

"Did you ask her to do that?" Aura asked suddenly.

Carlos would have loved to turn around, to see Billy's expression, but he couldn't spare the concentration. Instead, he heard only the indignation in Billy's tone when he replied, "Of course not! She could have worn her Eternal Falls clothes if she wanted to, and she knew it. She was just trying to make it easier for him."

"Earth is a little... paranoid about aliens," Carlos offered, finishing the junction and turning around. "We don't have a very good history, when you come right down to it."

"Angel Grove liked the Aquitian Rangers, though," Billy said quickly. "That probably helped."

"Bet you're glad you decided to live on Aquitar, though," Carlos said with a grin. "Can you imagine trying to live on Earth with an alien girlfriend?"

Billy hesitated, and Carlos blinked as Aura straightened up. "I must go," she said. "Good night to you both."

"Good night," Carlos said, giving her a smile that she did not return.

Billy said good night more quietly, and she nodded to him before she turned to leave. Carlos frowned a little as she disappeared up the ladder, leaving the cockpit oddly subdued in her wake.

When he was sure she had gone, he caught Billy's eye. "Is it just me, or has Aura been acting a little… strange today?"

Billy gave him a measured look. "Today?"

He shook his head, sorry he had said anything. "Never mind."

Billy's reply surprised him. "Carlos, she's been acting 'strange' for weeks now. Don't tell me you just noticed now."

His frown deepened. "What do you mean? Is something wrong with her?"

Billy didn't answer right away. Finally, he sighed and shook his head. "No. Nothing's wrong with her. Are you all done here?"

Carlos cast a glance over his shoulder, but he already knew the answer. "Yeah, Cestria's zord is ready to fly. Billy--" He turned around, seeing the Blue Ranger stop at the bottom of the cockpit ladder. "What am I missing about Aura?"

Billy put one hand on the ladder and tilted his head to one side in a strangely Aquitian gesture. "Do you really not know?"

Carlos held his hands out to the sides helplessly. "I really don't! She hasn't told me anything."

"She wouldn't," Billy agreed. "I thought it was obvious. She's… having some relationship difficulties."

Carlos frowned again. "I didn't know she was involved with anyone."

"She isn't."

"Then what are you talking about?" Carlos demanded.

"She..." Billy shook his head. "She has feelings for an offworlder."

"Damn." Carlos could have kicked himself. "That conversation was probably the last thing she wanted get into then--sorry; I didn't know. No wonder she ran off like that."

"Yeah," Billy said quietly.

Neither of them moved for a moment, then Carlos said, "Aquitar isn't like Earth, though. There's a lot of non-Aquitians here. It can't be *that* bad, can it?"

"He isn't a League member," Billy said, twisting around to regard Carlos. "He's from Earth."

Carlos winced, suddenly understanding. "Can you imagine trying to live on Earth with an alien girlfriend?" "Man! I wish I'd kept my mouth shut… How did she meet him?"

Billy sighed, a look of amusement on his face. "Carlos--a friend of mine used to say this to me, and I hope you'll forgive me for saying it to you. Are you this dense on purpose?"

Carlos could only stare at him. There was only one thing Billy could mean by that. "No way," he said. "Not... me?"

Billy nodded wordlessly, watching him for a reaction.

He struggled to remember anything she had said or done that might have tipped him off, but even in hindsight there were no definitive signs he could call to mind. "No way!" he repeated, shaking his head. "That's crazy--Aura's never been anything but friendly to me. Nice, sure, but no *more* than nice."

"Aquitians aren't as obvious about things like that," Billy told him. "They're a little more restrained in showing their feelings. I thought you knew that."

It sounded almost like an accusation, and Carlos blinked. "I did, I guess. But--she's Aquitian!"

It was the wrong thing to say. Billy turned away and put his other hand on the ladder. "So is Cestria, Carlos, and I love her with all my heart and soul. Would you love someone of Earth less just because they came from a different country?"

Carlos stared after him. Only when the Blue Ranger had vanished from sight did he realize that Billy was actually leaving. "Wait!" he called. He scrambled up the ladder and caught Billy as he stood on top of the zord, preparing to teleport down.

"Billy," he said quickly. "It isn't that she's from another planet, it's just--I *have* a girlfriend. I thought Aura and I were just friends."

Billy studied him for a long moment. "You can't change what you feel," he said at last. "Either of you. Just--try to be a little more sensitive to her feelings."

Something in the way Billy said it made Carlos ask, "Does everyone know about this but me?"

"Pretty much," Billy said, in a matter-of-fact tone of voice. "The rest of the Aquitian team, at least." A hint of a smile touched his lips. "Why do you think Cetaci is so rude to you?"

Carlos shrugged. "I thought she was rude to everyone," he said honestly, and Billy did smile at that.

"Just don't say that to her," he warned.

"Duh," Carlos muttered.

Billy clapped him on the shoulder. "Get some sleep," he advised. "And Carlos--she doesn't expect anything of you. She just… cares for you. She wouldn't want it to hurt your friendship."

He wanted to say something to that, although he wasn't exactly sure what, but the wail of an alert burst into the zord bay before he got the chance. The noise echoed off the walls and penetrated every corner, filling the bay with the sound of urgency.

"What *is* that?" he demanded, loudly enough to make himself heard over the sound.

"That's the intruder alert," Billy answered, cocking his head as though listening for something.

Carlos waited, though he couldn't imagine what the other Ranger expected to hear in this cacophony. Finally Billy shook his head. "It's a drill," he said loudly. "If it was real, the Ranger alarm would have sounded too."

"You have drills?" Carlos asked incredulously.

Billy shrugged. "Cetaci's idea. She'll expect us in auxiliary control. You have the coordinates?"

Carlos nodded, reaching for his morpher. He saw Billy touch the gold band on his wrist just before the world disappeared from around him.

Auxiliary control shimmered into view as the shadowy darkness fell away once more, and he found Cetaci and Cestria already there. To his surprise, Kerone was there as well, her jeans and t-shirt looking out of place when surrounded by Aquitian uniforms.

"Aura?" Cetaci asked of Billy as soon as he arrived. The alert seemed muted, although no less urgent, in this part of the dome, and Carlos found he could hear himself think again.

"She went to sleep," Billy replied, joining Cestria at the internal scanner array. "Should we wake her?"

"No," Cetaci said quickly. "She's been working all day. What of Delphinius?"

"Also asleep," Cestria told her. She pointed to something on the readout in front of them. "The 'intruder' has been isolated on level one, above the living quarters."

"Have Delphinius go," Cetaci said, and Carlos raised an eyebrow.

"He's asleep," Billy reminded her.

"It is his duty shift," Cetaci insisted. "He will participate in the drill."

Carlos tried to figure out what time that would make it, if the duty shifts were on their second rotation. Cetaci and Delphinius had had the night watch for the last few weeks, which meant it had to be after two back on Earth. It didn't feel that late, but then, it never did until he had to get up in the morning. At least this time he would still be on Aquitian time when he woke up.

"You had Delphinius cover for Aura this afternoon," Billy said, turning away from the scanners. "He's been up since your shift ended this morning."

Carlos suppressed the urge to whistle. No wonder the Black Ranger was sleeping.

"Then you may go in his place," Cetaci said calmly. "Locate and contain our 'intruder', and report as soon as you are done."

Billy only nodded, grabbing a stunner from the weapons locker by the door on his way out. Carlos glanced in Kerone's direction, and found her watching the scene with interest. Not Cetaci and Cestria, but Billy and the weapons locker. He didn't know whether to smile or shake his head--*once a tactician, always a tactician,* he thought.

"Wake Delphinius," Cetaci told Cestria, and Carlos' gaze snapped back to her. "Apprise him of the situation and have him join Billy."

Cestria continued to enter commands into the scanner array, coordinating the datafeed with Billy's movements as he reported them to her. "You said Billy would take his place."

"One Ranger is not an acceptable counter force," Cetaci retorted. "You know that. Have Delphinius back him up."

Cestria still did not look up. "Why do you allow Aura to sleep while Delphinius may not?"

"It's his duty shift," Cetaci repeated stubbornly.

"It is favoritism," Cestria countered.

Cetaci frowned, and Carlos tried to stay as unobtrusive as possible. "It is not too much to ask that members of this team follow procedure," the White Ranger informed her second in command.

Cestria stepped in front of her to add the visual from Billy's current location to the display. "This is only a drill," she said quietly. "The well-being of this team should come before training sims."

Cetaci positively glared at her. "Contact Delphinius," she said icily.

Cestria pushed something on the control panel and straightened up, turning to face her teammate. "No."

Carlos glanced sideways, seeking out Kerone with his eyes. She was watching the confrontation with undisguised curiosity--the same appraising look she had given Billy when he stopped by the weapons' locker.

"Then I will," Cetaci snapped, reaching for the comm console.

To Carlos' infinite surprise, Cestria caught her hand. "You are behaving unreasonably," she told her leader.

"Let me go," Cetaci insisted, twisting away from the Yellow Ranger. She sounded suddenly more like a plaintive child than a determined commander. "This team answers to my orders, not yours."

Cestria hesitated, and the glance she gave Carlos and Kerone said she was very much aware of their presence. "I would not say this now," she said quietly, "if I thought you would listen at any other time. But this--" She made a small gesture toward the comm system, leaving no doubt about what she meant. "This is not about the team. It is about you and your relationship with our Black Ranger."

Cetaci's eyes were wide as they darted from Cestria, to Carlos and Kerone, and back again.

"Delphinius has been miserable since you joined the team," Cestria continued, ignoring Cetaci's obvious distress. "Yet he continues to act impartially, while you do not. Perhaps..." Her voice dropped a little, and she said quietly, "As much as it pains me to say this, perhaps you were not the best choice for leader."

Cetaci stared at her, but no reply was forthcoming.

Carlos knew the feeling. He had never heard the soft-spoken Aquitian question her leader's orders in anything but the most unobtrusive of ways, and Cestria had *never* questioned Cetaci's position. Now she had done both in as many minutes.

The alert ceased suddenly, and Carlos caught a glimpse of the panel in front of Cestria as the schematic of level one went from orange-red to a muted green. The words "Intruder Neutralized" flashed across the display, but no one seemed to notice.

The click of a metal clasp was loud in the ensuing silence, and Cetaci removed her wrist communicator without a word. She held out her hand and let the bracelet fall to the console, the gold band clattering against the panel as she turned and walked out of auxiliary control.

"Cestria," Delphinius said tiredly, entering the small room on Billy's heels, "I have been up since this time yesterday. Tell me this is important."

The Yellow Ranger said nothing, merely held up the abandoned communicator.

Delphinius glanced around the room, his eyes taking in the communicator on Cestria's wrist before seeking out Billy and Aura and finding the same gold band on their wrists. "No," he said, looking more exasperated than anything else. "Why?"

"I was kind of wondering that myself," Billy put in.

Carlos shifted, looking sideways at Aura. She had perched on one of the chairs by the weapons' console, and he saw her reach up to rub her eyes sleepily. She did not look at him, but neither did she seem to be avoiding his gaze. It was as though everything Billy had said related to someone else altogether.

"I questioned her authority," Cestria said uncomfortably, drawing Carlos' attention back to her.

Delphinius tilted his head, and when he spoke his tone was dismissive. "Not a day goes by that her authority is not questioned. It's never been enough to make her leave before."

"I told her she might not have been the best choice as our leader," Cestria admitted.

Far from looking shocked, Delphinius just leaned back against the comm console and muttered, "Good for you."

"Delphinius, please," Cestria said, a distressed expression on her face. "I should not have said it."

"What did she do?" Billy wanted to know. "More than--what she was doing before?"

"She insisted again, after you left," Cestria answered, catching his eye.

Delphinius looked sharply at her, then at Billy. "What did she do?" he demanded, echoing Billy's question.

Aura moved a little, and Carlos looked in her direction involuntarily. She had propped one elbow on the back of her chair and was resting her chin on her hand, frowning at Cestria. To all appearances, she was completely absorbed in the conversation.

He couldn't help looking for Kerone next. Andros' sister had an uncanny knack for making herself invisible when she didn't want to be noticed, and it actually took him a few minutes to figure out where she had gone.

Kerone was leaning casually against the doorframe, taking in the entire scene without being a part of it. Only then did it occur to him to wonder where Saryn was--hadn't he been working with Kerone earlier?

"What?" Delphinius exploded, and Carlos realized he had missed whatever explanation the others had given him.

"Where is she now?" the Black Aquitian Ranger demanded, taking the communicator from Cestria's hand. "Did you track her Power signature?"

Cestria looked uncertain. "What are you going to do?"

"I am going to explain to Cetaci what it means to be a Ranger," he replied firmly. "It is something one of us should have done long ago."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Billy asked. "No offense, but you may not be the person she wants to see right now."

Delphinius hesitated, and actually seemed to consider his teammate's words. "Perhaps not," he agreed at last. "But there is no one else, and *someone* must talk to her." A wry look touched his face as he added, "You must admit, there is little I can do that would make the situation worse."

Carlos saw Billy and Cestria exchange glances, and this time when he shot a covert look in Aura's direction he found her looking back. She shrugged a little at him, and he smiled uncertainly. She tilted her head, giving him a "what's wrong" look, and he shook his head.

"She's in the southern research dome," Cestria said. "Do you need the coordinates?"

"No," Delphinius answered, and his tone was uninterpretable. "I know where to find her."

"Good luck," Billy offered quietly.

The Black Aquitian Ranger disappeared into the teleportation stream, leaving only a dark water molecule shape to mark the place where he had been. The signature glow of his team's teleportation streaked upwards and melted through the ceiling to vanish from view.

Quiet reigned for only a moment before Aura murmured, "Cetaci can halt conversation without even being present."

Carlos forced a laugh, and saw Billy give him a strange look from across the room. He sobered quickly, deciding that silence might be the best course after all.

"I am sorry to have brought you into this while you should have been sleeping," Cestria said, a soft sigh escaping from her lips. "I know you have done too much work today."

"No more than Delphinius," Aura said with a slight shrug. "We will survive."

"Thank you for your support," Cestria said quietly.

Billy reached out to touch the back of her hand. "You were right in what you said," he told her. "Things will work out. Don't worry."

"He is right," Aura agreed. "The situation has been escalating--we could not continue to ignore it and still function as a team."

Cestria still looked uncomfortable, and she switched her gaze to Carlos. Her eyes flicked past him to include Kerone as she said, "I apologize also for drawing you into this dispute. It is not any of your responsibility."

Kerone surprised him by speaking up for the first time. "Don't apologize. Matters of authority don't wait on convenience. I hope you resolve yours."

Billy inclined his head in her direction.

"I will remain here," Cestria said, when no one seemed ready to add anything else. "I suggest that everyone else rest while we have the opportunity."

"I'm a little tired," Carlos admitted, stifling a yawn.

"You're not staying here alone," Billy informed her. "I'll help you cover for Cetaci and Delphinius. You won't," he added, turning to Aura.

Carlos glanced over in time to see her close her mouth. "Very well," she said at last. "I will sleep, on the assurance that you do not take the entire night watch yourselves."

"We will wake you if they do not return," Cestria promised, and Aura nodded once.

"I was working with Saryn," Kerone said idly, looking around as though she expected him to appear. "I'm surprised he isn't here."

Billy frowned. "The alert would have sounded throughout the dome, and he knows procedure as well as the rest of us. What could have kept him?"

"He probably went back to the Megaship," Carlos offered. "Andros signaled me when they arrived."

Cestria nodded absently, glancing at the scanners. "The Megaship arrived several hours ago. You are free to use our equipment to contact your teammates."

It was a token offer, and they all knew it. Their communicators would work over this kind of distance, and Kerone could talk to Andros as easily as the Aquitians spoke among themselves.

"Thanks," Carlos said. "But I'm going back to the Megaship for the night anyway--I'll just make sure someone knows where he is before I go to bed."

"Actually--" Kerone hesitated. "I would prefer to know where he is before I leave. We hadn't completed our plans for tomorrow's assault."

Carlos almost agreed, before what she had said registered. He frowned at her. "If you were still working, what are you doing here? No offense," he added hastily, as he realized how that sounded.

Kerone shrugged. "Cassie wanted to talk to him alone."

"Cassie's here?" Carlos repeated.

"Cassie teleported into the dome shortly after the Megaship arrived," Cestria put in.

Anticipating the next question, Kerone said, "She only came into the control room a few minutes before the alert went off. I would be surprised if they had both teleported back to the Megaship in that amount of time."

Carlos lifted his left wrist and reached for his communicator. "Cassie?" he asked. There was no sense in guessing when their teammates were only as far away as the touch of a button.

There was no answer. He looked up to frown at Kerone, and she just shrugged. "She was here before the alert went off," she maintained.

"This is Cassie," his communicator said, and he looked down in surprised. "Hi Carlos! How's it going?"

"Fine," he said warily, his frown deepening. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine!" The communicator staticked for a moment. "How are you?"

"Uh--" He glanced around the room to see Cestria leaning over one of the scanner consoles, apparently completely immersed in the readout. He was just in time to see Billy turn away too, hiding a grin.

"I'm fine," Carlos repeated. "You, uh, didn't respond to the intruder alert."

"No…" He heard her giggle, quickly stifled. "I was--asleep."

"I see." He looked helplessly at Kerone. "Saryn isn't with you, by any chance, is he?"

There was a brief pause. "He's asleep too," Cassie informed him, her tone suddenly breathless. "Can it wait?"

"You tell me," he said dryly. "Kerone says he was helping her with some plans."

The communicator staticked again, and Saryn's voice came back instead of hers. "Our plans were nearly complete."

"Saryn," Carlos greeted him, trying not to smirk. "Sorry to wake you up."

"He's right," Kerone said quietly, surprising him. "Leave them alone, Carlos. We were done."

Stung by the reprimand in her tone, Carlos said only, "Right," before cutting off the comm link. "Couldn't you have told me that before I called her?" he asked, frowning at Kerone.

"I didn't know they were together," she admitted. "I wouldn't have insisted if I had known."

"They have earned their rest as much as any of us," Aura offered, and Carlos couldn't help feeling a little defensive.

"I was only trying to--" he began, but Kerone cut him off.

"Thank you," she said, and her smile looked genuine. "That was nice of you, Carlos; I mean it. But I think I'll just go back to the Megaship too."

He nodded, but this time it was Aura who stopped him. "I would speak with you before you leave, Carlos."

He tried not to sigh. "Sure," he said, trying to sound cheerful. "I'll be there in a few minutes," he told Kerone.

She nodded. With a flick of her wrist, a violet outline shimmered around her and her form dissolved into the magic teleportation that would take her from surface to ship.

"I'll walk you back to your room," he offered, and Aura nodded once.

She spoke as soon as they were out in the hallway, heading for the lift. "I wanted to apologize for leaving so quickly this evening."

"That's all right," he said quickly, but she spoke again as though she hadn't heard him.

"I am--uncomfortable discussing alien relationships," she said, staring down at the ground as she walked.

*Because you want to have one?* his tired brain thought unbidden. He only had half a second to be glad he had not spoken aloud before he realized she had paled.

"Damn," he muttered. "You heard that."

She swallowed but did not look at him.

"Note to self," he said under his breath. "Don't make any more telepathic friends."

Her breath caught a little as she inhaled, but she managed a look of amusement as she lifted her gaze to regard him. "'Note to self'?" she repeated.

The corner of his mouth quirked. "Something my--" He stopped himself just before he said "girlfriend". "A friend of mine says that sometimes," he said, forcing himself to smile. "I guess I picked it up."

She looked down again and didn't answer.

"Look, I'm sorry," he said awkwardly, as they reached the lift. The doors opened automatically, but he ignored them. "I didn't meant that to sound so--"

"You do not need to apologize for your thoughts," she said quietly. "I assume Billy told you."

He sighed. "You knew I wouldn't be smart enough to figure it out on my own, huh?"

Her head came up, and she actually looked startled. "That is not what I meant--"

"But it's true," he interrupted ruefully. "Billy *had* to tell me, because I had no idea. Aura… I like you, really; it's just… not like that."

"I understand," she said softly. "I assumed that if you felt the same way, you would have spoken before now."

He felt terrible for the sadness in her grey eyes, and he wished there were something that he could say that would comfort her. "I'm sorry," he offered quietly, knowing it wasn't enough.

"Emotions are intransigent," she answered, her tone just as quiet. "Unchangeable, no matter what anyone would wish. And I would not even want you to try, for it would make you someone other than who you are." She searched his expression, and added, "Yet you are still uncomfortable."

"Because I don't like to see you unhappy," he said helplessly, reaching out to touch her shoulder before he thought. He remembered just in time that she was Aquitian, and he withdrew his hand.

"This has never been a problem before. I do not want it to come between us now." Her eyes were still on his, and she seemed perfectly sincere. "The only thing that would make me truly unhappy is if I were to lose your friendship over this."

"You won't," he said firmly. That, at least, he could do. "I promise you that."

She smiled at him, a real smile that curved her lips and touched her eyes. It was not an expression he saw often on her, or on any Aquitian, and it made him smile in return. "Then I am content," she murmured. "I will say good night here, and go the rest of the way alone."

The words sounded suddenly lonely, and he hoped fervently that they were not a prophecy. If anyone deserved someone who could love her in return, it was Aura.

"Good night," she said, putting a hand on the edge of the lift door and stepping inside. The lift chimed once, acknowledging an occupant, and Carlos took a step backward.

"'Night, Aura," he said softly, as the doors closed. The lift hummed to life, and she was gone.

(sacrifice)

The Keiran station had been abandoned for months. It whispered along in standby mode, its dormant field chambers drawing little power and less attention. The researchers who worked in the dome pretended the situation was temporary, as though the station's owner had merely gone on sabbatical and expected to return any day now.

He made his way past the darkened consoles to the far side of the field chambers, where the small student lab station looked out on the rest of the dome. A solitary figure was seated by the overlook, knees to chest and as still as the shadows in the lab.

His heart went out to her as he paused a discrete distance away, watching silently for a moment. She hadn't asked for this. None of them had, if it came to that, but she hadn't grown up with it the way he had. She alone, of all the Rangers, was the first in her family to hold the Power.

She wouldn't want his pity, but he couldn't help thinking that it was unfair. After so many years of peace on Aquitar, the League had picked now to go to war. Untested and largely uncounseled, she found herself in the midst of a situation that would have been unfathomable only a generation before.

"I suppose Cestria sent you." She didn't move, but she had obviously heard him approach.

"No," he answered, moving closer until her view was his. The dome was quiet this late, and the others labs were as dark as hers. "I came of my own accord."

She said nothing for a moment, her gaze fixed on something he couldn't see. Finally, she asked, "What do you want?"

His fingers clenched around her communicator, but he kept his voice level as he held it out to her. "This belongs to you."

"No," she said, glancing over at it dismissively before returning to her contemplation of the research dome. "I don't think it does."

"You're wrong," he told her. "Delphine's Power chose you; you can't change that."

"I can refuse it," she said calmly. "I refuse her choice. If the team doesn't want me to lead, then I won't."

"No one said we don't want you to lead." He tried to sound neutral rather than condescending, but she would probably hear it whether it was there or not. "Cestria was only questioning the way you are going about it. That's the Second's job; she's supposed to present an alternate viewpoint."

"If her view is representative, then I would be foolish to ignore her."

"You would be foolish to ignore her in any case," he said, more sharply than he had intended. "Cestria does not speak only to hear the sound of her voice."

She kept her gaze fixed on some distant point on the other side of the dome. "You think she's right."

"I think she didn't say what she said lightly," he corrected. He felt the sharp edges of her communicator dig into his palm as he tried to repress his instinctive reaction to her hurt tone. "I know she didn't mean for you to quit because of it."

She didn't answer.

"You don't make this easy," he muttered, not knowing what else to say to her. "What is it that you're waiting to hear?"

Her shoulders stiffened, and he knew he had offended her with his careless words. "I'm still waiting for you to tell me what you want," she replied coldly.

"I want you to put aside your pride!" The words were out before he could stop them. How much simpler would things be if she could be just a little less stubborn every once in a while? "For once, try to think of the team first."

"Put aside my pride," she mused, her voice unusually quiet.

Expecting a more abrasive response, he was caught off guard by the thoughtful echo of his remark. He frowned warily. "It's not so much to ask."

"Look around you, Delphinius," she said, her voice tinged with disbelief. "Do you even remember this station?"

His eyes flickered toward her. Though he often tried not to, he remembered. The memories came despite his best efforts, and he remembered the days when this lab could be lit at any hour of the day or night. He remembered her laughter echoing off the walls, and he remembered chasing her around the field chambers with no thought in his head but what he would do when he caught her.

He remembered how the doors could be locked from the inside, and how the windows could be darkened until they were opaque. "Of course I do," he muttered. She wasn't paying attention, and he let his gaze linger for a moment on her shadowy figure. "It wasn't that long ago."

"It was another lifetime," she answered emphatically. "I gave this up to be a Ranger. I gave up my friends, my work... you... everything that mattered. And still you ask more."

"Did you give me up?" he couldn't help asking. "Is that what happened?"

She didn't look up. "Still you ask more," she repeated softly, as though he hadn't spoken. "When does what I've already given become enough, Delphinius? When do I *stop* thinking of the team first?"

He sighed, staring down at the device in his hand. There was no answer he could give that would satisfy her. He wasn't sure he had one that he was satisfied with anymore. "Please," he said quietly, offering the communicator to her again. "Just take this back."

She finally turned her head and looked up at him. With the meager light behind her, he couldn't see her expression at all. "Why?" she asked, her tone as unreadable as her face.

"Because," he said, frustrated. He tried to push the feeling aside, aware that the one word wasn't enough. Kneeling down beside her, he sought an answer that would mean something. "Because," he repeated, "a thousand years ago, Ninjor gave five people the power to defend this world."

He hesitated only a moment, wishing he could see her eyes in the dimness. "Because that power still exists. And because it still takes five people to wield it. Like it or not, you're one of those five, and we need you."

"To make up the number," she murmured.

"No," he said fiercely. "We need *you*, because you're strong and passionate and you never give up. You were never just the fifth member; I thought you knew that!"

She didn't answer, didn't move, even, and he was embarrassed by his own vehemence. She had gotten to him. He'd been watching for it and she had still gotten to him. Of course she knew that; Cetaci wasn't one to be self-conscious. She had only said it to provoke him--and it had worked, if not in quite the way she must have anticipated.

To his surprise, she reached out to him hesitantly and he felt her fingers brush his free hand. He still couldn't see her expression in the darkened lab, but the touch was all he needed. "Thank you," she said softly.

He swallowed, turning his hand over to catch hers before she could pull away. Without a word, he placed her communicator in her hand. He felt her slowly curl her fingers around it, and he tried not to sigh as she took the communicator from him and slid it back onto her wrist.

He had once told a friend that he would do whatever it took to keep her. He wished he had known then how complicated that vow would become.

14. Starry Night

Moonlight?

He shifted a little, tugging the warm comfort of his sleeping bag closer over his shoulder. The light did not go away, and he turned his head until his eyes were in shadow again. The darkness welcomed him, and he sighed contentedly as sleep came creeping back.

Until the light chased it off again. It was following him, and he twisted restlessly. The glow did not abate, and he pulled the sleeping bag up over his head in irritation. *Stupid moonlight.*

The soft whisper of cloth continued even after he stopped moving, and he froze. He forced his eyes open, blinking the drowsiness of sleep away and suddenly remembering a remark Ashley had made a few days ago. Earth's moon was on the day side of the planet right now.

He threw the sleeping bag away from his face and turned his head toward the source of the noise.

A shimmering violet sphere hovered in the air beside him, casting an ethereal glow over Astrea's features as she watched him. She sat next to his sleeping bag, her knees pulled up to her chest and her arms wrapped around them, looking for all the world as though her presence was nothing out of the ordinary.

"What are you doing here?" he mumbled, putting his elbows behind him and struggling to sit up.

She shrugged a little. "I was wondering the same thing about you."

"I *was* sleeping," he informed her, rubbing his eyes and telekinetically pushing the glowing sphere to one side. "What are you doing up?"

"I just came back from Aquitar," she said, shifting her position a little.

She was wearing pajamas, he realized suddenly. In the dim light, it had been hard to tell until she moved. Though they hung loosely over her body and covered her from ankle to wrist, she looked very feminine... and maybe even a little--fragile.

"How come you're sleeping up here?" she asked, and he blinked. "Fragile" was not a word he often associated with her, and he hoped he hadn't been staring.

He shrugged uncomfortably. "Andros and I used to sleep up here. Maybe I like remembering."

She glanced upward. "So it isn't because of the stars?"

He watched her, wondering if that was a way of disguising the real question. "What do you mean?"

"Because you like being here better than being closed inside your room," she said frankly, looking back at him.

He fixed his gaze on the soft light emanating from the sphere that still hung beside her. It bobbed as he pushed it with his mind, but the light did not flicker. She didn't seem to have to concentrate on it at all to keep it glowing.

"Zhane?" Her tone was gentle, and he couldn't keep his eyes from sliding back toward her. "I could help you, you know."

"I don't need help," he said, trying not to sound defensive. "There's nothing wrong with me."

She was silent for a moment. Then she asked quietly, "How did it happen?"

"What?" he muttered, even though he knew what she was talking about.

"This," she said, gesturing around the room. "Why can't you stand being closed in?"

"It's late," he said shortly. He didn't want to snap at her, but he didn't want to talk about it even more. "Some of us need to sleep."

She didn't move, and he tried not to glare at her. "Are you going to leave?"

She shook her head.

"Fine." He lay down again and deliberately turned his back on her. Pulling the sleeping bag up under his arm, he closed his eyes and waited for her to go away.

Of course she didn't. The longer he waited, the more he realized what a futile effort it was to try and out-stubborn anyone related to Andros. She would probably still be there in the morning when he woke up--as if he could sleep with her sitting there.

"The first time KO-35 was attacked by Dark Spectre," he muttered at last, "I was inside the school when it collapsed. I was trapped there for hours until Andros found me. Happy?"

When she answered, it wasn't what he expected. "But Andros said he didn't know what happened," she said, sounding--to his surprise--a little forlorn.

He winced, remembering that Andros had indeed told her he "didn't know the details". With a sigh, he admitted quietly, "Andros knows I don't really want people to know."

"But..." she trailed off.

He frowned. He hadn't heard her uncertain for days, and he wondered what was wrong. He couldn't help rolling over, then, just to get a look at her face.

She was studying him with an expression he couldn't quite make out in the shadows. "Am I... 'people'? I mean--I know how close you and Andros are..."

"No, Astrea--" He pushed himself up again, bracing his arms behind him. "You're not--like everyone else; that's not what I meant."

"Is *that* why you can't tell me, then?" she insisted, when he couldn't find the words to continue. "Because I'm not like your other friends?"

"Astrea--" He looked down, poking the edge of his sleeping bag for lack of anything better to do. "The rest of the team doesn't know."

She didn't answer, and when he glanced up at her, he found her still watching him. "That you're claustrophobic?" she asked, her tone uncertain.

He shook his head slowly. "Only you and Andros know that." Then, remembering, he added, "And Saryn. He might have told them, I guess. But if he did, no one's ever said anything."

She only looked more bewildered, and he realized suddenly how strange it was to see her openly confused. Normally she covered up her puzzlement as though it was a weakness she was ashamed of. "Why did you tell him?"

"I didn't. He found out, like you did."

She hesitated. "Do you--wish I didn't know?"

He came very close to saying "sometimes". But... she was still pulling that "fragile" act, and she was waiting on his answer as though it was important to her. For the first time since he had known her, she looked--vulnerable. No... dependent?

He wasn't sure what made her seem different. But now was obviously not the time for brutal honesty. "No," he said softly. "I don't mind that you know."

She smiled a little, and he reached out to touch her fingers. "If there's anyone I trust as much as Andros," he added impulsively, "it's you."

She actually looked down at that, and he felt a smile spread across his face. Was she blushing? He couldn't tell in the violet light. "You look really pretty tonight," he murmured, before he could change his mind. "I like your, um, pajamas."

He didn't have time to consider how silly that sounded, for she immediately stretched her arms out in front of her and regarded them seriously. "Are they right?" she asked, sounding almost eager to get away from their prior topic of conversation. "They're not what Ashley wears to bed..."

In point of fact, they looked exactly like Andros' pajamas, when he bothered to wear them, but Zhane didn't tell her that. "Nothing looks like what Ashley wears," he said, with a faint grin. "She's--unique."

Astrea gave him an odd look. "What do you mean?" she asked, sounding a little defensive.

He shrugged a little, suddenly uncomfortable. "Well--you know. She dresses differently."

"You *all* dress differently," she said, playing with one of her loose sleeves. They seemed to be a little big for her, which must have been intentional--but it had the effect of making her look terribly young, and when he tried, he found he couldn't picture her as Astronema at all anymore.

"It's confusing," she added, and he tried to repress a smile at her petulant tone.

"If it's any help, you make it look really easy," he offered. "I know how hard it is to try and adjust, but you could have grown up like this for all it shows."

She didn't answer right away. At last, she said slowly, "Sometimes... I think I would have liked that."

"*I* would have liked it," he said without thinking.

She lifted her gaze to his and studied him. "Would you have?"

The light from the globe caught in her eyes and reflected there, making her eyes seem to glow violet. He had told her he liked seeing her use her magic, and it was true--but he wondered, suddenly, if that was what she was referring to. If she had grown up on KO-35, that magic wouldn't be a part of her now.

"You'd be different," he replied softly. "But so would I, because I knew you. I'd like to think those differences wouldn't matter."

"But you don't know that," she told him, still staring at him intently. "How much of--all this--is just coincidence? Coincidence that we met, coincidence that we're both here, on the Megaship, now..."

"How much of that matters?" he asked. "We *are* here, now, and it will never happen differently."

"But what if it *had*?" she insisted.

He shrugged helplessly. "What do you want me to say, Astrea? Are you looking for some kind of destiny? Maybe things did happen the way they were supposed to--maybe this *is* destiny."

She looked down, and he tried not to sigh. "I can't imagine feeling any differently about you," he said quietly. "If it had happened differently, I can't believe I'd care any less for you."

This time when she tilted her head up, he couldn't resist. He reached out tentatively to brush her hair away from her face, and she let him do it. She gazed back at him as he leaned closer, but she didn't respond when he kissed her gently.

He drew back uncertainly, and she gave him a measured look. "Was that supposed to make me feel better?"

He could feel himself blushing, and hoped she couldn't tell in this light. "It was supposed to make me feel better," he muttered, and he saw her lips quirk a little.

"Did it work?" she asked, her tone more forgiving this time.

He shook his head wordlessly.

"Why not?" She sounded genuinely curious, and he shrugged uncomfortably.

"You can't kiss someone if they don't want you to. Either you both enjoy it, or neither of you do."

"Who says I didn't enjoy it?" she murmured, and he felt her lips on his before he even realized what she was doing.

He closed his eyes, as surprised as he had been the first time to feel her so close of her own accord. She didn't touch people very often, though she didn't seem reluctant, exactly. It just didn't seem to occur to her.

When she drew away, she didn't go very far, and he watched her tilt her head to one side. "Now do you feel better?" she asked seriously.

He tried not to smile, but he couldn't help it. "Yeah," he admitted, and was relieved to see her smile back.

"What you said before, about caring?" she asked. Not waiting for him to nod, she said quickly, "That was really nice."

He looked at her uncertainly, but she looked perfectly solemn. "I meant it," he said, hoping she wasn't teasing him. "I--I can't imagine not knowing you."

She reached out to curl her fingers around the glowing sphere that provided their only illumination. Pulling her hand closer to her, she gave the impression of plucking the globe out of the air and holding it in front of her. "Maybe you're right," she said slowly, staring down at it.

She seemed to be responding to something he had said, but for the life of him he couldn't figure out what it was. "What do you mean?"

"Maybe we were supposed to know each other," she said, lifting her gaze to his. "The way we do, I mean. I've been fighting for the wrong thing for a long time now, and without you, I might never have realized it."

"You would have," he said, watching her roll the globe into her other hand without appearing to think about it. "You never stopped being a good person, Astrea. You were just... misled, for a while. You would have figured it out on your own eventually."

"Do you really think so?" she asked, watching him carefully.

He nodded. No one as strong as her could mistake the truth for long. "I'm sure of it."

She smiled a little and looked down at the globe in her hands. Then, to his infinite surprise, she held it out to him.

He caught her eye, puzzled, but she just sat there, waiting. Finally he held out his own hand, and she tilted her palm so that the glowing sphere seemed to slide off of her hand and into his. As soon as it touched his hand, it flared briefly and disappeared.

For a second, they were in complete darkness. Then another globe, identical to the first, sparkled into being above her still outstretched palm, and he could see what he held in his hand.

The globe had disappeared, replaced by a little five-pointed star. It looked very much like the stars in Ecliptor's "bracelet", and although he couldn't tell in the violet-tinted light, he was sure it was purple. Tiny streamers of stuff glittered from one of the points as he turned it over, lending the appearance of a captured shooting star to the object.

He glanced up at her questioningly, and she averted her eyes with a self-conscious shrug. "It was... easy to get bored, sometimes, on the Dark Fortress," she murmured. "No one to talk to except Ecliptor--I learned to make a few things. Not very useful..."

"It's beautiful," he said with a smile, charmed by her gift. "Thank you."

She looked up from under her eyelashes and smiled back, and he felt the strangest feeling warm him from the inside. He didn't know how long he stared at her, just letting her happy and somehow innocent expression captivate him.

Then, abruptly, she said, "I should get some sleep. I'm sorry I woke you, before."

He blinked, and quickly shook his head. "I'm glad you did. I mean--it was nice to talk to you. It's always nice to talk to you."

She giggled a little at his repeated corrections, and he grinned and gave up. "I didn't mind," he offered sheepishly.

"Good," she said, tossing the shimmering globe into the air and gathering herself to stand up. "I'll see you in the morning, then."

"You could sleep here," he said, before she could get to her feet.

She looked at him with a completely blank expression, and he tried not to blush. "Just so you wouldn't have to go all the way back to your room, I mean. Andros' sleeping bag is in the closet over there, if you want. It's--it's kind of pretty under the stars."

He held his breath, hoping that hadn't sounded as ridiculous as he thought it did. He had only said it because he didn't want her to leave, but it could easily have sounded like something else. He was glad there was no way she could know about his reputation for flirting back on Rayven.

"I'll think about it," she said at last. "If you tell me why you're here."

He frowned, trying not to sound defensive. "I already told you. Or at least, you guessed."

She turned her head so that the light was behind her and he couldn't quite see her face. "But it doesn't make any sense. You were at school during the attack? Where was everyone else? Why did Andros have to find you?"

His fingers clenched around the star she had given him, trying not to think about that day. She didn't want to know why he was here; she wanted to know why he *had* to be here. Why he hadn't been able to help her in the zord cockpit the day before.

"You don't have to tell me," she said, sounding disappointed. "I just--you know everything about me, and I didn't even know you'd been in hypersleep till Ashley told me."

He shrugged, trying to lighten the mood. "It isn't something that comes up in casual conversation. 'How are you, Zhane?' 'Oh, claustrophobic and recovering from hypersleep; thanks for asking.'"

"No," she agreed, her tone cool. "Not in casual conversation."

He closed his eyes, realizing that he had just implied that the conversation wasn't important to him. "That's not what I meant," he said quietly. "I was just trying to make a joke."

The glow behind his eyelids lightened. When he opened them, he saw her resting her chin on her hand and watching him inscrutably, the globe hovering beside her face. "I know," she said, when his eyes met hers. A small smile lit her face. "It was funny. But it didn't answer the question."

"No," he agreed quietly. Pushing his sleeping bag out of the way, he took a deep breath. "The day Dark Spectre attacked, I was stuck at school after it let out for the afternoon. I--" He hesitated, wondering how much to explain. "Do you remember the little black birds that were everywhere on KO-35?"

She seemed to think about that for a minute, and just as he was about to say it didn't matter, her expression cleared. "The really noisy ones that woke us up in the morning!"

He nodded, grinning at her excitement. "Yeah. Me and a few other kids caught some and put them in the headmaster's office."

She looked at him closely. "'Some'?" she repeated, a small smile on her face.

He lifted one shoulder in an innocent shrug and admitted, "Almost thirty."

He saw her bite her lip, and he could have sworn she was trying not to giggle. "That's why you were there after school?"

"He made us stay and clean up the mess after classes got over," Zhane said ruefully. "So Andros went home without me, and the five of us that got caught were the only ones still in the building."

"Who didn't get caught?" she interrupted, and he rolled his eyes.

"Who never got caught? Andros, that's who."

She clapped her hand over her mouth, her eyes twinkling with amusement. "He helped you?" she asked, her voice muffled through her fingers.

"He always did. And he always admitted to it; that was what got me. No one would have suspected him if he'd just kept his mouth shut, but he had to own up to everything."

She frowned, lowering her hand, and gave him a curious look. "Then why didn't he say anything that time?"

"He did." Zhane smirked. "But I told them he had nothing to do with it, and that he was just trying to help me out like he always did. After that they wouldn't believe a word he said. No one wanted to think badly of the kid who lost..."

He trailed off, and he caught her eye guiltily.

"His sister?" she asked, sobering a little.

"Plus he was a future Ranger," he added quickly. "They were supposed to be everything good about our world--it would have looked bad to keep punishing him for things that the people involved swore up and down that he didn't do."

A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth again. "No one else told on him either?"

"Of course not," Zhane said with a grin. "We all thought it was a great victory to keep him from getting in trouble. The teachers thought he was so perfect, and there he was, planning these things out for us."

She giggled. "He planned?"

"Oh, he was great at it! He knew when the school was open, and how to keep the birds quiet while we snuck in. If he got caught, he might not have helped us anymore."

"So you weren't just trying to be nice," she said, a delighted look on her face.

"We were," he protested. He pretended to be indignant, but it was hard to do with her looking so openly happy. He was hard-pressed not to just gaze at her and bask in that expression. "It just happened to work to our advantage."

"Of course," she said, attempting to look more serious and mostly failing. "So all of you were at school that afternoon, except Andros."

His smile faded as he remembered the point of the conversation. "Yeah. The attack alarm sounded before we were done, and we all took off for the shelter. But--"

She said nothing while he hesitated. "I had to go back," he said at last. "I forgot my coat, and I didn't want to leave it. We thought it was a drill--all the frontier planets had those sometimes--and I figured it wouldn't be that big a deal. The others went on ahead, and I went back to the school.

"I was inside the building when the fighters broke through our defenses. One of the first strafing runs went straight through Keyota, and they decimated the academic district." He looked down, turning the purple star over in his fingers. "They hit the primary school before I could get out, and the walls started coming down around me."

He could still remember the terrifying slow motion of everything around him. It was as though time really had slowed down, and he knew everything that was going to happen before it did. He had been in one of the hallways when the ceiling collapsed, falling around him faster than he could move and somehow slower than he could bear.

"Your coat?" Astrea demanded suddenly, interrupting the replay in his mind. "You went back for your coat?"

She seemed upset somehow, and he looked up at her glowing sphere. "Andros' locket was in my pocket."

She had no reply for that, and after a moment he sighed. "He had a swim test that morning, and there was a data disc in his locket. It was take the disc out or not wear his locket, so he gave it to me to keep for him. I put it in my coat pocket."

"Oh," she said, in a small voice. He saw her reach up to touch her own locket. "That was--nice of you."

He finally caught her eye, and saw her close her fingers around her necklace briefly before letting go of it. "It meant a lot to him."

"It wasn't worth your life," she protested, but it sounded half-hearted.

"I thought it was a drill," he repeated, though he wasn't sure he wouldn't have gone back for his friend's locket even if he had known.

"Would it have mattered?" she asked, seeming to read his mind.

He gave her a suspicious look. "Are you listening to my thoughts again?"

She shook her head quickly. "No, I--it sounded like something you would do."

He hesitated, then admitted ruefully, "I'm not sure how to take that."

"It was a nice thing to do," she repeated quietly.

He smiled a little, intending to take it as a compliment whether he told her or not. "Andros tried to find me at the shelter," he said, picking up the story again with some reluctance. "But he was in the residential area, and he figured I was with the academic group. They started the evacuation even before the fighters got through, so he and his parents were offplanet before anyone knew I was missing."

"But..." She looked both worried and puzzled at the same time. "You can talk to him, wherever you are. How come--"

She didn't finish, but he knew what she meant. "I was unconscious," he said simply. "The ceiling pretty much fell on top of me. If I hadn't been next to one of the fire doors, I probably would have gotten crushed. But the metal doorframe wouldn't bend, even when the walls fell, and it held enough stuff off of me that I had space to breath--and move, when I woke up."

Her eyes were wide. "How much space?" she asked, as though she was afraid to know.

Wordlessly, he held his hands shoulder-width apart. She swallowed. "How long were you there?" she asked tentatively.

He tried to shrug, reminding himself that it had been a long time ago. But he couldn't help glancing up toward the dome quickly, just to reassure himself. "Three and a half hours," he answered. "Give or take a few hundred years."

She didn't say anything, but when he glanced back at her she was still staring at him with that worried look. "Why so long?" she wondered aloud.

He tried not to sigh. "Andros heard me as soon as I woke up, but no one would listen to him--they kept telling him I was on another transport. And the transports were under orders to maintain radio silence until they reached their destination, so no one could check."

She bit her lip and didn't ask the next question. But he felt suddenly bad for making her drag it out of him. "Finally," he continued without prompting, "Andros said that if they weren't going to do anything, he was going back to KO-35 himself.

"They didn't believe him, but Andros always carried his morpher in his backpack, even though he'd never used it. He pulled it out and morphed right there in the middle of the evacuation. DECA teleported him onto the Megaship, and they landed practically on top of the school to get me out."

"Were you..." She regarded him intently without finishing the question.

"I was all right," he muttered, looking back at her sphere of light. "Physically. But I haven't been able to stand small spaces since."

They sat in silence for a moment, until she said quietly, "Thank you."

He glanced at her in surprise, and she added, "For telling me. I'm really glad you had Andros to come back for you."

"Thanks for caring," he said, surprising himself.

Without a word, she got to her feet and walked away, the glimmering sphere following her across the observatory. He smiled when he saw the light pause by the "closet" he had pointed out earlier. Then it was coming back toward him, and he gathered his sleeping bag closer to him as she tossed Andros' down nearby.

She hesitated when she looked more closely at him. "Should I have two?"

He looked down, trying not to be embarrassed. "You already do. We roll them up two together. It's... more comfortable that way."

She seemed to accept that, and he wasn't sure if she understood the reason behind it or not. But he had talked about it enough--he wasn't going to bring it up again unless she asked.

Astrea spread one sleeping bag out over the carpeted deck as he had and pulled the other one up over her lap. Watching her, he couldn't help thinking of a little kid at her first pajama party. She pushed her pillow around uncertainly, then glanced over at him.

He smiled. " 'Night, Astrea," he said softly.

"Good night," she said slowly, looking around at her sleeping arrangement. He watched as she lay down carefully, prodding her pillow into a new position and pulling the sleeping bag up to her chest as she curled up.

He would have loved to keep watching her, but as soon as she closed her eyes, the glowing sphere above her went out. The light vanished as if it had never been, and he blinked, trying to make his eyes readjust.

Finally, he lay down himself, putting his hands behind his head as he stared up at the stars. As tired as he was--and he was exhausted--he didn't feel even slightly sleepy. The only sleep he had gotten since Thursday night had been the few hours he and Astrea had managed to grab between Aquitar and the lake this morning. It had seemed like far too little at the time, but now he couldn't convince his body to make up for it.

All he could think about was the girl lying beside him. She wasn't really that close, but he could hear her breathing, and that was enough to completely occupy his mind. He couldn't help noticing that when she curled up, she had turned toward him. Was she thinking about him, too?

"Zhane?" Her quiet voice broke into his musing, and he turned his head toward her.

"Yeah?"

"Is this--something friends do?"

He hesitated. "Me and Andros do."

She was quiet for a moment. "But Ashley said... 'You can't have guys at sleepovers. They're guys!'"

He recognized her inflection as Ashley's, and knew she was quoting something that had been said to her--presumably at the sleepover Ashley had dragged her into last week. "That was a girls' sleepover, though."

It wasn't a reason, and he knew it. But he wasn't sure what she would say if he told her she was right. It felt nice to have her so nearby, and he didn't want her to leave.

"So?" she demanded, not moving from her position between the sleeping bags. "What's the difference?"

He winced. "This... isn't a girls' sleepover?"

She didn't answer. He thought she was annoyed, until he heard her soft sigh of amusement. "I guess not," she agreed at last, and he heard her yawn. Then she shifted under her sleeping bag and repeated, " 'Night, Zhane."

He waited a few minutes, just listening. He even thought she might have fallen asleep. He wanted to ask, but he wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer. So he waited until he wasn't sure she was awake, and left it up to chance. "Astrea?" he whispered, as quietly as he could.

"Yes?" she replied immediately, and he shook his head. She didn't sound the slightest bit sleepy.

"What... exactly... are we?" he asked, only barely keeping the bargain he had made with himself to ask if she was awake. "I mean--if this *wasn't* something friends do... would you leave?"

She seemed to consider that. "No," she said seriously. Before he could breathe a sigh of relief, she added, "Because then I'd have to fold up these stupid sleeping bags again, and I have no idea how."

He froze, at a complete loss for an answer.

"I'm kidding," she said, and the sleeping bag rustled again as she turned. "I thought we already agreed we weren't--just friends."

He frowned into the darkness, trying to relax a little. "We did?"

" 'It was never just a game to me,' you said. 'But now it could mean something. If we wanted it to.' What did you mean by that?"

It was a moment before he found his voice. "Do you always repeat things word for word?"

"Only when it's important," she said, her voice a little softer than usual. "That was. What did you mean?"

"I meant... not just friends," he said, using her phrase. "You're right."

There was another rustle, more prolonged this time, and there was enough starlight to show movement beside him. She had pushed herself into a sitting position again, and he thought she was looking at him. "But what does that mean, exactly?"

He rolled over onto his side and propped himself up on one elbow, despite the fact that he couldn't quite see her. That was exactly what he had been wondering. "I'm not sure."

"Well..." She hesitated. "Ashley called me your girlfriend this morning."

It sounded almost like a question, but it was one that he was afraid to answer. He had been very aware of that word as soon as it was said, but Astrea hadn't seemed to mind. Now he wondered if she *really* hadn't minded, or if she had just been covering her annoyance.

"Was she wrong?" Astrea asked.

He took a deep breath, trying not to make it *sound* like he was taking a deep breath. "I don't know. *Are* you my girlfriend?"

"Would that make you my boyfriend?" she countered.

He swallowed. She didn't have to make it sound like a bad thing... "Yeah, I guess it would."

"Are you?" she pressed.

"I'd like to be," he admitted quietly. He winced, realizing what he'd said, but she had just kept questioning him until answering was easier than being safe.

"Me too," she said decisively.

He chuckled at her tone, relieved by her words as much as amused by her attitude. "That's settled, then," he said, more to tease her than anything else.

"Yes," she agreed calmly, resettling her sleeping bag over her legs. "So--" She seemed about to lie back down when she thought of something else. "Is sleeping together something that boyfriends and girlfriends do?"

His eyes widened, and it took him several seconds to realize that she meant it literally. "Astrea, we're not--sleeping together, the way most people mean it. We're just... sleeping, in the same room."

There was a brief moment of silence, and then a purple glow seared across his vision. He flinched back, and immediately her voice said, "I'm sorry--I should have warned you."

She sounded contrite, and he blinked his eyes rapidly to adjust to the sudden light. Another light globe was hovering in the air, casting a violet glow over her features and illuminating their immediate surroundings.

"It's okay," he said, giving her a smile. "Just didn't expect it, that's all."

"So," she said, when he waited for her to speak. "What were you talking about?"

He had been afraid she would ask that. "Well... Cassie and Saryn sleep together. We're just--together, while we're sleeping. See?"

She frowned at him, the expression clearly visible in light of the newly formed globe. "Are you trying to confuse me?" She sounded almost plaintive, and he forced himself to sit up too, just so she'd know he was taking her seriously.

"Of course not," he said. "It's just--when they say 'sleeping together', they don't mean sleeping. They mean, you know... kissing and stuff."

"We kissed," she offered, and he tried not to smile.

"Not like that. You'd hit me if I kissed you the way they do."

She hesitated. "If--I promise not to, would you show me?"

He stared at her, his smile fading. He had been trying *not* to think how huggable she looked in those pajamas all evening, just for his own peace of mind. And now she was asking, not only to be held, but to be kissed...

That was a request he couldn't turn down, no matter the circumstances. He slid across the floor toward her and rested his hands lightly on her shoulders. Looking down at her expectant face, he couldn't help but feel a little uncertain. "Tell me when to stop," he said softly. She nodded, her eyes wide as she gazed back at him.

He leaned forward, closing his eyes just before their lips touched. He kissed her once, lifting a hand to run his fingers through her hair. He waited just a moment, and when she didn't protest, he nudged her mouth open gently.

He felt her hands on his arms, but she wasn't pushing him away. He ran his tongue lightly over her lips, pulling her a little closer and letting his hand slide around behind her neck.

She squirmed, and he was about to let her go when she sidled closer, moving her hands up to his shoulders. He tilted his head and kissed her again, mouth open on hers just as softly as before. His eyes opened in surprise when her tongue met his and she pressed a little closer to him.

That was an invitation he couldn't resist, and he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her again, reveling in the feeling of her slight body within his embrace. She linked her hands behind his neck and returned his kiss tentatively, her mouth warm and soft on his.

He stroked her hair, just barely registering the silkiness beneath his fingertips. Her lips were so much more appealing, and he couldn't focus on anything but their kiss and the feel of her arms around him.

He didn't want to get carried away--she had only asked a favor, after all--but when he hesitated, she covered his lips with hers again. Before he knew what was happening, her tongue was carefully exploring his mouth, and her warmth was flowing into him through the thin material of their pajamas.

*Not quite a little kids' party after all,* he thought distantly, running his hand gently down her back. When he thought about it, he couldn't believe this was happening, that she was actually kissing him in the middle of a dark and completely empty room... so he tried not to think about it.

She made that part easy. He made sure not to kiss her too hard, to not let on what he was starting to feel, but every time he hesitated he would feel her lips on his once more. The feeling swept him away, and he let it, holding her as close as he dared while their mouths melded together.

Her hand slid down his chest, and only then did he realize that his hand was doing the same thing to her. He found himself kissing her neck, lower and lower, until his lips were on her collarbone, and still she didn't protest. The fingers of her free hand were caressing his hair, and he promised himself he would stop when he reached the collar of her shirt.

But it wasn't buttoned as high as he remembered it, and he began to realize just how far this little "lesson" could go if they weren't careful. Closing his eyes with an effort, he rested his forehead against her shoulder. He tried to calm his breathing and come up with some sort of slightly coherent excuse, but neither was easy.

"You're a fast learner," he murmured at last, forcing himself to pull away. He stroked her cheek reluctantly and gave her one more kiss, breaking it off before it could turn into anything more. "If we don't stop, we really will be sleeping together."

He could have kicked himself for that as soon as he said it, but there was no way to take it back. "Sleeping together means having sex, then," she said, sounding just as breathless as he felt.

He nodded wordlessly, not trusting himself to say anything.

"Why didn't you just say so?" she demanded, reaching out to tap the side of his head in what he assumed was supposed to be a reproving gesture.

He couldn't help the grin that took over his expression as he stared back at her flushed face and exasperated glare. "Because showing you was so much more fun?"

Her glare softened a little at that, and he was positive she had to stifle a giggle. "You certainly managed that," she murmured.

"Because you asked!" he reminded her, a little indignant.

"I didn't say I didn't like it," she said, turning her gaze back to him with a smile.

For a moment, he was entranced. Then he gave his head a shake and moved pointedly away from her. "Don't look at me like that. At least not until it's daytime and we're surrounded by lots of other people."

He grabbed the edge of his sleeping bag and threw himself against his pillow with finality. "I need some sleep. If you have any other questions? Ask me in the morning."

He heard her giggle this time, and he smiled to himself. He wasn't sure what they were going to do with the feelings between them, but he felt somehow better to have everything out in the open. At least he didn't feel like the only one in the relationship anymore.

A moment later her heard her sleeping bag rustle, and the violet glow blinked out. They were once more in darkness lit only by the faint shimmer of starlight, and he took a deep, quiet breath, trying to make his heart stop racing.

The he heard her voice again, idle and a little mischievous as it drifted over to him. "Zhane? Does this mean I shouldn't tell Andros that we 'slept together' in the morning?"

(yours to lose)

*You should be sleeping.*

The darkness made strange patterns on the floor, dispersing and reforming as his tired eyes refused to focus. It seemed like far less work to simply watch than to try and do anything about it, so he just sat and stared.

The hulking entity behind him tried again. *You really ought to be in bed.*

Bed... Bed was a nice place, he thought distractedly. Or it had been, once. Now it was just another place he had to go alone. No, he wasn't overly fond of his bed anymore.

*You're not thinking clearly,* the voice said, and this time it sounded a little stern. *If you do not rest, your fighting will suffer.*

And it was all about fighting, after all. They couldn't do anything without fighting these days. There never seemed to be an alternative. "I don't feel like fighting," he mumbled abruptly, watching the shadows slide into each other across the floor. "Why doesn't someone just surrender and get it over with?"

*Someone other than you?* the voice replied, a wry note tingeing the words.

The darkness dissolved once more, and he blinked rapidly. His eyes had started to tear in response to the dryness. "She said she gave me up, Zaal."

There was a noticeable pause. *Tonight?* the zord inquired at last.

"Yes," he said, frowning at the floor. "No. She said it tonight. But she said she'd done it a long time ago. When she first became a Ranger."

*What does that mean, she 'gave you up'?* Zaal wanted to know.

He let out a frustrated sigh. "I don't know. I wish I did. Maybe if I knew, I'd know how to get her back." Only to Zaal did he admit that getting her back was all he really wanted. Saving face in front of the team, making her see reason, guiding a new teammate in the responsibility of the Power... they were all excuses, ways to justify the things he said to her without having to face the devastating truth.

The truth was that he was utterly and irrevocably in love with someone who had "given him up" long ago.

*She hasn't been yours to win for a long time,* Zaal said quietly. The words were a disturbing echo of his own thoughts, and he wondered distantly just how much the Power was projecting to his companion.

"I know," he muttered anyway. Whatever the zord was getting mentally, there was no one here to hear him if he spoke aloud. "I'm trying not to think about that."

*Don't you want to know why?* Zaal asked, a moment later. There was an odd lightness to her words, as though she thought he ought to be smiling with her.

"I know why," he grumbled.

*Truly?* Apparently diverted, Zaal added, *Do share.*

"Because I'm stubborn, arrogant, and contrary. And because I always think I'm right, even though I never am. And I'm conceited. Maybe that falls under the same category as 'arrogant', though; I'm not sure."

*No,* Zaal said, dismissing Cetaci's words as easily as he had rattled them off. *That's not it at all.*

He waited, but no further explanation was forthcoming. "Well?" he asked reluctantly. "Are you going to tell me?"

*I haven't decided.* She was clearly trying to cheer him up with the teasing, but it wasn't working. It just wasn't a good night to be teased.

He tried to disguise his sullenness, knowing she didn't deserve it. But he wasn't going to play her game, either. He stared down at the floor, watching the shadows start slipping out of focus again, and he wondered what would happen if he fell asleep right here. If he just didn't go back to his room, and exhaustion overtook him before morning did.

*She isn't yours to win,* Zaal said quietly, taking pity on him at last, *because she never stopped being yours to lose. You can't regain something you already have.*

"Something I already have," he repeated aloud, trying to make sense of that. His overworked brain wasn't cooperating.

*If she had really given you up,* the other continued, *she wouldn't fight every suggestion you make. The two of you wouldn't turn every risk you take into a battle for dominance. And she certainly wouldn't come to you when you dream about her.*

His head snapped up, and he tried desperately to swallow a yawn. "How do you know about that?" he blurted out.

Zaal gave the very distinct impression of a shrug. *She told Mireth.*

Girls, he thought disgustedly. They would talk.

*I don't appreciate that,* Zaal informed him. *As though your gender is any more discrete.*

"*I* didn't tell anyone!"

*You can't even keep your eyes open,* she said, with some asperity. *I refuse to argue with you in this condition.*

"Because I'm right," he muttered. He couldn't muster the appropriate indignation, though, and she seemed to know it. It annoyed him to realize that his eyes *were* closed, but he suspected that the difficulty involved in opening them outweighed any potential advantages.

*Delphinius,* she said, more gently. *You really should be sleeping.*

"If you'd stop talking to me," he mumbled, "I probably would be."

*You are not going to sleep here,* she said, and there was no room for argument in her tone. *If you do not return to your quarters, I will contact control and have them teleport you there.*

"No." He managed to rouse himself at that, for he didn't doubt that she would carry out her threat. And he knew who was in control right now. "I'm going. Truth."

He dragged himself to his feet, embarrassed to stumble a little when his balance didn't quite cooperate. He put one hand on Zaal's hull, though whether for support or comfort he wasn't entirely sure. "Good night," he added, as he turned to go.

*Delphinius...*

He paused, glancing back.

*Yours to lose,* she reminded him quietly.

He just sighed. It wasn't half as comforting as she probably meant it to sound. Their relationship wasn't at all what he wanted it to be, and here was Zaal telling him that it could only get worse.

"Yeah," he said, turning away again. "That's the truth."

15. Corners

She twisted, reaching automatically for Saryn as the dreamy fog of sleep lessened a little. Her hand slid across the cool pillow beside her and reached the edge of his single bed, prodding her further from her doze as she realized she was alone. She struggled to open her eyes, wondering where he could have gone.

"I am not 'shunning' her," Saryn's quiet voice said, replying to something she had only barely heard.

"You won't talk to her, and suddenly she's banned from the Command Center dome. What do you call it?"

She frowned, unable to place the second voice from her "dream". Lifting a hand slowly to her face, she rubbed her eyes and wondered what time it was. Saryn didn't seem to need as much sleep as her, even when he was unmorphed, but it couldn't be good for him to be up so late--early?--right before an infiltration assault on Dark Spectre's personal ship.

"I had nothing to do with her exclusion from the dome," he was telling the comm screen. "That was Cetaci's order, not mine. If we do not speak as much as we might, of late, it is only because her presence makes Cassie uncomfortable."

She froze. Who were they talking about?

"I'm sure she doesn't do it on purpose," the screen said, after a pause. "And it isn't a matter of you not speaking much--she says you won't speak to her at *all*."

There was no answer.

"Phantom, you can't keep this up. We can't have Defense command divided over this girl of yours."

"Tobin," Saryn warned quietly.

The voice that replied was uninterpretable as it said, "Cassie, then. We can't be divided over Cassie."

*Defense command.* Saryn, and Linnse--and Tobin. That was who he was talking to, and they must be talking about Linnse. *Her* and Linnse.

She swallowed. She hadn't thought he had even noticed how much Linnse disliked her, and now he was in trouble on her behalf. *Again,* she couldn't help thinking.

"Can't you at least *talk* to her?" Tobin was asking. "You're only making her more sure that this--that Cassie's a bad influence on you by avoiding her."

She couldn't pretend to be asleep any longer. Pushing herself into a sitting position, she saw Saryn's head turn in her direction. She slid off the edge of his bed and padded quietly over to take his outstretched hand.

Tobin didn't say a word as she entered the camera's field of view.

"I am sorry," Saryn said quietly, his fingers wrapping around hers. "I did not mean to wake you."

He tugged gently on her hand, and she could feel his desperate need to hug her, to reassure her that everything was all right. She wanted that comfort, but just knowing that he was worried made her feel better, and she was very conscious of Tobin's eyes on them.

"It's okay," she said, pulling the second chair up in front of the workstation instead. "*I'm* sorry," she offered, settling into the chair tentatively. "I didn't realize I was causing so much trouble."

"You are not," Saryn assured her.

"Actually, you are," Tobin contradicted, from the other side of the viewscreen. "Why are Phantom and Linnse fighting over you?"

She blinked, surprised that he was addressing her directly. "I--I don't know," she stammered, seeing Saryn glare at the screen out of the corner of her eye. Tobin ignored him. "I guess--Linnse and I just don't get along, and Sa--Phantom's caught in the middle. It's my fault, not his."

"It is *not* your fault," Saryn interjected. "Linnse has said things she has no right to."

"Just because she says things you don't *like* doesn't mean she doesn't have the right to say them," Tobin reminded him sharply.

He looked back at her and added, "I don't mean to offend you, Cassie, but our friend has never said a word about you until very recently. We're bound to have a few questions."

She nodded, but Saryn snapped, "'Questions' and 'accusations' are not the same thing, Tobin. Cassie is a Ranger. Linnse was outside of all limits to call her a traitor without substantial provocation!"

"She did have a reason," Cassie said quietly. She hated to defend Linnse, after the woman had given her so much grief, but she could almost see how things might have looked--to someone who refused to know anything about her or the situation. "You were captured by Dark Spectre, and I had your ruby. I think she thought Kerone and I set that trap for you."

"That is ridiculous," Saryn said impatiently. "She knows Rangers can not do that sort of thing."

"Even Rangers can be influenced by evil," Tobin pointed out, and Cassie winced.

Then she tilted her head, surprised to see Saryn getting to his feet. He had one hand on his ruby, and an expression of utter calmness on his face. She tried not to shiver, for she knew that look. He was about to do something drastic, and she wasn't sure she was going to like it.

"If Cassie wanted my ruby, she could have taken it long ago," Saryn said, and his fingers clenched around the crystal as he lifted it up over his head. The necklace slipped off, the gold links sparkling around his fingers as he held it out to her.

She shook her head. He gave her a half-smile. "You see? She is one of a very few people who could take it by force, and she is the only one to whom I would give it if she so much as asked. But she does not."

He held out his hands again, and this time she felt the necklace chain settle around her neck. She looked down automatically, and his ruby glinted up at her as he put his hands on her shoulders. "I trust Cassie with more than my heart, Tobin. I trust her with my life."

Tobin didn't so much as blink. "Yes, well, we know how *you* feel about her. Linnse doesn't seem to agree."

"Linnse is entitled to her opinion," Saryn said stubbornly. "As long as she doesn't bother Cassie."

"She isn't, exactly…" Cassie shifted uncomfortably. Saryn shouldn't have to choose like this, but she couldn't help asking, "Was she really banned from the Ranger dome?"

"That is unrelated," Saryn told her, glancing down. "Cetaci banned her for misuse of Ranger equipment."

Tobin frowned. "'Misuse of equipment'? That doesn't sound like Linnse."

Cassie flushed, looking from Saryn's soft expression to Tobin's suspicious one. "Actually… I tried to contact Phantom last night. Linnse intercepted the transmission."

"Why?" Saryn demanded.

She shrugged helplessly, and he turned on Tobin. "This is exactly what I'm talking about. She is deliberately harassing Cassie, and I will not tolerate it."

Tobin shook his head once. "This obviously isn't resolving anything. I'm going to get Linnse."

"Wait--" Cassie glanced up, and saw Saryn tilt his head in her direction. "I know this is important, but… it's sort of the middle of the night here. I'll stay up and talk to you and Linnse, if you want, but Saryn needs to sleep."

"*Phantom*," Tobin said pointedly, "told me he'd already slept."

She was tired of this name game. He was Saryn to her, and he had said she could call him that whenever she wanted to. "If you're really his friend," she said, letting her annoyance show in her tone, "you know *Saryn* doesn't always tell the truth about things like that. You woke him up with your comm transmission."

She felt Saryn's fingers caress her hair, and she looked up involuntarily. He was smiling down at her, and her heart melted at the tenderness in his expression. For the briefest second she forgot everything else.

Then he lifted his gaze to the comm screen and said mildly, "Cassie is correct; you did wake me. But I will sleep after this conversation. I prefer to resolve this matter now."

He and Tobin stared at each other for a moment, and then Tobin's gaze shifted to her. "Under normal circumstances," he said, and there was the hint of a smile on his face, "I would agree with you, Cassie, and say this could wait.

"Unfortunately, it can't. I want Linnse to go with your Ranger team tomorrow, and if she and Phantom won't talk to each other, that will make things difficult."

She nodded reluctantly, and Tobin reached for something on the console in front of him. "I'll let her know what we're discussing," he told them, and the screen greyed out as the transmission paused.

She felt Saryn's hand stroke her hair again, and she turned toward him. He smiled, and she couldn't help returning it. "I'm sorry to make things so awkward…"

"Never apologize for being in my life," he murmured, combing her hair gently away from her face. "I would not have it any other way."

She leaned into his touch, but her fingers brushed against his ruby as she lifted her hand. To her surprise, he stopped her when she started to tug it off over her head. Looking up at him uncertainly, she said, "Linnse won't be very happy to see me wearing this."

"I do not care what Linnse thinks," he said softly, leaning in to kiss her. "I love *you*."

His lips were warm on hers before she could respond to that, but she couldn't help frowning when he pulled away. "What did you say?"

"I said I love you," he answered, fingers still tangled in her hair as he gazed down at her.

It wasn't *what* he had said as much as how he had said it, but she didn't have time to ask him about it before the comm screen came to life again. "All right," Tobin declared. "Let's talk."

The comm chimed, signaling a second incoming transmission, and Saryn leaned over her shoulder to acknowledge it. The screen split to reveal Linnse, blonde hair tousled for once and the lighting behind her dim. Clearly, they weren't the only ones Tobin had woken up to deal with this.

As Cassie had anticipated, Linnse's eyes focused on her first. "I thought this was going to be a Defense discussion."

Keeping her fingers clenched around Saryn's ruby, she felt him gently lift her hair over the chain and settle the necklace more securely around her neck. "Where I am involved, Cassie is involved," he said, almost idly, as though he was more focused on her hair than the conversation.

"That's exactly what worries me," Linnse told him, frowning. "She appears from out of nowhere two weeks ago and suddenly she's in everything you say and do. How much do you even know about this girl?"

"I know I love her," he answered, and Cassie looked up again, smiling a little. He caught her eye and asked softly, "What else matters?"

"Who she *is* matters," Linnse said, clearly annoyed.

He lifted his head. "She is a Power Ranger. You, of all people, should know what that means."

Cassie bit her lip, trying not to let her irritation at being talked about in the third person show. She knew that anything she tried to say would only hurt the situation, but she didn't like letting Saryn do her fighting for her.

He must have sensed her displeasure, for his hand squeezed her shoulder soothingly. He touched her hair again, and just that was enough to distract her. She tried not to lean into the caress, but he was never this affectionate when other people were around, and she had to keep reminding herself that they weren't alone.

"Oh, stop playing with her hair," Linnse snapped, startling her. "Just because she's attractive doesn't mean she's trustworthy."

His hand froze. "I will not have you question Cassie's loyalty," his voice dangerously quiet. "We have been through too much together."

"So what you've been through with the rest of us doesn't matter anymore?" Linnse shot back. "Haven't we earned your trust?"

"I trusted you before I knew you," he said, as though it should have been obvious. "Because you were a Ranger. All I ask is that you extend the same courtesy to Cassie."

"Look," Cassie spoke up, unable to stay silent any longer. "I know you don't like me. But I swear to you that I'd never do anything to hurt Saryn."

"Then don't call him by his real name," Linnse said coldly, acknowledging her for the first time.

"Linnse, stop," Saryn interrupted. "I have asked Cassie to use that name. I gave it to her the first time she saw me demorph."

She felt his arm slide over her shoulder, and his hand touched the fingers she still had wrapped around his ruby. She let go of the necklace and took his hand automatically. Only when Linnse's eyes widened did she realize what he had made her do.

"You gave her your crystal? Phantom, that's not just some trinket; that's your life she's playing with!"

Cassie swallowed, and his fingers tightened on her hand. "She will guard it better than I ever could," he told the screen softly.

There was a brief silence, and then Tobin said suddenly, "Phantom, I never thought I'd say this, but you're a fool."

Linnse sat back in her chair, looking distinctly smug.

"But at least he has an excuse," Tobin added, glancing in her direction. "Love does strange things to people. I really don't understand why *you're* acting so strangely, Linnse."

Linnse stared at him. "*I'm* acting strangely? He's thrown away everything he's worked for over the last four years for a pretty face!"

"He hasn't thrown anything away. He's entrusted his secret to the woman he loves. Until we have a reason to think otherwise, I think we should trust his judgment."

Her eyes narrowed. "Is that your opinion as a friend, or as third party?"

"Both," he said firmly.

Cassie glanced up at Saryn uncertainly. From what he had told her about the Defense, that was supposed to be the end of the matter. The third "vote" was the tiebreaker, and the arguing parties abided by it.

"It's his risk to take, Linnse," Tobin added, when she didn't say anything. "You don't have to like his decision, but you do have to respect it."

When Cassie looked back at the screen, she found Linnse staring at her. "I'll respect it," the other woman said, grudgingly, but she didn't take her eyes of Cassie.

"Good," Tobin said, as though everything was settled. "Then we're done. Linnse, I need to talk to you for a minute."

She looked wary, but she nodded in mute agreement.

"May it go well, Phantom, Cassie," Tobin said, reaching for the console in front of him. "Sorry to wake you up," he added, and the split screen vanished before either of them could reply. Linnse's image disappeared a moment later.

Cassie looked up to find Saryn gazing at the blank screen thoughtfully. He turned his head when she moved, and smiled a little when he caught her eye. "Tobin likes you," he remarked.

"You think so?" she asked doubtfully.

He nodded, running his fingers through her hair.

"Do you have any idea how hard it was to concentrate with you doing that?" she murmured, reaching up to catch his hand and still it.

His smile widened, and his reply was the last thing she expected. "Yes."

She turned in her chair and climbed to her feet, holding both his hands in hers as she looked up at him. "What did Tobin mean when he said Linnse was going with us tomorrow?" she asked, well aware that there were only centimeters between them now.

*Kiss me,* she thought impulsively. She didn't know how many of her thoughts he could pick up on, but if he *could* hear her, she was counting on him to think she didn't mean him to.

"He wants the Defense wing stationed here to escort us," he said. He lifted one hand, fingers still entwined with hers, to brush her hair back from her face.

*Kiss me,* she thought again, gazing into his eyes. "I thought he didn't even want the Defense helping the Alliance. Why does he want to help us?"

"The--the chance to destroy Dark Spectre, I think," he said. She didn't miss his slight stammer, but his expression was perfectly calm.

"That's very… 'big picture' of him." She was just close enough to feel him breathing--slow and even, but in the back of her mind she could feel his focus slipping. *Kiss me.*

"'Big picture'?" he repeated softly, his gaze straying from her eyes as his thumb traced a gentle line across her cheek toward her chin.

"You know," she murmured. *Kiss me.* "Focusing on what's important."

His eyes flickered back to hers. "You know I can hear you, don't you."

She widened her eyes. "What do you--"

"Kiss me," he interrupted softly. His lips were hungry on hers before she could reply, and she leaned into him eagerly. His hands slipped out of hers and his arms encircled her, holding her close as he granted her silent request.

When at last he let her go, she stared breathlessly up at him, drinking in every detail of his expression. Sometimes it still amazed her to see his solemn features smiling tenderly back at her. "We should sleep," she murmured finally.

"Are you… tired?" he whispered, his gaze just as intent as he lifted a hand to her face again.

With his fingers on her skin and her heart pounding in her ears, she couldn't even *remember* what it felt like to be tired. "No," she admitted, longing to feel him kiss her again. "But--"

"We'll sleep," he promised, brushing a hand through her hair. She closed her eyes and leaned into the touch, not surprised to feel his mouth on hers a moment later. She felt guilty returning his kiss when he had just said--

He made it all right with a single word. "Later," he breathed, kissing her again.

"If everything goes according to plan, we should be back before tomorrow," Andros told the comm screen. Sunlight shone through the window behind the face in front of him, and the boy cracked a smile.

"We'll keep everything together here. Don't worry about us."

The scuff of a footstep on the metal deck made Andros turn his head. Ashley was leaning against the nav console at the back of the Bridge, watching the conversation with a fond expression on her face. When he looked over his shoulder, she smiled and walked around to join him at the pilot's station.

" 'Morning," she said affectionately, putting her hands on his shoulders and looking up at the main screen. "Hey, Justin."

"Did you just get up?" the former Blue Ranger asked.

"Yeah--Aquitar's time is different, so DECA let us sleep in. For once," she added, slapping Andros' shoulder lightly.

"How is it my fault?" he protested.

"It isn't," she said with a grin. "The fact that she *always* lets you sleep late is, though. Isn't this a little early for you to be up?"

"Very funny," he muttered.

"I'm just kidding," she said, tugging his ponytail gently. He tried not to smile.

"So how did everyone do last night?" Ashley asked, looking back up at the screen.

"Terrific," Justin said. "We'll keep Earth safe. Good luck, you guys."

"Thanks," Andros answered automatically.

"We'll see you tonight," Ashley said, her tone cheerful and full of a confidence Andros couldn't help but envy.

Justin nodded, as though that went without question. He touched something on his wrist and the screen went blank.

Ashley's hands slid off his shoulders as he turned. She grabbed the back of her chair and spun it around, sitting down next to him. "Think they can do it?" she asked quietly, studying him.

He gazed back at her, feeling a surge of protectiveness for this normally carefree girl. She projected a lightness that radiated from deep within her soul, but she had her doubts, just like everyone else. That she shared them with him both amazed and reassured him. He wasn't alone.

"Yeah," he said, reaching for her hand. "Rocky and Justin have been Rangers before; they know what to expect. The rest of them will be fine with those two leading them, and we won't be gone that long. If we're lucky, none of them will have to fight at all."

She smiled, squeezing his hand gratefully. When she didn't say anything in reply, he took the opportunity to divert her. "It's funny to see you in your uniform again. Is everyone wearing them?"

She nodded, glancing down at her flightsuit. "Everyone I've seen. It hasn't been that long," she added, shooting him an amused look.

"A week, at least," he pointed out mildly. "Maybe more."

She thought about that for a minute, and he saw the smile she tried to hide. "You might be right," she agreed. "It's so annoying to change back and forth..." Catching his eye again she asked, "Does it bother you?"

He shook his head. "I'd rather see you in shorts and a t-shirt any day," he admitted, and she stifled a giggle.

"There's one for the rulebook," Ashley said. "Female crewmembers shall wear civilian clothes at all times, because--"

"Not 'female crewmembers'," he interrupted, trying not to blush. He did *not* want to hear her finish that sentence. "Just..." He trailed off, realizing he would only get in more trouble with that.

"Just me?" she suggested, a glint in her eye.

Before he could answer, she leaned forward and kissed him gently. "I'll keep that in mind," she whispered.

She didn't pull away, and he opened his eyes to find her mouth tantalizingly close as she gazed at him. Without even realizing what he was doing, he had tugged her to her feet and taken a step closer.

When he hesitated, she slid a hand around behind his head and pulled him close enough to kiss. He let go of her other hand and wrapped his arms around her waist, enjoying the feel of her body pressed against his as he lost himself in her kiss.

A noise from the doorway made him start, and Ashley's hand rested against his chest as she turned to look.

"That," Carlos said wryly, "is the last time we send *you* to get Andros for breakfast."

"He was talking to Justin," she protested, not moving. "I waited."

"So I see," Carlos agreed with a grin.

He looked sideways at Ashley, but it was impossible to concentrate with her so close. Gently, he removed her hand from his chest and stepped a discrete distance away. "Is everyone else up?"

Carlos shook his head. "No; just us and TJ. I figured DECA would have woken Zhane and Kerone, at least."

"She probably did," Andros said. "Zhane's not very good about getting up, though--"

"Not like anyone else I know," Ashley murmured, and he shot a glance in her direction.

Carlos chuckled. "What about Cassie and Saryn? Heard from them yet?"

"I'll call Cassie," Ashley offered, when Andros shook his head.

Carlos held his hands up defensively. "Not because of me. I have nothing to do with it; I just wanted to know if they were going to be at breakfast. In fact, that's where I'll be. See you there."

He was gone before either of them could answer, and Ashley turned a puzzled gaze on Andros. "What was that about?"

He shrugged. "I have no idea. Want me to wait?"

"That's all right. I'll be right there."

"Right." He hesitated, and her expression lightened when he reached out to touch her face. She tilted her head, letting her eyes slide shut as he kissed her gently, and he brushed her hair away from her face. "See you at breakfast, then," he murmured.

"See you," she echoed with a smile.

He heard the muted beep of her old communicator as he left the Bridge, and he couldn't help glancing down at his left wrist. He had given TJ's old communicator to Zhane, and it felt strange not to have any weight at all on his wrist.

"Yeah, well, that's what you get for sleeping in the observatory," Carlos' voice was saying from somewhere inside the Glider holding bay.

Walking through the door, Andros found Carlos addressing the comm unit on the wall. Concerned, he reached out to his friend. *Zhane?*

*Yeah?* his friend's voice replied immediately.

Over the comm unit, Zhane answered, "Yeah, sleeping in. There's a real punishment."

*Claustrophobia?* Andros asked.

*Something like that,* Zhane said. *We'll be right there.*

"How about not getting breakfast?" Carlos suggested. "If we leave and you're not here--"

"I'm coming, I'm coming," Zhane interjected hastily. "No need to make threats."

*We?* Andros repeated suspiciously.

There was a sudden silence.

*Zhane?* he demanded. *Where's Kerone?*

"DECA, can you put us through to Kerone's room?" Carlos asked.

The comm chimed. "Hey, Kerone, wake up," TJ said, over Carlos' shoulder as he passed.

*She's... sort of here,* Zhane admitted. *But it's not like that, Andros; honest. She just came to say good night when she got back from Aquitar, and then we were talking, and…*

"Kerone?" Carlos asked, frowning. When there was no reply, he glared up at the camera in the corner. "Very funny, DECA. Want to tell us where Kerone is?"

*And *what*?*

*And I asked if she wanted to sleep here,* Zhane said reluctantly. *But it was nothing, really. It was late, and I didn't want her to have to walk back to her room.*

*A whole five second ride in the lift,* Andros agreed. *That was thoughtful of you.*

"Kerone is on deck one," DECA informed them.

TJ looked up from where he was setting his plate on the table. "The observatory?"

"But Zhane's--" The other Ranger broke off abruptly, and Andros saw Carlos glance in his direction.

*Andros, I swear, nothing happened. We talked and we went to sleep. That's all.*

"Hey guys!" Ashley greeted them cheerfully, almost bouncing into the holding bay. "Look who decided to join us!"

Cassie gave her a shove as she walked in on Ashley's heels, laughing as her friend exclaimed indignantly. "You make it sound like you never see us!"

"We don't," Ashley retorted, grinning at her friend. "Saryn," she added, as he paused in the doorway, "stop hogging her!"

"Hey..." Cassie spoke before he had a chance to answer. "What's going on?"

"Nothing," Andros said, for TJ and Carlos' benefit as much as hers. "Zhane slept in the observatory last night, and Kerone just went up to talk to him. That's all."

"Why was Zhane sleeping in the observatory?" Cassie wanted to know.

At the same time, TJ asked, "*When* did she go up to talk to him?"

Andros saw Saryn glance down the hallway, toward the lift, and knew what he was seeing. "Sorry we're late," Zhane said a moment later, poking his head around the doorframe. "Did you miss us?"

"Oh, yeah," Ashley said, rolling her eyes good-naturedly. "How did we ever get by without you?"

"Hard to imagine, isn't it?" he replied, putting an arm around her shoulder and pulling her into the holding bay. "Now, since I'm so indispensable, how 'bout you get breakfast for me?"

"You wish!" she exclaimed, pushing him away from her with a laugh. "So what's all this about you and Kerone and the observatory?"

He looked startled. "Andros told you?"

Ashley looked around the room, apparently noticing that everyone was listening to their conversation. "It was a secret?"

Standing beside Saryn in the doorway, Kerone folded her arms. "Zhane said not to tell anyone."

"I said not to tell anyone we slept together," he corrected. "Because we didn't!" he added hastily, seeing Ashley's wide-eyed expression.

Andros did his best not to laugh, but it was a losing battle. He believed his friend when he said nothing had happened, but Zhane was just digging himself deeper with every word. He felt a chuckle escape as he looked down, trying to hide his expression.

He could explain. He could have stopped Zhane from saying anything in the first place, knowing how it would be misinterpreted. But he couldn't help enjoying the other's discomfiture. It was only fair, after all the situations Zhane had gotten him into.

"So she *was* there overnight," TJ said, exchanging glances with Carlos.

Carlos spread his hands to the side. "Don't look at me. I wasn't defending them!"

"There's nothing to defend," Zhane exclaimed. "We were just looking at the stars, and we fell asleep. That's all."

"Andros said she went up to talk to you," Carlos said.

Zhane rolled his eyes. "Well, we talked while we were looking at the stars. It's an observatory; what do you expect?"

"It's an observatory with a history," TJ muttered, and Andros suspected he had spoken just loudly enough for them to hear on purpose.

"Only in your imagination," Ashley shot back from her place by the Synthetron. Andros glanced at her, and she looked over at him just in time to catch his eye. She winked, and he looked down to hide his smile.

With a clatter of finality, TJ pulled his stool out from the table and sat down. Cassie laughed at him, but he pretended not to hear. "I'm just over here, minding my own business," he announced to the room at large.

Cassie put a hand on his shoulder and leaned down to catch his eye. "You do it *so* well," she said, straight-faced, when he looked up.

Ashley put a plate down across from them and added impishly, "Lots of practice, no doubt."

"What's that supposed to mean?" TJ demanded.

Cassie just laughed again and went to join Andros at the Synthetron while Carlos reclaimed his place by TJ. "Did you hear that?" TJ asked of his friend. "What was that?"

"Didn't hear a thing," Carlos replied, grabbing his fork.

"Go ahead," Andros told her. "I'll be right back."

"Thanks," she said over her shoulder, punching a few buttons on the Synthetron. "Where are you--oh."

He set an eighth stool down at one end of the table, and Ashley watched him with amusement. "We need a bigger table. You know that, right?"

"So, on our list of priorities," Carlos interrupted, "is that before or after saving the world?"

"After saving the world," Cassie answered, turning away from the Synthetron. "But before giving anyone a tour of the ship."

"What?" Carlos looked startled as she sat down next to him.

She gave him an odd glance. "Well, you do want to show Karen and Tessa around, don't you?"

Andros paused on his way over to the Synthetron, but as Zhane turned away from it just then and he had to jump out of the way. "Sorry," Zhane offered, and Andros shook his head.

"No problem," he said, punching a combination into the wall unit. He listened for the rest of the conversation underway at the table, but as Zhane walked past Saryn he heard their brief exchange instead.

"So," Saryn said quietly, and Andros heard his friend's footsteps stop abruptly. The words were barely audible, and Andros wouldn't have even noticed them if he hadn't been straining to overhear someone else already. "When you are lying in bed, does she tell you all her plans for universal domination?"

Andros froze. In the pause, he heard TJ saying, "I didn't want to bring it up. I mean, it isn't just some place we live; it's the Megaship."

He turned, worried. Zhane and Saryn hadn't seen each other much in the last couple of weeks, but he had thought they were at least learning to tolerate each other. Except for that incident yesterday with Cassie…

Then, to his infinite surprise, he heard Zhane chuckle. "If they ever compare notes, we won't have to worry about Dark Spectre."

"I suspect not," Saryn agreed. "Yet we do not love them any less."

"No," Zhane whispered, just as softly. "You were right about that. I'm--sorry for what I said that day."

"You were hurting, even as I was," Saryn replied quietly. "It is in the past."

Andros watched, bemused, as Zhane went over and sat down next to Kerone at the table. Saryn glanced in his direction, and he turned quickly back to the Synthetron. He couldn't help wondering what *that* had been about.

Pulling the Synthetron open, he almost jumped when Saryn spoke behind him. "You heard."

"Yeah," Andros admitted, picking up his breakfast.

Saryn seemed to consider. "I believe you would call it 'an inside joke'."

Andros nodded, no closer to understanding, and resolved to ask Zhane about it later. Ashley interrupted before he could reply, and he headed over to the table.

"So what do you think about showing Karen and Tessa the Megaship?" she was asking, as he put his plate down next to hers.

He glanced around the table. Ashley and TJ were waiting on his answer, but Carlos was frowning down at his food. Cassie didn't seem to be paying any attention, looking over her shoulder as Saryn made his way toward them from the Synthetron, and on Andros' other side Zhane was trying to bully Kerone into eating something.

"I think," Andros said slowly, sitting down, "that if you trust them, it's fine with me. I mean, they already know we're Rangers--showing them the Megaship couldn't really hurt anything, could it?"

"Nope," TJ agreed. "And they'd love it! I think it's a great idea."

Cassie laughed as she moved her stool over a little to give Saryn more room. "We all know what you think, TJ. Tessa will probably be here before tomorrow."

"I can't help it if I want to spend time with my girlfriend," TJ complained. "Carlos, back me up here. You'll get Karen up here tonight when we get back, right?"

Carlos looked up, his blank expression fading into a rueful smile. "Can't. She's visiting friends in Stone Canyon all day. She won't be back till really late."

"The ship isn't going anywhere," Ashley said with a grin. "You can give her the tour tomorrow."

Andros heard Zhane sigh, and glanced over at Kerone. "Kerone, eat something," he told her gently. "You'll need the energy."

She shot him an uninterpretable look, and he heard Cassie teasing Saryn over something he had said. Finally, Kerone reached over Zhane's arm and took a piece of fruit from his plate.

"Hey!" Zhane stopped midmotion as he went to snatch it back. He slapped his forehead instead. "What am I doing? Here, eat as much as you want."

"Why do you not eat?" Saryn asked curiously, catching Cassie's hand as she tried to hit him and holding her motionless as he regarded Kerone.

She lifted her free hand. A violet sphere appeared over her palm, then collapsed in on itself and spread outward in ripples just before it touched her hand "It's something to do with the magic, I think," she said, letting her hand fall. "I don't know quite what. I never knew I didn't eat as much as everyone else until I came here."

Saryn nodded thoughtfully. He seemed not to notice Cassie squirming at his side, attempting to free her hand. "The magic is always with you?"

"Yes," she said simply, taking a small bite of her fruit.

Andros watched Zhane watching her for a moment, then glanced back across the table when Saryn said nothing more. He wouldn't have seen it if he hadn't looked just at that moment, but Saryn's eyes suddenly widened and he turned to Cassie with a startled expression on his face.

She jerked her hand away, a decidedly smug expression on her face, and went back to her breakfast. Saryn blinked, and then Ashley reached across the table to take the salt from right in front of a distracted Carlos. His view was blocked for a moment, and when Andros caught another glimpse of them they were both eating as though nothing had happened.

"Salt?" Ashley offered, and he took it absently.

"Thanks," he said, setting it down. *Ash,* he thought, picking up his fork without really looking at it. *Do you think…*

*What?* she asked. She sounded curious, but she didn't so much as look his way as she reached for her juice.

*Do you think… we all have more secrets than we used to?*

Lifting her glass to her lips, he saw her just stop herself from shaking her head. *No, not really.* She frowned faintly, then added, *We're closer than we used to be. I think that just makes the secrets we do have more obvious.*

He considered that for a moment, then felt her hand fumble for his under the table. *Maybe you're right,* he said, squeezing her fingers and smiling at her.

16. Under Fire

"Cestria?" TJ couldn't help asking. She had turned away from the comm console as soon as they teleported into the control room, and there was an unmistakable tinge of exhaustion to her dark eyes. "Are you all right?"

"I am fine," she replied, pressing her fingertips together in the Aquitian gesture of greeting. "I hope the morning finds you well, Astro Rangers."

Andros returned the gesture, and the greeting, and TJ frowned a little. Across the room, Cetaci was working on something and did not look up. She had yet to even acknowledge their presence in the control room.

"Are you sure everything's all right?" Andros was asking, and TJ figured he couldn't be imagining things if even Andros noticed something amiss. "If there's anything we can do--"

"I appreciate your offer," Cestria said. "But there is nothing you can do. There was--a minor crisis last night, and none of the team has had as much sleep as they should have. That is all."

Andros shifted a little, and TJ saw him glance at Cetaci. The White Ranger still had not looked up, and she and Cestria almost seemed to be... ignoring each other. "There's no way to postpone the operation without losing our advantage," he said, addressing Cestria again. "But if this is going to be a liability to you, we'd better do it."

Cestria tilted her head to the side. "It will not be a liability, but I thank you for your concern. If you will wait, I will go see what's keeping the others."

He nodded, and Cestria turned to leave the control room through the open door on the opposite side. As soon as she was gone, he turned to the White Ranger. "Cetaci, we're going to need to coordinate the timing of our attacks. Do you have an ETA for the Parikat system?"

Cetaci finally lifted her head, but she did not turn to look at them. "You will have to discuss the execution of tactics and team movements with Cestria."

TJ could almost hear the frown in Andros' voice. "Coordination of the team is the responsibility of the team leader."

"Yes," Cetaci agreed, her stare apparently fixed on the blank wall in front of her. "Cestria is acting team leader of the Aquitian Rangers now."

"What?" Andros exchanged glances with Ashley, and TJ saw her give him a startled look and a small shrug before he turned to rake his gaze across the rest of the team. His eyes came to rest on Kerone, and they stared at each other for a silent moment before a distant crash interrupted their exchange.

TJ spun instinctively as a shriek echoed from the hallway that Cestria had vanished down, and he caught Carlos' worried gaze briefly. The other strode after Cestria without a word, and TJ followed quickly.

"Kerone, Zhane, Cassie, Saryn--stay here," Andros snapped from somewhere behind him, and he heard footsteps that had to be Andros and Ashley behind him.

Carlos came to an abrupt halt at the end of the hallway, and TJ almost ran into him. Carlos, to his surprise, took one look into what appeared to be a buffet-style dining area and chuckled.

TJ relaxed a little, but he still couldn't see what was going on. Carlos stepped into the room, giving the rest of them space to move forward, and TJ raised an eyebrow as he stepped through the doorway.

One of the large tables had been tipped onto its side, and the trays that must have been on top of it lay scattered across the floor. Telltale splotches on the walls coincided rather conveniently with the fruit lying on the floor, and TJ could only conclude that someone's aim needed work. There was something that looked like cereal everywhere, and he couldn't help thinking that this was exactly the kind of stunt his own team would pull, under the right circumstances.

Behind him, he heard Ashley giggle as she got her first unobstructed view of the chaos inside the room. "Food fight?" she suggested, sounding amused.

Billy, huddled on their side of the overturned table, grinned sheepishly at her words. "Truce?" he called, looking up as though he could see over top of the table from where he was.

From behind the counter on the other side of the room, Aura stood up, her expression perfectly calm. She gave her head a quick shake, dislodging small pieces of cereal from her dark ponytail. "Truce," she agreed warily, glancing down and to her right.

Delphinius stood up beside her, and TJ did his level best not to laugh. The Black Aquitian Ranger had always struck him as the most dignified of his team, and there he was, brushing cereal flakes off of his otherwise impeccable uniform tunic. He exchanged glances with his teammate, and Aura reluctantly put down the object in her hand.

It was brought home to TJ for only perhaps the second time that the Aquitians were not so much older than he was. They were still--kids, really, like the Astro Rangers, just trying to cope with things any way they could. No matter their reserve, the stress was getting to them, too.

Neither Delphinius nor Aura smiled, but Aura's eyes glittered with amusement as she fixed her gaze on the overturned table. "Do you not trust us, Billy?"

"I trust Delphinius," Billy shot back, daring to peer over the edge of the table. "I don't trust you, no."

She held up her empty hands, and Billy stood up slowly. When Aura made a move to come out from behind the counter, Billy held out his hand to his girlfriend and unwitting participant in the madness. Cestria took it, rising gracefully to her feet and looking as though nothing out of the ordinary had just happened.

"Are we ready to leave?" Delphinius asked, joining his teammates in the middle of the room.

"We were waiting on you," Cestria informed him.

TJ stepped to the side as she came forward, Billy right behind her--it was only as they passed that he realized the two were still handfast. Delphinius and Aura followed quickly, and TJ shot a look at Andros as the Astro Rangers fell into step behind them.

Andros said nothing, but Ashley was smiling to herself. When she saw TJ watching her, her smile widened into a grin and she tilted her head at the Rangers ahead of them as if to say, "Can you believe that?"

He started to grin back when he heard Cestria's voice, sharper than usual and directed at some unknown source. "You will not teleport into this dome without permission," she was telling someone TJ couldn't see. "Previously established restrictions are not lifted simply because leadership has changed."

As TJ made his way back into the control room, he saw Cestria facing down a woman he only vaguely recognized. *Linnse,* he thought, remembering her argument with Cetaci the morning before. Cassie had told him enough about her that he would have disliked her on sight even without Cestria's obvious animosity.

"I was told to report to you before departure," the woman retorted. "You didn't answer my comm signal."

Cestria looked over at her former leader. Cetaci was standing with her back to the console she had been at earlier, arms crossed over her chest and an expression on her face that TJ would have labeled "sullen" on anyone else. "I told her you were unavailable and asked her to wait. She did not."

"Perhaps you have forgotten how chain of command functions when it comes to Rangers," Cestria said quietly, turning back to Linnse. "It has, after all, been a long time since you were one of us. In the future, however, you will obey active Rangers over any other orders you have received."

Linnse's eyes narrowed, but she accepted the censure without comment.

TJ tried not to smirk as Cestria visibly dismissed Linnse and turned to Saryn. "I apologize for the delay," she said calmly. "There was a minor disturbance in the mess hall. On behalf of my teammates, I thank you for your patience."

TJ glanced around at the other Aquitians, hearing the subtle reproof in her words. Delphinius didn't so much as blink, although Billy looked a little chagrinned. TJ wondered if he had been the one to start the "minor disturbance"--it didn't seem like usual Aquitian behavior.

"It was no trouble," Saryn assured her, as TJ looked around for Aura. She was standing beside Carlos, apparently paying no attention to the conversation as he brushed something off of her shoulder. She looked up and caught Carlos' eye, and the Black Ranger smiled at her.

TJ tried not to roll his eyes. *Since when does Carlos flirt with aliens?* he wondered wryly.

"We are only glad there was no trouble," Saryn added, and TJ's eye was drawn back to him by the words. Saryn's hand rested possessively on Cassie's shoulder as he turned to stare directly at TJ.

TJ blinked, seeing Cestria nod out of the corner of his eye but not really registering it. Saryn was looking at him as though he too had seen Carlos and Aura, and as though he knew exactly what TJ thought of the exchange. Cassie looked up suddenly, looking first at Saryn and then following his gaze to TJ. She smiled distractedly at him as Cestria spoke again, and shifted her focus to the Yellow Aquitian Ranger before he could return it.

He shook his head at his own paranoia. *Just because half the team can read each other's minds doesn't mean anyone knows what you're thinking,* he reminded himself. *Saryn can only pick up on Cassie's feelings, anyway.*

"Why can't it be resolved now?" Cetaci demanded, startling him out of his thoughts. He had missed whatever Cestria had tried to say, but Cetaci's next words made it perfectly clear what she was talking about. "Who started this disturbance?"

Before Cestria could answer, Aura spoke up. "I did," she said. "I must apologize for my behavior."

"I started it," Billy corrected. "Aura didn't do anything."

"That is misleading," Delphinius said, as soon as Billy finished. "The blame was mine."

"There is no blame involved." Cestria looked as though she was trying to hide a smile, and TJ couldn't really blame her. "I do not know who started it, but it is not your responsibility to find out, Cetaci. This matter will be taken care of later."

Cetaci positively glared at her former Second, but Linnse interrupted before anything else could be said. "Excuse me, but I'd like to get under way as soon as possible. Let's try to keep personal feelings out of this mission, shall we?"

"Your comments are unnecessary," Cetaci said, turning on her. "You have no jurisdiction here."

"I do not appreciate that remark," Saryn added, his tone strangely angry. "Perhaps if you would keep *your* feelings out of this mission, Linnse, we would all be better off."

TJ gave him a startled look. Clearly, something had blown wide open among the Aquitian Rangers, but he didn't understand what Saryn had to do with any of it. The only thing all of them seemed to agree on was that they didn't like Linnse, and although TJ had heard a lot of bad things about her, he didn't see how she could have offended *everyone*.

"My feelings aren't interfering with my ability to do my job!" Linnse retorted, and TJ wondered if he should reconsider. She did seem more than willing to strike back, which wasn't exactly the sign of a great diplomat.

Across the room, Cetaci stiffened, but Cestria intervened before she could. "Excuse me," she said, her tone as cold as TJ had ever heard it. "This infighting serves no purpose. We are Rangers--most of us--and the forces of evil will not wait for us to resolve our petty problems. I suggest we put aside any disputes we may have with each other and concentrate on the mission."

No one looked very remorseful, TJ noticed, but neither did anyone challenge her. For a brief moment, the room was silent, and he saw Andros and Zhane exchange glances. Andros looked impatient, but Zhane just shrugged.

"Good," Andros said at last. "As long as we can agree on something. Linnse," he added, turning toward the Eltaran with more courtesy than anyone had shown her probably since she had arrived. "Will you join us on the Megaship, or would you rather be in your starfighter?"

"If your hangar deck can accommodate my starfighter," she said slowly, her eyes flickering toward Saryn and then away again, "I will join you on your ship."

"Right," Andros said, shifting his focus to Cestria. "Do you have an ETA for the Parikat system? We're going to need to run on radio silence once we leave Aquitar."

"Sixteen and a half minutes at hyperrush nine," Cestria replied, without consulting the computer.

Andros nodded. "Good," he repeated. "It's twenty-four to the Rysian system, and Kerone estimates another seven or eight to get aboard Dark Spectre's ship. As soon as you see movement in the Parikat invasion force, you'll know we're at Rysia. Any damage you do to them is fewer reinforcements for us to contend with, and the longer all of us can distract them the easier it will be for Kerone and Saryn."

"Understood," Cestria said, pressing her fingertips together and inclining her head. Her teammates echoed her gesture, even Cetaci, and Andros gathered up the Astro team with a glance.

"Good luck, then," he said, as the Astro Rangers gathered around him.

"To us all," Cestria agreed.

TJ reached for his morpher. He heard Andros ask Linnse if she could teleport, and then the world faded away into sapphire blue around him.

"You're cleared for approach," Andros told the comm from the hangar bay's control booth. "At two kilometers, cut your thrusters and DECA will bring you the rest of the way in."

"No one pilots this ship but me," Linnse's voice warned.

Ashley rolled her eyes, and beside her she heard Saryn shift irritably. "Standard hangar procedure," Andros told the Defense commander calmly. "As you must know. Surrender control of your starfighter at two kilometers or don't board; it's as simple as that."

There was no reply, and Ashley glanced sideways at Andros. He was watching the control panel intently, seeming to pay no attention to either of them. She watched over his shoulder as Linnse's starfighter loomed closer and closer, until the proximity alert went off at five kilometers.

Linnse's thrusters fired once more, slowing her ship to a more manageable speed and then blinking out entirely. The starfighter coasted up to the two-kilometer mark, and DECA latched onto it, drawing it slowly into the hangar bay.

As soon as the starfighter cleared the bay doors they started to close, and Linnse's antigravs came on automatically. DECA let the ship go, and it settled carefully to the deck as the doors slammed shut behind her. It was strange to see the massive doors impact against each other and hear nothing--Ashley knew, intuitively, that the noise had to be tremendous, but she had never heard it happen inside an atmosphere.

"You're taking *those*?" Linnse's voice demanded over the comm. Her ship had set down beside the launching booth that had always held NASADA's shuttle, but the only other occupants of the hangar bay, two "velocifighters", were not exactly inconspicuous nearby. The disgust in her tone was unmistakable.

"The disguise is necessary," Saryn answered coldly, before Andros could respond.

"Defense ships have cloaks for a reason," Linnse shot back. "You'd be a lot safer in your starfighter."

Ashley looked at Saryn in time to see the amusement flicker across his face. "That *is* my starfighter."

"What?" Linnse's startled tone turned scornful in a heartbeat. "Of course. Your pet princess of evil."

Andros stiffened, but it was Saryn who snapped, "You will not refer to her in that fashion. Her name is Kerone, and I expect you to treat her with at least some semblance of courtesy."

"First that girl, and now Astronema. Whose side are you on, Phantom?"

DECA broke in at last to announce, "The hangar bay has been repressurized."

"*We're* all on the same side," Andros told the comm sternly. "That's why we're here, in case you've forgotten. I hate to waste atmosphere, but if you're not going to be able to cooperate, I'll open the bay doors again and you can take your starfighter off this ship."

"*I* know how to get the job done," Linnse answered, her voice stony.

"Fine. Stay where you are. We'll be there in a minute to escort you to the Bridge."

Andros hit something on the console and the comm cut off before she could reply. He turned toward the door, but Saryn stopped him without even looking up.

"I will go," Saryn told him, sounding perfectly composed. "I will show her to the Bridge."

Andros hesitated by the blinking green door seal. "We'll all go. There's no need for anyone to be alone with that woman."

"I *prefer* to be alone with her for a few moments." When Saryn lifted his head Ashley almost took a step back. His voice might be calm, but anger smoldered in his eyes, and she knew suddenly that *she* didn't want to hear what he meant to say to Linnse.

"Saryn, it isn't worth it," Andros said quietly. "Believe me, I know."

"You do not," he countered, though he kept his tone even. "This is not about Kerone, Andros, or even about the Astro Rangers. It is private matter between Linnse and I."

"I know you've been through a lot," Andros began, "but we don't have time--"

"Andros." Saryn's eyes were dark, and Ashley folded her arms across her chest nervously. He looked about two seconds from pushing Andros out of the way and storming out of the control booth. "Linnse got me through the months after Elisia. She's the first thing I saw when I woke up, and she would often be the last thing I saw before I slept. I hated her for it sometimes, but she was always there--she *forced* me to live, and it is only because of her that I am here now."

Andros frowned, and Ashley couldn't blame him. But he didn't say anything, and she didn't dare interrupt.

Saryn glanced over at her, then back at Andros. "This isn't about the Astro Rangers," he repeated. "Imagine how you would feel if Zhane turned against you... because of Ashley."

Her eyes widened and she looked at Andros before she thought. He was staring back at her, and she wondered if Saryn had just implied what she thought he had. *It would explain why Linnse hates Cassie so much...*

Andros caught Saryn's eye again, and, without a word, he stepped away from the door. Saryn strode through without a backward glance.

"I have no idea what's going on anymore," Andros said abruptly. He sounded almost conversational. "Do you think that's a bad thing?"

"You've never known what was going on," she answered, mustering a small smile. "It's only bothering you now?"

He gave her the muted version of the Look that he'd been turning on her lately, as though he couldn't bring himself to do it full force, and she giggled. "Very funny," he muttered, and she couldn't resist.

Putting her arms around him, she kissed him gently and tried not to smile at his wordless murmur of surprise. But he responded, hands sliding around her waist as he kissed her in return. She leaned into him, not realizing how hard until he took a step back. The door slid open in response to the motion, and he let her pull away a little.

"What was that for?" he asked softly, wrapping one arm more tightly around her waist.

She was about to say, "Just because," when she remembered their conversation a couple of nights before. "Practice," she suggested impishly.

She could see that he remembered too, and she leaned in to kiss him again. "We don't have time," he began, but she pressed her lips to his and had the satisfaction of seeing him completely distracted.

"Some things don't wait," she murmured breathlessly, letting him go at last. "If we're going to keep this team together, Andros, we have to make time for each other."

He looked a little confused. "What do you mean? Is something wrong?"

"No," she said quickly, smiling at him in reassurance. "Of course not. Not with us. But you have to let the rest of the team have time to themselves, too. We're not the only couple, and the others--especially Carlos and TJ--need to be able to have time that's just for them, not the team."

"We have time apart," he said carefully, obviously not sure where she was going with this.

She turned to look out over the now-empty hangar bay. He turned too, keeping his arm around her waist and following her gaze curiously.

"I was thinking of Saryn and Linnse," she admitted. "You almost told Saryn to forget it just now, to wait till after the mission to talk to Linnse, even though all he wanted was to walk her to the Bridge alone."

She looked over at him, and he frowned. "I don't like telling him what to do, but someone has to coordinate this mission, and somehow it ended up being me."

She let out her breath in exasperated amusement. "That's not what I'm saying, Andros. I'm just saying that sometimes we have to come first--us, individual people. Sometimes you have to put the Rangers before the team. Or we'll end up just like the Aquitian team."

He gave her a sharp look. "What do you know about that?"

"What do *you* know about it?" she answered indignantly.

"Not as much as I'd like to," he admitted. "Kerone woke me up last night to tell me that Cetaci had quit. She said Cestria told Cetaci that someone else could do a better job of leading the team, and Cetaci walked out. Delphinius was going to try and make her come back. That's all I knew until we teleported down this morning."

Ashley stared at him. "And you didn't tell us?"

Andros shrugged uncomfortably. "The Aquitians like to keep things to themselves. I figured they'd get everything worked out, and by today we wouldn't even know something had happened. I would have told you after this morning, obviously, but we haven't had time."

She nodded, mollified by the "obviously" as much as anything. "Well, like I said. Let's not end up like them."

Andros turned his head toward her and raised an eyebrow. "Are you threatening to fire me?"

She stared at him in surprise until she saw the corner of his mouth quirk. "Very funny!" She rocked against him, the closest she could come to a shove while they were standing so close, and he responded by tightening his arm around her.

"Just checking," he said lightly, as he guided her toward the door. It was too narrow for them to pass through together, and he let go of her reluctantly and gestured her forward. "After you."

"You are cleared for departure, Megaship." The voice emanated from the console at Ashley's station, and Andros nodded to her.

"Acknowledged, Aquitar," Ashley answered, doing something to the control panel. "We'll be back soon, Tideus."

"I do not doubt it," the former Aquitian Ranger replied over the comm. "May the Power protect its Rangers, and those who support them."

Andros glanced over at Linnse, seated at the auxiliary comm console. She was exchanging quiet words with the Defense wing, and apparently oblivious to the conversation going on at the forward stations.

"Thank you," Andros said for her. "May the Power protect us all."

"Good hunting," Tideus replied, and a moment later only the multi-colored swirls of the Aquitian logo flashed across the readout at Ashley's station.

She looked up and caught his eye, and she winked at him. He smiled a little, grateful for her silent support, and he lifted his gaze to the main screen. "Let's go. Ash, Linnse--signal the others."

The large battleship swept out of Aquitian orbit in a lengthening arc that sent it cruising toward the edge of the star system. Five zords followed, the yellow Lissan at the head of a smooth point formation that was mirrored above and below by a wing of silver starfighters.

She sat against the base of one of the park's oak trees, staring up through the branches at the clear blue sky beyond. She wondered how far she would have to see to catch a glimpse of the strike teams leaving Aquitar--or perhaps arriving at their destinations even now. Maybe they had already engaged Dark Spectre. Maybe the outcome was already decided...

She didn't like not knowing. She didn't like the waiting, especially when her brother's life--and possibly the life of everyone in the universe--hung in the balance. A little bit of information really was a dangerous thing, for never before had it been so hard to sit still and do nothing.

He had done this before, she knew, but she had been blissfully ignorant of the details. This time, she knew the entire plan ahead of time, she knew the consequences if he failed, and she knew what he was risking just to be a part of this.

But she didn't know how it was going. She wouldn't know anything more until he either returned, triumphant, or a call came from Aquitar saying that he would never return again...

"Hey." Jeff sat down beside her without waiting for her response, leaning back against the same tree she was sitting beneath and following her gaze. "I guess it would be silly to ask what you're thinking about, huh?"

She smiled a little and looked down, staring at the device in her hand. "Yeah." She flipped the phone-like mechanism open, gazing at it for a moment before pushing it shut again.

He glanced over his shoulder to watch her play with it. "Weird, isn't it? I mean, how many times have I wished I could help her somehow; have powers like hers so I could look out for her when she was out there fighting bad guys. And now, I have the Power, and I can't do a thing with it but sit here and wait for news."

"Yeah," Ali repeated, flipping the digimorpher open and shut again. "I know exactly what you mean. I can't decide whether to be flattered that they trusted us, or annoyed that I'm stuck as a standby. Backup reinforcements."

He didn't answer right away. Finally, he said, "I think that's redundant. Reinforcements *are* backup, right?"

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

There was a smile in his voice as he said, "I know. But flattered is the way to go, if you have to choose. They could have gotten someone from Aquitar or something."

"Nope." Ali tipped the morpher to one side and watched the dappled sunlight sparkle off it. "They didn't want to tell anyone where they got the information, so they had to ask us."

"Oh, that's not true," Jeff objected. "There are plenty of other people they could have trusted with this, and they picked us. I'm flattered, myself."

She rested her chin in her hand and stared down at Zhane's morpher. "Just flattered?" she asked thoughtfully.

She saw Ashley's brother glance over at her. "Flattered... and scared out of my mind. You?"

"Terrified is more like it," she admitted with a rueful grin. "And the thing is, I don't even know who to be more scared for--them, or us."

"Yeah," he agreed, looking back up at the sky. "I know what you mean."

"Fire!"

DECA overrode the weapons' console and momentarily took control of the Megalasers. Zhane saw Cassie throw up her hands in exasperation as the computer responded to Andros' order.

"Def-3, reinforce blue group," Linnse told the comm on the other side of the Bridge.

"Andros, stop that," Cassie said irritably. "I had a target lock."

The ship rocked abruptly, and Zhane's hands clenched on the auxiliary nav console. *Are you okay?*

*I'd be better if you'd stop asking me that,* Astrea replied curtly. *We're fine. Tell Cassie to watch where she's aiming.*

"New round of velocifighters, coming in at 40 by 70," Ashley announced, and the stars on the main screen wheeled crazily as the Megaship swung around.

*That was Andros,* Zhane said.

*Then tell him to let Cassie shoot! Andros just blew my wing leader out of the sky!*

"Forward shields are down 30 percent," TJ reported.

"Andros, Kerone says to let Cassie shoot," Zhane told his friend, deadpan.

"Tell her to get aboard Dark Spectre's ship," Andros retorted.

Zhane grinned, but Carlos interrupted before he could relay the message. "Come on, Andros, their ships are green! What else do you want, a big sign that says 'don't hit me'?"

"Red group, break off attack." Linnse's sharp order was a deliberate counterpoint to their tense banter. "Converge on the first wave."

"What are you doing?" TJ demanded.

"Linnse!" Cassie's exclamation overlaid TJ's, and Zhane bit back his own comment. The first wave was the one Astrea and Saryn had slipped into as soon as the second launched.

"I'm helping them," Linnse replied, her tone completely unreadable. She didn't take her eyes off the tactical screen in front of her as five Defense ships ducked out from underneath the Megaship and swarmed after the velocifighters.

*Astrea, you've got incoming from the Defense,* Zhane warned.

*I can see that. What are they *doing*?*

*She says she's helping you,* he answered dryly.

*The next time I see her I'll show her "help"! Tell her to get those ships out of there!*

"Kerone wants to know how that's going to help," Zhane said aloud, trying to stay calm as the Defense ships burst through the first round of velocifighters and took out six of them on the first pass. The two green-tagged velocifighters sailed on, unchallenged.

"Def-10 and 11, break off," Linnse snapped. "Red group, finish off the first wave."

*Astrea, watch out!*

He heard her swear as the remaining four velocifighters were demolished. One of the Defense fighters turned on her, chasing her away from Saryn's ship, and suddenly another velocifighter wave was upon them. It swallowed up the two disguised starfighters, and the Defense ships found themselves fighting their way out of more than a dozen enemy vessels.

"Red group, retreat," Linnse ordered, and Zhane stared in amazement as the entire velocifighter round vanished from his tactical screen--taking the green-tagged ships with it.

"What happened?" Andros demanded, and Zhane reached out instinctively.

*Astrea?*

There was no answer. In front of the main screen, he saw Ashley punching the scanners up to maximum gain as she tried to locate the two ships.

Zhane glared across the Bridge at Linnse. "What did you do?"

"Dark Spectre's personal velocifighter squadrons can be teleported in and out of battle," Linnse answered, without looking up. "He can recall entire waves when they're threatened, and then put them back somewhere else, to give them the advantage of surprise."

TJ whistled. "Why doesn't he just use that all the time? Forward shields down 35 percent," he added, almost as an afterthought.

"It takes too much power," Linnse answered absently.

"Sixth wave is launching," Ashley cut in. "And--damn!"

Zhane looked at his tactical map, trying to see what Ashley had seen. "A seventh wave just *appeared*!" she exclaimed. "Dead starboard by sixty degrees!"

"That should be the squadron that just vanished," Linnse said, turning around in her chair. "The two starfighters will be with them. If your--if Kerone was quick enough, they should be unmanned and we can grab them and tow them in."

"Do it," Andros said, and TJ nodded once.

*Astrea?* Zhane tried again. He wasn't going to believe it until she answered him.

Her voice sounded annoyed when the reply finally came, but it filled him with relief. *What?* she demanded.

*You're all right.* He could almost see her roll her eyes and tilt her head back in that exasperated way she had, but it was all he could think of to say.

"Lowering aft shields," TJ reported, right on top of Ashley's warning of incoming fighters.

*We're on board,* she said, finally taking pity on him. *The wing went through some sort of shipboard transfer point, and I teleported Saryn and I out. The whole wing's gone now, though.*

The Megaship lurched as Andros threw it out of the way, trying to keep the velocifighters away from the brief gap in the shields. TJ didn't protest, though his task wasn't made any easier by the sudden gyration. "The starfighters are inside the shields," he said, one tense moment later.

*We've got your starfighters,* Zhane told her.

"DECA, bring them into the hangar bay," Andros said.

"What the--"

Zhane spun around at the panic in TJ's normally calm voice--but there was no one there. A wide-eyed Carlos met his gaze across the empty status station.

Without asking questions, Zhane jumped up and took over the abandoned station. "What *happened*?" Ashley asked, yanking her startled gaze back to the scanners.

"TJ's--gone," Carlos said, as though he couldn't quite believe it.

"What?!" Cassie still hadn't looked up from her display. She and Andros were the only two people on the Bridge who simply couldn't afford to. "Carlos, what are you talking about?"

This time, Zhane saw the shimmer from the corner of his eye. He saw Carlos lift his hands in front of his face, but even as he turned his head to get a better look the Black Ranger's form wavered, warping in some way he couldn't quite see before vanishing entirely.

"Carlos?" Cassie repeated, and Ashley looked up again.

"Dark Spectre must be teleporting us somehow," Zhane said, catching her eye. "Ash, see if you can detect some sort of residual energy--it's strong enough to get through the shields, so it must be leaving a trace."

"Right," she said, looking as scared as he'd ever seen her. But she turned back to her console and started entering commands.

"Run it against this," Linnse said suddenly. She must have pulled something from the scanner databanks, because Ashley exclaimed a moment later.

"It's the same as--"

Zhane saw Andros' head jerk up. "Ashley!" He grabbed for her arm as her form fluctuated. The shimmer drew him in, and they were gone.

*Andros!* Zhane cried.

Cassie slid into the pilot's seat. "The same as what?" she demanded of the air, and the whole world started to blur unsteadily. He heard Linnse's voice, not clearly enough to make out her answer, and then the Bridge disappeared.

17. Splinter Group

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Aquitian Rangers acknowledge," DECA interjected.

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

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

"Call your Earth Rangers."

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

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

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

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

"I suppose they have your morphers, then."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

*Kerone, can you link with Cassie?*

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Incoming," Linnse said unnecessarily.

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

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

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

*Don't give up.*

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Linnse's head snapped up. "What?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

He squeezed her hand. "Be safe."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

*Intruder alert,* she told him.

18. Battle Cry

"Megaship, this is Mega V1," a voice declared, interrupting the muted intership chatter of the Defense as it came over the comm system. Six very familiar zords appeared on the edge of her tactical map, dumping residual hyperrush velocity as they came screaming through the outer fringes of the fight. "The cavalry has arrived."

Cassie grinned at his cockiness in spite of herself, but there was no denying that she was glad to see them. The Aquitians' megazord transformation had taken them out of the fight for several long moments, and it had set to blasting through the lines of velocifighters surrounding Dark Spectre's ship immediately afterwards. Now it was wreaking havoc on a concentrated section of the shipboard defenses, leaving her and the Defense wing to hold their own against some very angry velocifighters.

"It's about time you got here, Mega V1," she said, counting on DECA to relay the message. "We didn't give you those zords so you could keep them in the garage."

"Didn't Dimitria teach you to play nice with people from outer space?" Rocky answered, slamming Mega V1 straight through one of the velocifighter waves.

"She must have forgotten the part about evil monarchs," Cassie said, admiring his "punch and see" strategy. It was funny, but he treated battle exactly the same way Andros did--she wondered if it was the zord. "DECA, can you send the our new shield specs to the Mega V zords?"

"I am sending that data now," DECA answered, and Cassie wondered if her reply was a little too quick for her to be only following orders. Andros had never told them what degree of free will the onboard computer had, though her ability to prank TJ suggested it was considerable.

"Dark Spectre can teleport through our shields," Cassie said, before Rocky could ask. "He got most of the team before we caught on--you're going to have to adjust your shields to keep it from happening to you, too."

"Are you the only one over there?" Rocky asked, sounding startled.

"I'm the only Ranger," Cassie said, shooting a sideways glance at Linnse. "Are the Defense ships showing up green on your displays?"

"*That's* who those are!" Justin's voice exclaimed. The Mega V zords' network enabled all six zords to listen in on each other's conversations. "Yeah, they're green. And they're good!"

"My shields are set," Rocky said. "What about the rest of you?"

Cassie heard the chorus of agreement, and she offered silent thanks that the Power had given the Mega V zords' pilots such a thorough understanding of the technology. This might work out after all.

"Hey, who invited *those* guys?" Justin's voice demanded suddenly.

Her tactical screen blipped a warning even as she registered the question, and she swore. Apparently Dark Spectre had decided it was time to stop fooling around. The vessels around Rysia were shifting, and this time it wasn't just a single battleship--the system's entire occupying force was converging on their battle.

"We can take them," Rocky said confidently. "These zords are amazing!"

*So is the Megaship,* Cassie thought. *But it's like being pecked to death by ducks.* No matter how many they destroyed, the velocifighters just kept coming, and the shields were rapidly approaching critical. Andros would kill her if anything happened to his ship.

"You were right about your friends," Linnse muttered, her voice just low enough to be below the level DECA would pick up and transmit. "They're not up to it."

Cassie glared at her, then realized she was studying the tactical readout on the main screen. Following her gaze, she had to admit that Linnse was right. The "Earth Rangers" simply weren't prepared--but the Power of their zords was doing a good job of making up for it.

"They can't help it," she said, returning most of her attention to the thruster controls. "The Power doesn't give you tactical training, just knowledge of your abilities."

"They have *no* battle strategy," Linnse complained, poking the Megalaser controls more viciously than she needed to.

"You can't expect them to," Cassie said, annoyed. She pushed the starboard thrusters hard, swinging the Megaship around on an intercept course with one of the incoming Rysian battleships. "V1 and V3 are the only ones who've even flown before, let alone fought outside an atmosphere."

"You certainly know how to pick your replacements," Linnse said dryly.

Cassie spared a glance for the main screen, watching three of the Mega V zords swarm the Rysian fleet. What they lacked in experience, they made up for with sheer armament, and they seemed to know it. The occupational fleet didn't give them a moment's pause. She could only hope they weren't overconfident.

"No!" Linnse exclaimed suddenly. The frustration in her tone was obvious as she raised her voice enough for DECA to pick it up and transmit it. "V2 and 6, coordinate your attack before you hit each other!"

There was a startled pause over the networked comm, and then Ali's uncertain voice replied, "What?"

The Rysian battleship opened fire, and Cassie waited past the last second to evade it. The lasers clipped the Megaship's starboard shielding, but the deliberate sluggishness of her maneuver served its purpose. She had a moment to look for Jeff and Ali as she waited for the battleship to take the bait.

"V2, break off!" Linnse snapped.

The imminent disaster crystallized in Cassie's mind even as she looked back at the scanner readouts on the battleship in front of her. "Jeff, do it!" she ordered, watching the battleship's weapons power up. She punched the thrusters to maximum and the Megaship sprang forward just as the other ship fired.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Mega V2 scramble out of the way half a second before it would have sailed into Ali's line of fire. "Linnse," she demanded, "Can you coordinate them?"

The battleship's lasers missed their mark when the Megaship was suddenly elsewhere, bearing down on its attacker at half of lightspeed and still accelerating. She had no time to spare for the Mega V zords, and Linnse did have the training. The question was whether she had the concentration.

"They'll have to do what I tell them," Linnse warned her, after a moment of what Cassie thought was a rather surprised silence.

As the other battleship tried frantically to evade what must look like a suicide run, the Megaship pulled up infinitesimally to scream past overhead. The Megalasers raked the ship from stem to stern, setting off a chain of explosions that followed the Megaship as it drew away.

*That answers the question of whether she can concentrate on both at once,* Cassie thought wryly. Raising her voice, she said, "Mega V1, I'm handing over command of the Mega Voyager zords."

"To who?" Rocky demanded, sounding suddenly worried. She probably thought she was going to leave him on his own, and she felt a flash of sympathy for the six Mega V pilots. She couldn't even remember what it had felt like to drive Windchaser for the first time.

"Her name's Linnse. She's a wing commander from Eltare." She didn't try to explain anything about the Frontier Defense, but she threw in the mention of Eltare because she knew Rocky had known Zordon. With any luck, invoking the planet's name would go a long way towards making him trust her.

She saw the Rysian battleship's power curve settle down around zero, and it blinked to orange on her tactical readout. An isolated green blip drew her eye then, and she was about to say something when Linnse beat her to it.

"Mega V4," Linnse said sharply. "Fall back."

"She knows what she's talking about," Cassie put in, wishing Linnse didn't always sound so confrontational. "I'll explain later, okay?"

"Right," Rocky agreed finally. "V4, do what she says."

The Megaship arced around as Linnse ordered V4 and 5 into flanking positions, and Cassie followed up on Rocky's initial attack on the Rysian fleet. Between the Megaship, the zords, and the half of the Defense wing that joined them, they dove hard into Dark Spectre's occupying fleet and started to push it back.

She made sure to keep an eye on the Aquitians as much as possible, but their megazord had made it through to the actual surface of Dark Spectre's ship already. It had latched on and hunkered down for the duration, weapons blazing as velocifighters buzzed around it. Its very location protected it from both Dark Spectre's weapons and the Rysian fleet, and she thought it would be ironic if the Aquitians ended up being the safest of any of them.

The shriek of shearing metal was barely distinguishable from the squealing clamor of the alarm, but Zhane could see the brightness of heated metal tracing an outline across the wall. When it reached its origin at last the light started to fade, and there was a brief pause.

Then, with a tremendous clang audible even over the sound of the intruder alert, a section of the bulkhead exploded outward. He had been expecting it, they all had, but he couldn't help flinching as the twisted metal burst forward. He felt a little better when he saw Astrea start, too.

Cestria stepped through first, as calmly as though she was walking through one of the portals on her own world. She pressed her fingertips together and nodded quickly as she moved forward, not seeming to expect any acknowledgement from them. She gestured over her shoulder, and Aura appeared beside her.

"Five decks down," Astrea said, not bothering to greet them. "This place will probably be under siege in a few minutes; teleporting may be the only way to get there and back in time."

Cestria nodded. "We will accompany you while our teammates hold this location."

He saw Cetaci step forward to stand with them just as Astrea turned to Saryn. Something must have passed between them, because Saryn shook his head. "I have never teleported more than one other person at a time."

"I can do it," Astrea said. "Everyone will have to stand close together, though; we won't have much room when we arrive."

It must be Andros' mental picture of the prison that she was planning to use to teleport them. She couldn't be as calm as she looked--he knew she would rather rely on her own memory, and she had mentioned her fear of "teleporting blind" to him before. But she seemed perfectly composed, and he stepped closer without question.

"There is no need for you to go this time," he heard an Aquitian voice say, and he saw Astrea glance over at them impatiently.

Cetaci was frowning at Delphinius, barely visible in the shadows of the inside of the hull. The Black Aquitian Ranger had gone so far as to catch her arm, physically preventing her from joining Cestria and Aura. "I will go because it is my duty," she told him.

"I want Cetaci to come," Cestria interrupted. "She and Aura are best suited to this."

"Aura is," Delphinius agreed. "It is no longer Cetaci's responsibility, as you yourself pointed out. She would be of more use to us here."

Zhane saw the White Ranger stiffen at that. "It is not your place to tell me where I am needed," she informed him. "I will go."

"You won't," he told her firmly.

"We do not have time for this squabble," Cestria said, sounding as annoyed as Astrea looked.

"Then let her stay here," Delphinius protested. "Surely there is no reason for all three of you to go."

"It is *not* your decision," Cetaci said coldly.

"It isn't yours, either," he retorted, and Zhane was just short of leaving them *all* when something he had never thought to see happened. Cestria exploded.

"Stop it!" she shouted. "Do you have any idea how *childish* you sound? If the two of you do not stop this ridiculous bickering, then I will invoke my authority as leader and Billy, Aura and I will replace you *both*!"

A sparkling curtain of violet fell across his vision, so familiar that he knew what was happening immediately. Astrea had never had any patience for other people's fights. When she knew what had to be done, she didn't permit argument.

The prison reformed around him, and he tried to repress a shudder. It was true that he hadn't wanted them to take Andros away. But it was also true that his friend's presence had been the only thing keeping him calm in the dark, enclosed space. The threat of losing his company had been too much to take.

Andros and Ashley were leaning against each other, sitting back to back in a cell meant for one. Andros' eyes locked with Zhane's as soon as he appeared, and the look of utter relief on his face was unmistakable. Next to them, Carlos stopped pacing and TJ looked up from his place on the floor.

"Well," the Blue Ranger drawled, getting to his feet even as Ashley and Andros scrambled up. "If this is what interrogation looks like these days, I'll take it."

There was a sound like static electricity followed by a loud crunch, as though a rock had been wrapped in cellophane and used to smash a milk jug. The force-shielding on the cell bars flickered unsteadily and then vanished altogether, and Zhane turned in time to see Astrea unclenching her fist. The control panel by the door looked like it had imploded.

Saryn was staring at her. "Was that necessary?" he asked mildly.

She only held up her left hand, and her staff shimmered into existence. "Stand back," was all she said.

They all complied, and she turned it on the first of the electronic cell locks. Ashley flinched as the violet electricity sliced the lock in half, an explosive fission that Astrea went on to repeat twice more.

Andros pushed the door open as soon as she moved on. Carlos kicked his open, with more force than was probably necessary. "On my list of good places to spend Sunday afternoon, Dark Spectre's prison was somewhere between the middle of the sun and the dentist's office."

"Everyone get close together," Astrea ordered, yanking TJ's door open for him. "We don't have much time." She glared at Cestria and Cetaci as she said that, and Zhane rolled his eyes as Cetaci glared right back at her. The White Ranger was irrepressible.

They shuffled closer together, Zhane reaching out to cross wrists with Andros as his friend joined him. Ashley reached out to squeeze his shoulder, and he smiled at her as Astrea took her place in front of them.

She kept her staff this time, resting it against the floor and gesturing impatiently with her right hand. Zhane expected her flourish to signal their teleportation, but nothing happened. He waited a few more seconds, but still they stood motionless inside the prison facility.

When Astrea turned around, he knew something was drastically wrong. Her words only confirmed it. "Magical teleportation has been locked down."

She glanced at Saryn, and he reached for his ruby. Seconds later, though, he shook his head. "Mine as well. We will have to go on foot."

Astrea didn't hesitate. "We'll stay belowdecks as long as possible?"

He nodded. "Should anyone get separated and have to make their way alone, the Aquitian megazord is five levels up in that direction." Saryn turned and pointed, as though it would do them any good through the walls. "We will have to make our way to the end of this corridor and turn right until we come to a junction that will take us straight up. At the fifth level, take the right corridor of the junction and continue until you reach the megazord."

"It's hard to miss," Zhane put in, unable to resist. "It's right behind the huge gaping hole with scorch marks around it."

"Yes," Saryn agreed, not looking at him. "They burned through the hull, so when the megazord leaves, that corridor will become a vacuum. It is imperative we are all onboard."

"I think we've got that part, Saryn," Zhane told him, trying desperately not to fidget. "Let's go."

Saryn caught his eye this time, and Zhane almost thought he saw sympathy in the other's eyes. "Agreed," was all he said.

"Kerone?" Andros said, regarding the destroyed control panel. "I think you'll be opening the door for us."

Zhane expected her to heft her staff again, but instead, she just stepped closer to the panel and put her hand over it. There was a moment's pause, and then the door slid open without complaint.

Three fur-covered, fang-toothed aliens stood waiting for them. The corridor behind the creatures was filled quantrons, a good half of them armed with their trademark serrated Q-blades.

On the Megaship, Cassie looked up. Dread swept through her, battering at her focus and threatening all rational thought. It was her own dread, not his, but he was the cause nonetheless. She knew that sudden feeling of intense concentration all too well.

She glanced over at Linnse. The other woman had paused as well, alerted by Cassie's sudden hesitation. "Something's wrong," she said, her eyes drawn irresistibly back toward the tactical map.

The nearest of the cat creatures backhanded Kerone with enough force to knock her to the floor. Her staff clattered across the metal deck, vanishing into a violet sparkle. She swung her arm around with a growl, letting loose an electric fireball from the palm of her hand.

The cat creature staggered back, but the other two brought their weapons to bear and Carlos reached for his morpher. His wrist was bare, but an energy blast from somewhere to his left announced Saryn's transformation. His first shot vaporized one of the cat creature's weapons, and Carlos heard Aura and Cetaci call on the Power simultaneously.

Cestria was only a second behind them, and the four morphed Rangers opened fire on the force beyond the doors. He scrambled out of line of sight from the doors, saw Zhane yell at Kerone to move, and winced as the cat creatures bombarded the opening with laser fire.

Kerone didn't back down, climbing to her feet to stand with the four Rangers. Staff back in her hand, she marched forward--straight past the other Rangers and out into the hallway. Somehow the weapons didn't touch her, and she struck one of the cat creature's weapons out of his hands with her own staff.

Saryn and Cetaci were right behind her, and the quantrons surged forward. *This is ridiculous,* Carlos thought, grabbing a quantron as it slipped through the doorway and slamming it up against the wall. The energy weapons were losing their effectiveness in the increasingly confined space, and none of the Astro Rangers were going to hide while the others fought for them.

As though Andros had read his mind, he and Zhane threw themselves into the fray. Someone had disabled the last cat creature's weapon, but the things had teeth for a reason and the quantrons' blades were just as much of a threat--more, with their massive numbers.

He didn't know exactly when the quantrons had the morphed Rangers surrounded, but they weren't just slipping through the sides anymore. There was no time for anything but punch, duck and react as he tried to hold his own against the flood of armored soldiers.

Metallic arms snaked around his neck from behind and he shoved himself backward, slamming the quantron against the prison wall. The arms did not let go, and another quantron spun toward him with its Q-blade raised. He grabbed the arms around his neck and was getting ready to whirl when the quantron evaporated into a flash of light.

Ashley appeared as he lurched forward, throwing the quantron over his shoulder. The clang as it impacted with the floor was drowned out by the echoes of fighting around them, and Carlos tried not to flinch at the weapon Ashley held in both hands.

"Present from Kerone!" she shouted over the clamor, hefting one of the cat creature's energy weapons. "Duck!"

He followed her order without question, and the rush of energy overhead made him glad he had. He spun, just in time to see the flash of vaporized quantron fade into the prison's prevailing shadows. "Does that thing have any setting other than vaporize?" he yelled, flinging another quantron against the bars of a nearby cell.

"Does it need one?" Ashley demanded, her back pressing against his as she brought her weapon to bear on another of the metallic soldiers.

"Rangers!" The cat creature's screech penetrated the melee, and Carlos' eye was drawn to it as it lifted a hand-like appendage over its head. "You will not triumph so easily!"

*Triumph?* Carlos thought, smashing his fist into a quantron's chest. *I'd settle for surviving, myself.*

He felt Ashley shift, right shoulder hitting his left as she swung her heavy weapon around. A quantron tumbled out of her way, propelled by a black blur that could only be Zhane, and the deadly discharge of the cat creature's own weapon vaporized it before it could finish its declaration.

The object in its hand, released before Ashley's shot struck the creature and rendered it nothing more than a harmless flash of light, continued its fall to the floor. It struck the metal deck with a tremendous burst of sound and not much more--until Carlos saw four colored flares sparkle through the midst of the battle.

"They're demorphing!" Ashley exclaimed, slamming the barrel of her weapon into a quantron's helmet.

That was impossible; he knew it could never happen. But the two red flashes were side by side, and when the energy faded from Aura and Saryn their Ranger uniforms were gone. He swore as Saryn fell to his knees, cut off from the Power that kept him alive, and the expression of utter despair on his normally calm features leapt out at Carlos through the surrounding chaos.

The blunt side of a quantron's Q-blade caught him in the neck, just above the shoulder, and Saryn crumpled to the floor. As the quantron lifted its weapon again, though, Aura was there to shove it off of him, sending the quantron staggering back with a violent kick to its chest.

"Carlos!" Ashley's shout was punctuated by the roar of her weapon, and it occurred to him to wonder how she could stand the repeated recoil. "We have to get out into the hallway!"

"There's more of them out there!" he yelled back, feeling her take a step away from him anyway.

"We have to!" she repeated, and he followed her lead as she started to edge toward the doorway. Then Andros was there, repeating Ashley's instruction to get out as he whirled under her weapon and closed up their loosening defense.

"What about Saryn!" Carlos ducked another blow and plowed into a quantron, football-style, driving it away from his teammates. Andros' answer was lost in the noise behind him, and as he and the quantron slammed up against the bars he felt the mechanical being deactivate.

With the bars at his back he turned, scanning the fight again. Aura was crouched at Saryn's side, a snarl in place of her usually placid expression as one of the cat creatures approached. She launched herself at it with little regard for style or strategy, and Carlos could only watch in horror as it raked its overlong teeth across her shoulder.

He lashed out, narrowly avoiding a quantron to which he had not been paying attention as he pushed away from the cell bars. He jabbed another in the gut and had time to look up as a figure in black appeared behind the cat creature he had his sights set on.

Cetaci lifted a Q-blade over her shoulder, driving it down onto the creature's back even as Aura went limp in its arms. The Red Aquitian Ranger tumbled to the ground as the cat creature screeched in pain, and Cetaci slammed the Q-blade home again.

Carlos threw himself to the floor beside Aura, feeling his skin tingle as an arc of violet electricity shot past overhead. Kerone's staff knocked a quantron away from them as Cetaci dropped down next to Aura. An Astro flight suit materialized on Saryn's other side, joining Kerone in their defense, but Carlos was too distracted to be sure who it was.

"The fangs must have been poisoned," Cetaci shouted at him over the sound of battle. She pulled her fingers away from Aura's wrist and pressed her fists against the Red Ranger's chest. "Do you know how to breathe for her?"

He nodded mutely as she began what could only be the Aquitian version of CPR. "Do it!" she ordered, not pausing, and he tilted Aura's head back and pressed his mouth to hers.

He could hear the distant crackle of Kerone's staff, and he knew the noise in the room was no less than it had been before. But the body he and Cetaci labored over was so still, so bereft of the energy and spirit that had made it *Aura*, that its silence filled his mind to the exclusion of all else.

Cetaci was saying something to her fallen teammate, but he heard nothing. He forced himself to concentrate on the steady intake and exhale, breathing for both of them for as long as Cetaci would try.

As unaware as he was of anything but the flow of air through his lungs he almost didn't see Cetaci pause, catching Aura's wrist again as the girl twitched feebly. Aura rolled her head to one side, gasping as he let her go and caught up almost immediately in a coughing fit.

Kerone's voice was the first thing to penetrate his returning awareness, and he heard her yelling the same thing Ashley had been telling him earlier. "We have to get out of here!"

Cetaci pressed her palms to Aura's chest, and a glow swirled around her hands. The White Ranger seemed to wilt as the light faded, and Carlos reached for her instinctively.

"I'm fine," she said, yanking her hands away. She fumbled for the Q-blade she had dropped and lifted her gaze to his. "Can you carry her?"

"Yeah," he said, glancing down at Aura. She was lighter than she looked, as he knew from the countless times they'd helped each other in and out of zord cockpits, and she was clearly in no condition to walk. "No problem."

"Then let's go," Cetaci said, struggling to her feet. He said nothing when he saw her lean on her Q-blade to help her up, knowing she wouldn't appreciate his questions even if they had time for them.

He slid a hand under Aura's shoulders and another beneath her knees, gathering her in his arms as he levered himself up off the deck. Kerone covered for him, electric purple lightning bolts radiating outward as the group was herded toward the door. At last he caught a glimpse of TJ, carrying Saryn's unconscious form, with Cetaci and her stolen blade at his side.

As they fought their way to the door, Kerone and Cetaci were forced to defend all six of them--but the quantrons were somehow less vicious than they had been before. Blades were missing their targets, and punches seemed confused. The phenomenon baffled him, until it occurred to him that he was finally seeing Kerone's magic from the inside.

"Keep moving!" Kerone ordered, as they passed through the door and got a firsthand look at the carnage in the hallway. There weren't enough disabled quantrons to account for the number he had seen when the doors first opened, but it was impressive nonetheless.

The pounding of metal boots from the direction Saryn had told them to take made him hesitate, despite Kerone's insistence and the sound of Cetaci's blade humming behind them. He caught TJ's eye and knew that the other Ranger had heard it too. "Uh, Kerone?"

"Back *up*!" she snapped. He turned, to see Cetaci holding the doorway as best she could while Kerone concentrated all her focus into the glowing sphere in her palm. "Cetaci, move!"

The White Ranger threw herself aside, and the quantrons surged forward--just as Kerone tossed her miniature firebomb at them. The concussive force of the explosion knocked her to the floor and sent Carlos staggering backwards, but it blew a hole in the quantrons' ranks like nothing he had ever seen.

Kerone was scrambling to her feet even as the source of the footsteps made itself clear. An entire troop of quantrons came around the corner, coming from the same direction the others must have taken and effectively cutting off the only escape route.

At least, the only one Carlos was aware of. Kerone grabbed Cetaci's arm to help her up and gestured impatiently down the corridor in the other direction. "Go!"

He went, with TJ on his heels and Kerone and Cetaci right behind them.

The light stabbed at her eyes and she jerked upright, aware only of the roaring in her ears and the panic that was urging her to her feet. Something held her back, kept her from moving, and she struggled, casting about for context as she tried desperately to remember where she was.

"It's all right," she heard someone saying. "Hold still." For another endless second, she couldn't place the voice, the lights around her, or the noise coming from so nearby.

Then familiarity adjusted the focus of her eyes, turning the unrecognizable objects into the Bridge of the Megaship. She relaxed, letting the hands press her back against her chair as she fought for some memory of what had just happened.

"Cassie?" The same voice that had spoken before sounded wary, but the grip on her arms loosened a little.

She blinked, wondering why that sounded strange. She turned her head and almost pulled away, startled to see Linnse crouched beside her chair. Only then did she realize that it was the first time the other woman had called her by name.

"Yeah," she mumbled, straightening up as Linnse let go of her. "What happened?"

"I was hoping you were going to tell me," Linnse said, her tone dry. "The Defense wing is covering for us, but you were totally unresponsive for a few seconds there. Do you remember?"

Cassie frowned, lifting her hand to her neck absently. She gazed without seeing at the tactical map on the main screen, trying to remember what could have made her black out like that.

Her hand froze, and her eyes widened as she stared at it. "Saryn," she whispered. "They separated him from the Power."

"They took his ruby?" Linnse demanded.

She shook her head. "No... I don't think so. I'm not sure." She hesitated, but her concentration was an exercise in futility. "I can't feel him anymore. He must be unconscious."

"Like you," Linnse murmured, obviously frustrated. "I don't know how long he can survive without the Power."

"Me neither," Cassie admitted, rubbing her neck again. She didn't want to tell Linnse that he wasn't unconscious because of that. It must have been the trauma of the blow that made her black out, especially with their thoughts as close as they had been at the time. "That is the *last* time he goes into battle without me."

Linnse gave her a small, preoccupied smile. "I said the same thing, once."

She bit her lip, watching Linnse take her place at the weapons' console again. "I'm--sorry," she offered, not sure what else to say. "I... I know what it's like to not have him."

Linnse snorted. "It's not like that. But I find it funny you can say that, considering the way he's been fawning over you nonstop for the last two weeks."

Cassie tried not to blush, remembering the three-way conversation of the night before. Though it had been heaven at the time, that was as close as he had ever come to "fawning" in the presence of others. She could count on one hand the number of times he had kissed her in public.

"I met him more than a year ago," she said quietly.

Linnse looked up. "What?" she asked, her expression startled.

"See?" Cassie said, trying to smile. "He never even mentioned me, did he. We barely spoke until about a month ago, but still... I wonder if he would have ever said anything, if you hadn't seen us together after the battle at Aquitar."

"It isn't you. It's him," Linnse muttered. "He's never been very forthcoming about his feelings."

"You noticed that too, huh?" Cassie asked gingerly, trying to prompt another small smile from her.

Linnse gave her a sharp look. "We've been friends for years; of *course* I noticed. I may not love him the way you do, but he's my responsibility."

Cassie frowned, too surprised by her choice of words to retort that she had only been making a joke. "What do you mean, your 'responsibility'?"

Linnse turned back to her console. "Nothing. Can your computer--"

"Linnse, wait," Cassie insisted. "What did you mean?"

Linnse sighed. "You're as bad as I am." Before she could question *that* comparison, the other woman said, "Look, you know about Elisia."

Since she seemed to be waiting for an answer, Cassie nodded.

"Then you know I was the one who brought him back. I made him stay behind when his teammates went on. He was their *leader*; he never should have been separated from all of them. But at the time I didn't know Jenna wasn't going to make it."

Cassie's eyes widened. "What? But--Jenna died on Elisia!"

Linnse shifted uncomfortably. "That's what we told him. She didn't survive the trip to Eltare, but I didn't find that out until later. And it didn't seem right to tell him how long she was alive... afterward."

Cassie swallowed. "No," she agreed at last. "You did the right thing."

"Did I?" Linnse didn't look at her. "He would have died if it wasn't for me. He *wanted* to die. It wasn't my decision to make."

"Don't say that," Cassie told her fiercely. "He was meant to live. He had to."

"But don't you see?" Linnse finally turned on her, her eyes strangely bright. "He *didn't* live! He never felt anything after that, never wanted anything except what we wanted! It was like his spirit died with his teammates, and he was just counting the days until he joined them!"

"That's not true!" Cassie shouted, ignoring the tears that stung her eyelids. "He wanted to live--not right away, but he did! He told me!"

"You're fooling yourself," Linnse shot back. "I was *there*; I know. He didn't care about anything."

"But he's changed," Cassie insisted, trying to force herself to calm down. She was instinctively reacting to Linnse's intensity, and it wouldn't do any good to let the woman provoke her like this. "He's not the same person he was then. He *does* care now."

"Maybe," Linnse muttered. "But I thought you were his way of giving up. I didn't know about your link. I thought he revealed himself to you because he *wanted* you to betray him, because he's somehow survived every fight he's gotten himself into and he was trying to find some other way to escape this life."

"No," Cassie said, back on sure footing at last. "He loves me. There's nothing you can do to convince me he doesn't."

"Oh, he loves you," Linnse agreed readily. "I thought that was his mistake. To convince you, he would have had to show *some* feeling, and as soon as he did he wouldn't be able to just turn it off again. But if he had picked you because he thought you would turn on him, the fact that *his* feelings were suddenly real wouldn't stop you."

"I'd never hurt him," Cassie said calmly. "Not knowingly. Not ever."

Linnse studied her for a moment. "I believe you," she said at last. "I really do. I didn't know it was even possible to empathically link with a human, but you wouldn't know what he was feeling if it wasn't."

"Def-1 to Megaship," a male voice interjected, and Cassie looked up in surprise. She could be wrong, but it sounded as though DECA had amplified that transmission to get their attention.

"Computer, unmute the audio," Linnse ordered.

"Her name is DECA," Cassie murmured, and Linnse glanced at her.

"Audio link reestablished," DECA replied.

"This is the Megaship," Cassie said automatically.

"Thanks for watching our backs, Def-1," Linnse added. "We're ready to go again."

"Good," the wing commander answered. "We're going to need you. Dark Spectre's reinforcements just arrived."

Staring at the tactical screen, Cassie could see that for herself. The Parikat fleet was bearing down on them from the edge of the Rysian system.

They paused at the corridor junction, and Kerone seemed to consider for a moment before gesturing. "This way."

Carlos hoped she was only conferring with one of the others when she hesitated, rather than actually being unsure. He'd hate to get lost on a ship like this, especially with quantrons right behind them--they only had one chance to get it right.

"I can--" Aura caught his attention before he could take off after the others, and she struggled against him. "I can run faster than you can carry me."

She sounded like her normal self, but she still didn't look very good to him. He would have refused, but she was impossible to hold when she wanted to stand on her own. Reluctantly, he let her legs slide to the floor, keeping his arm around her shoulders just in case.

She took one step forward. He was so busy making sure she didn't stumble that she had to drag *him* back when a crackle of energy sliced across the hallway in front of them. The glowing forcefield stretched from wall to wall--with the others on the other side.

"Kerone!" he shouted, but she had already turned around. She motioned to TJ to keep going as she and Cetaci started back, and he heard the snap as another forcefield sprang up further down the hall.

She stopped in her tracks, glancing over her shoulder. He thought he heard her mutter something, but her next words were perfectly clear. "They're sealing the prison level! Everybody go up, fast--we'll meet on the next deck and go from there."

"Come on," Aura said, darting for the ladder on their side of the junction. A field sprang up on the other side of it, and he needed no more urging.

He scrambled up the ladder right behind her, pulling himself out into the darker corridor above. The intruder alert stopped abruptly, and the ringing in his ears was easily audible in the sudden silence. They exchanged glances.

"That can't be good," Carlos muttered.

A snap from right next to his feet made him jump, and he stared in horror as the portal they had climbed through was filled with a luminescent forcefield. He stepped forward, hoping to get a glimpse around the corner and find the others--just as another forcefield sprang up to meet the ceiling inches in front of his face.

"We have to keep going," Aura said. "They must be starting on the lowest level and working their way up."

He waited for her to ascend, climbing quickly after her as she disappeared. "Well," he said, trying to be optimistic, "at least the quantrons can't follow us anymore."

Aura didn't answer, and as he followed her through the opening in the deck he knew why. Quantron visors glittered down at him as soon as he lifted his head.

19. Crosshairs

She hung on as the viewscreen's image spun before her, turning the scene over and over until she couldn't remember which way had been "up" before she lost control. It was an eerie feeling to know that it didn't really matter, to know her "upside-down" could be another ship's "rightside-up" in the blink of an eye.

But it mattered to *her* that she keep track, and for the first few seconds she had tried. Then the Megaship, which she had been using as a reference point, banked sharply and didn't come out of the half-roll as it took off in a new direction. With it at a ninety-degree angle to what she had been calling "up", she found herself completely confused.

After that, she had tried to use her own zord for reference. Her "up" was *the* "up", and everyone else was wrong. Rocky must have been used to that system as well, for all his instructions were based on individual zord orientation. When he wanted someone to go somewhere, he told them in terms of *their* right, left, up and down. She had no idea how he kept track, but she was grateful.

That had worked for a little while, until Linnse started giving them orders. She didn't know who Linnse *was*, exactly, but she rattled off numbers as though they were supposed to mean something and used words that made sense only in the abstract. Finally, to everyone's relief, Cassie had intervened, and told Linnse to follow Rocky's system of directions.

Now even that was gone. The Megaship had stop responding more than a minute ago, and she hadn't realized how much she had been depending on Linnse's voice until it was gone. Without that calm and obviously experienced instruction, she felt more alone than she had since they had entered hyperspace and left Earth behind.

At the time, she had at least been able to see the other Mega V zords via the interface. She knew the other pilots only as acquaintances, or as the friend of a friend, but they had all been in pretty much the same situation. Now they were spread across half the inner solar system, isolated from each other and caught up in the fight of their lives.

She didn't know how TJ did it. She really didn't. This wasn't just playing at some computer game; this was the real thing. If they failed, or if their zords somehow failed, they would be so much spacedust in a matter of seconds. They weren't even fighting on Earth, where at least the environment was friendly. One wrong move out here, and she could kill herself as surely as the enemy could.

"Mega V5," Rocky's voice broke into the panic she was trying to suppress. "What's your status?"

She glared at the stars still spinning across the forward screen. She had been told their comm transmissions weren't secure, and she really didn't want to broadcast her disabled thruster to the rest of the ships out there. The zord's self-repair systems assured her it would be back online in a matter of seconds, but that was plenty of time for one of those velocifighters to zero in on her.

She settled for, "Not good." Tempted as she was to repeat Han Solo's smart-alecky, "Out of control and blind as a bat," she decided Rocky wouldn't necessarily appreciate the attempt at humor.

"Not technical enough, V5," a new voice broke in. She flinched as a silver point of light on her forward screen grew into a rapidly rotating starfighter in less than a second, flashing out of the sky toward her and arrowing past overhead. Or at least, it was rightside-up when it vanished off her screen.

She glanced down at her tactical map automatically, trying to find out where it had gone, and her eyes widened. In the time she had frozen, a velocifighter triad had come up behind her while she did absolutely nothing--no wonder Rocky had asked about her "status". *Don't think,* she reminded herself, repeating Linnse's earlier words. *Just react.*

"My right thruster's out," she said, doing her best to fire the other one in some sort of pattern. Trying to bring her zord under control was the first thing she should have done when that battleship's lasers had hit her, but the dizzying motion of the stars had paralyzed her. She was lucky Rocky had been paying more attention than she had.

"Repairable?" the unfamiliar voice asked, and she saw two of the velocifighters disappear from her tactical map. The green dot that was her rescuer spun around and came back for another pass even as the last velocifighter opened fire.

The stars, having slowed their rate of spin to something more manageable, wavered sideways as the velocifighter's weapons struck her shields. Then the silver ship was back and the velocifighter vanished from her map, taking the flashing red outline around the map with it.

"Yeah, I think so," she said. "I have... eight seconds left on self-repair."

"Good," the voice answered. The starfighter settled into position beside her, obviously intending to wait until her thruster was back online. The pilot said nothing about her inability to completely stop the zord's spin, but she couldn't help feeling frustrated at her lack of control.

Finally her thruster display turned green again, and her right thruster came back with a violent flare that not only stopped her spin but sent her zord tumbling in the other direction. She lowered the power output hastily, chastising herself for forgetting, and the zord finally stabilized.

"Thruster back online?" the voice remarked mildly, and she felt her cheeks turn red.

"Yes, thanks," she said. The tag on her tactical map said "Def-1", but she couldn't bring herself to use the odd-sounding label. "Thanks for the save."

"You're welcome, V5," the starfighter pilot replied, and it veered off to rejoin the battle.

Her zord followed more slowly, and she kept a close eye on her tactical map this time. Then she heard the same voice, a little fainter this time as it spoke over the fighters' intership channel instead of the zords' personal comm frequency. "Def-1 to Megaship," he was saying urgently.

She caught her breath as Cassie's voice came back at last, answering his hail. "This is the Megaship."

Linnse's voice was right behind her, but Tessa only had a few seconds to feel relief. Her computer chimed a polite warning at her, and her nav display zoomed out abruptly. A massive cluster of red dots was moving steadily across the dotted line representing the "edge" of the Rysian solar system.

This time, Cassie's voice came across on the zords' frequency. "Aquitian megazord, this is the Megaship. Please respond."

The answer was immediate, though the voice was as unfamiliar as those on the fighters' channel. "Aquitian megazord. What's your status?"

"The Parikat fleet just arrived," Cassie said grimly. "We need you as soon as possible."

Tessa's tactical map started to flash again, and she stared at it in dismay as another group of velocifighters got a target lock on her zord. Then Linnse's sharp voice was back, overriding the conversation as the computer sorted the comm by channel, source and destination. "Mega V5, don't just sit there. V4, back her up."

She gave her head a shake, letting the Power's instincts take over. She threw her zord out of the way, scanning the network screen for Emily's vector as she followed Linnse's order. V4 was coming in from behind and "below" the velocifighters, right in their visual blind spot. They scattered as her weapons penetrated their formation, and Tessa swung around to help.

It was somehow easier to fight when you were doing it with someone else, she thought. She wondered if TJ and his friends had noticed the same thing.

"Ashley! Come on!"

She heard a shuffle and then a clang as Andros slammed another quantron up against the wall, and she ducked instinctively at the whisper of air behind her. She grabbed for the arm as it shot past overhead, yanking the quantron off its feet and levering it over her shoulder to impact with the floor. "What about the others?" she demanded, fighting the urge to turn back.

The sound of running footsteps made her spin, arms up in a defensive posture, and she caught sight of Zhane coming up behind her. "Astrea says go!" he shouted, reaching for her hand as he caught up with her. "They'll catch up! Come on!"

She braced her weapon over one shoulder and ran with him, letting him pull her down the corridor after Andros and Cestria. "Down to the end of the hall!" Andros said, slamming his foot into another quantron.

It was Ashley's turn to yank Cestria with them as the Aquitian hesitated, looking back down the hallway toward the prison entrance. "If Kerone says they'll catch up, they will! Let's go!"

The other Yellow Ranger nodded her understanding, and Ashley motioned to Zhane. He pulled Cestria around the corner as Ashley slowed. Turning around, she let the barrel of her weapon fall into her right hand as she waited for Andros.

He elbowed a quantron with enough force to shove it into one of its fellows, then turned and made a break for it himself. She pulled the trigger of the weapon Kerone had thrust into her hands earlier, feeling it slam against her left shoulder as she fired. The widebeam energy disintegrated two quantrons before Andros caught up with her, and she fired once more before turning to follow him.

Zhane was waiting at the end of the hallway with Cestria, and Andros waved at them to go on as soon as they were in sight. Behind them, Ashley could hear the quantrons coming, over their fear of her cover fire already and eager to make up for their momentary lapse.

The junction Saryn had mentioned was right around the corner, and she saw Zhane disappearing up the ladder even as they arrived. She turned around again, bracing herself to fire as soon as the quantrons appeared. Andros scrambled up the ladder without argument, and she got off a couple of shots as the metallic army swarmed around the corner.

"Ashley!" Andros yelled from overhead, and she looked up to see him already on the next deck. She swung the heavy weapon against her shoulder again and grabbed hold of the ladder, not looking forward to climbing with it.

She was only two rungs up when she felt the weight begin to lift. Andros grabbed the barrel and took the weapon from her, reaching back for her hand a moment later. The clang of a Q-blade on the ladder below made her flinch, and suddenly Zhane's hands were on her other arm and the two were forcibly hauling her through the opening.

Then the roar of her weapon burst through the sound of Q-blades, and Ashley slumped against the wall as she watched Cestria fire through the opening. *Like shooting fish in a barrel,* she thought, her breath labored as her lungs tried to catch up with the rest of her body. She had a moment to decide that the metaphor might not have been the best one she could have chosen, considering who was doing the shooting, and then Andros' arm was around her and she was hugging him back as hard as she could.

"Are you okay?" she murmured, struggling to draw a breath as he let her go. He nodded wordlessly, pressing his forehead to hers before pulling away.

Then Zhane's arm was around her shoulders, squeezing her briefly before turning to Cestria. "Want me to do that?" he offered. "We can switch off; the recoil on that thing must be terrible."

"Worse than terrible," Ashley put in fervently. "I feel like my arms are going to fall off."

"I can do it," Cestria said firmly, down on one knee beside the ladder. With her vision focused over the barrel of the weapon she didn't even look up, just kept pulling the trigger as soon as the power indicator flashed green. The weapon took almost two full seconds to recharge between each shot, but she was eliminating the metal soldiers one by one.

Ashley took a moment to glance up and down the hallway they now found themselves in before dropping to a crouch and leaning back against the wall. "Are the others even going to be able to get through here?" she asked, not really expecting an answer. "If the quantrons are blocking the hallway..."

Andros knelt beside her, resting his hands lightly on his knees and clearly ready to jump up again in a second. "That's my line," he said, between blasts from Cestria's weapon.

She cocked her head at him, puzzled.

"Always looking on the bright side, you said," he reminded her, and she smiled a little.

"That's right," she agreed. "You were too late. I beat you to it."

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Zhane glance over at them. She looked up to wink at him, but stopped when she saw his eyes widen. Dropping to the deck on Andros' other side, he grabbed his friend's hand. It was scratched and bloody, perhaps moreso than most of their hands, but it didn't seem to warrant the look of horror Zhane was giving him.

The rush of the weapon faded, and there was relative quiet for a couple of seconds. It was long enough for Zhane to demand, "Andros, tell me those aren't teeth marks."

She looked down at Andros' hand again, but she saw him shake his head. In the next pause he said, "No; claws. Why?"

She could see Zhane sigh with relief, though she couldn't hear it. "Aura got bitten by one of those cat things," he said, letting Andros' hand fall. "The teeth were poisoned."

"Is she all right?" Ashley asked, alarmed, and she saw Cestria pause for the first time.

"Yeah," Zhane said quickly, including Cestria in his glance this time. "She stopped breathing, but Cetaci and Carlos revived her. They're on their way now."

Cestria nodded, firing once more before sitting back a little ways from the hole. "The quantrons have retreated," she said, looking over at them again. "I do not know if it is because they were summoned back, or--"

"If they just got tired of you taking potshots at them," Zhane finished. "Let's hope it's the second."

There was a tense silence for a few moments, and Ashley could feel the waiting like a tangible thing, pressing down on them and stifling further conversation. It was Zhane who broke it, though not with actual words. The Silver Ranger tensed, his fingers curling into a fist as he slammed his hand against the floor.

"It wasn't the second," he said, when Andros shot a questioning look at him. "The quantrons were called back when the others broke out. They can't get to us; Astrea's taking them another way."

"Is everyone all right?" Ashley asked.

He hesitated, glancing at Cestria again. "She says Aura seems okay, but Saryn's still unconscious."

"We'll have to meet them at the megazord," Andros said, getting to his feet and offering his uninjured hand to Ashley. "Four more decks--is everyone going to make it?"

Ashley nodded, trying not to wince as she rolled her shoulders. "It's when we *stop* moving that I'm going to be in trouble," she said wryly, and Andros grinned at her.

"Know the feeling," Zhane agreed, as he put his hands on the ladder and started up.

"Hey, Zhane," Ashley said, watching him climb. "That cat guy didn't hurt you, did he?"

"Other than the fact that I wish I could have ripped his stupid tail off?" Zhane pulled himself off the ladder and turned around to peer down at her as she followed. "Nope. Why?"

"Not at all?" she persisted, climbing off the ladder as he moved out of the way. When he shook his head, she crouched down by the opening and held her hand out to Cestria. The Aquitian passed the weapon up before following herself, and Ashley stood up again. "Take this," she told Zhane, offering the heavy object to him.

He reached out to grab it with his left hand. She pulled it back, narrowing her eyes. "With your other hand."

He hesitated a moment, and she sighed. "Andros, tell Zhane to stop being stupid and admit when he's hurt."

Andros poked his head through the opening between decks and repeated, "Zhane, stop being stupid and admit when you're hurt."

He climbed the rest of the way through, and Ashley grinned at him. "Thanks."

Zhane just rolled his eyes and started for the ladder again.

"I will go first," Cestria said, stopping him. "You are injured."

She started to climb before he could object, and Zhane sighed loudly. "Look, it's not that bad. It's not like I can't use it."

"The first person through could run into anything," Andros informed him. "At least with Cestria already there you'll have a chance."

"I did fine back in the prison," Zhane objected over his shoulder as he followed Cestria.

"Because you and Astrea were back to back almost the whole time," Ashley retorted, watching him go. He was barely putting any weight on his right hand, but he was using it--voluntarily--so she didn't think he could have broken anything.

She saw Andros turn his head, and only then did she realize what she had said. "Now he's got *me* calling her Astrea," she muttered, with an exasperated shake of her head. "Sorry."

Andros shrugged, motioning her to go after Zhane. "You don't have to apologize to me. She can use whatever name she wants."

"What?" Zhane asked her, as she passed the weapon up to him. His curiosity was obvious, and she knew he must have caught some of the conversation.

"You calling Kerone 'Astrea'," she explained, climbing up the ladder after him. "It's contagious. I did it just now without thinking about it."

He actually looked a little embarrassed. "I don't mean to keep doing that. But I got so used to calling her 'Astrea' before I knew who she was that it's hard to stop now."

"You called her 'Kerone' for a while there," Ashley pointed out, as Andros joined them silently. "I'm sure I remember you using it at first."

Zhane shrugged uncomfortably. "Yeah... I guess."

That was all the explanation he offered, and she tried to suppress a smile. Kerone had told her, privately, that she liked Zhane calling her "Astrea". She couldn't help thinking that Zhane had somehow found that out, and that was the real reason he used it so often now.

Andros stopped Cestria before she could lead the way up another deck. "We're leaving the lower levels now," he warned her. "There's only two more decks to go, but if there are quantrons anywhere, they'll be here."

She nodded her understanding, and they all fell silent as they watched her ascend.

Another forcefield fizzled into place, separating them further, and she swore. "They're sealing the prison level!" She glanced back at Carlos and added, "Everybody go up--fast. We'll meet on the next deck and go from there."

Aura reacted more quickly than he did, and Kerone turned away. There was no way TJ was going to be able to get Saryn up one of these ladders by himself, Power Ranger or not. But Cetaci was waiting impatiently at the base of one of the emergency ladders, and Kerone darted over to join her.

"Will they seal the next level as well?" Cetaci asked, as she started up.

"I don't know," Kerone admitted. "It depends on how quickly they can find us. Standard procedure is to isolate the prison level first, and then try and track the intruders."

She clambered onto the next deck and they ran for the nearest ladder together. Cetaci went around the other side and they both dropped to the deck, reaching down to help TJ with Saryn. He managed to lift the unconscious Ranger far enough that they could grab him under the arms and pull him up.

"We're lucky TJ is so tall," Cetaci said under her breath as they stumbled to one side, supporting Saryn between them.

Kerone looked at her in surprise. "I never thought of that," she said, feeling her lips twitch. "You're right."

"Who's right?" TJ asked, stepping off the ladder on the deck beside them. She was relieved to see that he had Saryn's backpack over one shoulder.

A sharp crackle prevented any reply she might have made, and another forcefield appeared down the hall near the junction. TJ jumped forward to take Saryn as Kerone grabbed the rungs of the ladder and started up again. "If they're sealing multiple levels, the emergency ladders are going to be cut off too," she said, hearing Cetaci on the rungs right behind her. "We need to hurry."

She crouched down on the deck beside the ladder, and Cetaci scrambled off on the other side. TJ looked down, making sure of his footing, then boosted Saryn toward them again. It was harder this time, where TJ couldn't stand directly beneath the opening in the deck, and she heard his sudden yelp just as she and Cetaci grabbed Saryn's arms.

"Saryn, you picked the worst time to wake up!" TJ exclaimed.

"Stop struggling," she snapped, nodding to Cetaci. They tightened their grip and managed to lift him anyway, but getting him onto the deck was harder than it should have been. "Saryn, hold still!"

"There's a forcefield between that deck and the prison level now," TJ told them, sounding a little breathless as he joined them. "Should we keep going?"

Kerone hesitated. "They can't seal the upper decks the way they can the lower levels--but are we better off fighting quantrons or forcefields?"

The crackle she was beginning to dread came again, announcing the arrival of another forcefield. "Quantrons," TJ and Cetaci said at the same time, and Cetaci added, "Aura will risk quantrons over the forcefields. If we are to catch up with her and Carlos we have to keep going."

Kerone nodded, gesturing her up. "Then let's go." As Cetaci scrambled up the ladder, she peered more closely at Saryn. "You look awful. Can you climb?"

He nodded wordlessly, but he staggered as TJ helped him to his feet. "Are you sure?" she demanded. "We need to know."

He nodded again, taking hold of the ladder as if to prove it. He hauled himself up, one rung at a time and painfully slowly, but Cetaci was there to help him off at the next level. TJ motioned for her to go next, so Kerone followed as quickly as she could, hearing another forcefield snap into place between the levels below them.

Saryn was slumped against the wall when she reached the next level, and she exchanged glances with Cetaci. The White Ranger shrugged helplessly, giving him a worried look but saying nothing.

TJ too stared at Saryn as he stepped off the ladder, but he didn't stop to ask. "I'll go check for Carlos and Aura," he said. "You two had better get him to the megazord."

"No," Cetaci said quickly. "I can find them more quickly than you. You go with your teammates."

Kerone narrowed her eyes. Though her words were calm and her statement was perfectly logical, there was something about the way she had spoken that didn't sound quite right.

She caught Cetaci's arm as she turned away. The former Aquitian leader looked up in surprise, and Kerone regarded her intently. "We'll come back for you, if you don't return. Don't think otherwise."

Cetaci nodded. "Of course." She slipped away before Kerone could question her.

"What was that about?" TJ wanted to know.

"I'm not sure," Kerone admitted, troubled. But they didn't have time to worry right now. Cetaci was a Ranger, and, as her brother and his teammates had repeatedly proven, that meant something.

"We'd better get moving, then," TJ said. "We have, what, one more level to go?"

She nodded, turning to regard the ladder. "One more level, and several long corridors. Saryn, can you do this?"

A weak nod was his only response.

She frowned, turning to TJ. "Is he like this because of the Power? Is it still gone?"

He shook his head. "I think so... It's hard for me to tell. I don't have my morpher, and I'm not as sensitive to it as he is. Any withdrawal I'm feeling is probably buried under adrenaline."

"It's..." Saryn's whisper, tremulous though it was, got her attention immediately. "It's still gone."

"So what does that mean?" Kerone demanded, frustrated with their hesitant replies. "How long will it take you to get better without it?"

He didn't answer, and she turned to TJ. The Blue Ranger glanced over at Saryn, then shook his head again. "He won't get better. Without the Power... I don't know how long he can survive."

She stared at him. "He'll--die?"

TJ nodded wordlessly, and she turned her incredulous stare on Saryn.

She had known his ruby was his Power source, a morpher without the electronic components the Astro Rangers used. And she had heard rumors that he did not respond well to having it taken away. But the only person who had ever managed to do that for any amount of time was Divatox, and she wasn't the most trustworthy source of information under Dark Spectre.

He had survived the time when Divatox had supposedly had his ruby. But if what Zhane said was true, he had still had some measure of Power within him, even when the ruby was gone. Now TJ said they were totally cut off from it.

"Then let's go," she said abruptly, catching hold of the ladder and starting up. "The sooner we get him out of here, the better. And someone had better explain this to me later," she added over her shoulder.

He ducked and the quantron overbalanced, tumbling past him toward the deck below. Carlos scrambled up the ladder the rest of the way, hanging onto the rungs to stay on his feet as he kicked another quantron in the chest.

"You had to say it," Aura said, knocking another quantron through the hole before a forcefield shimmered into place between the decks.

He shrugged. "I was trying to look on the bright side!" Slamming a quantron against the wall, he whirled to block a punch and push its friend across the hallway. He realized as he did so that Aura wouldn't get the joke; she had been in another system when he and the others were captured.

"The bright side is not all I had hoped it would be," Aura replied, and he heard a metallic crunch from somewhere behind him.

With a grin, he disabled one last quantron and spun around to face her. She had taken care of four more on her side of the ladder, and she lifted her head when she saw him turn. "Well done," she said, nodding to him.

"You too," he agreed, glancing up. His grin faded as he caught sight of the luminescent barrier between them and the upper decks. "Damn. I think we're in trouble."

She followed his gaze. "Is there no way to disable it?"

"I don't know," he said, as a control panel buried behind the ladder caught his eye. "But it's worth a try."

He put one foot on the ladder and leaned against it, careful not to touch the forcefield embedded in the floor in front of it. He didn't know what that thing would do, but he didn't really want to find out the hard way.

Studying the control panel, he tried to remember everything he had learned about Kerovan and Aquitian technology. The two technologies were vastly different, of course, but their zords were oddly comparable, and he thought he might have picked up enough to decipher the workings in other spacefaring vessels.

It didn't take him long to realize that that was a vain hope, and he wondered if he should opt for Kerone's "hit first, ask questions later" strategy. Destroying the panel might not accomplish anything, but there was no question that it would make him feel better.

"Hey, Aura," he said, turning around. He was about to ask if she wanted to try her hand at it before he did anything irreparable, but the question died on his lips as he got a good look at her.

She cocked her head at him as though nothing was wrong, but she was quite clearly shivering. She had her arms folded across her chest as though she was trying to hold the heat in, yet when he looked more closely her skin seemed to have an odd sheen to it. If it were possible, she looked as though she was freezing and sweating at the same time.

"Are you all right?" he demanded, stepping away from the ladder. "What's wrong?"

She shrugged a little, apparently untroubled. "Aquitians are hard to poison. The water in our bodies dilutes foreign substances and flushes them out through our skin."

"But?" he prompted urgently, knowing an incomplete explanation when he heard one.

She shrugged again, hugging her arms closer to her chest. "The more dehydrated we are, the harder it is to maintain a constant body temperature."

He stared at her. "So it's poison or hypothermia?"

She shook her head. "I will pass out from water loss before I am seriously affected by the cold."

"You say that like it's a sure thing," he said, giving her a suspicious look. Her obvious calm was the only thing reassuring him.

"It is," she said. "I have been losing water since I was bitten. It's an involuntary reaction; there is nothing I can do to stop it. And even if I could, I have no wish to die of poisoning."

"You're not going to die," he promised automatically. "Look, I know your people depend a lot on water, but you'll be okay, right? You said the most that will happen is you'll pass out? How serious is this?"

"It is fatal," she replied steadily.

He could only stare, waiting for her to go on. She just looked back at him, still shivering, but said nothing more.

"So that's it?" he demanded at last. "The poison didn't kill you, but you're going to die anyway?"

She lowered her gaze at his accusing tone, and he saw her twitch violently. Her knuckles were white where her hands gripped her arms, and he reached out to her without thinking. Her skin was clammy to the touch, and her whole body felt cool as he wrapped his arms around her.

She didn't protest, and he hugged her a little closer, feeling tears sting his eyelids. It was an act. Her constant composure was just an act, like the façade so many of the other Aquitians wore. Why hadn't he ever realized that? Why hadn't he noticed that she had looked just as calm talking about Billy and Cestria the night before as she had this morning when she accepted Billy's offer of a truce to end their food fight?

"How long do you have?" he asked quietly, hoping for the best. She had been able to fight, after all, and if she was only cold it seemed like she had a good chance of reaching the megazord. *Assuming we can get out of here at all, that is.*

"I do not know," she answered, resting her head against his shoulder. "But I suspect I will find out."

"Don't talk like that," he said, tightening his arms around her. "You're going to be fine." It was an empty promise and she knew it, but he couldn't just let a statement like that pass without comment.

She didn't answer, and he turned his head a little so he could rest it on top of hers. He wished there was something he could do to calm her trembling, but no matter how tightly he held her she didn't stop shaking.

He was staring down the hall without really focusing his eyes on anything, trying to no avail to come up with something that would get them out of this. The violent red and black crosshatching didn't even register at first, but after a moment he squinted, wondering what the lettering above the garish stripes of color could mean. Large, black lettering... with an urgent feel to it despite the alien nature of the language.

"Aura," he said slowly, lifting his head. Would the lower decks ever need to be evacuated? Were prisoners' lives worth saving in the event of a shipwide emergency? *What about prison guards?*

She looked up, first at him and then down the hall, following his gaze. "Yes?" Some part of his mind noted that her voice was no less steady than it had been before, but the rest of his brain was busy wondering.

"Come on," he said, taking her hand and pulling her down the hallway.

She followed without protest, not even tugging her hand free when he paused in front of the oddly marked door. It was short, barely even level with his chest, and round, a little more than a meter across at the center. But there was no question that it was designed to be noticed from some distance away.

"Does this look at all familiar?" he asked carefully, not wanting to get his hopes up if it wasn't what he thought it was.

She studied it, reaching out to run her free hand across the edge of the circular door. He watched her eyes flicker across the lettering, then travel down to the crosshatched markings on the door itself. "An--emergency exit?" she asked at last, not sounding very sure of herself.

He held his breath as she reached for the access panel, her hand hesitating over it for a moment. Then she pressed the left-hand corner. The large and very prominent orange touchpad lit up beneath her fingers, and, with a rumble and a bit of a squeak, the crosshatched door rolled open.

Even Carlos recognized the interior of the "room" on the other side. "An escape pod!"

Aura gave him a searching look. "You know that Dark Spectre will most likely notice its launch."

"Can you talk to Cassie the way you talk to me?" he countered. He tapped his temple to leave no doubt about what he meant, and she nodded slowly. "Good. Then we'll get her to pick us up. Come on!"

"The Megaship can't teleport through its current shielding," she reminded him.

"Then we'll get her to open the hangar doors," he said impatiently. "Hey," he added, when she did not look convinced, "I'm supposed to be the voice of gloom and doom around here, remember?"

She smiled a little, reluctantly, and he smiled back. "That's better. Now let's go."

Andros took a careful breath and nodded to Ashley. "Ready when you are."

"On three," she whispered back. She held the weapon Kerone had given her, for despite the fact that the recoil was taking its toll she seemed to be most adept with it.

"One," she said quietly, and he saw her glance over at Zhane and Cestria to make sure they were ready. "Two... three."

Andros stepped out from the small amount of cover the junction had given them, getting his first good look at the quantrons swarming through the corridor in front of them. They would probably like nothing better than to get into the megazord that had attached itself to their hull, but Cestria reported that Billy and Delphinius had simply closed the airlock. No one got in or out without a morpher, and there was very little the quantrons could do to damage it from the outside.

As their attention turned toward him, he heard Ashley swing out into the middle of the hallway with him. She dropped to one knee, bracing her right elbow on her knee as she sited down the barrel of her weapon. Zhane and Cestria stepped up on her other side, and as the quantrons began to flood toward them Ashley opened fire.

The lead quantrons froze momentarily and were vaporized for their caution, but the ones behind them kept coming. Andros took a few steps forward, knowing Zhane and Cestria were doing the same thing--it would limit Ashley's range a little bit, but it would also ensure that they were the first ones to encounter the quantrons. Ashley would have a few extra seconds of warning and probably a couple more shots before she had to go hand to hand with them.

Just as the quantrons ran into their barrier, a rumble behind them announced the opening of the Aquitian megazord's airlock. Andros smiled grimly as some of the quantrons paused, and he and Zhane took full advantage of their distraction. Ashley fired again, and in the momentary lull while her weapon recharged two more energy weapons opened up on the quantrons from the other side.

He leapt to one side to evade a punch and grabbed the quantron before it could go for Ashley, swinging it farther around than it had meant to go. He let go even as it impacted with the wall and turned back to the swarm, seeing Zhane take out another quantron in much the same way. Cestria was right there with them, and between them on one side and the Aquitians' blasters on the other, Ashley was able to back up and keep firing without being overwhelmed.

Then a very welcome flare of purple light signaled his sister's arrival, and he would have breathed a sigh of relief if he had had the time. She was on the other side, with the Aquitians, and he flinched as another of her violet energy bombs exploded in the quantrons' midst.

Ashley's weapon finally stopped firing at that, and then Billy was there in front of them. He pressed a blaster into Andros' hand and went to help Cestria, and energy fire from the other side of the corridor said that Zhane had one too. Normally, Andros would have preferred hand to hand fighting, but without their Ranger uniforms everyone's hands had taken a beating today, and he was just as glad to step back and pull a trigger instead.

As the quantrons' ranks thinned, the crossfire became more dangerous, and more and more of the metallic soldiers slipped through the cracks of their defenses. But most of them seemed happy to simply run rather than fight, and Andros wasn't going to complain. He did wonder, though, if it had anything to do with his sister's appearance--Kerone's Astronema guise hadn't slipped once since she had appeared in the prison with Zhane.

"Hey," Ashley said breathlessly, slipping behind his left shoulder and staring after the retreating quantrons. He fired a few more times, picking off two of them before they disappeared around the corner. "Nice shooting!"

"Not as good as yours," he said, letting his weapon fall as he turned toward her. He glanced down the hallway once, found it mostly clear, and leaned in to kiss her quickly. "Thanks for covering us."

"Thank for covering *me*," she murmured, slipping her arm through his and leaning tiredly against him. "Can we go home now?"

"Andros! Ashley!" Zhane was motioning to them from farther down the corridor, and Andros slid his arm around her waist as they went to join the Silver Ranger.

"He was talking to us before," Kerone was saying as they arrived. "But we had to practically carry him this far." She and TJ were supporting Saryn between them. Whether he was unconscious or not was open to question, but he didn't seem to be aware of anything happening around him.

"We have to get him off this ship," Zhane said, looking to Andros for support.

He nodded, alarmed by the other's condition. "He won't get better until we do, that's for sure. Let's go."

As Kerone and TJ started forward, though, he frowned. Turning back to the megazord, he saw Billy and Cestria approaching from the other direction. Delphinius was stepping out of the hole in the hull, emerging from cover or returning from a check on the megazord, Andros couldn't tell. But there were clearly faces missing.

"Wait," he said, catching Kerone's arm. "Where's Carlos?"

"And Aura and Cetaci," Ashley added, repeating his scan of the badly damaged corridor. "Weren't they with you?"

"We got separated from Aura and Carlos," Kerone said, glancing over her shoulder as though she expected them to arrive at any moment. "Cetaci went to look for them... they should be right behind us."

"Cestria," Andros called, letting Kerone go. She and TJ continued through the airlock with Saryn, and Cestria waited patiently for him to join her. "Can you contact Aura and find out where she is?"

Cestria exchanged troubled looks with Billy. "I did so as soon as I realized she was not with your sister."

"And?" he asked, looking over his shoulder to make sure Ashley and Zhane were with him.

"She and Carlos were trapped belowdecks when the forcefields isolated the lower levels," Cestria said quietly. "They located an escape pod and have since left the ship."

"And Cetaci?" Delphinius demanded, from just inside the airlock. "What trouble has she gotten herself into this time?"

Cestria shot him an unreadable look before turning her head and addressing Andros again. "Neither Carlos nor Aura has seen Cetaci since they were separated from the rest of the group, and I have been unable to reach her."

"Damn her!" Delphinius sounded angrier than Andros had ever heard him, and the other Ranger shoved past him with no word of apology or explanation. Andros was too startled to react, but Zhane grabbed him as the Aquitian burst out into the corridor.

"You aren't going anywhere," Zhane told him firmly. "Those quantrons are nothing to scoff at, and they're not going to run scared for long." As if to emphasize his words, the distinctive sound of metal boots on decking echoed faintly down the corridor.

Andros took a step back and motioned Ashley into the megazord. She moved past him without a word of protest, though she didn't go further than the airlock. Zhane stayed where he was, holding onto Delphinius, and Cestria spoke gently to him. "I am concerned for her as well," she reminded the Black Ranger. "But we simply do not have the luxury of going back for *anyone* right now."

"You can't tell me you're going to abandon her here!" Delphinius protested, trying to jerk his arm free.

Cestria swallowed, and the miserable look in her eyes was enough to convince Andros that she knew exactly what she was saying. "Carlos and Aura need us," she said softly. "The Megaship is under siege. It can barely defend itself, let alone rescue them, and the fleet outside can not wait any longer for us to rejoin them. If we do not go now there will be nothing left for us to return to."

"This ship is wired with explosives!" Delphinius glared at her. "As soon as we're away, someone pulls the trigger!"

Kerone appeared in the airlock. "Disassemble the megazord."

Cestria turned to her in surprise, but it was Billy who spoke. "What?"

"Disassemble the megazord," she repeated, more loudly, as if they simply hadn't heard her the first time. "Get us away from here, break the megazord apart, and Delphinius and I will come back for her. TJ has the trigger for the detonators; I'll tell him when to push it."

Andros could think of ten things he hated about that plan right off the top of his head, but nothing that made it logically unworkable. And they didn't have time to debate it now anyway--quantrons poured around the corner as Delphinius hesitated, and he wasn't sure even that would be enough to convince the other Ranger.

He felt Zhane push him from behind, and he ducked through the airlock hastily to make way for the others. His friend was right beside him, blocking his view of the Aquitians' equally quick entrance. It wasn't until the airlock was sealed and they slid into their places at the megazord controls that he was sure Delphinius was with them.

He felt Ashley's arm slide around him as the megazord tore itself away from Dark Spectre's ship, and he couldn't help taking a quick headcount. Ashley, Zhane, and Kerone... TJ stood beside Saryn, keeping the unresponsive Ranger in an unclaimed cockpit chair while the megazord shook itself free, and Cestria and Billy conferred with each other between the forward stations.

Delphinius hovered behind his teammates at the second row of stations, making no effort to involve himself in their subdued conference. He was staring intently down at his control panel, to all appearances completely absorbed in the readout, but somehow Andros doubted he was truly seeing much of it.

Ashley's arm tightened around his waist, and he tried not to be too overt about pulling her closer. He knew all too well what Delphinius was feeling, and he wished there were some way he could spare the other Ranger that pain. But as Ashley's head rested lightly against his shoulder, all he could do was pray that no one he knew would be on Dark Spectre's ship when TJ pressed the trigger.

20. Heroes

"Engines are offline," Linnse reported.

Cassie flinched, knowing that if they hadn't been before they were in this until the end now. She tried to force the Megaship out of the way of one of the Parikat battleships, but the starboard thruster was sluggish and she could feel the impact as the other ship's lasers raked their forward shields.

"V1, maintain formation!" Linnse snapped, and Cassie risked a searching look at her tactical display. Rocky was breaking off from the Mega V zords' attack to come to their aid.

She gave up any attempt at evasion and pushed the port thruster to maximum. As the Megaship slid underneath the other battleship, Linnse opened fire with the damaged dorsal laser array. Taking their target by surprise, she managed to take out the battleship's ventral laser arrays. Instead of running, the Megaship crept ever closer, barely staying in the shadow of the battleship as it tried to turn on its attacker.

"Rocky, we can handle it," Cassie snapped, seeing Mega V1 hesitate. "Linnse, what do you have on Megalasers?"

"Starboard and ventral arrays--dorsal, too, but not for long."

"All right. You'll have a clear shot to starboard as soon as I can get it."

"Megaship, this is Mireth," Cestria's voice announced. "What's your status?"

She would have let out a sigh of relief if she had had time. "Mega V2 is out of the fight, and the Megaship isn't far behind. Are you clear?"

"Negative," Cestria answered. "There are people still in the blast zone. Canthris and Zaal are on rescue missions, but our zords are at full-strength. Billy and I are on our way--your own teammates on Lissan will reinforce your Mega V zords."

Before Cassie could ask who was over there, and why Cestria was in Cetaci's zord, she heard Ashley's voice come over the zords comm channel. "All right, Mega Vs, listen up. This is what we're going to do."

Cassie shook her head in silent amusement. Cestria must have given her morpher to Ashley to allow her to pilot the Yellow Aquitian zord. But she couldn't help wondering where Andros was.

The battleship in front of her wavered a little too long in its evasive attempt, and the Megaship spun after it. "Linnse!"

The other woman had seen it, and before Cassie could tell her what to do the Megalasers struck the battleship's engines. The ship broke apart as the engines exploded and sent a shockwave tearing through the hull, and Cassie wrestled the Megaship around and away as quickly as the damaged thrusters would respond. The shockwave wouldn't travel through space, but the debris would.

"Aft shields critical," DECA announced, even as Mireth and Sirethian appeared suddenly on Cassie's tactical display. "Forward shields at twenty-five percent."

"We can't keep this up for long," Linnse muttered, voicing the thought that was on Cassie's mind as well. "You were right when you said the Megaship won't be in the fight much longer."

"Cestria and Billy will keep them off us at least for a little while," Cassie told her, trying desperately to avoid another laser bombardment from what seemed to be the Parikat flagship.

"Cassie." Linnse didn't look up from her console, and the hum of the Megalasers abruptly escalated into a whine. The sound vanished as her fingers danced across the controls. "We just lost dorsal lasers."

"But that's not what you were going to say," Cassie said, as the Megaship banked hard, turning its now undefended topside away from the flagship.

The starboard lasers opened up on the other ship, and Linnse shook her head. "There are two Defense starfighters in the hangar bay."

Cassie had thought of that too, but she shook her head. "I'm not abandoning the Megaship. As long as we have Megalasers, we're more of a threat than any two starfighters."

"We won't *have* Megalasers much longer," Linnse warned. "And the shields will fail before that."

"I'm not leaving this ship," Cassie told her, punching the thrusters as high as they would go. "End of discussion."

The Megaship was limping. Andros flinched at the sight of his beloved ship, badly damaged and almost overwhelmed by enemies, trying to hold its own in the middle of the systemwide crossfire. He knew Cassie and DECA were doing their best, but he couldn't help thinking it might be different if he were with them.

It wasn't just sentiment that made him worry for the Megaship's safety, either. The great battleship was the strongest ship they had, and the rallying point of their attack. If it was completely disabled they would have to either let it be destroyed or focus all their effort into defending it. Emotionally, he hated the first option, but tactically, the second one was even worse.

The scanners blipped, giving him an intercept warning, and he reached for the comm. "Canthris to escape pod. Carlos, can you hear me?"

There was no answer. He tried again, with similar results, but he wasn't going to rule out the possibility that they were hearing him and just unable to respond. The comm could be damaged, or just impossible to operate from their end, so he spoke again as he brought the zord's teleportation systems online.

"Carlos, I've got a lock on Aura's Power signature, and I think I'm picking up yours, too. If you can, stay close together--I'm going to try and teleport you both out of there at the same time." He didn't know how many chances he would have, with the way the velocifighters were swarming. The Aquitian megazord had taken out most of those in the vicinity before it disassembled, but there were plenty more to take their place.

The hissing sound of Aquitian teleportation sounded in the small cockpit, and he glanced over his shoulder. Carlos appeared behind him, his normally black teleportation turned bright red by Canthris' systems, and Aura was leaning heavily on his shoulder.

About to get up, Andros paused at the sight of the Red Aquitian Ranger. "Aura? Are you all right?"

"No," Carlos said, lowering her carefully to the floor and crouching down beside her. "She got bitten by one of those cat things."

"Zhane told us," Andros said, grabbing one of the consoles as the zord shook violently. The velocifighters had arrived. "Can she fly?"

"Andros, she can't even stand!" Carlos exclaimed.

"Then can you?" Andros asked, glancing across the controls. He could pilot the zord under normal circumstances, but there was no way he could go into battle with it. "I've never flown this kind of zord in my life."

He thought he heard Aura mumble something, but Carlos didn't answer right away. "Carlos--"

"I've only taken them on test flights," Carlos said. "But you could do it if you were morphed. Here."

Andros turned, and found Carlos holding Aura's morpher out to him. "You have the background," he insisted. "You can fly this zord better than I can, morpher or no."

"No I can't," Carlos said quietly. "You have to focus to fly these, and I wouldn't be able to concentrate."

Andros regarded him for a moment. Aura was leaning against Carlos, trembling uncontrollably. His arm was around her shoulders, not supporting her so much as just holding onto her, as though he could somehow stop whatever was happening to her by sheer force of will.

*Or... force of feeling?* Andros wondered, turning back to the controls. "Right," he said aloud. If Carlos said he couldn't concentrate, that was fair warning and Andros would be foolish to ignore it.

He wrapped both hands around Aura's morpher and held it out, bracing himself. "Red Aquitar Ranger power!"

The Power flooded into him, bringing the familiar strength and the not-so-familiar knowledge of Canthris. The sudden faint awareness of Ashley, Cestria, Billy and Delphinius wasn't as disconcerting as it was unexpected, and he wondered suddenly how much of their telepathy was due to the Power they held.

"This is Canthris," he announced on the zords' channel. "I've got Aura and Carlos. Carlos is all right, but Aura needs medical attention as soon as possible."

"What is wrong with her?" Cestria's voice asked, as he shoved Canthris' thrusters to maximum and broke through the velocifighter periphery around Dark Spectre's ship from the inside.

"Carlos?" He couldn't spare the concentration to turn; Carlos had been right about the Aquitian zords eating up attention.

"She's dehydrated from the poison and freezing cold," he said, not sounding very good himself. Andros put it down to concern for Aura and relayed his words.

Cestria wasn't pleased to hear that, and it was eerie to know that before she even replied. "We will have to get her aboard the Megaship as soon as possible," she said, though they all knew it could be some time before that happened. "Canthris, I'm told your assistance would be appreciated by the Defense wing."

"I'm on it," Andros answered, switching to the fighters' intership comm frequency. "Def-1, what's your status?"

As he waited for the reply, he let his tactical map zoom out to give him a better view of the fight. It wasn't going well. The Megaship was still fighting, but a second Mega V zord was drifting, apparently no longer under its own power. The fleet occupying the Rysian system had surged forward again with the arrival of the Parikat ships, and it seemed nothing could halt the launch of an increasing number of velocifighters. The Rangers were outmanned and outgunned, and Andros was no longer sure even the destruction of Dark Spectre's ship could turn the tide.

Black shimmered around her, and she felt the magic inside her flare. She frowned a little at the violet swirls in the midst of black, but then the light had faded and her transformation was complete. She could feel strange echoes of Andros, Delphinius, Cestria, Billy and Ashley in her mind, and the panels in front of her were suddenly as familiar as the controls of the Dark Fortress.

Delphinius vacated the pilot's seat without a word, and she slid into his place. There was a flicker at the edge of her awareness, and Delphinius identified it as she was still trying to make sense of the echoes. "Cetaci's awake."

He had not been able to sense her before. She had offered to take over the controls if it would help him concentrate, and he had given her his morpher with only the slightest hesitation. Now, with Cetaci only a vague shadow against her own consciousness, Delphinius could lean over her shoulder and point to a single point on the tactical map. "There."

She magnified the port side of Dark Spectre's ship, and Delphinius pointed again. "How close?" she asked, glancing up at him. The view through his visor was a little disconcerting, and it took a moment to realize his eyes were closed.

"Within a hundred meters of the hull," he said at last. "I'd have to be closer to say exactly where."

She shook her head, not questioning. "That's amazing. A hundred meters is close enough." Her eyes roved across the magnification on her tactical screen, and she found what she was looking for. "There's our way in."

He stared at the tactical map as the Zaal zord swung around, heading for the most recent wave of velocifighters. "What do you intend to do?"

"I intend to get Cetaci," she replied. The velocifighters broke formation at her rapid approach, and the shields absorbed their rapid and disorganized fire without difficulty. The velocifighters hadn't expected trouble while they were still inside Dark Spectre's shielding.

"How much physical impact can this thing take?" she asked, but even as she posed the question she knew the answer.

"It can't take crashing into the hull at this speed, if that's what you're asking," Delphinius said, bracing himself against one of the consoles.

"I'm not going through the hull." The last of the velocifighters cleared her screen, and she pointed. "That's where they're coming from."

The launch bay in front of them was open, surrounded by a luminescent two-way forcefield. It would admit ships coming or going, while holding in a minimal atmosphere and keeping out interstellar dust and meteoroids. She had taken careful note of the launch bays' locations when studying Ecliptor's plans, keeping them in mind as a potential escape route should anything go wrong.

Interesting that her "potential escape route" had just become her best way *in* to the heavily shielded and armored ship, she reflected

She felt Delphinius tense as the zord accelerated, but he kept his reservations to himself. The glow of the forcefield filled the forward screen, and then its light flashed through the cockpit as the Zaal zord cruised into Dark Spectre's ship without incident.

"Did you know it would be that easy?" Delphinius demanded, his tone holding something she didn't recognize in it.

"Here's the hard part," she said. She didn't bother to tell him that if their timing hadn't been exactly right, they would have run into a departing velocifighter wing as they entered, and even zord shields might not withstand point-blank laser fire from multiple ships. "Where is she?"

He pointed at the tactical map again, and she shook her head. "No; *where* is she? Show me, out there." She nodded to the forward screen, rapidly filling with the launch bay's far wall.

He pointed again, down and slightly to her left.

"You never answered my question about impact resistance," she said mildly, and the thrusters fired again as she tilted the nose of his zord straight down. "Hang on."

Still holding onto one of the consoles, he grabbed the back of her chair as the zord slammed into the deck. The metal plating crumpled beneath them, ripping away from the zord as they crashed through to the next level, and then the next. "Tell me when!" she shouted, over the sound of tearing metal and overstressed thrusters.

She could sense his incredulous horror at this treatment of his zord, but he didn't hesitate. "Another thirty meters down and... more that way."

His directions were far more precise than she could have hoped for, given the circumstances, and she killed the thrusters. Two more decks slowed the zord's determined path of destruction, and it skidded some distance across the third deck before the friction of shearing walls and ceiling brought it to a halt.

She glanced up at Delphinius, and found him looking a little paler than usual. "How close?"

"Closer than I would have dared," he answered, giving her an uninterpretable look. "You are more insane than I gave you credit for."

She shrugged, pulling herself out of his chair and triggering the hatch release. "Whatever it takes."

He didn't answer, and when she looked back she found him with his eyes closed again. "She's on her way," he muttered, his expression twisting into something else she didn't recognize.

She scrambled up the ladder anyway, pulling herself out onto the top of the zord and looking back the way it had come. From Delphinius' directions, she knew she had overshot, but it was just as well. There would be no getting into the zord from the front anyway, not with it smashed up against the decks the way it was.

A flash of black caught her eye, and she heard Delphinius on the ladder behind her. "Get back," she hissed, seeing the glint of silver behind Cetaci as she ran.

He paid no attention, clambering up beside her as she drew his blaster. Siting down the barrel, she picked off three of the pursuing quantrons before Cetaci reached the zord. She continued to fire as the former Aquitian leader leapt onto the back of the zord and hauled herself up, a feat Kerone found impressive even in the midst of her concentration.

Delphinius ducked back into the zord, and she motioned for Cetaci to go after him. The White Ranger actually hesitated, but for once she did what she was told. Kerone fired once more before grabbing the edge of the hull and swinging through the hatch.

She staggered a little as she hit the deck, and Cetaci steadied her. Delphinius put a foot on the ladder and reached for the hatch, slamming it shut behind them. Holstering his blaster without comment, she slid into the pilot's seat and ignited the thrusters again. The real trick now was getting out.

"Damn you!" She had been expecting Delphinius to explode, and she tried her best to tune it out as she eased the zord out of its impact site.

"Damn you and your invincibility!" Delphinius shouted. "What were you thinking! You must have known when Carlos and Aura were away, so *why* didn't you come back?"

"I--I found something," Cetaci answered, sounding the slightest bit shaken at his vehemence. There was a pause and the sound of movement, and then she added, "One of the aliens used one to cut us all off from the Power."

Kerone wished she could spare the time to be impressed. Those spheres could spell doom for the Rangers, but if Cetaci had managed to bring one back intact, it would at least give them a fighting chance of figuring out how to counteract it.

"Damn you for always being the hero," she heard Delphinius mutter, and there was a waver in his voice that she had never heard from an Aquitian. If it had been one of her teammates, she would have said he was crying, but she didn't dare turn around and find out.

Despite her concentration, zords just didn't hover well, and going up was a lot harder than coming down had been. She tried to follow the track she had made on the way in, but it was a narrow corridor and she was hitting decks everywhere she turned. *It's like the ship wasn't designed to fly through,* she thought, irritated with the time it was taking.

At last they broke through into the launch bay again, right on the tail of another wave of velocifighters. The wing tried to turn on them, but between the zord's weaponry and their own crossfire in the confined space, more laser fire struck the velocifighters than the zord. For a brief moment, there was fire all around them, and she could only put her faith in the shields as the zord blasted its way out of the launch bay.

The launch bay, needless to say, had not been designed to handle firefights, and it began to collapse behind them as the Aquitian zord sailed out into the freedom of space. "They won't be launching anything else from *there*," Kerone murmured, satisfied with whatever luck had turned a bad situation into a positive development.

"There are at least two other launch bays," Cetaci began, but Delphinius cut her off before she could continue.

"Shut up, Cetaci," he told her tiredly.

Cetaci quieted without protest.

*TJ,* Kerone thought, diverting as little concentration as she could from the zord. She felt the flicker of awareness as she linked with him, and knew she had his full attention. *We're away.*

TJ looked up, startled to hear Kerone's voice in the cramped cockpit of the Sirethian zord. It took him a moment to realize what was happening, and he waved off Saryn's questioning look.

*I have Delphinius and Cetaci with me,* Kerone was saying. *We just cleared the shields, and we should be out of blast range in... thirty seconds.*

"Got it," he said aloud. Saryn raised an eyebrow, and he shrugged self-consciously. *I don't even know if she can hear me...*

*I can hear you,* Kerone's voice answered. *We're about to be intercepted; give me a few more seconds.*

*Right,* TJ thought carefully, a little unnerved to have her responding to his thoughts.

"Kerone?" Saryn asked, and he nodded.

"She and Delphinius got Cetaci; they're trying to get out of the blast zone now. Billy, do you have them on tactical?"

"That's affirmative," Billy answered, not turning. "Another thousand kilometers should put them outside of the worst of it."

*A thousand kilometers, Kerone,* TJ thought, not sure she would hear him at all. Even if she did, she could probably see that as well as Billy. But it made him feel like he was doing *something*.

*Thanks,* she answered. There was an agonizingly long pause, and then, *We're clear. Do it, TJ.*

TJ pushed the trigger.

"V1, pull up!"

Rocky veered out of the way at almost the last second, seemingly untroubled that he had been on a collision course with one of the Parikat cruisers. Ashley sighed, shaking her head again. She was no wing commander, but the Mega V pilots needed all the help they could get.

"V1, back up V3," she ordered. At least Justin had a basic grasp of flight and tactics. He had kept Rocky in line this long, she almost hated to ask him to keep doing it. But someone had to keep Mega V1 from being blown to pieces.

"V4 and V6, with me," she said, coming around to follow the leading edge of velocifighters. With everyone else occupied by the fleets, the Defense wing was having trouble holding its own against what was now a swarm of literally hundreds of the little quantron-piloted ships. They were using the Red Aquitian zord to rally around, but it she could see for herself that it wasn't enough.

"Andros," she told the comm, keeping an eye on her tactical screen as Emily and Ali followed her into the fray. "You've got friendly fire coming in at..." She frowned at her readout, hastily realigning it with his zord's spin. "45 by 60. What's your status?"

"Outnumbered," he reported. "But full strength. You?"

"Two of the Mega V zords are down," she told him. "And Rocky's losing shields. We're good otherwise." *Good being a relative term,* she thought, sparing a single glance for the Megaship.

A brilliant flash of light cast unnatural shadows across the inside of her cockpit before her forward screen went dark. "What was that?" she demanded, searching her tactical map.

"Dark Spectre's ship," Andros said.

She looked up automatically, but the screen was still dark, dimming the stars and keeping the harsh light of the explosion from blinding her. "They're clear?" There was no need to specify whom she meant.

"Kerone, Delphinius and Cetaci are on Zaal," Andros answered. "The zord suffered heavy damage, but they're all right."

"Ashley!" Ali's voice brought her back to the velocifighters just as the three zords dove into their midst.

"V4, V6, don't underestimate the Defense fighters," Ashley told them, rolling out of the way of the fighter Ali had started to warn her about. "We're just reinforcements."

*Reinforcements we desperately need,* Andros said wryly, and she started. She could almost see Aura's zord around him as he spoke, and she knew suddenly that Aura and Carlos were behind him.

*That's spooky,* she told him. *Don't do that.*

"Sorry, Ash," Andros' voice said over the comm. "It's this weird Aquitian link. I think it's acting as an amplifier."

"Worry about it later," she suggested, grinning at his sheepish tone. "Behind you!"

Canthris banked sharply, and a Defense fighter came out of nowhere to target Andros' pursuer. Ashley slammed her own zord forward to help Emily out, and a Defense fighter flitted between them as it fell into formation with two of its wingmates. She couldn't help but think it monumentally unfair that nothing seemed to have changed with the destruction of Dark Spectre's ship.

"If there were any justice," Cassie muttered, feeling the Megaship tremble beneath her, "the velocifighters at least would have blown up with Dark Spectre's ship."

Linnse banged her fist down on the console. "I just lost weapons."

"Damn." Cassie didn't have time for further comment, trying as she was to keep the Megaship from ramming into one of the Parikat cruisers. The flagship just kept pummeling them, and now the rest of the fleet seemed to be getting in on the act. Cestria and Billy were helping, but it just wasn't enough.

"So how's Phantom?" Linnse asked, leaning back in her chair and putting her hands behind her head.

"Fine," Cassie replied, through gritted teeth. "If you're not going to help, at least be quiet."

"I *can't* help!" Linnse exclaimed, frustrated. "This is a no-win situation, and the sooner you accept that the better our chances of getting out alive!"

She didn't answer, and another laser blast clipped the Megaship's bow. She did have a brief moment of satisfaction as Linnse scrambled to grab the console before the violent jolt knocked her out of her seat, but it was quickly overshadowed by DECA's announcement. "Forward shields have failed. Estimated two minutes to aft shield failure."

"Come on," Linnse said, grabbing her arm. "We're leaving."

"I'm staying here!" Cassie argued, put Linnse would not be put off.

"I'm not letting this ship take you with it," she said firmly, dragging her out of Andros' seat. "Let's *go*."

The ship bucked, throwing them both against the second row of stations. With the inertial dampers down and the shields gone, there was nothing gentle about the impact, and it was a horrible sensation to feel something snap as she slammed into the status console.

"Hull breach on deck three," DECA announced. "Bulkheads are sealing now. You will not be able to reach the hangar bay once the Megalift loses power."

The Megalift doors opened at the back of the Bridge, rather pointedly Cassie thought, and Linnse pulled her toward them. "Let's go," she repeated.

Cassie took one step and felt herself stagger as a sharp pain shot through her chest. She gasped, putting out one hand to catch herself, and Linnse ducked under her arm and pulled it across her shoulders. "You'll be all right! Come on!"

The ship rocked again as the Megalift doors closed behind them, less violently, and Cassie thought it must have hit what was left of the aft shields. "Aft shields have failed," DECA told them. "Incoming enemy vessel."

Cassie groaned. "More of them? From where?"

"Origin unknown," DECA responded. The Megalift faltered briefly and the lights dimmed. "Routing emergency power to the Megalift."

"Thanks, DECA," Cassie murmured, knowing the computer was doing everything it could to get them off the Megaship alive. "Start download program DECA one."

"Unable to comply," DECA replied.

Cassie froze. "What?" If DECA went down with the Megaship, Andros would never forgive her.

"I will not comply until the Megalift reaches the hangar bay," DECA informed her. She sounded--just slightly--smug.

Cassie sighed, exchanging glances with Linnse. "She won't leave until we do."

"Then come on," Linnse said, urging her forward as the lift doors opened again. "You'd better take Phantom's fighter--will you be able to get inside?"

"Yeah," Cassie muttered, pausing inside the bay doors. "DECA, get out here *now*."

The data port in the hangar stored only one kind of data: a copy of DECA's basic programming, into which her sentient component could escape in the event of the Megaship's destruction. A "soul vessel", Ashley had called it once, and Cassie could only assume she was repeating something Andros had said to her.

But the data port did not snap open and deliver the cube into her hands the way Andros had described it. She glared up at the ceiling. "We don't have time for this, DECA!"

There was another long pause, and she felt Linnse shift impatiently. "DECA?"

DECA's tone sounded distinctly startled when she finally spoke. "The Megaship is no longer under laser bombardment. The enemy ship has opened fire on the Parikat fleet."

Andros felt his heart clench as the Dark Fortress wavered into view directly above the Megaship. It dwarfed the damaged battleship, giving the impression of casting a shadow even where it didn't. It spun lazily for several long seconds, broadcasting no signals, taking no sides.

He didn't know where the Dark Fortress had come from. He didn't know when its EM cloak had been completed. He certainly didn't know how close the massive ship of evil was to being finished, though the structural lines grew more solid every time he saw it. But right now, there was only one question on his mind.

Who did the Dark Fortress answer to?

Ecliptor's unmistakable voice came over the intership comm frequency, broadcasting on a wide band to anyone who would listen. "Where is Astronema?"

Andros swallowed, knowing it wouldn't even cross his sister's mind to hide. Kerone's voice cut through the fighter chatter a moment later. "This is--Astrea, on board the Aquitian zord Zaal."

The chatter was subtly more muted, and Andros realized it was dying off. The velocifighters were slowing, as if confused by the openly broadcasted conversation, and the Mega V zords were soaking up the reprieve. Even the Defense fighters were coasting, taking half-hearted shots at anyone who got too close but not actively pursuing.

"And who are your enemies, Astrea?" Ecliptor demanded.

Andros frowned, staring from his tactical map to the comm. There was something terribly surreal about this whole situation, and it sounded somehow... set up. If Kerone had had this planned from the beginning--but she couldn't have. She would have said something, at least to him if not the rest of the team.

"Anyone who serves Dark Spectre is my enemy," Kerone replied at last, and Andros winced.

There was a pause where time seemed to slow, and the oppressive sense of minutes ticking by elsewhere weighed down on Andros. It was as though the battle had resumed all around him and he just couldn't turn fast enough to register it, couldn't move fast enough to do anything about it.

The scanners chimed their abrupt warning as laser arrays all across the Dark Fortress powered up, and he was thrust back into realtime in the blink of an eye. The lasers were another new development, Andros thought distantly, watching the ship discharge its own waves of velocifighters into the center of the Parikat fleet. For one eternal moment, their target was unclear.

Then the Dark Fortress opened fire on the vessels surrounding the Megaship.

Ashley closed her eyes, not wanting to watch the massive destruction taking place around her. They're the enemy, she reminded herself. Most of them weren't even alive. Not the velocifighters, anyway, and probably a good portion of the occupying fleet as well.

But there were living beings in the Parikat fleet, and though she *knew* they were irredeemably evil, it pained her to watch the pyrotechnics display. It didn't hurt so much with her eyes closed... in the darkness it was easier to focus, to remind herself that these were beings that would have destroyed her and everything she loved in a heartbeat.

*It was them or us,* she reminded herself. The Power agreed, oddly. It was a strange feeling to think that, but she could almost sense it inside of her, like an... observer. It mourned the loss of life, but *only* the loss of life. It did not regret in the slightest the destruction of such an evil in the universe.

To feel sorry on principle and to actually be troubled were entirely different things, Ashley thought. It reassured her to think that that was so; that she could wish things were different without doubting that what she had done was right.

Her comm crackled to life, announcing an override transmission from someone who had the authority to do it. Cassie's voice came through the allcall, sounding tired but triumphant. "Megaship to all ships. Everyone sound off, no status. Mega V, go."

"Mega V1," Rocky's voice replied promptly.

"Mega V2," Jeff answered.

"Mega V3," Justin chimed in. "Way to go, guys!"

Ashley couldn't help but smile.

"Mega V4," Emily said, sounding strangely calm.

"Mega V5." Tessa, on the other hand, sounded more shaken then Ashley had ever heard her.

"Mega V6," Ali reported with a chuckle, and on her tactical map Ashley saw Zhane's zord do a barrel roll.

"Aquitar, go," Cassie said, and all of a sudden Ashley wondered which order the Aquitian zords reported in. Was she second?

"Mireth," Cestria answered.

Into the silence, Ashley shrugged to herself. "Lissan, with Zhane."

"Didn't think you knew I was here," he said dryly, leaning against the back of her chair.

"It's called concentration," she informed him quietly. "Some people have it, some people don't."

"Canthris," Andros said, after a similar pause. "Carlos and Aura are with me."

"Zaal," Kerone's voice put in. "I've got Delphinius and Cetaci."

"Sirethian, with TJ and Saryn," Billy finished.

This time it was Linnse's voice that said, "Defense wing, go."

"Def-1, with everyone accounted for," a voice replied. "Megaship, go," he added insolently.

Ashley heard Zhane snicker, but they both waited on the reply.

"Still here," Linnse deadpanned. "Critical med, check in. Other than you, Cassie."

"Aura," Andros' voice said. "Poison and dehydration. She needs to be on the Megaship as soon as possible."

"Zhane," Ashley put in. "Sprained wrist and multiple hits to the head. Not that you can tell the difference."

"Very funny," he muttered.

"Saryn," Billy added. "I don't know *what's* wrong with him, but he only started talking again a few minutes ago." There was the briefest of pauses, and then he added, "And he wants to know what happened to Cassie."

"Cassie," Linnse said, mimicking the others' check in. "Lacerations and probably a broken rib or two."

"Linnse," Cassie's voice retorted. "Bruises and at least a cracked rib. Not to mention a hit to the head. That one's pending."

Ashley tried not to giggle but it was hard, especially when Zhane snickered. "I could help her with that," he muttered quietly.

"The Megaship's on emergency power, but I think the Medical bay's intact," Linnse said, ignoring Cassie's commentary. "You'll have to teleport yourselves, and I'm not guaranteeing anything, but it's better than nothing."

"Oh, I don't know," Zhane said idly. "Nothing sounds pretty good right now."

"You're going," Ashley told him firmly. "Get out." She activated the teleportation stream before he could protest, and watched with some amusement as he vanished into a whirl of yellow.

*Andros?* she thought, wanting the reassurance of his voice speaking to her.

*Carlos and Aura are gone,* he said, and again she could feel the strange echo of his surroundings in his mental voice. *Did you send Zhane off to the Megaship?*

*Yeah, but I'm not sure he was happy about it.* She hesitated only a moment, not quite long enough for him to answer but just enough time to convince herself she wasn't silly for asking. *Are you all right?*

*I'm all right,* he replied. *Are you?*

She sighed. *We survived. Heck, we *won*. I don't think that part's even sunk in yet.*

*That's not what I asked,* he reminded her gently.

She took a deep breath, staring out at the twinkling points of light through her forward screen. Most were stars, a couple were planets, and some--the flickers, mostly, the ones she almost saw but couldn't quite catch--were ships. Zords that had fought with her, fighters that had fought with them all... and somewhere, the Megaship, with the uneasy shadow of the Dark Fortress looming over it.

Ecliptor was on their side. That must make Kerone happy. It might make everyone else uncomfortable, but there was no question that he'd shown where his true loyalties lay. The Dark Fortress had saved the Megaship, and in so doing, it had saved them all--not just from the ravages of battle, but from the pain of losing a home.

*Yeah,* she thought slowly, smiling a little at the flickers of light on her screen. *I'm all right.*

21. Nightmare Legacy

Although he had witnessed the beating the Megaship had taken from the outside, TJ was unprepared for the level of damage within. Emergency power was obviously failing, for the lights flickered unpredictably and the doors had frozen halfway open when DECA tried to override their automatic lock.

Even the air recyclers, usually contributing only a barely noticeable background hum, were now stuttering, letting out intermittent hisses and pops as they labored to keep the intact portions of the Megaship pressurized. DECA would alert them if the air quality fell to dangerously low levels, but so far the environmental systems were keeping up. The Medical bay was a little cool, but the temperature had achieved a precarious stability since it started to drop. They wouldn't freeze in the next few minutes, at least.

*The only things that don't seem to be malfunctioning are the coolant seals,* TJ reflected wryly. The phenomenon was unusual only in that the seals had a strange habit of failing at the slightest sign of trouble and covering the decks in a thick white fog.

Turning one of the independent medscanners on Saryn, he motioned for the other Ranger to hold still. "The fight's over, you know," he pointed out. "There's nothing to run off after, so don't move."

In truth, though the battle was effectively over, he knew the Dark Fortress and the Defense wing were still engaged in "mop-up" operations. The Parikat fleet had started to flee as soon as the tide turned in favor of the Rangers, but the Rysian occupation force refused to either surrender or retreat. The Mega V zords as a whole were in no condition to fight, and the Aquitians were about to be severely undermanned. Excluding the Megaship, which was worse off than any of them, that left only the Defense wing and their new ally to take and hold the Rysian system.

"Where are the others?" Saryn asked impatiently, even as a rustle of air and the static sound of teleportation announced Zhane's arrival.

"You called?" The Silver Ranger immediately stepped forward to look over TJ's shoulder. "What's wrong with him?"

"What's wrong with *you*?" TJ countered.

A second teleportation stream appeared in the Medical bay, this one bright red, and TJ's eyes widened. Carlos stepped out of it, carrying Aura in his arms. Almost simultaneous with his arrival was the sudden presence of Cetaci and Delphinius, sparkles of black falling away from them as their water molecule shapes vanished.

Cetaci was at Aura's side in an instant, laying her hand across her teammate's forehead and pushing Carlos toward the second patient bed. He obeyed without hesitation, until she motioned to him to let go of Aura. "But she's cold!" he protested, his voice more forlorn than rebellious.

"She needs water more than she needs warmth," Cetaci told him firmly. "Set her down. Delphinius, can you...?"

A flicker of movement by the door caught TJ's attention, only barely registering out of the corner of his eye. "Saryn!" he exclaimed, turning. The Phantom Ranger froze in the doorway, shooting a slightly guilty look back into the Medical bay. "Where do you think you're going?" TJ demanded.

Saryn actually sighed a little. "Where do you think I intend to go?"

He hadn't been asking about the "others" earlier, TJ realized suddenly. He had seen Saryn's face pale when Linnse mentioned Cassie, and it should have occurred to him that the other would put Cassie's well-being first, as he had so many times before. "She'll be here," TJ told him. "You won't help anything by searching for her. What would you do if you *did* find her, walk her here yourself?"

"I could help," Saryn muttered. He didn't step back inside the Medical bay, but neither did he continue down the corridor.

A glow from the second patient bed distracted TJ for just a moment, and he saw Delphinius withdraw his hand from Aura's chest. "What did you do?" Carlos was asking.

Delphinius braced himself against the bed for a moment, and TJ saw Cetaci's hand touch his shoulder briefly. "I infused her with water," Delphinius said, his voice even. "It depletes the giver, and it's a temporary measure at best. But it may be enough..."

He trailed off, and TJ saw the prone figure on the bed stir. "Aura?" Carlos murmured, and the quiet word was all but drowned out by Saryn's exclamation.

When TJ glanced back at the doorway, it was empty, and he strode forward to see what had caught Saryn's attention. He wasn't surprised to see Linnse and Cassie making their way down the corridor, the one supporting the other as Linnse tried to brush Saryn aside. "You're not helping," she snapped.

To TJ's surprise, Cassie was also frowning at Saryn. "Don't touch me! TJ, get Saryn away from us, would you?"

"You're hurt," Saryn insisted.

Cassie positively glared at him. "So are you! And I know what you're thinking, so don't even try it!"

"What's going on?" TJ demanded, taking Cassie's other arm and helping her into the Medical bay. He felt terrible for the wince his motion elicited from her, and he saw her bite her lip as Linnse gently maneuvered her toward the patient bed Saryn had vacated. "What's wrong?"

Linnse took the medscanner from his hand and turned it on Cassie. She frowned, doing something to the display and then glancing around the Medical bay. "Do you have osteo regen capability here?"

"Emergency power will not support osteo regen for more than three minutes and 42 seconds," DECA replied calmly.

"That'll have to be enough," Linnse said, tossing the medscanner back to TJ. Off guard, he only barely caught it, and he started as Saryn appeared out of nowhere at Cassie's side again.

She pushed him away as he reached for her. "I swear, Saryn, you're worse than mosquitoes! Leave me alone!"

"What's going on?" TJ demanded, startled to hear her snap at Saryn like that. "Cassie, are you all right?"

"I'm fine," she retorted. "And turn that scanner on Linnse before she does anything drastic. She probably needs the regen more than I do. Saryn!"

"Delphinius," Cetaci's voice said loudly, cutting into their conversation. "Sedate Saryn if he does not comply."

"There is *nothing* wrong with me," Saryn growled, glaring at TJ as if it were somehow his fault. "There is no reason I should not be allowed to help."

"Cassie, turn around," Linnse instructed. "You know how it works, right? No moving."

"Not until you get scanned," Cassie insisted. "The Power will heal me quicker than you."

"This is not necessary," Saryn tried to protest.

"Zhane, make yourself useful and distract Saryn," Cassie said. "And TJ, if you're not going to scan Linnse, give me that so I can do it myself."

He turned the medscanner on Linnse, letting it run through her vitals and recalibrate for Eltaran physiology. "Two bruised ribs, but nothing broken. DECA can give you something for the pain, if you want."

"You see?" Linnse said, looking at Cassie. "I'm fine. You've got a broken sternum and you're going under regen for as long as it will run. End of discussion."

"I--" Saryn started.

"No!" Cassie exclaimed, pulling her legs up onto the patient bed. "You were unconscious half an hour ago, Saryn. You can't heal me."

TJ stepped forward to help Linnse with the regen setup, suddenly understanding what the argument was about. To heal Cassie would significantly drain Saryn, even under the best circumstances, but that hadn't stopped him back in the Sirus dimension on Earth.

"Cetaci," Delphinius interjected.

Past Linnse's shoulder, TJ saw the White Aquitian Ranger look up. "Tell Cestria to--" Aura, now sitting on her own but looking none too steady, turned toward her carefully, and Cetaci cut off. Swallowing, she amended, "Yes?"

Something must have passed between them, but TJ's attention was drawn back to Cassie as Linnse stepped back. He caught Cassie's eye and asked, "Ready?"

She rearranged her position once more and took a deep breath. Exhaling slowly, she nodded at him. "I'm ready. I hope. I hate regen," she added, almost as an afterthought.

He gave her a sympathetic smile. "I know. It's only for a few minutes."

She smiled back, but her eyes slid past him. He didn't have to glance over his shoulder to know Saryn was hovering behind him. "DECA," TJ said, looking up at the computer's nearest camera. "Start osteo regen."

He saw Cassie tense a little as the double blue beams swept across her chest, bathing her in an eerie sapphire light. She took a shallow breath, obviously trying to stay relaxed--and, more importantly, as motionless as possible. He could practically feel Saryn fidgeting behind him, and he stepped out of the way without a word.

Saryn flowed into his place, reaching out to touch Cassie's hand gently. She turned her hand over and he squeezed her fingers, careful not to disturb the regen process. TJ smiled a little, then glanced over at Cetaci just as she looked in his direction.

"Does the Megaship still have shields?" the White Ranger asked, as soon as she caught his eye.

"No," Linnse interjected. "We're lucky we have lights, let alone shields. What's wrong?"

"Ecliptor hit something," she said, glancing up at DECA's camera. "Its destruction caused a pulse wave that's increasing in intensity as it expands outward."

"That's impossible," TJ said, frowning at her.

"I am not detecting any such wave," DECA informed them.

"What kind of pulse wave?" Saryn wanted to know, ignoring the computer completely.

Cetaci shook her head. "Neither Cestria or Billy can obtain any more information on it."

"Can the Mega V zords detect it?" Zhane asked. "Maybe DECA's scanners were damaged during the battle."

Cetaci and Delphinius exchanged glances. "The wave has already engulfed the Mega V zords. They are no longer responding."

"DECA," Zhane said quickly. "Can you raise the Mega Vs?"

There was an unnaturally long silence.

"DECA?" TJ asked at last.

"Looking for me?" a familiar voice asked from behind him.

TJ spun, startled by Tessa's sudden appearance and inexpressibly relieved to see her standing there. "You're all right!" He reached out and pulled her into a fierce hug. "You have no idea how worried I was..."

"Were you?" she murmured.

He frowned, pushing her away a little to search her expression. "Yeah, of course I was."

"You didn't act it," she said, staring back at him impassively.

"What?" His frown deepened. "Tess, what's wrong? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she said, shrugging out of his embrace. "No thanks to you."

Stung, he tried to suppress a flash of guilt. "Look, I'm sorry you got dragged into this. I know it was wrong of us to ask you--"

"'Us' again," she interrupted. "It's always 'us' when you're talking about your Ranger friends, and 'you' when you're talking about me. Am I not part of 'us', TJ?"

"Of course you are!" He reached out, hoping to soothe her obviously frayed nerves. He shouldn't have suggested her when Andros was putting together his "Earth team", but he had honestly thought she would jump at the chance. And the team was never supposed to fight--he had thought she would be safer with Cassie's Power than without.

She drew back further, narrowing her eyes at him. "I'm tired of always coming after your friends, TJ."

"You don't!" he protested. "Tessa, you know how important you are to me. If something had happened to you today... I never would have forgiven myself."

"Maybe you should have thought of that before," she told him. "But your team came first, didn't it. They always come first, and I've put up with it long enough. Time to choose, TJ."

He stared at her in shock. "What are you talking about?"

"It's me or them," she informed him calmly. "Give up your Ranger powers, or break up with me. It's your choice."

"What's going on?" Cassie demanded, watching TJ talk to thin air. "TJ?"

He didn't answer, didn't even turn to acknowledge her question. Her fingers twitched, and she tried desperately not to fidget. She hated regen, but she hated the pain more, and the Power would take hours to even start healing a broken bone.

Saryn's hand slipped out of hers, and her fingers twitched again as she just barely suppressed the urge to reach for him. "Saryn--" She glanced up, and her breath caught in her throat as she struggled to swallow.

The Phantom Ranger's expressionless visor stared back at her.

"Saryn?" she asked, hoping he hadn't noticed her surprise. She hated it when he did that. "What's wrong?"

"Saryn's dead," he told her flatly. "I do not wish you to call me that any longer."

She did swallow this time, managing a weak frown for his harsh words. "Don't say things like that. You're Saryn. And you're not dead."

"Saryn died on Elisia," the other Ranger said, his tone completely unreadable. "The Shadow Ranger is only that--a shadow of what once was."

It disturbed her more than she wanted to admit to hear him calling himself the Shadow Ranger again. That had been a life born of pain and suffering, absent of any joy and something she had thought him long past. After all, if he still was that person, how could he care for her now?

"I care for no one," he told her. "Not anymore."

She could only stare at him as he turned and walked out of the Medical bay. "Saryn! Wait!" The regen released her at last, and she scrambled off the patient bed.

She thought she was only seconds behind him as she reached the door, but when she burst out into the hallway she found it empty in both directions. The slightest hint of darkness to the left made her turn that way, and she darted down the hall after him. But the hallway grew no less deserted as she chased a shadow down the empty, arching corridors of the Megaship.

"The wave has engulfed the Aquitian zords," DECA announced. "They are not responding to hails."

"Try them again," Zhane ordered. "Can you get a visual of this wave thing? And the other zords?"

"Rerouting scanner feed now," DECA told him. A screen on the other side of the Medical bay flickered to life, showing a computer-generated graphic of the wave superimposed over the positions of the Aquitian zords. "Still no response to comm signals."

"DECA, talk normally," Zhane said irritably. He hated it when the computer spoke without pronouns.

"Unable to comply," DECA answered, none of her usual expression in her tone. "The wave is approaching the Megaship's current location. Recommend immediate retreat."

"But what about the others?" Zhane exclaimed, frustrated. "We can't just leave them here!"

"There is no other viable alternative," the computer informed him.

"Can we at least teleport the others?" he demanded. "Can you get a teleportation stream through the wave?"

"Affirmative."

A sparkle of red on the nearest patient bed was the only precursor to Andros' arrival, and Zhane's heart clenched at the sight of the other's still form. "Andros?" Two steps put him at his friend's side. "DECA, what's wrong with him?"

There was no answer.

"DECA?" he demanded, glancing up at the camera. The red light was dark, and no response was forthcoming.

"Andros," Zhane said urgently, clasping his friend's hand in his and reaching for a medscanner with the other. "Come on, Andros; you have to wake up. You can't do this to me."

The medscanner had to be malfunctioning. He knew it was wrong; there was no way that flatline could be correct. They had sworn to stay together. Andros wouldn't leave him now. Not again. Not after everything that had happened...

He swallowed hard, feeling a tear slip down his cheek as he tried hastily to recalibrate the scanner. It had been set for Eltarans; that was the problem. Of course it wouldn't read right. It would be all right if only he could get the scanner to function properly, but his fingers couldn't remember which keys to press.

Finally he dropped the scanner and clasped his friend's wrist, pulling Andros off the bed and into his arms. "Please," he whispered, sinking to the floor with his best friend in his embrace. "*Please* don't leave me, you know I can't take that. You know it, Andros..."

He hugged his friend's still form harder, ignoring the tears dampening the blond-striped brown hair. Andros had thought him on the verge of death for almost two years, but Andros had always been stronger than him. There was no way he could survive without the one person who had been friend, brother, teammate, and the other half of his soul for longer than he could truly remember.

"Astrea." Andros' voice sounded stern in the small confines of Delphinius' Zaal zord. "Are you in contact with Ecliptor?"

"No more than you just heard," she answered, frowning at the odd flicker on her tactical map. Billy had called it a "pulse wave", as though that was supposed to mean something to her, and it had passed over Zaal some seconds before. Nothing seemed to have happened, but she had all the zord's systems running internal checks just to be sure.

"But you knew he was going to be here," Andros pressed.

She frowned, gaze flicking across the diagnostic reports. They were all coming back normal so far. "No. I'm as surprised as you are."

There was a slight click of static as another voice joined the link. "I don't think so."

She looked up, a little surprised. "Zhane?"

"Astronema?" he mimicked.

She frowned again, but if he wanted to call her that, she wasn't going to stop him. She didn't appreciate it, but she couldn't go around bullying her brother's team the way she did quantrons on the Dark Fortress. Their opinions mattered too much. She respected them.

Turning her attention back to her console, she started the scanner diagnostic once more. She wanted to be absolutely certain she knew what was sneaking up on her, if and when it came. Who knew what else the Dark Fortress's mission of destruction might unleash, however accidentally. The next "wave" might not be so benign.

"Zhane?" She might as well make use of him while he was listening. "Did you get any correlative data on that wave when it passed over the Megaship?"

"So you can pass it on to Ecliptor and use it against us again?" he countered.

Clamping her jaw down, she tried to stifle a gasp. "That wasn't funny, Zhane." Though she would never admit it, that accusation hurt, whether it had been made in jest or not.

"It wasn't supposed to be funny," he shot back. "It's what you've always done before, isn't it? Taken whatever weapon you could find to destroy the good guys?"

"You weren't the good guys then," she said, through clenched teeth.

"The good guys don't change, Astrea," Andros' voice told her. "You're either good or you aren't. And you obviously aren't."

She felt her heart seize, and she glared at the comm as though she could somehow strike back at him through it. "What right do you have to tell me that! You've never seen more than one side of a fight in your life! You don't know what it's like!"

"There *is* only one side," Andros said. "There's right and wrong, and the right side is the only one that matters."

"Which side are you on, Astronema?" Zhane wanted to know. "You might as well tell us now."

Until only a few seconds before, she would have said she was on their side. But they were no more consistent than she was, turning on her like this and making her question everything all over again. "I'm on the side that cares," she muttered, remembering her earlier conversation with TJ. It seemed so long ago, now. "Because it's the caring that makes things happen."

And there was only one person who truly cared, one person whose affection and loyalty she knew were not false. She turned her zord around and headed for the Dark Fortress.

It was cold. So cold. A bone-numbing chill had seeped through her body while she slept, and it refused to release its grip no matter how she shivered. She was too tired to shiver anymore, really, and finally she just let herself stop.

It wasn't *that* cold, she reasoned, if she could stop shivering. She knew Delphinius was the only reason she was awake, just as Cetaci had been her means of survival on Dark Spectre's ship. She knew too that if she was denied water much longer there would be nothing more they could do. But at least she was starting to feel warmer... that was something.

"You're not warm," a voice insisted, as though he were somehow reading her mind. "You're only getting colder--fight it, Aura. You have to fight!"

The world warped in the most bizarre way, twisting the walls of the Megaship's Medical bay into some distorted version of the garden dome on her homeworld. Nighttime, she thought absently, watching phosphorescence swirl in the water above. The dome was pleasantly warm, as always, and she welcomed the feeling after the chill of only a few minutes before.

"You never fight anymore." It was Cetaci's voice, emanating from the shadows, and she turned to face her leader as the White Ranger regarded her critically. "This offworlder has made you weak."

"You have betrayed us," Delphinius added, stepping forward to stand at his lover's side. "You tell him our secrets. You fight for him now, not for the team."

"I don't," she protested--or tried to protest. The dome was spinning somehow, a lazy but uncontrolled motion that threw her off-balance. She sat down hard, pressing her forehead against her hands in an effort to force her mind into thought. "I haven't..."

"He doesn't want you," Cestria told her. She and Billy appeared, off to one side but far closer to their teammates than to her. "Stay with us. We will take care of you."

"I don't... need--" Her head was pounding, but she couldn't remember if that had just started or if it had always been like this. The air was so warm, and she was so tired. It would hurt less if she could just lie down for a minute.

"You were one of us, once," Billy's voice told her. "Things are different now."

She rested her head against her knees, feeling the world tilt precariously as the ground bumped against her shoulder. She relaxed a little, feeling sleep ready to pounce at the edges of her awareness. It leapt in as she closed her eyes, milling about her mind for only a few seconds before completely overwhelming her with darkness.

"Come *on*, Aura," he whispered. "You can beat this; I know you can. You've never given up before; don't start now. You have to fight!"

"She can't hear you, you know."

He whirled, at once startled and immediately guilty as he recognized the voice. "What are you doing here?"

"I should be asking you that," Karen observed, glancing pointedly at the hand he had wrapped around Aura's fingers. "Girl on every planet, Carlos?"

"No!" he exclaimed, knowing he should go to her. But he couldn't make his hand let go of Aura's. "It's not like that!"

"Oh, so it's just the two of us. I guess you would need one girlfriend for space and another one for Earth. I'd just embarrass your outer space friends, but she'd be really hard to bring to soccer games."

"Aura isn't my girlfriend," he protested. "She's just a friend who's in trouble. I'm worried about her; I don't *love* her!"

Karen gave him an oddly knowing look. "But you'd like to, wouldn't you. The dreams are more real than you want to admit."

His eyes went wide, and he could feel his cheeks flush. There was no way *anyone* could know about that. "I don't dream about her!"

She smiled a little. "You talk in your sleep, Carlos."

He clenched his fingers on Aura's as he tried desperately to stammer out some kind of response. He did have the weirdest dreams about her from time to time, but they had started only a few days after he had first met the Aquitians. He had figured it was the delayed shock of meeting alien Rangers, and then, when the dreams had turned inevitably more romantic, he had put it down to the amount of time they were spending together.

Besides, they always faded with the light. Each dream prompted him to remember the others, but only in the grey twilight area between sleep and wakefulness. As soon as he was fully alert, the odd vision would vanish from his mind as though it had never been. He wasn't even quite sure why he was remembering them now.

"Ask Ashley," Karen suggested flippantly, and when Carlos looked up again, the Medical bay was still and deserted.

His hand was empty. He closed his fingers into a fist, dreading what he would see when he turned around. But he turned anyway, to find Aura gone as well. He had never truly expected her to stay.

The walls rippled, and the air twisted in a way he couldn't see, let alone explain. The room darkened like a movie theater before the previews, but when he blinked, the Medical bay was gone. The Aquitian Rangers stood around Aura's crumpled form and he started toward her just as Ashley appeared at his side.

"Carlos?" she asked tentatively.

Something in her tone made him stop and blink, frowning a little. "Yeah?" he said, turning toward her slowly. "Ash?"

"We can't let that wave reach the Megaship!"

Andros' words rang in her ears even as she watched the battleship that had been their home for months on end crumble, the structural support torn apart from within as the wave wrenched its way through the damaged hull. *We failed.* The words echoed through her mind again and again, numbing her to the pain, to any kind of caring.

"We failed..." She heard Andros' grief-stricken voice mirror her own thoughts. Their teammates were on that ship, their friends, their home, their lives. The Megaship was a symbol of everything they had become together, and without it... what else was there?

"Sometimes your best just isn't good enough," she whispered, a tear streaking down her face. "Andros, what have we done?"

The cockpit wavered before her eyes, yanking her out of the spacefaring vessel and into the middle of a cloudless summer night. She blinked rapidly, trying to force her tears to wait and shove her mind into some kind of coherence. This couldn't be real--but there was Carlos. He had died on the Megaship, but he was here. She said his name softly, as though just the sound might make him disappear.

He turned with such a Carlos-like expression of puzzlement on his face that she just wanted to throw herself into his arms. "Yeah? Ash?" he asked, looking as though he was waking from some kind of dream.

"Are you real?" she had to ask, and he frowned a little.

"Are you?" he asked at last.

She felt a hand on her back and she turned instinctively--straight into Andros' embrace. "I was so scared," he murmured, just loud enough that only she could hear. "Was any of that real?"

"I... I don't know," she said, wrapping her arms around him and hugging him hard. "Don't leave."

He squinted out at the heat haze, welcoming the oppressive warmth after the chilly air of the--

The thought dissolved into incoherence. He hadn't been here a moment ago, but where he had been was surely of little importance. What mattered was Kris' sudden and inexplicable absence, a mystery since midday that he had not been able to solve to his satisfaction.

"Looking for something?" Timmin's voice asked from behind him, and he did his level best not to jump.

"Kris," he replied, refusing to turn. "Have you seen her?"

Timmin uttered a dramatic sigh. "Not as often as I'd like, unfortunately. Why?"

He frowned a little. If Timmin didn't know where she was, it was more serious than he had thought. "No one has seen her since before midday."

"So?" Timmin didn't seem unduly concerned, but then, Timmin never did. "She's probably holed up with Jenna somewhere cool. Why not check the girls' rooms?"

His expression must have been horrified, for Timmin laughed. "Coward! Come on; they won't chase us out."

Timmin led the way into the girls' wing as though he knew it by heart, stopping in front of Jenna's door and yelling for her without inhibition. "Jenna, Saryn's here to see you!"

He felt his cheeks flush red, but the cloth was flung aside before he could add anything. Jenna smiled brilliantly at him, not seeming to notice his discomfort. "Hey Saryn! What's up?"

She didn't seem at all disconcerted to find him in the girls' wing, but he barely managed to stammer, "We're... uh, we were looking for--Kris."

Jenna raised an eyebrow. "We?" she repeated.

"Timmin--" he glanced over his shoulder, but Timmin was nowhere to be seen. He frowned. "Timmin was with me a minute ago."

"He set you up," Jenna said with a grin.

He shook his head, confused. "He wouldn't... he was looking for Kris, too."

"Hey guys!" Lyris poked his head in, ignoring the restriction of the girls' wing as completely as Timmin had. "Breaking rules after midday? Well, better late than never."

"Have you seen Kris?" Saryn asked, trying to suppress his concern.

"Or Timmin?" Jenna added helpfully.

Lyris leaned back, making a point of looking down the corridor in both directions. "No. Why, where have they gotten to now?"

"That's what we're trying to figure out," Jenna said, and Saryn glanced over at her. She was wearing a small smile, the one that said she was just humoring him, and he tried not to sigh.

"You think I'm overreacting," he said.

She only shrugged, but her eyes danced with amusement.

This time he did sigh. "All right," he said at last, glancing back toward the door. "I admit--"

Lyris was gone.

"Where did Lyris go?" he demanded.

He felt the slight movement of air that meant Jenna had moved, and he turned back to her. She shrugged a little, peering toward the door as though it didn't matter much to her. "I'm not sure. He probably remembered something else he had to do."

He reached for her hand, wrapping his fingers around hers and drawing her a little closer. If they were going to disappear one by one, he wasn't going without Jenna. "Let's find out."

"All right," she agreed amiably, allowing him to tug her back toward the door. "Are you planning to take me into the boys' wing, then?"

He smiled a little at her teasing, letting go of her hand to lift the curtain out of her way. "Somehow I think you've been there before."

She didn't answer, and he glanced back.

The room was empty.

"Where *are* we?" TJ demanded, staring around the harsh desert landscape.

"Elisia," Cassie murmured.

He frowned at her. "How do you know?"

"I've seen it before," she said quietly. "This is Saryn's planet."

"So what are we doing here?" another voice asked. Zhane's black uniform stood out in stark contrast to the windblown sand and oddly white sky. "Assuming either of you are real, of course."

TJ glanced over at him. Zhane looked back, surreptitiously wiping his sleeve across his face. It smudged the tearstains there rather than erasing them, but after what TJ had seen so far he decided it would be better not to ask. "I think we're real. I'm not so sure about all *this*." He waved his arm to indicate the landscape around them, and Cassie shook her head slowly.

"It can't be real, any of it. I don't think we're even real, exactly." She looked down as she spoke, and TJ frowned again.

Before he could ask, though, Zhane interrupted. "*I'm* real. It's you guys I'm questioning."

Cassie gave him an odd look. "Zhane, flex your wrist."

He looked surprised, but after a moment he held his hands out in front of him. Flexing first one, and then the other, he stared at his hands as though he'd never seen them before. "It doesn't hurt."

"Me neither," Cassie agreed. "And I *know* the Power doesn't heal that fast."

"So what *is* this?" TJ wanted to know, shooting a quick look at his hands and noticing the absence of cuts and bruises for the first time. "Some kind of hallucination?"

"Something to do with that wave, maybe?" Cassie suggested.

Zhane nodded slowly. "Mine started right after the wave, I think. It was--hard to tell," he offered awkwardly.

Cassie nodded emphatically, but she didn't volunteer anything else.

"I know when mine started," TJ informed them. He paused for a moment, though, and finally he had to admit that it wasn't entirely outside the realm of possibility for Tessa to have teleported to the Megaship. "At least, I think I do."

Cassie gave him a sympathetic look. "I know. It's weird."

"But if this is because of the wave," Zhane put in, "why are some of us together again? And why here--wherever here is?"

"Saryn," an unsteady voice said from behind them.

They all turned to find Cetaci staring past them at the stone structures that were the only obstacle to the unending horizon. "He's too strong," she said, her voice shaking even as she lifted her chin defiantly. "He drew us into his vision."

"Are you all right?" TJ asked quietly, knowing Cetaci wouldn't appreciate the question but unable to keep from asking it.

"I'm fine," she said, blinking quickly. "We have to find Saryn. He's the only one who can get us back."

"How do *you* know?" Zhane asked suspiciously. "How do we know *you're* real?"

"The same way I know you're real," she answered after a moment. "You trust."

"And about Saryn?" Zhane prompted.

She hesitated again. "I do not know that either," she admitted at last. "But it's the best guess I can come up with."

TJ exchanged startled glances with Cassie. It was the first time he'd ever heard the Aquitian leader acknowledge weakness.

Finally, Cassie nodded. "It sounds good to me."

"Of course it sounds good to you," Zhane said, somewhat irritably. "You want to find Saryn anyway. But what about the others? Where are they?"

Cetaci swallowed. "I wish I knew that as well," she said softly. "I can only assume that they are either still trapped within their own visions, or that they have been pulled into Aura's or Cestria's experiences the same way we are inside Saryn's."

"Telepaths," TJ muttered, shaking his head. When three pairs of eyes turned on him, though, it occurred to him that he was seriously outnumbered. "Never mind."

"Unless you have a better idea," Cetaci said, as though TJ had not spoken, "I suggest we try to locate Saryn."

Zhane shrugged helplessly. "Fine." He cast about the seemingly endless desert once more before settling on the structures directly in front of them. "Let's go get him and get out of here."

22. Hidden

She clapped her hands over her ears as the roaring sound grew steadily louder, and she could only stare in amazement as Ecliptor vanished. One moment he was there, talking to her, reassuring her, and the next he was--gone. The Dark Fortress faded from existence as though it had never been, replaced by an unfamiliar environment as quickly as though she had been teleported away against her will.

She stared around her, trying to shake the bizarre feeling of being woken up from her life. She was all too eager to believe that the last few minutes had been nothing but a nightmare, but she couldn't remember falling asleep anymore than she could identify the setting in which she now found herself.

"Where *am* I?" she demanded aloud. She could hear her own voice clearly, despite the fact that the thunderous roar that seemed to come from all around her had not abated in the least.

"Something has happened," a voice replied uncertainly.

She turned without thinking, on the defensive at the first sign of company. Delphinius stood only a few paces away, looking around them with a wariness akin to her own. "What are you doing here?" she asked, following his gaze with a frown. "And where is here?"

The cavern stretched away from them in all directions, a dim and somehow liquid light playing across the damp stone and moss. Waist-high plants lifted broad and shiny green leaves up toward the meager light, waving lazily in a breeze she couldn't feel. Humidity hung so heavily in the air that she could almost see the water droplets before they collected on her skin and eyelashes, and she was sure that this was no place she had ever visited before.

"These are the Eternal Falls," Delphinius replied, and tilted his head to stare upward.

She glanced up, not particularly curious but wondering what had caught his attention. The source of the incredible pounding noise became instantly clear as she realized what she was seeing.

"Eternal Falls" was not just a pretty name. Sheet after sheet of clear, frothing water thundered down from the cliffs above, forming the semi-transparent ceiling of the "cave". She followed the water's fall with her eyes, staring in amazement as it simply vanished over the side of a ledge not fifty meters away. Her entire perspective shifted as she began to understand that they were not underground after all, but far higher than she had imagined.

She realized after a moment that her mouth was open, and she closed it quickly, shooting a look in Delphinius' direction. He was paying little if any attention to her, searching the area in which they stood as though he expected to find someone else nearby.

"Why are we here?" she asked. She was no more clear on that than she had been before, though she was significantly more awed. "We were in the Rysian system, and Dark Spectre's ship was destroyed…"

"The Dark Fortress had appeared," Delphinius said, turning back toward her with an intense look that startled her. "And we teleported to the Megaship."

He seemed to be looking for confirmation as much as she, so she nodded. "You and Cetaci left Zaal to take care of Aura. Then there was some kind of pulse wave, and Andros and Zhane accused me of being a traitor--"

His eyes narrowed. "Zhane did not. He was in the Medical bay with the rest of us from the time I teleported there to the time…" He frowned, suddenly. "I can not recall his presence after Cetaci left."

"Left for where?" she asked, diverted. Why would the White Ranger have abandoned Aura when she had been so insistent about being with her teammate?

"She left to investigate the pulse wave," Delphinius said slowly, his frown deepening. "In Mireth… but Cestria was in Mireth." He stopped, giving her a thoroughly confused look. "Was she not?"

"If Cetaci left the Megaship, I didn't know about it," she told him. "But I do know Cestria didn't leave Mireth. And none of the Aquitian zords went to investigate the wave."

"The wave," Delphinius repeated, not taking his eyes off of her. "It was the wave, wasn't it."

"This isn't real," she guessed.

He shook his head slowly. "It cannot be. The Eternal Falls are on Aquitar, and neither the Megaship nor Zaal has the power to get us here from Rysia."

"So when did it *stop* being real?" she wanted to know. "And how do we get out of this--whatever it is?"

"We have to find the others first," Billy said, and she blinked. She hadn't seen him approach, but there he was, hand in hand with Cestria and looking only slightly the worse for wear. "If we leave without them, they'll have to find their way back on their own."

She eyed him suspiciously. "What do you mean, 'leave without them'? Do you know where we are?"

"You're in my… nightmare," Cestria said quietly. "I apologize for drawing you into it."

"Your nightmare?" she repeated, glancing around again. It didn't look so bad to her.

"It does not always look like this," Cestria said, as though that were all the explanation she needed. The Yellow Ranger did not look around, almost as though she was ashamed at the state of this place that she had brought them to. "Did either of you see something you fear just before you arrived here?"

She and Delphinius exchanged glances. She wasn't sure she wanted to answer that, but Delphinius admitted, "Yes. You think these…" He gestured around them, leaving no doubt about what he meant even before he finished the sentence. "These 'nightmares' were induced by the wave?"

"That's the theory," Billy put in. "We won't know for sure until we get out of here."

"Maybe not even then," Cestria murmured, staring steadily down at the ground.

"Hey--" Billy put a hand on her shoulder. "This hasn't happened, Cestria. I promise you."

Watching the two of them, she couldn't help but frown. "Delphinius said this is Aquitar. There's no way we could have gotten from Rysia to Aquitar in just a few seconds."

Billy shot her an unreadable look. "It's her fear, Kerone, not yours. Of course it seems more real to her than it does to you."

She drew back, stung, but said nothing. She hadn't meant to dismiss Cestria, no matter how unwarranted her distress seemed, but neither would she snap at Billy for defending her.

"You said we could find the others," Delphinius said, looking over his shoulder as though he expected to see his teammates coming up behind them.

Cestria nodded, her gaze still on the ground. "We four are all I can sense here, but the others may have been pulled into Aura's nightmare. I think I can get us there as well, though I am afraid she will not thank me for it."

It was on her tongue to ask "why not?", until she remembered Andros' accusing words. "You're either good or you aren't. And you obviously aren't." She wouldn't want anyone else in her "nightmare", either. So she asked only, "Why would they be with Aura?"

"The same reason you are with me," Cestria said. "I don't understand why it happened, but we are the team's strongest telepaths. If I somehow projected what I am seeing onto you, I am certain Aura has done the same, however unintentionally."

"But you can control this?" Delphinius wanted to know, motioning to their surroundings. "You can find the others and end these… nightmares?"

Cestria hesitated, lifting her eyes to study him. She was still careful not to look around, though. "I can end *my* nightmare, because it is mine and I am aware of it now. I think I can find the others, also, but I will not be able to end Aura's nightmare for her. Only she can do that."

"Then let's go," Billy interjected. "The sooner we find her--and everyone else, hopefully--the better."

Cestria nodded reluctantly. Her eyes slid closed, and for a moment the only noise was the overpowering sound of water as it crashed against stone. Then, slowly, the unsteady luminescence started to dim and the roaring began to echo, as though it were coming from farther and farther away.

The next thing she knew, she was standing outside, and she had a moment to wonder why Aura's "nightmare" was a beautiful summer night on Earth. But it didn't take long for the wrongness of the vegetation to set in, and as soon as she looked up she knew they were on Aquitar again.

Instead of the clear, bright darkness of Earth twilight, the night was dark and fluid as currents of water caught and swirled around the dome that enclosed this particular "meadow". The sharp sparkle of starlight was absent, replaced by the softer glimmer of ocean phosphorescence as sealife played above the transparent dome.

The luminescence blurred, and she lowered her gaze abruptly. To her surprise, the rest of the dome was just as unfocused, and she rubbed her eyes in an effort to clear them. Nothing happened, but a moment later the dome solidified again of its own accord.

She looked around, puzzled, and her eyes widened as she saw double. She frowned, shaking her head. Not double… Andros and Ashley were there, and she could see them perfectly clearly. It was only Cestria, Billy, and Delphinius who seemed to have identical twins. Cetaci was there too, and Carlos.

The dome seemed to shift, her vision reorienting itself in a way she couldn't begin to describe, and she put out her hands to balance instinctively. As before, her surroundings seemed to lose focus, widening as they blurred into each other, and she frowned. Billy, Cestria, and Delphinius remained as clear as ever, though their doubles faded. Ashley and Andros exchanged glances, also sharp, and Carlos didn't change.

"She's losing consciousness," she heard Billy say. "She can't keep this going."

"What's going on?" Andros demanded, as the dome came back into clear view again. "Where are we?"

Cestria glanced at him, but when she spoke it was to Billy. "I did not expect this. She isn't even coherent enough to understand us, let alone take control of this. I fear that when she is completely unconscious, we will all find ourselves back where we started."

"That explains why I keep seeing flashes of the Eternal Falls," Billy muttered. "So we'll go back to your nightmare, and they'll go…"

"To their own?" Cestria finished. "I wish I knew. And where are the others?"

"What are you talking about?" Ashley interrupted, pulling Andros closer to the Aquitians and Kerone. "Did the wave do this?"

"Saryn," Kerone said suddenly.

Cestria caught her eye, comprehension flashing across her expression. "Of course. He is that strong, if in a different way."

*Not so different,* she thought, but she didn't say it aloud. She supposed that if Saryn wanted everyone to know he could walk through their minds at his leisure, he would have told them before this. She wasn't going to be the one to tell his secret.

"They are with Saryn, then," Delphinius said.

This time when the dome faded she found herself, as Billy had observed, standing below the thundering wall of water once more. As quickly as it had come, it flashed away, and she was again in a blurred version of the meadow dome. "Can you take us there?" she asked Cestria.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Andros and Ashley exchange glances, but they just didn't have time to explain this. Not if they were to get out of Aura's nightmare before it collapsed completely. She didn't know what would happen to them if they were still here when that happened.

"I… maybe," Cestria admitted. "I do not know him as well as I know Aura, but I believe I can see what he sees if I try. And what I see, it seems, you also see. But--I hesitate to do this, even more in his case than in Aura's."

This time, the dome vanished without warning. It didn't blur, or fade, it simply disappeared and she was back at the Eternal Falls with Delphinius, Cestria, and Billy. She saw Cestria close her eyes, though whether in dismay or an attempt to reach Aura again, she couldn't tell.

Either way, she heard Carlos' voice before the setting wavered once more, and they were again in the disintegrating meadow dome. She couldn't make out Carlos' words, but suddenly her preoccupied mind realized that he wasn't alone. He was seated on the floor some distance away with Aura cradled in his arms, and it was to her he spoke.

"We don't have much of a choice," Billy was telling Cestria. "Aura won't be awake much longer, and maybe with Saryn's help you can keep us all together. If we're separated…"

"Who can will themselves awake without someone to tell them they are dreaming?" Cestria said quietly, and she and Billy gazed at each other for a long moment.

The distorted dome was barely even recognizable as what it had been when she arrived, and when it flickered again Cestria took a deep breath. "Saryn," she whispered, closing her eyes. As what was left of the meadow dome started to brighten, Kerone realized she wasn't sure if the other had spoken aloud or in her mind.

The light overwhelmed her surroundings, an odd transition after the way Cestria's nightmare had faded into the darkness of Aura's. But when the sun-bright whiteness resolved itself into something her eyes could comprehend, she found herself somewhere infinitely more… *solid* than the place she had been before.

Where the world Aura had created had been gentle and shifting even before it started to lose cohesion and blur into something unidentifiable, this one was hard and unforgiving. No liquid patterns of light fell across the harsh stone floor on which she found herself. Instead, sharp sunlight angled through the arched windows to strike the floor and walls with a bitter scorching heat.

Saryn turned away from the window nearest what she assumed was a door, his eyes wide as he caught sight of them. His reaction was quite possibly the last thing she had expected. "Get away," he whispered, backing toward the door. "Get away from me."

Crystal pink shards glittered on the windowsill he had just left, as though someone had set a gemstone there and smashed it to pieces. She was startled to see tears in his eyes as he retreated from them toward the only exit she could see. This place seemed as harmless to her as Cestria's had, yet he reacted as though there could be nothing worse.

Before anyone could stop him, before even his long stride could carry him through the door, the curtain over the doorway was flung open and the rest of their teammates burst through. She sought out Zhane with her eyes, breathing a silent sigh of relief when she found him safe. His gaze locked with hers and his lips quirked as though he knew what she was thinking, but Saryn's startled cry prevented any explanation.

"No!" The Phantom Ranger stumbled backward, eyes flickering across them all as though he couldn't trust them to stay where they were. "You can't be here!"

The panic in his voice was something she had never heard from him, and she couldn't help but wonder what he was seeing.

He saw Cassie when she stepped forward though, there was no doubt about that. He backed away from her until he was against the wall, and Kerone couldn't keep her heart from going out to him at the terrified look on his face. "*Please* stay away," he begged, not taking his eyes off of Cassie.

Cassie only shook her head, not hesitating. "You know I can't," she told him firmly, pulling him away from the wall and wrapping her arms around him in a fierce embrace. "It's all right," she murmured, barely loud enough for Kerone to hear. "Everything's going to be okay now."

For just a moment, Saryn froze. Then, slowly, his arms found their way around her and some of the awful stiffness drained out of his posture. As his eyes slid shut, a single tear leaked through, and Kerone turned away. "Everyone's here?" she asked Cestria quietly, glancing around the room.

Cestria shook her head, motioning unobtrusively to her left. Kerone followed her gesture, only to find Carlos staring back at her with a worried look on his face. "Aura," he murmured, when he realized she was paying attention. "She's gone."

"Unconscious," Cestria whispered. "The Megaship does not have the facilities to support her in her condition. We have to get her back to Aquitar as soon as possible."

"We have to get out of here first," TJ put in. Kerone looked around, to find nearly everyone listening in on their quiet conversation.

"Yes," Cestria agreed, speaking a little louder as she too realized that they were the center of attention. "It is up to Saryn to send us back."

"No," Saryn said, taking a step back as they all turned toward him. "I can't. I do not know how."

"You do," Cestria told him gently. "Only leave this. It is not real; it has no power over you."

"It is real," he insisted, glancing around apprehensively. "It happened."

"No," Cassie said. "It *didn't* happen, not like this. This isn't real. Reality is the Megaship, where we beat Dark Spectre, and where we're all still together. You still have us, Saryn."

"That is real now," he said, his gaze fixed on the windowsill. "This is real then."

Cassie reached out, as if to cover the shattered crystal with her fingers, and a strange flicker danced across her hand. Kerone blinked, glancing over at Zhane, and when she looked back Cassie held a whole, unbroken crystal in her hand.

She offered it to Saryn, not seeming particularly surprised. "It wasn't real then, either," she said softly. "You've made it into this, but the truth is that they loved you, and they still do. They wouldn't want you to torture yourself over it, because it *wasn't your fault*."

"Then why did they leave me?" he whispered, staring into her eyes and apparently oblivious to anyone else in the room. "Why are they gone, if I did nothing wrong?"

"They were Rangers," Cassie replied, just as quietly. "They gave their lives for something they believed in. Not for you. Not because of you. They saved Elisia, Saryn. What else would you ask of them?"

"To forgive me…" He trailed off, unable to finish, and she lifted her hand to his face.

"They do forgive you," she murmured. "*You* have to forgive you now."

The hard lines of the room started to soften incrementally, and Kerone held her breath as she watched the sunlight's sharp edges melt into something gentler. She looked up at the whisper of air beside her, and she felt Zhane's hand slip into hers as his blue eyes caught her gaze. She smiled a little, seeing the acceptance she hadn't known she questioned in his expression.

The cockpit of Delphinius' zord reformed around her, and Zhane's presence vanished from her side. She reached out for him quickly, startled to find herself alone again after the last few minutes. *Zhane?*

*Hey,* he said, sounding almost as disconcerted as she felt. *Astrea?*

She felt the smile tug at her lips again. *Yeah. Did we--are we back?*

*I guess…* There was a brief pause, as his focus was distracted by some outside stimuli. *DECA says yes. Andros wants to call roll anyway.*

Her comm channel lit up before he even finished, and Andros' voice overrode the intership chatter. "Everyone sound off," he ordered without preamble.

Def-1 brightened on her screen, and she heard the wry voice inquire, "Again?"

"Yes, again," Andros said impatiently. "Mega V."

Rocky's voice came back immediately, and she wondered about it. She remembered losing contact with the Mega Vs right before the wave overwhelmed her own zord, yet none of them had turned up in anyone else's "nightmare". And here they were, apparently none the worse for any experience they might have endured on their own.

She answered absently when her turn came, still pondering the seeming selectivity of the wave. She wished she could join the others on the Megaship, just to reassure herself that some semblance of reality had indeed reasserted itself, but she contented herself with hearing the others' voices as they checked in.

She wasn't sure she could take another experience like that, and she kept an eye on the scanners in case there was any sign of a recurrence. She was sorely tempted to contact Ecliptor and tell him to let the remaining Parikat fleet be.

Zhane took a deep breath, glad for Astrea's reassuring presence in his mind. He wished he had had the courage to hold her a few minutes ago, instead of just taking her hand. But he hadn't dared, and now he had to settle for her distracted awareness just close enough to hear, but too distant to touch.

He would gladly have given Andros a bear hug, too, but his best friend, like Astrea, was just too far away. His voice over the comm was steady and sure of itself, but Zhane could feel his friend's distress. He could hear the whisper of Andros' link with Ashley in the back of his mind as the two of them passed reassurances back and forth.

As the last of the zords checked in, Andros' terse acknowledgment was the only outward sign of the turmoil Zhane knew he was feeling. Whatever Andros had seen had shaken him badly, and he was still trying to get his defenses back up.

He wasn't alone. Linnse was the only one in the Medical bay who seemed remotely normal, demanding to know what had happened with her usual lack of subtly. Zhane did wonder briefly what she had seen while they were all… elsewhere, but the bruise on his arm and the way he had had to pick himself up off of the floor when the Medical bay replaced Saryn's stone room gave him a clue.

Saryn himself didn't seem to be in very good shape, and Cassie had scrambled off of the patient bed to put her arms around him as soon as they "woke up". She held him now, stroking his hair and letting him lean against her as he cried silently.

It was an eerie and somewhat discomfiting sight, and Zhane looked away, trying to give them privacy. No matter where he looked, though, there were similar scenes of emotional distress. It was an uncomfortable reminder of the demons they tried to suppress from day to day.

Even Cetaci, whom he had always considered cold and more than a little distant, wore an expression of bewildered loss. She looked up as Delphinius put a hesitant hand on her shoulder, and to Zhane's surprise, she let him pull her into an awkward embrace. Her shoulders started to shake as they clung to each other, and he pulled her a little closer, turning his head to rest it against hers.

Zhane saw TJ watching them, too, though the Blue Ranger's gaze slid away as soon as he caught Zhane's eye. There was a sparkle of teleportation and TJ turned as Cestria appeared beside Billy. She laid one hand on Aura's chest, and, as with Delphinius, an odd glow flared around her hand.

Aura didn't stir this time, and finally Billy grabbed Cestria and forcibly pulled her away. The glow vanished as soon as the contact was broken, and Billy said sharply, "You won't help her by hurting yourself."

"We have to get her to Aquitar," Cestria murmured, her voice oddly breathy.

"It's half an hour to Aquitar," Carlos protested. "Can't you do anything for her here?"

"I have done the only thing I can," Cestria replied, stumbling a little as she tried to step away from the patient bed. Billy caught her arm, supporting her, but she continued before he could chide her again. "Her condition is deteriorating too rapidly for us to be able to treat her further here."

"Shouldn't she be awake, though?" Billy asked quietly. "At least semi-conscious? You did more for her just now than anyone has…"

Cestria lifted her gaze to his, and even Zhane could see the concern there. "You do not believe she is still--"

She didn't finish, and Billy didn't answer.

"Still what?" Carlos demanded. "What's wrong?"

Cestria did not answer, and Carlos didn't move out of her way as she reached past him to lay one hand on Aura's forehead. Zhane saw Cetaci shift, turning her head to watch Cestria, but she didn't step away from Delphinius. "She's still seeing the dome," Cestria murmured. "Why didn't the wave let her go with the rest of us?"

"She wasn't in Saryn's nightmare when it dissolved?" Billy guessed, offering a puzzled shrug when she glanced at him. "What do we do? Can you draw her out the way you did the rest of us?"

Cestria shook her head slowly. "She's too strong. I can no more change her nightmare than I could change Saryn's. I will go after her, but she must overcome it herself. In the meantime, we must get her to Aquitar."

"The Megaship can't go anywhere right now," Linnse put in, sounding distinctly annoyed at being ignored.

"You'll have to take the Aquitian zords," TJ agreed, speaking as soon as Linnse paused. "We'll follow you as soon as we get the engines back online."

"That may take a while," Billy said. "I should stay…"

"You should all stay," Cestria said, putting out one hand to brace herself against the patient bed. "I will take Aura to Aquitar, but I do not wish to split the forces that are gathered here. This area of space will become dangerous very quickly once word of Dark Spectre's defeat gets out, and I do not want to leave any of our teams vulnerable."

"What about you?" Billy countered.

Cestria shook her head. "We will be in hyperrush from here to Aquitar. There is no danger to us."

"I'm going with you," Carlos said abruptly. "You can't pilot Mireth and bring her back at the same time."

"You can not pilot Mireth either," Cestria pointed out, straightening a little and making an attempt to stand on her own. Billy didn't let go of her.

"But I can go after Aura," Carlos answered.

Zhane gave him a startled look, but Billy beat him to it. "Carlos, you'd be inside something that Aura is completely convinced is as real as this. You can't just tell her, 'this is a dream; wake up" and expect her to do it. It was as hard for me to convince Cestria as it was for Cassie to make Saryn listen."

Carlos reached down and brushed his fingers lightly against Aura's dark hair. "That's why I'm the one to do it," he said softly.

Cetaci stirred a little at that. "Are you?"

Carlos looked up, returning her stare with a steady gaze of his own. "Yes."

Cestria caught Billy's eye, then glanced over at Cetaci. Cetaci nodded once, and Cestria turned back to Carlos. "I will fly Mireth," she agreed. "I know Aura often speaks to you telepathically. Once I reestablish that link, it will be up to you to convince her that what she is seeing is not real."

He had never seen the part of Aquitar that Aura's mind had recreated when the wave hit the Megaship, but he couldn't for the life of him imagine why it would scare her. The meadow in which he found himself was beautiful, and he thought he could lie in the grass and watch the phosphorescent patterns play through the "sky" all night long.

He turned slowly, looking for Aura, and found her standing a little distance away with her teammates. He frowned, disconcerted to see the same people he had left behind only a few moments before. *Not real,* he reminded himself, and he shook his head wryly. If *he* couldn't remember that, he was going to have trouble convincing her.

She shook her head, almost as though she was echoing him. Her ponytail swung as she moved, and he wondered suddenly what she looked like with her hair loose. A vague image formed in his mind, of a memory he shouldn't have, and he pushed it away hastily. "You'd like to, wouldn't you…"

He started toward her, wondering what her teammates were doing in something Cestria kept calling a "nightmare". *The same thing Karen was doing in yours?* his mind suggested, unbidden, and he tried to ignore it.

"I am a Ranger," Aura was saying as he got closer, not seeming to notice him at all. "That has not changed."

It was a relief to see her on her feet, no matter how strange the situation. Even if he didn't understand what she was saying, he was glad to hear her voice, glad to know she was not so unreachable as her still form seemed in the Mireth cockpit.

"You are not the same person who joined our team," "Cetaci" told her. "You are not the fighter we once knew."

Carlos froze, surprised. "How can you say that?" he asked without thinking. "Aura's a better fighter than anyone I know!"

"Cetaci" gave him a disapproving look. "You are human."

"Yeah," he said, frowning. "So?"

"Humans are not an inherently brave or valiant race," "Delphinius" offered.

Suddenly remembering that he was talking to *her* hallucinations, Carlos shot Aura an indignant look. "Thanks a lot!"

Her expression of dismay surprised him, but her reaction was strangely familiar. "You shouldn't be here," she said quietly. "Go, Carlos. Leave us."

*Just like Saryn,* he thought, wondering a little. "Look," he said, turning back to "Delphinius", "Aquitar isn't exactly a planet of determined warriors itself. I don't know why you're judging humans based on our ability to fight."

"To fight is to protect," "Cestria" said. "It is a worthy goal."

"Protecting is," he agreed. "But there are other ways to do it. Sometimes fighting is unavoidable, I'll give you that. We're Rangers; we do what we have to. But I hope that when people look back on my life, they won't remember me for how well I do or don't fight."

"That's because you are weak," "Cetaci" said, scowling at him like an angry child. "Earth is a marginal member of the League at best. What right does one such as yourself have to claim Aura's heart?"

He swallowed, not sure how to answer that. He still wasn't sure how he felt about *having* Aura's heart, if it came to that. The revelation about her feelings had been as unlooked for as it had been unexpected, and he had been trying to work out his own reaction ever since.

"My heart is my own," Aura said suddenly. "Where I give it is none of your affair, Cetaci."

It finally occurred to him that he wasn't helping anything by treating her "teammates" as though they were real. He wanted, instinctively, to respond to their accusations. But that wasn't how one should treat hallucinations. He wouldn't make her see that this was all a nightmare by participating in it himself.

"Aura," he said, turning toward her with the intent of ignoring the others. "You have to listen to me for a moment."

She glanced at him, and the indifference in her expression troubled him in a way he couldn't explain. "You do not need to say anything. You have made your feelings clear. I am defending my own feelings, not you, so you will have no obligation."

He got the feeling that she expected him to be happy about that. "Look, Aura, this isn't real. Do you remember the Rysian system, and Dark Spectre? We were on the Megaship just a little while ago. This is Aquitar, right? How could we have gotten here from Rysia so quickly?"

She lowered her head, closing her eyes as a slight frown marred her calm expression. "I remember defeating Dark Spectre," she agreed at last. "But that does not make this any less real. My teammates do not think well of me right now."

"That's not true!" he protested. "Your teammates respect you. They care about you as much as you care about them, and they would never say these things to you. You must know that."

She looked up, her eyes sweeping across her "teammates" before resting their troubled gaze on him. "I would not have expected them to be so vehement either," she admitted. "But the fact remains that they are. My status as an Aquitian Ranger is in question because of my feelings for you."

"No," he said, startled. "You'd never be kicked off the team for something like that. That's ridiculous!"

She didn't answer, and he winced. She would remember all of this later, and he didn't want her to think he was making fun of something that obviously frightened her and was, to her, a very real possibility. "Look, it isn't that I think it's silly. It's just that our feelings make us stronger, not weaker. We're stronger for loving someone, whether they return that love or not."

"I don't feel stronger," she confessed, gazing back at him. "I feel…"

"What?" he prompted gently.

She looked down again. "Lost," she whispered. "You should go."

"Why should I go?" he asked. He tried to remind himself that she would not appreciate his hand on her shoulder right now, no matter how tempting it was.

She gestured to one side. "So that they may decide what is to become of me."

"No!" he exclaimed, frustrated. "Don't you understand? This isn't real; they aren't deciding your fate! Your real teammates would never do that to you, Aura. Your real teammates are your friends no matter *what* happens. That's what it means to be a Ranger."

"That is what it means to you," she agreed. "My team is not your team."

He sighed. "I'm not saying it is. I'm just saying that I know how close you and your friends are. They would never turn on you like this."

"It is for my own good, I suppose," she said quietly, and his eyes widened. He should have realized that if all of this was a creation of her own mind, she must at some level believe it.

"You really think this is wrong, don't you," he breathed. "You think you shouldn't love me."

"I don't want to love you!" she burst out. "What is the joy in feeling something that is not reciprocated? Maybe you are right that loves makes two people together stronger, but I assure you it only makes *me* more alone!"

"Not alone," he said, with as much force as he could muster. "You've never been alone."

"What do you know of it?" she demanded. "You are not hopelessly in love with an alien. You do not have to listen every time he talks about his girlfriend and how wonderful she is. You do not know what it is to have your teammates' stifling sympathy every time you turn around, but not be able to talk to them because neither of you would know what to say."

Taken aback, it was a moment before he could make himself respond. "They're not doing it on purpose, Aura. Your teammates care for you."

"I know they care for me!" she shouted. "It is not their care I want! I do not want them to be cautious of every word they speak around me! I do not want Billy and Cestria to avoid me when they are together for fear of upsetting me! I do not want everyone constantly watching, waiting for me to fall apart!"

There was a space of maybe two seconds when he could have said something, could have retorted with something that made her stop and reconsider. But he was too surprised by her outburst, too startled to see her shout to be able to formulate any kind of coherent reply. He had never seen her angry before. She was always so calm, sometimes with a slight smile or a tinge of wistfulness, but never so dramatic.

Aura turned away from him. "You are right about one thing," she muttered. "This can't be real. My teammates wouldn't do this to me. They know I am doing it to myself."

He didn't like the sound of that, but as the meadow dome started to fade away he found he couldn't move. The paralysis didn't release him until the Mireth cockpit wavered into view around him once more, and he felt Aura stir in his arms. Somehow he didn't think she was going to be happy about waking up there after what had just happened, but her eyes snapped open before he could move.

She stared around the cockpit, probably trying to orient herself, and he couldn't help stiffening as her eyes found their way to his. She said nothing, pushing herself away from him as she struggled to sit up. He kept himself from helping her only by the greatest force of will, and Cestria breathed a sigh of relief when she glanced over her shoulder.

"We are in orbit around Aquitar," she told them, not seeming to notice that Aura was avoiding his gaze. "I was uncertain what the best--"

"I must rehydrate," Aura interrupted, pushing herself unsteadily to her feet. "I will join you in the command center afterward."

She staggered, resting her arm against the cockpit wall as she reached for her communicator. Her hand was shaking, and it was clearly a major effort just to stay upright. Then she was gone, engulfed by a red teleportation stream that seemed oddly out of place in the White Ranger's zord.

Cestria turned an accusing gaze on him as soon as she was gone. "What have you done?"

"Me!" Carlos glared back at her. "I didn't do anything! She yelled at *me*!"

Cestria cocked her head. "What did you do to provoke her?"

He threw up his hands. "Why is automatically my fault? Have you considered the possibility that she's just plain crazy? I've never seen her blow up like that!"

Cestria actually frowned at him, something he had never thought to see. "You feel justified in shouting at me, yet you would condemn Aura for the same action toward you?"

"She doesn't *do* that," he insisted, trying to moderate his tone a little. It wasn't Cestria that he wanted to be shouting at, after all. "I've never heard Aura get upset like that!"

Cestria eyed him. Her tone was positively icy as she replied, "Perhaps you do not know her as well as you think."

"What's to know?" he retorted, and regretted the words as soon as they were out. "Oh, man, I did *not* mean that the way it sounded. It's just--" He floundered for a moment. "She's just so withdrawn all the time," he finished awkwardly.

Cestria stared at him for a long moment, then shook her head. "I will take you at your word that you meant no insult by that," she said at last. "You simply do not understand."

"Then explain it to me!" he exclaimed, frustrated. "I want to understand!"

"It is not my place," Cestria said with a sigh.

"Then who's place is it?" he demanded. "Who's going to tell me? Aura doesn't want to even talk to me now, and you can't honestly think Cetaci would tell me anything."

Cestria didn't answer immediately, and he thought she was going to start giving him the silent treatment too. At last, though, she said, "You see only what you want to see. You give no thought to the circumstances behind it."

It was his turn to sigh irritably. "I think we've already established that I'm not a nice guy. Can we get to the part where you tell me what's going on around here?"

"You should know," she told him, voice cold.

"Why should I know! What, am I psychic now too?"

"Cassie understands," she informed him.

"Yeah, well maybe that's because Saryn tells her anything she wants to know," Carlos shot back. "At least she can get answers when she wants them!"

Cestria frowned at him again, and he narrowed his eyes. He was well aware that he wasn't endearing himself to her, but he was tired of being on the periphery of the Aquitian team. They were perfectly willing to accept his help, but when it came to anything else he was always a visitor, a guest just passing through. He knew it wasn't that way with Cassie, and it frustrated him that he was expected to intuitively understand something that Saryn had probably explained in agonizing detail to his teammate.

"If it is an answer you want," Cestria said at last, "it is that we are the same as you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" he demanded.

Her voice was no more forgiving as she told him, "If there is one thing living with Billy has taught me, it is that your people and ours feel things the same way. This is a truth that you have yet to learn."

"Stop telling me I don't understand," he said, trying not to glare at her. "Cestria, please just tell me what it is that I'm not getting!"

She regarded him for a moment, then tilted her head to one side. "Cetaci is your age," she said, startling him with the non sequitur. "Aura and Billy are not much older."

Carlos considered that, trying to stay calm this time. He shouldn't have gotten so upset, but the feeling wouldn't fade and she still hadn't answered his questions. "So?"

"We run our world," Cestria said. "We do not administer it, but we do more than just fight for it. The world government looks to us. Can you imagine what that is like?"

"It's--" He shrugged a little. "It's a lot of responsibility, I guess."

"It is a lot of responsibility," she agreed. "Do you truly not understand how important it is that we not be seen as children by the rest of Aquitar?"

He frowned at the cockpit wall. *It was an act,* he remembered thinking. *Her constant composure was an act, like the façade so many Aquitians wore--* But what did he know about Aquitians, really? Only what he had learned from their Rangers.

He glanced over at Cestria in startled comprehension. "You're saying she's distant because you all are. Because you have to be."

Cestria's lips curved gently. "Aura is many things, but I assure you 'distant' is not one of them."

He blinked, wondering how many signs he had overlooked if what Cestria said was true. He couldn't help but remember Billy's surprise that he hadn't known of Aura's feelings for him. After all, "everyone else" had known. "The rest of the team, at least." They knew each other better than they let anyone else know them, and it had surprised Billy that Carlos didn't know that.

"You saw the food fight she started this morning," Cestria reminded him. "Was that the Aura you think you know?"

He sighed, only just beginning to realize how much he had missed. "It's an Aura I'd like to know better," he admitted. This time he was too preoccupied to see Cestria's smile.

23. Inescapable

"This isn't good," Billy said, lifting his gaze from the scanner in his hand to the damaged engine core.

"You think?" Zhane replied wryly. "Sorry," he added, when Ashley threw a look in his direction. Billy glanced down at the scanner again, ignoring him.

Andros could only watch. He knew what the Blue Aquitian Ranger was going to say. He had known as soon as he saw the engine room that there was only one possible prognosis; he had been able to sense as soon as he teleported aboard that the damage was exactly as bad as it looked from the outside.

Despite his own certainty, though, Billy's words made him flinch. "I don't think it's repairable," the other Ranger admitted.

"It's still here," Ashley said firmly, glancing over at him. "Of course it's repairable."

Andros gave her a half-hearted smile. The Megaship wasn't going to make it back to Aquitar under her own power; he knew that. But Ashley's immediate defense of the proud ship was as touching as it was unwarranted.

Billy shook his head slowly. "I really don't think so. The engine core can be replaced, of course, once we get back to Aquitar. But it must have automatically shut down when it reached critical--there's no way to power it back up now without destroying the entire ship."

Andros finally stirred, straightening from where he was leaning against the status console. He heard the quiet descend as he walked into the middle of the room, pausing in front of the darkened core and reaching out to touch it gently. He tried not to wince as his fingers came in contact with the Megaship's silenced heart.

*You'll be all right,* he promised. *We're going to heal you.*

"Andros?" Ashley asked softly.

He turned his head to the side, not quite turning to look at her. "There's no auto-shutdown on the core," he remarked.

He could almost hear Billy's frown. Billy, for all his mechanical expertise, simply wasn't used to dealing with sentient machinery. Or perhaps he was and just hadn't started to think of the Megaship that way yet; Andros didn't know.

"The engine core would have exploded," Billy said. "*Something* had to shut it down."

"Someone," Andros corrected, touching the shield around the engine core once more. The Megaship would have to be towed, and there was only one ship out there that could do it.

"Thanks, DECA," he heard Cassie say quietly.

He turned then, gazing at the people assembled in the engine room. He and Ashley had returned to the Megaship in the hope that they could contribute to the repair effort, while Cetaci, Delphinius, and TJ had left to join Kerone in the remaining Aquitian zords. Zhane had stayed for the same reason Ashley and Andros had come, and Linnse was there because she had nowhere else to go. Cassie's interrupted time in osteo regen hadn't been enough to heal her injuries, and when she stayed, Saryn insisted on staying as well.

"Thanks, DECA," Andros repeated, glancing up at the silent camera. The red light blinked solemnly at him, but did not reply.

He saw Cassie elbow Linnse out of the corner of his eye, and a moment later the Defense leader sighed. "Thank you... DECA," she offered grudgingly.

"You are welcome," the computer replied. Her tone was unusually prim, and Andros tried to suppress a grin.

Looking at Zhane didn't help, not that he should have expected it to. His best friend's eyes twinkled back at him as he agreed, "Thanks for not getting yourself killed, DECA; we would have missed you. Thanks for saving our friends' lives and helping them help us destroy Dark Spectre, not to mention healing us all afterward."

Ashley actually laughed at his cheerful litany, and she added, "Yeah, thanks DECA. We would have been in a lot of trouble without you."

Saryn stirred, putting one arm around Cassie's shoulders as he glanced up at the camera. "Thank you, DECA," he said simply.

There was a brief pause, and Andros glanced at Billy. The Blue Ranger looked up from his scanner, catching his eye before nodding at the camera. "It was good to have you in the fight, DECA."

The camera's light flashed rapidly, almost sparkling, and Andros tried not to chuckle at her discomfiture. Before he could tease her, though, the camera went suddenly dark, and he straightened in alarm. "DECA? What's wrong?"

There was no answer, and a hiss from behind him made him turn. His eyes widened at the sight of the damaged core, its shielding cracked and even rougher than it had been before as it glowed an unhealthy orange color. Something must have reactivated it, something that didn't understand the fatal consequences of such an action.

Even as he lunged toward the control panels, he knew he would be too late. There was no way to stop what was happening, no way to drain the power off in time to prevent a core explosion. But he couldn't not try, and as he slammed his fist down on the console he felt Ashley at his side, echoing his movements even as the orange color brightened to a violent yellow.

Then he was back beside the darkened core, facing the others and staring up at DECA's camera with fond amusement. His expression fell away as he stared around, wild-eyed, trying to pin down anything that had just happened. Ashley's gaze locked with his, and from the horrified look on her face he knew she'd seen it too.

"What just happened?" he demanded, a little relieved when his voice didn't shake. "Did anyone else see that?"

Zhane frowned at him. "What? What happened?"

He stared around, seeing curiosity and concern, but no recognition anywhere other than Ashley's face--until he caught Billy's eye. The other Ranger wore a look of shaken disbelief, and the words were out before Andros could think them himself. "The nightmares."

"What?" Cassie exclaimed. "What are you talking about?"

*Kerone,* Andros demanded silently. *Are you picking up anything strange out there?*

He could tell Zhane heard him, but there was no answer from Kerone. *Kerone?* he tried again.

When there was no response, he heard Zhane trying, but after a moment the Silver Ranger shook his head. "I can't reach Kerone," he said, for the benefit of everyone else in the room. "There's something going on out there--what did you guys see just now?"

The deck shifted underneath him, and he stared down in horror as the cracks in the engine shielding started to extend across the floor. The reactivation of the core hadn't been his imagination. The angry gold color of an overloading engine threw a wash of shadows across the disintegrating deck, and he heard someone scream.

As quickly as that, the vision was gone and the engine room was normal again. He shuddered, giving the core a suspicious look before glancing down at the floor to reassure himself that it was still there. The others *must* have seen it that time.

The terrible cry of pain came again and he whirled. Already on edge, he could only stare as Saryn clutched his head, slamming into the console behind him as he backed away from something only he could see. Cassie grabbed for his hands and he threw her off, sending her sprawling to the floor.

"Message from Kerone," DECA interjected urgently, and Andros started.

"Put her through, DECA," he ordered, taking a step toward Cassie. She waved him away, struggling to her feet on her own.

"Andros!"

He saw Zhane spin at the sound of Kerone's voice, his face pale as he sought out Andros with his eyes. *Are you okay?* Andros demanded, knowing it was a subjective term right now but unable to come up with anything better. *Hang on, Zhane.*

"Andros, I think the system is mined," Kerone said quickly, as though she didn't know how long she had to speak. "Whatever Ecliptor hit the first time wasn't the only one. We have to--"

"Get away from me!" Saryn's shout drowned out the rest of her words, but Cassie paid him no heed. Andros stiffened as she threw her arms around him, but instead of shoving her away Saryn froze.

"Have to what?" Zhane demanded.

There was no answer from the comm, and Andros exchanged worried looks with his friend. "It's hitting everyone," Andros muttered. "All of us at once."

"Is it?" Zhane asked. "Did it get the Mega V pilots last time? Or the Defense wing? We don't know--what if they're fine, and we just don't know?"

The shriek of overstressed metal cut off further conversation, and Andros felt someone grab his hand as the floor started to cave in. The engine core was pulsing a brilliant white, threatening a detonation that would take this entire ship with it--if the ship didn't break apart on its own first.

"Andros!" It was Ashley's voice yelling to him. He turned, staggering as he lost his balance on the shifting deck, and she was there to catch him. "This isn't real; it can't be! Remember before?"

Suddenly the engine room was entirely gone, not collapsed or disintegrated or exploded, just gone. In its place was the crushing weight of a school building that he hadn't set foot in since the day Dark Spectre's velocifighters had blown it to pieces six years ago. He hadn't seen it fall, hadn't been inside when it came down, but he recognized it instantly.

"Zhane!" he shouted, pushing against the surrounding stone. It was a futile effort, for it did more than just not budge. It shifted a little closer with every push, until it was a cage tight enough to almost prevent breathing.

He wanted to scream, knowing his friend had suffered through this once in life and a hundred times in his dreams. He didn't even care that it was crushing him, only that he had to find Zhane, to pull him out of here somehow, the way DECA's teleportation had done so many years ago.

Then he was on the floor of the engine room, gasping for breath as he pushed himself to his knees. That "vision" had been more real than he ever wanted to know, and it hadn't even been his. He knew without a doubt that he had somehow ended up in Zhane's nightmare, and even as he searched for his friend he heard Cassie cry out.

"You're hurting me," she whimpered. Saryn's arms were tight around her, too tight for anyone with broken bones to have to endure, and Andros flinched as a bright red flash exploded between them.

"Andros!" Ashley's voice shouted at him as the deck crumbled away. The glow of Saryn's Power became the deadly outward thrust of the engine core as it flashed past critical and reached out to consume them all, and he found himself falling.

Ashley's hand grabbed his wrist, yanking his arm hard enough to make him cry out. "It isn't real, Andros!" she yelled, her voice just barely audible over the roar of the explosion that was consuming the Megaship. "Don't look at this, don't think about it, don't *accept* it! It's a trick, Andros, it isn't real!"

He closed his eyes, clenching his fingers around her wrist. *Where am I?* he wondered, feeling the explosion of the core all around him. That in itself was utterly impossible; he should have been vaporized the instant it began.

"Don't think that!" Ashley shouted at him. "This isn't real! Nothing's happened to the Megaship, Andros; you have to trust me!"

He did trust her. He had always trusted her, with so much more than his life. All she had to do was tell him what was true, and he would believe her.

"The two of us, Andros. We're true." She was speaking directly into his ear now, though he couldn't remember when he had stopped falling or how she had gotten so close. "Somewhere else, somewhere that isn't here where things didn't go horribly wrong, that's where we're supposed to be. We're there together. You just have to believe it."

He felt her hug him fiercely, knew that she believed every word no matter how little either of them knew of anything else. Her belief infected him, buoyed him up when he thought he was beyond hope, and he felt himself hugging her in return.

The hard metal deck of the Megaship pressed against his cheek, grinding into his shoulder as he opened his eyes. The ominous whine of an impending core explosion was absent, and the floor was as solid as ever beneath him. The lights flickered from time to time, but only with the unsteadiness of depleted energy reserves, rather than the terrifying threat of imminent destruction.

"Ashley?" he croaked, pushing himself up with an effort.

"Yeah." The word was more of a groan than anything else, and he managed to turn himself toward her in time to see her lever herself into a sitting position. "I'm here."

"But they're not," he mumbled, glancing around the engine room.

Billy had collapsed by the status panel. Cassie and Saryn lay by the opposite bank of consoles; Linnse sprawled across a chair nearby. Zhane was curled into a ball, knees to chest, by the door, and Andros' heart clenched at the sight. None of them were moving.

"Cestria's not here to get us back this time," Ashley murmured, crawling over to Cassie's side. "What do we do?"

He sighed. If he had been thinking clearly enough to anticipate it, he would have dreaded that question, for he had no idea what the answer was. He dragged himself over to join her, reaching out to dislodge Saryn's white-knuckled grasp on Cassie's wrist.

He felt then the sudden and absolute certainty that anyone who got too close would disappear, vanish, be killed. He knew he could never tell them how he felt about them, could never reveal his face for fear that he would never see them again.

"You didn't count on me," Cassie's voice whispered, and he reached out for her as she faded away. His hand clutched only empty air in the place where she had just been.

Andros turned wide eyes on Ashley as the engine room reinstated itself into his reality with a violent shove. "Do *not* touch him," he whispered, wanting his voice to be louder but not able to make it do what he told it to.

She nodded wordlessly, not asking what he'd seen.

"Andros?" DECA asked, sounding strangely tentative. "Ashley?"

He looked up, startled and infinitely relieved. "DECA! Are you all right?"

"Are *you* all right?" the computer demanded, her light seeming to brighten as she inspected them. "I am still unable to detect any wave, but Kerone assures me that it is there."

"Can you talk to Kerone?" Andros asked quickly.

"Not anymore," DECA admitted. "I am worried for her safety."

"I'm worried for all our safeties," Ashley muttered. "Not to mention our sanity. We need to get out of here *now*."

"Ecliptor," he said suddenly, pushing himself to his feet.

She frowned up at him, clasping his hand when he offered it and hauling herself up. "What are you talking about?"

"These waves can't be designed to affect evil," he explained. 'Think about it. The Dark Fortress might have the only functioning crew out there."

"And they're the only ship that can tow us," Ashley said slowly, staring at him. "Billy was right, wasn't he. The engine core isn't repairable."

He shook his head, though it pained him to admit it. "No. It isn't. DECA knew that when she shut it down."

She didn't look any happier with his answers than he felt, but she asked what they had to. "Will Ecliptor even help us? Does he answer to anyone but Kerone?"

"I don't know," he admitted, looking up at DECA's camera. "DECA, can you get through to *any* of the zords?"

"The Aquitian zords are not responding," she answered. "I am attempting to reach Mega V right now."

"Try each zord individually," he urged. "If Ash and I got out, someone else might have too."

"You don't think any of that was real, then," Ashley murmured.

He shook his head slowly. "Last time, the wave knocked us all out, and this time you and me 'woke up' the same way we did then. I think we've been in a nightmare since that first flash you and I saw of the engine core. Maybe even before that, I don't know."

"Then why were they there?" she wondered, glancing around the engine room. "We were alone in the last wave. This time everyone was talking to each other, at least some of the time."

He followed her gaze, and his eyes settled on Zhane's still form. "I don't know," he said quietly. "Maybe it adds to the fear."

"The Defense wing is trying to contact us," DECA put in. "Mega V is not responding."

His eyes snapped back toward Ashley, and he saw the same comprehension on her face that had to be on his. "The Rangers," he began.

"It's going after Rangers!" she exclaimed.

"Reply to the Defense wing," he told DECA. "Let me talk to them."

"Megaship, what's going on?" Def-1's voice demanded a moment later. "The entire fleet's gone silent out here!"

"What's your status?" Andros asked, his gaze drawn inevitably back toward Zhane as his mind raced ahead. "Are all your pilots accounted for?"

"Of course we're all accounted for," Def-1 shot back. "We're just off your starboard bow, holding a fallback line for the Dark Fortress. Not that it needs it."

Unspoken but unmistakable was the distrust in the wing leader's tone, and the implication that his ships would rather sit behind the Dark Fortress than in front of it. Ecliptor's unannounced arrival had done nothing to endear him to the Defense, no matter his subsequent show of strength for their side.

"Are you detecting anything..." Andros trailed off, unsure how to finish the sentence. What were they even looking for? Why could the Aquitian zords detect it when DECA couldn't? "Strange?" he finished awkwardly.

"Strange?" Def-1's voice was laden with sarcasm. "What would you consider strange, here? The fact that Dark Spectre's 'princess' just turned up on one of your zords? The fact that Dark Spectre's flagship apparently just defected? The fact that the Megaship is currently the only responsive ship in the fleet?"

"I'll take that as a no," Andros interrupted. "Maintain position. We'll get back to you." He motioned to DECA, and the wing leader was cut off mid-sputter.

"That wasn't very nice," Ashley said quietly, clearly trying to stifle a smile.

"We don't have time for this," Andros said, staring around at his fallen teammates. There was something wrong with the picture they presented, but his brain had switched from explanations to escape and it was loath to turn back.

"Do we try Ecliptor anyway, then?" Ashley followed his gaze, and he saw her wrap her fingers around her wrist out of the corner of his eye. "Maybe he'll listen to you."

"Yeah," he muttered, frowning a little. "Kerone must be--"

Kerone and Linnse weren't Rangers. The thought was as startling as it was unhelpful, coming out of nowhere to sidetrack him. He was sure he had seen Linnse between core explosions a few moments ago; he was positive she had been in the engine room with everyone else. And she was obviously unconscious on this end...

"What?" Ashley asked, staring down at Linnse. "What are you--she's not a Ranger."

He breathed out in amusement. "That's what I was just thinking. But I don't know what it means, and we don't have time to worry about it. Come on."

"Where is Astronema?" Ecliptor demanded, and Ashley sighed. Andros had already explained this to him twice, and he didn't seem any closer to listening.

"We can't reach her," Andros repeated patiently. "She's on one of the Aquitian zords, but she's not responsive. None of the Rangers are; there's something in the system that's making anyone who holds the Power hallucinate."

"Astronema is not a Power Ranger," Ecliptor rumbled, looking offended by the very thought. "These waves should not affect her."

Andros' head came up. "What? You knew about those? Are you setting them off on purpose?"

Ashley tried not to wince. Andros' emotions got in the way of his better judgement sometimes, and as sweet as it was to be reminded how deep his feelings ran it usually happened at the most inconvenient times.

"No," Ecliptor replied darkly. It was hard to tell if he actually resented the implication, or if he was just generally irritated. "I am not setting them off deliberately. They are undetectable, designed to be triggered by massive amounts of radiation. They activate every time radiation gets above critical levels."

"Every time something explodes nearby," Ashley breathed, glancing over at Andros.

Ecliptor nodded once. "Astronema should not be affected," he repeated stubbornly.

"She holds the Black Aquitian Ranger's Power right now," Andros told him. "It was the only way she could fly the zord."

"I want to speak with her," Ecliptor answered.

Ashley did her best not to throw her hands up in the air. "You can't," she told him firmly. "She's unconscious. Everyone is; that's why we need your help!"

"You are not." Ecliptor turned his stony gaze on her, and she found herself at a loss for words.

"No," Andros agreed. "Ash brought us back. We don't know why it worked for us and not for anyone else, but we'll never find out if we stay here."

"Find Astronema," Ecliptor ordered, and the transmission cut off.

Ashley pushed away from the chair she was leaning on and glared at the screen. "Well, he's a big help."

"No," Andros said slowly. "I think he might be right."

"About what?" Ashley demanded, turning toward him.

"Kerone. Or at least, the other zords. I don't think the Dark Fortress can get us all into hyperspace, and I bet Ecliptor doesn't want to admit that."

"So?" Ashley frowned, trying to puzzle that out. "That means we have to get the other zords out ourselves..."

"We could teleport onto the Mega Vs, and use their slave circuit to send them all into hyperspace at once."

"But one of us would have to be on board when they went to hyperrush," Ashley finished.

"And we can't to do it to the Aquitian zords," Andros added. "At least, I don't know how to."

She shook her head slowly. "I don't either. That means we need someone awake who has an Aquitian morpher."

Andros caught her eye, and she knew what he had meant before he spoke. "We're going to have to get Kerone, somehow."

She sighed, frustrated. "I don't even know how *we* got out. How do we wake someone else up? How do we even get back in?"

Andros was silent for a moment, and DECA's voice startled them both. "The Phantom Ranger," she offered.

She looked at Andros, wide-eyed. "You said 'don't touch him'. You saw his nightmare, didn't you?"

He nodded. "Yeah... but he was alone. Sort of. The others weren't there."

She bit her lip, knowing how serious what she was going to suggest was. "Try Zhane."

He hesitated, giving her an uncertain look.

"I know," she said softly. "We can't just go around jumping into other people's nightmares. But Zhane's your best friend, and if there's anyone he wouldn't mind knowing, it's you. Plus if Kerone's anywhere, it's with him."

"She wasn't before," Andros pointed out. "She was with Cestria, and he was with Saryn."

She frowned. "Yeah... I don't get that. But maybe you should just try. If she isn't there, at least you'll know how to get in. We can always teleport straight to the Zaal zord."

He sighed, not looking very happy about it. "You're right. I'll try. But you stay out here, in case something goes wrong."

"You were okay with Saryn," she protested, following him as he turned and headed for the door.

"But it was still *real*." He paused in the doorway, waiting for her to catch up. "It didn't last long, but for a couple seconds, everyone was disappearing. I was as sure of that as I was when the engine core exploded... as sure as I am now that we're on our way to the engine room."

She folded her arms across her chest, hesitating at his side. "Don't say things like that," she muttered half-heartedly.

He rubbed her shoulder gently. "Look, you got me out last time, Ash. You said we're real, and you were right. As long as we're together, everything's going to be okay."

"Even if this is just another nightmare?" she asked, lifting her head to search his expression.

"We can't do nothing, Ash," he said, gazing back at her. "We can't just give up. You taught me that. Maybe we can't fix everything, but if we don't try, what else is there?"

She reached up to take his hand, and he smiled. It was that rare, tender smile that took her breath away, and she squeezed his fingers gratefully. "Let's do it."

He didn't let go of her hand until they were in the engine room. Kneeling down beside Zhane, he gave her a nervous look. "I'll be right here," she promised. They needed each other's strength more now than ever. "We got out together last time; we can do it again."

He nodded, and she saw his mouth quirk as they passed the role of reassurer back and forth. Reaching out, he took Zhane's hand carefully.

He froze, and she watched his expression go distant on her. She settled down a little more comfortably on the floor, not taking her eyes off of him, and she was surprised when he turned to her a moment later. He looked directly at her, and there was none of the shock she had seen when he accidentally touched Saryn's nightmare.

"It didn't work," he said, sounding surprised. "I didn't see anything."

She frowned, reaching out to try without thinking about it. He caught her hand, tilting his head to the side. "Maybe... you should try on Cassie," he said apologetically.

"Oh," she said, startled. "Yeah, sorry. It's just... really weird."

"I know," he assured her. "Just--" His voice dropped abruptly. "You know, about Zhane?"

She knew he thought she understood, and she knew there was *something*. Zhane's odd reaction to Aquitar, the jumpiness he tried to conceal with jokes sometimes--there was something he didn't talk about, and Andros was trying to protect that. "Sort of," she hedged, not wanting to put him on the spot. "Enough."

He nodded, and she saw him squeeze his friend's hand before he let go. "I don't know why it worked with Saryn and not Zhane, but who knows what we might see if it works again. We should be careful."

"If we can be," she murmured, and he nodded again.

She crouched at Cassie's side, bracing herself as she laid her hand over her friend's. She wasn't sure what to expect--but the engine room remained unchanged. She glanced around, and found Andros right beside her, waiting quietly. She shook her head.

He frowned a little, his gaze sliding back toward Saryn. "Why him?" he wondered aloud.

She hesitated, but brainstorming didn't work if she kept her ideas to herself. "Not the empathy thing the Aquitians told us about?"

He gave her a sadly amused look. "I didn't know you were listening then."

She shrugged uncomfortably. "I heard. I just didn't care."

"Maybe that's it," he said, as willing as she to let the subject drop. "But if he's the only way in, how do we get to Kerone?"

"He got everyone out before," she said, taking a deep breath. "Can we convince him, instead of Kerone?"

He caught her eye, his expression unreadable. "Have you ever been able to convince Saryn of anything?"

She stared at him, uncertain, until she saw the corners of his mouth lift incrementally. She laughed, cuffing his shoulder affectionately. "There's that famous optimism again!"

He grinned openly. "He's almost as stubborn as I am," he teased. "How do you expect to make him listen?"

"Almost!" Ashley exclaimed. "He's almost as stubborn, you said it yourself. All we have to do is lock the two of you in a small room somewhere, and eventually you'll win."

"Right," he agreed wryly. "If I get any say in his nightmare, I'll envision a small room with a lock. Thanks for the advice."

Her smile faded, and she squeezed his shoulder. "Be careful, Andros."

"I will," he promised. He stared at her a moment longer, then turned back to Saryn. Maybe it was superstition, or only coincidence, but he reached out to push Saryn's hand away from Cassie's with exactly the same gesture he had used the first time.

The engine room was in complete chaos. The Ranger alarm was shrieking, forcing everyone to yell above it as they tried to converse with each other. All emergency power had been diverted to the environmental systems, and it was still freezing cold. The only light came from portable lanterns Zhane had dragged out from underneath one of the workstations.

*Zhane.* For some reason, his friend was terribly important. Turning, he found the Silver Ranger talking to DECA's camera, but he couldn't make out what the other was saying.

"Don't think about it," he heard Cassie saying. He didn't know whom she was talking to, and he didn't have time to catch the answer when Kerone's voice suddenly registered.

"They're not here," Zhane was telling her. "They're both gone, and DECA can't track them. Can you get Ecliptor to try and find them?"

"I can't reach Ecliptor," Kerone's voice answered, routed into the engine room by DECA. "I've been trying!"

"Kerone!" Andros started forward, and he saw Zhane whirl. His best friend's face lit up, and Zhane's grin of relief was the last thing he saw before everything went dark.

"We failed."

He spun. Saryn stood behind him, staring straight ahead but not seeming to actually see anything. "What are you talking about?"

"It's happening again. Don't you see?" Saryn tilted his head, eyes still unfocused. "They're disappearing. You, Ashley, Ecliptor. There's no way to hold on."

"No," Andros muttered. "Kerone, go play with your brother..." "There never is." "We'll vow to fight as a team forever!"

"Then why do we fight?" Saryn asked. "If everything we love is lost, what's the point?"

Andros frowned, the question sounding oddly familiar. "Because... we have to try." The words seemed to simply come into his mind, intruding on his consciousness from somewhere far away. "If we don't... if we give up..."

The darkness released its grip with blinding suddeness, throwing him back into the engine room without warning. Saryn staggered, and Andros saw Cassie grab his arm. "Hang on," she told him quietly. "It isn't real."

"Andros?"

He turned automatically, feeling Ashley's hand slide into his. He blinked, shaking his head in a futile effort to clear it. The entire engine room shifted somehow, became more distinct. It was as though a lens had been changed on a camera.

He stared at Ashley. "This isn't real," he said, and he heard her voice echoing his as they spoke in unison. She smiled a little, and he frowned. "How do I know that?"

She cocked her head, a puzzled look on her face. "What do you mean?"

"I didn't know that before you came," he said, searching her expression. "Why *did* you come? You were supposed to wait--"

"It's a good thing I didn't!" she exclaimed. "Andros, this place is dangerous. Did you have any luck with Saryn? No," she answered her own question. "Of course not; you didn't remember..."

"You guys are all right!" He felt Zhane's arms wrap around him from behind, and he couldn't help grinning. He would never admit it to anyone else, but there were times when only his friend's hug could reassure him.

"Zhane," Ashley said firmly. "We're all okay, but you have to listen to me. None of this is real."

"We know," Zhane agreed, keeping his arm around Andros' shoulders as he turned to look at her. "We just can't figure out why the nightmares are coming and going like this--and what *happened* to you guys? One minute you were here, and the next--"

"No, Zhane," Andros interrupted. "You don't understand. *None* of this is real. The nightmares aren't coming and going, they're continuous. *This* is the nightmare."

Zhane frowned at him. "What are you talking about?"

"You can't reach Ecliptor because he's not in it," Ashley told him. "It's only affecting Rangers. When we vanished, we were outside of it, on the real Megaship. This is all just an illusion."

Zhane glanced at Andros. He nodded, and Zhane's frown deepened. "Pretend you're right, and this is a nightmare. Are we all together? Or is it just mine? And why are you back if you got out?"

"It isn't just yours," Andros told him. "I don't know why, but we're all in it together this time. Me and Ash had to come back--we need help to get everyone out of here."

"Ecliptor told us that the things that are sending off these pulse waves respond to radiation," Ashley put in. "The background level of radiation in this system goes up every time a ship is destroyed. If we don't get out of here soon, we may not wake up again. Ever."

"How did you wake up at all?" Zhane asked suspiciously. "Astrea, wait a minute!"

Andros blinked, surprised to hear his friend slip up like that. He hadn't even realized his sister was talking to Zhane, but that was the only thing he could read into the exclamation. And he hadn't heard Zhane answer a mental comment aloud by accident in years.

"We don't know," Ashley admitted. "But one minute we were here, and the next we were waking up on the floor of the engine room. The real engine room, where DECA is."

"DECA's here," Zhane objected, sounding more wary by the minute.

"No, she isn't," Andros said. "She can't be here, because she doesn't have the Power. The DECA on this Megaship is a hallucination, Zhane."

Zhane stared at him for a moment, then took a careful step away from him. "You didn't hear that."

"What?" Andros frowned at him.

"You're the nightmare," Zhane informed him. "I can't hear you in my head."

He exchanged a wide-eyed glance with Ashley. *Ash?*

*Yeah,* she answered immediately. *But he's right: I can't hear Zhane at all.*

"It must be because we're outside the nightmare," Andros said at last. "To us, they're unconscious. Of course we can't hear them." He hoped he sounded more confident than he felt, because he didn't want to consider the alternative.

"You would have an explanation," Zhane reminded him.

Ashley sighed, frustrated, but Andros knew he was right. He scanned the room, knowing there had to be *some* way to convince his friend, some anomaly he could use to his advantage. But without the mental link, he didn't know where to start.

His eye lit on DECA's camera. "DECA," he called, crossing his fingers in Ashley's gesture for luck. "Where was Zhane the day Kerone was kidnapped?"

"He was visiting his grandparents in the Cayeron district," she replied immediately.

He breathed a silent sigh of relief. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Zhane start. "And why was he at school the afternoon Keyota was attacked?"

DECA's camera blinked at him. "He was being punished for a prank."

"When did I first tell him that I loved Ashley?" Andros persisted.

DECA didn't hesitate. "The night after he woke from hypersleep."

Zhane was staring at him. "She doesn't know that," he said, clearly startled. "Not any of it."

"But you do," Andros pointed out. "She's not real, Zhane. When you ask her something she tells you what you know, not what she knows."

Zhane glanced from him to Ashley, then back up at DECA's camera. "All right," he said finally. "Say I believe you. What do we do?"

"We need Kerone," Andros told him. "Can you convince her?"

Zhane shrugged, an expression of wry amusement on his face. "Sure, why not. She credits me with her defection, after all." Reaching for his morpher, he added, "I'll be right back."

As he disappeared into a shower of silver sparkles, Andros felt Ashley's worried gaze on him. "Do you think he believed you?" she asked.

"I don't know," Andros admitted. "I'm not sure of anything here. But I think so."

"I'd love to know what he's going to say to Kerone," she reflected thoughtfully.

Andros frowned, watching Linnse say something to Cassie. There was something subtly wrong about her posture, but he couldn't pin it down--until Saryn yanked Cassie away and made an impatient gesture in the other woman's direction. "Linnse" vanished.

Eyes wide, he glanced at Ashley, about to ask if she had seen that. But his gaze slid past her to rest on Linnse, standing beside Billy at the status console. "What?" he muttered under his breath.

Ashley followed his gaze. "What's wrong?"

Someone he didn't recognize appeared behind Linnse, and she stiffened as soon as the unfamiliar figure spoke. Andros caught Ashley's eye, turning again when she looked over his shoulder. "What--"

A blond-haired girl stood in front of Saryn, a girl with curly hair and a pink blouse, whose face triggered the same feeling of déjà vu that Saryn's had when he first demorphed. "They're starting to overlap," he heard Ashley whisper, her hand squeezing his.

"The nightmares," he guessed, and she nodded.

"We must be seeing each others'..."

That was as far as she got before a flash of silver and violet announced Zhane's arrival with Kerone. "One skeptical princess, as promised," he informed them. "What now?"

"Ashley and Kerone go back," Andros answered. "Kerone gets Ecliptor to tow the Megaship, and she uses Delphinius' morpher to slave the Aquitian zords together. Ashley does the same thing with the Mega Vs, and we all go to hyperrush together."

Zhane eyed him. "Why do I get the feeling I'm going to like our part in this a whole lot less?'

Andros tried not to sigh. "You and I have to convince Saryn that this isn't real, and get him to do whatever Cestria did before."

Zhane actually laughed. "You never pick the easy jobs, do you?"

24. Dreamhopping

She felt a momentary flash of panic as she wondered if they still *could* escape, and then the world started to reshape itself. It was a horribly disconcerting feeling to go from standing to sitting in the blink of an eye, and without even moving. The engine room brightened around her, quieting, shifting, and becoming entirely too still all at once.

"Andros," she whispered, reaching out with an unsteady hand. It was an instinctive gesture, and she tried not to flinch when he didn't respond.

The Megaship's engine room replaced the locked-up Zaal cockpit as the teleportation stream released her. She glanced around, ignoring her own nervousness. The room was still and stiflingly quiet, overlaid with a chill that bit through her t-shirt and forced her to repress a shiver.

For one heart-stopping moment, she thought she was alone. Ashley was as still as Andros beside the prone forms of Saryn and Cassie, and she wondered if she could pull this off on her own.

Then the Yellow Ranger moved, and she offered her hand without a second thought. Ashley took it with a murmur of thanks, her gaze going back to Andros even as Kerone pulled her to her feet. "Good luck, you guys," she heard her friend whisper.

"I understand what you wish me to do," Saryn said, obviously frustrated. "But I cannot do it. It's impossible."

"You did it before," he insisted. "We can't go through and wake everyone up individually. We might be able to convince the rest of the Astro team, but there's no way the Aquitians are going to trust us that much."

"But I can't do it!" Saryn glared at him. "This is not the same as before! Before it was my nightmare, my control. This is everyone's. You may know how to get out of it, but I do not."

"Then get everyone in your nightmare." The words were out before he realized how awful they would sound, and he tried not to wince as Cassie gave him an icy look.

"Maybe you don't--"

Andros cut her off, holding up a hand to stop Zhane from replying. "Hold on," he said sternly. "No one's denying that these nightmares are bad. But even if Ashley and Kerone get us to Aquitar, and we can wake up the rest of our team and Cestria can wake up hers, that leaves the people we asked to take our place. Who are they going to believe? Who convinces them?"

"They're stuck here if we don't get them out," Zhane said quietly, remembering the bright-eyed girl he'd given his morpher to. He didn't want to think about what she and her friends were going through right now.

He felt his free hand clench into a fist at the accusation in Zhane's tone. "There is nothing I can *do*."

"He can't turn it on and off, Zhane," Cassie said, narrowing her eyes at the Silver Ranger. "None of us can."

"You never did learn," Jenna observed from behind him. "Lyris tried to teach you, but you wouldn't listen. I guess it wouldn't have helped much anyway," she added, almost as an afterthought. "You're too scared to even try."

She heard Jenna's words, felt Saryn's hand tighten on hers, and the world darkened alarmingly. It occurred to her to grab Andros' hand before Saryn's own personal demons surrounded the two of them again, and, somewhat to her surprise, it worked. Andros stood there in the darkness beside them, looking startled.

"Saryn," she said urgently, tugging him a step closer to her--a step further from Jenna. She indicated Andros with a tilt of her head. "Andros."

It had happened before that she got thrust into his nightmare with him, but only when he was holding her. Taking Andros' hand had been sheer instinct. She could see Saryn fighting to focus on the other's presence, and what it meant, rather than that of the former Pink Elisian Ranger.

They were gone. He had won, finally, as he had been meant to that day four years before. He had gotten what he wanted. But the beginning of his peace would be the end of hers.

She knew she wasn't alone only a split second before something yanked violently, not on her, but on her mind. She cried out, feeling her thoughts whirl out of her control, scattered and stolen by...

For one overwhelming moment, she *was* Saryn. She was ashamed of her lack of control over a "gift" she had never wanted, she was trying desperately not to recoil from the deafening intensity of another mind so close, and she hung on only for one reason, one person, one love.

Then she was herself again, her mind reeling from the hyperstimulation as the darkness assaulted her eyes. She felt someone fumble for her hand, felt Saryn's silent apology in that firm grip, and she squeezed back, trying to catch her breath. "Go easier on the next person, okay?" she managed.

*It's not real.*

The thought wasn't his, but he recognized Saryn's clumsy mental "fingerprint" on the words. With them came a certainty, the sure knowledge that where he thought he was had no more of reality to it than any of the other nightmares had. With disorienting suddenness something jerked him out of the engine room and into featureless darkness.

"This isn't real either," he said aloud, glancing around as someone took his hand.

"Saryn's trying to get us all in one place," Cassie answered. "As long as he's aware of the nightmare, this one is stable. I think."

"He's dreamhopping," Zhane volunteered. He twisted his head a little, giving the impression of someone trying to rid himself of a persistent headache. "Going into other people's visions one at a time and dragging them here."

"Dreamhopping?" Andros repeated skeptically, standing on Zhane's other side.

Zhane gave him a shove with their clasped hands. "You explain it then!"

*It isn't real.*

"What--" He barely had time to be startled by the echo before the ruined Power Chamber disappeared into darkness. The sudden realization of *nightmare* crashed down on him at the same time, and he knew what the voice had meant. None of it was real. But where was the way out?

"Hey Teej," Cassie greeted him quietly. He blinked as Linnse slipped her hand into his, pulling him into a loose circle with most of the rest of the team.

"What's going on?" he demanded, seeing Saryn release a shuddering breath. The other looked no less tense for the gesture, and there was an expression that looked like nothing so much as barely restrained panic on his face.

"You're doing it," Cassie whispered to him, ignoring TJ for the moment. "It's working. It's okay, you're all right... don't worry."

"What's working?" TJ asked, lowering his voice a little so as not to drown out Cassie's reassurances. He saw Saryn close his eyes. "What's he doing?"

There was a brief silence. "He's, uh..." Andros fidgeted uncomfortably. "Dreamhopping."

Zhane snickered, and TJ frowned. "What?"

*It isn't real.*

He wasn't particularly psi-sensitive, but he knew a mental summons when he heard one. Saryn's light tenor was instantly recognizable, even if he'd never heard it inside his head before. He surrendered to the rough tug on his awareness immediately, wanting the escape it offered and willing to forego surprise.

For the moment. As soon as the scene made sense again, he cocked his head. He looked down as he felt Billy take his hand, and he gave his teammate a questioning look. "How did he--"

Billy just shook his head. "I don't know yet."

*It isn't--*

She slammed the walls into place as Cestria had taught her, fiercely blocking out the intruder. "*My* mind!" she shouted. Her words were swallowed up in the wind that whistled through the ruins of what had once been her home. "You won't take that--"

Her voice broke, and she swallowed hard as the gusts of unforgiving air stole the water from her very skin. "That from me too," she muttered defiantly, shoving back as the intruder pushed against the walls.

Those walls crashed down as though her struggle meant nothing, and with a shock she felt Saryn's frustration sweep through her. But he wasn't here, he couldn't do that, he had no right--

*Nightmare.* His knowledge screamed in her ears for the briefest moment, bringing perfect clarity with an unbearable cacophony of impressions. Then she was alone in her own mind again, staggering in the darkness until Delphinius caught her hand.

"Must you fight *everything*?" he whispered sharply, his fingers painfully tight around hers.

She could only watch, helpless, as Cassie murmured something to an obviously agitated Saryn. She felt Linnse's glare, but she refused to acknowledge it. Saryn did not relax, only closed his eyes again, and a small voice inside her whispered a silent apology for causing him pain.

He frowned, sure he had heard something, something that sounded almost like Storm Blaster in his mind. He knew it was a foolish hope, but he couldn't help wanting his friend to be all right after all--

*Storm Blaster is fine.*

There was a reason he should know that voice, but he didn't have time to figure it out before everything went dark. The desert and the pirahnatrons vanished, replaced by his teammates, his friends, and the sudden bizarre certainty that he was waking up from a horrible dream.

"Not yet," he heard someone mutter, and he glanced up as TJ squeezed his hand hard. He felt a relieved grin on his face, but the voice hadn't come from TJ. Peering across the circle, he saw Cassie's boyfriend watching him wearily.

"Phantom," he said, surprised. "I mean, Saryn. What's--"

"It's Zhane's fault," TJ interrupted, drawing his attention again. "We're calling it dreamhopping."

He spun, hoping to catch someone sneaking up on him in the deserted graveyard. "What isn't real?" he demanded of the air when no one appeared.

The scene faded into shadow as his mind suddenly filled with things he knew but hadn't realized only a moment before. He could only stare, trying to figure out how he could have not known something like that, until he felt someone pull him into the circle of people and light in front of him.

Not light, he thought, a little dazed. But something that let him see the faces around him, anyway. He only knew about half of them, though even the unfamiliar ones tugged at his memory, as though he had recognized them only a moment before.

"All right," Justin was saying, not seeming to notice his confusion. "So why is it Zhane's fault?"

The new Red Ranger muttered something under his breath, and TJ glanced at him. "Andros?"

"AGT," the other Ranger repeated, a little louder.

Zhane sighed. "Automatic Guilt Transferal only counts with lunchboxes and laser tag, Andros. You can't use it here."

She had known things couldn't go on the way they were forever, but she had hoped it wouldn't come to this. Their complete disappearance was a mystery to the papers and the news networks that had hounded them constantly after their accidental revelation, but she knew what it meant.

They had taken the Megaship and left. Permanently. No "we'll be back in a few months when things have calmed down", no "call me here when you want to yell at me for leaving you behind", just gone. Just the most exciting thing that had ever happened to her, vanished into thin air and leaving her life intolerably normal in their wake.

*Strange fear,* someone said wistfully, speaking directly in her ear.

She spun, but found only emptiness. The world wavered uncertainly for a moment, and her heart leapt as the ordinary crumbled in the face of the unreal. *It wasn't real,* the voice said again, speaking with a gentle accent that she felt she should recognize instantly. *It isn't real. There is no normal, for us.*

"Saryn!" She knew it even before he pressed the knowledge of the nightmares into her mind and retreated, leaving her alone in the darkness. There were only two Rangers who would say that with any amount of regret, and she was in love with one of them.

Someone clasped her hand, and she heard someone else chuckle. Several someones, she thought. She looked up and met TJ's intense gaze. She smiled, a little uncertainly, trying to get her mind around her sudden understanding of what was going on.

He smiled back, and it got a little easier.

"TJ!" She couldn't scream and run at the same time, not anymore, but she couldn't stop either. She wasn't even sure what she was chasing now, but she had to--

*It isn't real.*

She gasped, her step faltering at last, and she tumbled to the ground as her balance refused to compensate. "TJ?"

*Saryn,* someone corrected, and somehow, she knew it was a correction. And he was right, it wasn't real. She wasn't looking for her big brother, she was in the darkness, with the others--his teammates, his friends, and--

"TJ!"

"Hey sis," he said, grinning at her. "Hang on, okay? We're on our way out of here."

If someone had clapped headphones over his ears and turned the volume up all the way, they couldn't have gotten his attention any faster. He flinched back, squeezing his eyes shut as though that might somehow help, and the voice softened suddenly.

*I am sorry,* it told him. *I did not realize.*

It thought he was psychic. He had no idea how he knew that, or why the voice would think that, but he didn't have time to question as darkness moved in and someone grabbed his hand.

*One more.* The voice sounded... tired.

*It isn't real.*

She had never heard the voice before, but it spoke with such certainty that she found herself listening. She didn't realize until the real started to blur into the fantastic that the voice hadn't spoken aloud.

Jeff's hand fumbled for hers, and she reached automatically for the person on her other side. The faces around her--some familiar, some not--were no reflection, not the way the nightmare had been. Apart from it as she was, she could see herself in everything she had seen, and she knew she would have to talk to Jason when she got back to Earth.

For now, though, she felt a second hand slip into hers, and she saw Andros look over at someone she didn't recognize. "Saryn?" he asked quietly.

The other boy nodded curtly. She couldn't help thinking he looked exhausted, and as the darkness started to fade she wished there were something she could do.

She heard Emily stir, a low moan escaping as the other girl dragged herself back to consciousness. She turned around quickly, sliding out of her chair and crouching down in the cramped space. *Next time we get new zords,* she thought wryly, *they're going to have Aquitian-style cockpits.*

"Are you okay?" she asked, helping the older girl to sit up. "Did it work?"

Before Emily could even reply, she reached out for the answer she really wanted. *Andros?*

*That's me,* his silent voice agreed.

She smiled, and she saw Emily nod belatedly. "Welcome back," she said, aloud and in her mind.

She knew when TJ awoke, she felt him and Cetaci and Delphinius come "online" in her mind, their echoes carried by the Aquitian Power racing through her body. But the feeling was overshadowed by the spark that flared on the edge of her awareness, something that was somewhere between warmth and light without really being either.

*Astrea?*

*We're almost to Aquitar,* she told him, trying not to let on how much the sound of his voice reassured her.

*We're still in transit? Man, it felt like so much longer than that...*

She had tried not to ask, but she had to know. *Zhane? Are you all right?*

*Are you?*

She frowned. *I asked you first.*

*Yeah, but you're cuter.*

She felt a startled giggle escape, and clapped her hand over her mouth before she remembered no one could hear her. *What?*

*Yeah, I'm fine,* he replied, his voice distinctly amused. *You?*

She hesitated, then said honestly, *I'm glad to hear from you.*

*Same here,* he agreed.

"You should be in the Medical bay," Tideus chided, working on the scanner console beside Cestria.

She shook her head, not looking up. "I only need water... I will go as soon as Aura returns."

"Where is she?" Carlos asked, unable to keep silent any longer. "She's been gone forever."

"I hope *she* is in the Medical bay," Cestria murmured, her gaze darting across the readout in front of her. "I wish she would make sure she is all right before she returns to duty."

"You hope?" he repeated. "Can't you just ask her? Talk to her telepathically or something?"

Cestria didn't turn, but he got the distinct impression that he'd said something wrong. "I could," she agreed calmly. "If I wanted to invade her privacy so. But that is not our way."

He frowned, but before he could reply a red teleportation beam brightened the control room and Aura appeared by the lift door. He couldn't help feeling relieved at the sight of her. She didn't look much better than she had before, but at least she was standing on her own now.

"Aura!" Tideus didn't sound relieved at all. If anything, he sounded horrified. "Are you all right? What happened?"

Carlos took a second look as Tideus strode over to pull something from the wall beside the lift. From the perspective of someone who hadn't seen what they had gone through, she did look... awful. The two angry gashes across her neck and shoulder had been cleaned but not bandaged; he didn't know if it was the Power or something about Aquitian physiology that kept them from bleeding. Shallow claw marks on her face were visible in stark contrast to the paleness of her skin, and her torn uniform and disheveled hair did nothing to mitigate her appearance.

He felt a chill tingle through his spine as he realized how seriously injured she had been. They probably all looked horrible; he couldn't deny that. But Aura... *She isn't *supposed* to look that way,* he thought, unbidden.

He couldn't help remembering the way she had thrown herself at the cat creature: instinctively, ferociously... almost recklessly. "To fight is to protect," her Cestria had said, and she had clearly given no thought to herself in protecting Saryn.

"I'm fine," Aura was insisting. He tried to concentrate on her voice instead of the memory of her falling, tried to see her as she was now instead of as the motionless form she had been on Dark Spectre's ship.

Tideus pulled something out of what looked like an emergency medkit, and Carlos blinked as he shook out an entire blanket. "No," Aura protested, trying to push it away as he threw the blanket over her shoulders. "I told you I'm fine, Tideus."

"Stop arguing," he said firmly. He stood several inches taller than she did, and he managed to tug the blanket tight around her despite her efforts to the contrary. "You may have rehydrated, but you are still cold. And you are still losing water," he added, touching her skin gently. "What happened?"

"She was poisoned," Cestria answered, watching them with concern. She had finally turned away from the scanners, though she didn't let go of the console. "Her heart stopped. Carlos and Cetaci revived her."

Tideus glanced over at him, and he realized he had taken a few steps toward them without even realizing it. "Thank you," the former Ranger said carefully, as though he wasn't quite sure Carlos would understand him. "We are in your debt for your aid in restoring one so dear to us."

"Of course," Carlos replied, startled. He didn't like the implication, intentional or not, that Aura belonged to them alone, and he only just caught himself before saying she's dear to me, too. Instead, he confined himself to, "I couldn't do anything else."

"Of course not," Tideus agreed. "You are a Ranger, after all."

Carlos frowned, but the other was already turning back to Aura. "The poison must be nearly gone, and you will likely be all right as long as you continue to rehydrate periodically. Still, I wish you would go to the Medical bay to be sure."

Aura shook her head stubbornly, though she did take the edges of the blanket from him, clutching it around her as Tideus took a single step back. "I will be all right here," she insisted. "Cestria needs to rehydrate, and someone should be in the control room."

"I'll stay," Carlos offered, just as Tideus said the same words.

The former Ranger gave him a brief look and repeated, "I will stay."

"Then you will have company," Aura informed him. "I'm not going to the Medical bay. I'm *fine*."

A small noise from Cestria caught Carlos' attention, and he turned in time to see her sit down hard on the floor, palms flat against the coral on either side of her as she stared straight ahead. She looked surprised more than anything, and he would have smiled at her expression if he hadn't been so worried for her.

"Cestria--" Despite her injuries, Aura was at her side in a moment. "I'm taking her to rehydrate," she said. She put a hand on Cestria's arm, but Tideus intervened.

"You are not going anywhere except the Medical bay," he objected. "And if you will not go there, you will stay here." When she looked about to protest, he added, "At least until you have stopped shivering, Aura!"

She didn't look very happy about it, but she allowed Tideus to take her place at Cestria's side. "Can you stand?" he inquired softly. At Cestria's nod, he put his hands under her elbows and helped her to her feet.

"We will be back momentarily," Tideus told Aura, as Cestria reached for her communicator. He gave Carlos an unreadable glance just before they vanished into the teleportation stream.

"Wow, he does *not* like me," Carlos muttered as soon as they were gone.

"He has nothing against you," Aura replied stiffly.

"No, he really doesn't like me. Did you see the way he looked at me?" She stood over the scanner console, staring down at it, and he went over to join her. Leaning against the console, he added, "It was just like that look Cetaci gives people when she's pretending they're moss or something."

She didn't answer, and he tilted his head in an effort to catch her eye. "Come on, you know the one I mean." She still didn't look up, and he waved his hand across the console she was staring at. She had taught him, jokingly, a few of the hand signs the Aquitians used, and he made the sign for "listen" in an attempt to get her to smile.

Her head jerked up, and she glared at him. "What do you want, Carlos?"

He drew back, startled by her reaction. "I--I just want to talk, I guess." He wanted to know she wasn't upset with him, that was what he wanted.

"Talk about what?" she demanded. "Tideus? Cetaci? What is it you are hoping to hear?"

"I wasn't--" He lifted his hand instinctively, and she pushed it away.

"Don't use those signs again," she said. "I shouldn't have shown them to you."

He couldn't help feeling hurt. "I was just trying to get your attention. I just wanted to talk, the way we always do. Like--friends."

She turned away from the console, hugging the blanket tighter around her shoulders. "I do not."

He swallowed, but he tried to keep up his side of the conversation. "Don't what? Don't want to talk? All you have to do is say so."

She shook her head, refusing to look at him. "No..." A violent shiver seized her, and he put his hands on her shoulders without thinking. He rubbed her upper arms, trying to banish the terrible cold that seemed to cling to her.

She wrenched away from him, turning to stare at him as she backed away. "No," she repeated. "Not talking. I don't--I don't want us to be friends anymore, Carlos."

Her words were clear, but it took a moment to understand what she was saying. "What?" he demanded, feeling his heart sink. The awful feeling of dread in his stomach was more than the anticipation of losing a friend, and he tried to ignore it. "You said--"

"I thought I could do it," she interrupted. With the scratches on her face and the blanket wrapped around her shoulders, dwarfing her already small frame, she looked somehow both stronger and more helpless than he had ever seen her. "But I can't, not if you're going to be like this. You're different since you found out."

"Look," he said, trying desperately to reason with her. "You're tired, and hurt, and neither of us are thinking straight. Let's just not talk about it right now, okay? Maybe tomorrow, after--"

"No," she said firmly, straightening in such a way that she gave the impression of stamping her foot. "Not tomorrow. I don't *want* to lose you, Carlos, but you were never mine to lose and I won't have you feeling sorry for me this way. I think it would be best if we tried to stay out of each other's way as much as possible."

"Aura..." He could only say what he was sure of. "Avoiding each other isn't the answer."

"No?" she said, her silver eyes unhappy as they stared back at him. "Then what is?"

An eerie sense of déjà vu struck him. She had asked him that once before, and he had responded by... kissing her. He could remember it, feel every part of the moment, see the way she smiled up at him afterwards and told him--

It had to be one of those dreams. They were the vivid ones that interrupted his sleep, making him wonder about himself, about himself and Karen, and sometimes, when he let his thoughts get away from him, about Aura. He pushed the memory away ruthlessly, determined not to let them invade his waking hours too.

And yet--with her waiting so solemnly on his answer, his imagination would not be suppressed. What if he *did* kiss her, here, now? Would she hit him? Would she laugh? Would *he* laugh? Or... could he mean it?

It was a little frightening to face the thought that maybe somewhere, even if it was only in his dreams, the answer to that question might be "yes".

"I don't know," he managed to say at last. "I don't--I don't have the answer, Aura."

She looked down, and he sighed. He couldn't help feeling that there was something else he could have said, something he had been about to figure out when his voice betrayed him with his own words. "I'm sorry," he offered softly. What else *could* he say?

Aura didn't answer.

The awkward silence lasted until the comm chimed, a soft sound that seemed overloud in the stillness of the control room. Aura finally moved, going over to the comm console without a word to accept the transmission.

"Megaship to Aquitar." Andros' voice rang through the room, and he couldn't help a brief flash of envy. Carlos felt like a kid who'd been through a battle, while Andros sounded like the commander who'd just won the war. "Request permission to enter the system."

"Granted," Aura answered immediately, glancing up at the main screen. "We welcome back the Rangers and their allies. On behalf of the entire League, Aquitar thanks you for your fight."

"We did what many others have done before us, for their honor and ours," Andros replied, and Carlos tried to stifle a sigh. He wasn't up for this kind of evening. If he couldn't resolve anything with Aura, the next two things on his list were dinner and sleep, preferably in that order but he was willing to compromise if it got him out of politicking for the night.

"The Aquitian Rangers will schedule a private debriefing for early tomorrow," Aura was saying. "No public statements will be issued before then."

"Good," Andros said. "Thanks, Aquitar. Megaship out."

The link broke briefly and Andros' voice came back a moment later, probably on a closed channel. "Aura, how are you doing? Are you all right?"

Aura looked down as another comm channel promptly lit up. "I'm fine, thank you, Andros. You and your teammates are welcome in the Ranger dome tonight, if your vessel is too damaged to support you."

Andros hesitated. Carlos heard a voice in the background that sounded like Ashley's, but was too quiet for the audio to pick up. Then he could make out TJ's voice asking, "What about the Mega Vs? We can't tell them 'thanks; now go home'."

Aura must have heard too, for she added, "*All* of your teammates. Both the Astro and Earth teams are welcome."

Carlos heard someone say something about too many decisions, followed by laughter in the background. Aura did something to the comm panel while she waited, and the second channel went dark only to be replaced by another light. This one must have wanted a live link, for she paused, looking up at the screen impatiently as though she could see the discussion that had to be taking place on the Megaship's Bridge.

Fortunately, Cetaci and Delphinius chose that moment to appear in the control room. "The zords are secure," Cetaci said, looking around as though she expected to see someone to report to. "Where is Cestria?"

Aura turned away from the comm console for just a moment. "Rehydrating. You should go too; I can manage control for a few more minutes--"

"No," Cetaci said firmly. "You look like you're about to collapse. Sit down and let me handle the comm channels."

Aura stepped out of the way without protest, sinking into a chair and watching Cetaci take her place. "The Astro Rangers," she offered tiredly, when Cetaci gave her a questioning look for the active link. "I have invited them to stay in the Ranger dome if the Megaship is not habitable for the overnight."

"Actually," Andros' voice said carefully, as though he wasn't quite sure whom he was speaking to now, "I think we'd be all right up here if we could get generator power from the ground. Is there any way to pull that off?"

"I will clear you for docking at Orbital Station two," Cetaci said, her fingers dancing across the console. "Your computer system will be able to link into our network and obtain the necessary power from the station. We will of course supply you with any materials you require for repair as well."

"Thanks," Andros said. "I don't think NASADA wants to see us like this, so that would be great. We also have three people who need immediate medical attention, and someone who belongs to you..."

Cetaci smiled a little at that. "Have Billy bring your injured teammates with him. They may teleport directly into the Medical bay, and we will make sure they receive the best of care."

"Thanks again," Andros told her. "It'll take a while for station power to bring the Megaship back up to functional levels--"

"I understand," Cetaci interrupted. "You do not need to explain, Andros. Send them down."

"I will," he said, a smile in his voice. "Let us know if there's anything we can do for you. Megaship out."

Cetaci broke the link with the Megaship and immediately opened another one. "This is Cetaci, White Ranger of Aquitar," she announced.

Carlos heard someone from the Frontier Defense identify herself, but he was distracted by the opening of the lift door. Cestria and Tideus emerged, not looking at all surprised to see the control room full of Rangers, and he had to wonder how far "privacy" really went in a world of telepaths.

"You should rehydrate," Cestria told Delphinius softly, joining him and being careful not to distract Cetaci.

"I will when she does," he said, indicating their leader.

Carlos was about to interject something about heading back to the Megaship when Cetaci touched the comm console once and turned toward them. "I will rehydrate after I contact the government to inform them of what has occurred," she said. "If Cestria does not mind fielding the inquiries from the Alliance fleet..."

Cestria shook her head once, but Aura stirred. "I told the Astro Rangers there would be no public announcements until after a private debriefing tomorrow morning," she offered quietly.

Cetaci tilted her head. "The government should be informed," she said firmly. "They know their Rangers are home, and it is our duty to tell them what has transpired. Communication with the Alliance and Defense can wait, but Aquitar has a right to know."

Aura didn't object, and Cetaci seemed to take that for assent. As she turned back to the comm console, though, Delphinius stopped her. "You seem to have forgotten something in the excitement, Cetaci." His voice was neutral, and Carlos couldn't read the expression on his face. "That is not your decision to make."

Cetaci froze, her back to him. "I am the White Ranger," she said evenly. "The Power chose me to lead this team."

"And this *team* chose to relieve you of your duties temporarily," Delphinius reminded her. "I have heard no further discussion of the matter. Do you now overrule a decision made by the rest of the Rangers?"

"I do what the circumstances require," Cetaci replied stiffly.

"And who decides what is required?" he demanded. "You? Do you answer to any authority but your own, Cetaci?"

She spun, pinning him with a glare that made Carlos wince. "Whose authority would you have me answer to? Yours? Is that why I was chosen, really? Because your aunt thought you could control me, and if she couldn't pass the Power through inheritance she'd settle for the next best thing?"

There was dead silence for a moment, and Delphinius narrowed his eyes at her. "Do not project your scheming onto my family."

"Then don't question my place as leader!" she retorted.

"Start acting like one and I will consider it!"

"Stop it!" Aura cried. Her face was pale, but she leapt to her feet, still clutching the blanket Tideus had given her around her shoulders. "Why do you fight like this, day after day? You love each other! How can anything be more important than that?"

Carlos stared at her, well aware that everyone else was doing the same thing. She lowered her head and turned away, walking quickly toward a door at the back of the control room. "Aura--" He started after her, not sure what he would say but unable to let her just walk out like that.

Her words stopped him in his tracks. "Leave me alone, Carlos."

She disappeared through the door before he recovered from his surprise, and he started after her again. This time Cetaci stopped him, stepping in front of him and glaring at him with dangerous eyes. "She *said* to leave her alone."

He stared past Cetaci helplessly. "But I--"

"That door will not open for you," Delphinius said. His tone was calm again, but no less hard. "Only Aquitian Rangers are admitted to the living quarters."

Carlos heard the not-so-subtle reproof loud and clear, along with the implication that none of them were going to open it for him. Frustration flared inside of him, and the angry words came tumbling out before he could stop them. "Look, I'm sorry that I was born on the wrong planet for you, but none of us are perfect! I'm *sorry* I've hurt her, but I'm just as confused as she is and I'm tired of being treated like an intruder by a team I've worked with for weeks!"

Cetaci's bright eyes fairly snapped at him. "I can not allow you to hurt Aura further with your 'confusion'. Were you Aquitian yourself, it would be no different. We must take care of our own. As a Ranger, surely you understand that."

"Yeah," Carlos muttered. "A Ranger who's obviously in the wrong command center." He reached for his morpher, flipping it open and entering the numbers that would take him back to the Megaship. As the teleportation stream swallowed him whole, he thought for the first time that the swirling black looked less like color and more like darkness.

25. Solidarity

Saryn insisted on accompanying them to Aquitar. She hadn't really expected any less. She was glad of his company, if only for the fact that she could keep any eye on him. He had barely spoken since the nightmares ended and he had managed to block her empathically to such an extent that she could only just tell he was there, let alone guess what he was feeling.

When she, Saryn, Zhane and Billy arrived in the Ranger dome's Medical bay, though, Cestria was waiting for them. The Yellow Aquitian Ranger insisted on treating Cassie's more serious injuries before any of the others, and for a few moments she was distracted by the regen setup.

That was all the time it took for Saryn to fall apart.

She saw the tears in his eyes when she had a chance to look up, and she recognized the conflicting emotions on his face. He was trying desperately not to let on what he was going through, but the ghosts of his teammates or the sudden overuse of his empathy or both were too much. He didn't bother to brush the tears away as they fell, and she looked around for Linnse urgently.

Cestria was taking care of Zhane's wrist while Billy looked on, but Linnse seemed to sense her regard. She glanced up, catching Cassie's eye and following her gaze to Saryn. Linnse straightened abruptly, a worried look on her face as she sidled over to him.

He turned his head away as she approached. Linnse touched his arm, obviously trying not to draw anymore attention to him than she had to. Cestria was saying something to Zhane, and neither of them was paying any mind to Saryn yet. Linnse might be hoping he could compose himself before anyone else realized something was wrong, but Cassie could tell from the look on his face that he wasn't going to be able to pull himself together. Not this time.

She took a slow breath, trying not to fidget and aching to go to him. The regen had her effectively trapped for as long as it ran, but she wanted nothing more than to wrap her arms around Saryn and protect him somehow. She tried to force her imagination into something like what he was feeling, but she couldn't picture her own friends dead and still imagine going on herself. She had heard that pain like that faded over time, but she wasn't sure...

Cestria had noticed. Billy looked up when she did. She saw Zhane's eyes widen as he followed their gaze, but Cestria only picked something up and joined Linnse. Cassie wished it was her there at his side, and Cestria's calm words only just penetrated. "Saryn, I'm going to give you a mild sedative."

He jerked away quickly enough that he bumped into Linnse, who reached out to steady him. He threw her arm off with more violence than the gesture warranted, backing away from both of them. "I do not need a sedative," he warned, a glint in his eye that could have been anger or just tears.

"You guys, leave him alone," Cassie interrupted, itching to get up and intervene. "He's okay; he'll be perfectly fine."

Linnse just held up her hands and shook her head, clearly giving up any say she had in the matter. Cestria hesitated, looking from her to Saryn. "It will only--"

"No," Saryn said. His voice shook, and he folded his arms defensively. Cestria didn't look convinced.

Regen finally released her, and Cassie suppressed a strange flash of déjà vu. Scrambling to her feet, she caught her breath as her chest twinged painfully. Even osteo regen couldn't knit bones back together in minutes, but Saryn was more important.

He was at her side before she could move, eerily silent in the quiet Medical bay. "Be careful," he whispered. The words were ragged, forced out only because he couldn't not say them, and she knew he hated this. He was still blocking her, but he hated to show weakness and she knew that breaking down like this in front of everyone was probably the last thing he had wanted.

"Come on," she said quietly, half pulling him toward the door and half leaning on him for the excuse to stay close. No one tried to stop them, and she breathed a sigh of relief when they were alone in the hallway. "Saryn?"

His head was bowed and he stared down at the floor as though it held all the answers in the universe. She couldn't see his face, but he was trembling and she knew he was still fighting a losing battle to stay in control. "Don't," she murmured, tugging him gently toward the lift at the end of the hall. "Don't do that, Saryn; just cry. You'll feel better."

He shook his head, but she couldn't tell if he was trying to refuse or disagree. She swallowed the words she had been about to say and let the silence linger until they reached the lift. He balked when she tried to pull him inside, though, and she stopped, just waiting.

"I can't," he whispered at last, lifting his free hand to his face at last. She reached up to help dry his tears, or at least pretend to, and the bleak look in his eyes worried her. "The others..."

The other Aquitians would probably be in the control room. At least he cared; that was a good sign. She reached out and touched the ruby lying against his chest, envisioning his room as best she could. The world wavered briefly before disappearing altogether, and she couldn't help breathing a sigh of relief when the room she had pictured appeared around them.

She saw Saryn smile weakly and knew he appreciated what she had done, no matter how unorthodox. But Tessa still had her morpher...

"Shh," she murmured, seeing him turn away from her. "It's okay." She slid her arms around him, wondering suddenly if he had cried at all for his friends four years ago. The fact that he still blamed himself made her wonder if he had ever had the chance to move on.

He shuddered, and his hands shook as he laid them over hers. His skin was cool and she hugged him harder, wanting to warm him up but not willing to let go long enough to find him a sweatshirt. He leaned back against her a little, and she could feel him crying as they stood there, locked together in an embrace that she wasn't going to end.

She didn't know how long she held him, or even how long he cried. She couldn't tell exactly when he stopped, though she caught his awkward yawn when he dragged his sleeve across his face for the dozenth time. Without a word, she pulled him toward the bed and sat down with him, watching for any sign of rebellion.

He didn't protest, even when she leaned back and tugged him down beside her. He was facing her this time, and it comforted her to see the exhaustion on his features. At least exhaustion was normal, even expected, and he no longer looked like he was struggling for his very soul.

She reached out to brush his hair gently away from his face, and she was rewarded with the faintest hint of a smile. She laid her hand lightly over his eyes and felt his eyelashes brush against her skin as he obeyed her unspoken admonition. He was too drained to do anything but follow right now, and if there was anyone he trusted implicitly to lead him it was her.

She realized suddenly that she was absolutely sure of that. She knew too that he was grateful, in a tired and almost distant way, for both her presence and her silent understanding. It wasn't just his emotional walls that had disintegrated; his mental barriers were gone too and she hadn't even noticed when it happened.

With his feelings so close she knew the moment he started to drift off, and it was odd to know he was dozing before he did. Full sleep claimed him soon after, and she wanted to lie there watching him all night. She wanted to stay near him, making sure nothing else threatened while he was so vulnerable. She wanted to be the first part of the real world he saw when he woke, to know what he felt when he opened his eyes. She wanted to feel him dream.

Unfortunately, her stomach wanted to feel food. The harder she tried to ignore it, the more strongly it reminded her that she hadn't eaten since breakfast and it was now long past dinnertime. She wasn't sure she could get up without disturbing him, but the hunger wouldn't let her stay.

He didn't move when she sat up, even when she edged toward the end of the bed and felt it shift under her as she stood. He wasn't that sound a sleeper, but something must be different this time for she would have known if he had woken.

He was still sleeping when she slipped out into the hall, the swish of the door sounding abnormally loud in the quiet corridor. She made her way down to the mess hall and found something to eat, sitting on the counter instead of taking a place at one of the empty tables. *Cetaci would probably have a fit,* she mused.

She headed for the control room afterward, pausing outside their door to make sure Saryn was still sleeping. He was, and for once he wasn't dreaming, so she kept going. It had to be past midnight on the Megaship and she didn't doubt the others were sleeping by now, but she thought she'd at least contact DECA and make sure everyone was all right.

To her surprise, though, Ashley's voice answered the comm signal. "Hey," Cassie greeted her, leaning against the console. "What are you still doing up, Ash?"

"Couldn't sleep," her friend answered. "What are *you* doing up? Zhane said Saryn was a little upset earlier; are you guys okay?"

"A little upset?" Cassie repeated, wondering what exactly Zhane had told them.

"Yeah. He said, and I quote, 'Saryn was a little upset and Cassie hauled him off somewhere to calm him down.' Then Zhane started complaining about his food, and that was the end of it."

Cassie smiled to herself. Every now and then, Zhane surprised her. "I think Saryn was just freaked out by seeing his old teammates again. He's sleeping now, so I went to get something to eat. I thought I'd check in with DECA before I went to bed too."

She heard Ashley sigh. "Darn. I was hoping for some company."

"Really?" She had assumed that if Ashley was up, Andros was nearby. They each seemed to know instinctively when the other was awake. "What are you doing?"

Ashley sounded a little sheepish as she admitted, "Painting my nails. After today, it's kind of comforting to do something so..."

"Normal," Cassie finished softly.

"I was going to say 'unimportant', but yeah, that," Ashley agreed, a grin in her voice. "Want to join me?"

She hesitated, thinking of Saryn. She really didn't want him to wake up alone after tonight, but she could always come back to Aquitar later. He was tired enough that he wasn't going to be waking up any time soon anyway. "Sure," she said finally. "Are you in your room?"

"In the hallway," Ashley corrected. "The light's better out here."

Cassie smiled, though she knew Ashley couldn't tell over the audio link. "I'll see you in a minute, then."

"Right," Ashley agreed.

Not for the first time, she found herself missing her morpher as she went over to the teleportation controls. She set the mechanism to target the Megaship, waiting the brief moment for it to detect the battleship at one of the orbital stations and compensate for the station's distance and velocity. It flashed a ready signal just as the door behind her slid open.

She turned, and the figure in the doorway hesitated. "I did not realize anyone was still awake," Aura offered, looking as though she might turn and go back the way she had come.

"No, come in," Cassie said quickly, a little disconcerted when she realized she was inviting the other Ranger into her own command center. "I was just checking in with the Megaship."

"Your teammates are all well, I hope," Aura said, still waiting in the doorway.

She smiled. "Yeah. DECA's taking good care of them. How are *you* feeling? I heard you took a pretty bad blow on Dark Spectre's ship."

Aura lifted a hand to her neck automatically, but stopped just short of touching the angry gashes in her skin. "I am... all right. I am told the poison has finally dissipated, and the Power has already started to heal--this."

"I bet it still hurts, though," Cassie said sympathetically. "I know how that feels."

"Whenever I move wrong," Aura agreed, stepping out of the doorway at last and allowing the door to slide shut behind her. "I did not find out what happened to you."

"I had a close encounter with the status console." She turned one of the swivel chairs around, sitting down on the edge of it carefully. "After the Megaship lost shields, the inertial damping couldn't compensate, and Linnse and I got thrown around some."

"But you are all right?" Aura asked. "And the Megaship will recover?"

"Yeah," Cassie said, watching her walk slowly across the room. "We're going to have to replace the engine core, but I think everyone's going to be okay. Hey, Aura..." She couldn't help smiling a little. "We won."

Aura sighed, leaning back against the comm console. "I suppose we did," she murmured.

Concerned, Cassie sat forward, ignoring the ache in her chest as best she could. "Are you all right?"

Aura shifted, but refused to meet her eye. "I do not wish to discuss it."

She drew back a little, trying not to be hurt. "Okay. Sorry." It would have been the perfect time to make some excuse and leave, but she didn't want Aura to think she was offended. Besides, she realized suddenly, Aura still hadn't done whatever she had come into the control room for--and she hadn't left either. Maybe she wanted the company.

For a moment, neither of them spoke. Finally, Cassie offered, "I like your clothes. I know this is a silly question, but--are those pajamas?"

"Pajamas," Aura repeated, as though she had never heard the word before. She glanced down at her red sleeveless shirt over darker longsleeves and loosely fitted pants. "They are... the clothes I sleep in, if that is what you mean."

"Yeah, that's what I meant," Cassie said with a smile. She could see the faint shine to the material, and she'd bet they were good for swimming in too. "You couldn't sleep either, huh?"

Aura shook her head wordlessly.

Cassie considered her for a minute, trying to decide why the other seemed different. "I almost don't recognize you without your Ranger uniform," she said, but even as she spoke she knew that wasn't it. Aura looked... disconsolate.

With that word, the girl's attitude crystallized in her mind. Aura wasn't just tired, or restless, she was depressed. She had never seen the Red Ranger look that way before, but Aura's quiet reply only confirmed it. "I do not feel much like a Ranger tonight."

"No?" she asked idly, trying to sound casual. Aura had already made it clear that she wasn't going to talk about anything directly, and long experience with Saryn told her that pouncing wouldn't get her anywhere.

Aura didn't answer at first, but finally she shook her head again. "No," she admitted. "I have treated a friend... badly."

"Friendship doesn't fade because of a few angry moments," Cassie reminded her, paraphrasing the very words Aura had said to her not so long ago.

There was no recognition on Aura's face, despite her reply. "You do not know what I said."

Cassie fought the urge to smile at the repetition of their earlier conversation. "Maybe your friend doesn't care," she suggested gently. "Sometimes all it takes is for you to mean it when you say you're sorry."

Aura sighed. "I told him I did not wish to be his friend anymore."

That brought her up short. "Oh," she murmured, for lack of anything better.

"I did not mean to," Aura said miserably. "He upset me, and then he would not leave me alone... I spoke before I thought. It is a failing of mine."

"If it's a failing, it's one we all have," Cassie told her. "Sometimes you just have to say what you're feeling."

"I wish I had not." Aura folded her arms across her chest, looking defensive and regretful at the same time. "I do not know what to do," she muttered.

She didn't know what advice to give, but she did know that Aura didn't look like she wanted to be alone. "Come with me," Cassie offered impulsively. "I'm going up to the Megaship to hang out with Ash; you should come. We'll talk about how annoying men are and how they make us say stupid things."

Aura actually smiled a little at that, but she shook her head. "I can not go to the Megaship."

"Why not?" Cassie pressed. "It'll be good for you. There's nothing like a little womanly solidarity to lift your spirits, I promise."

"I can not," Aura repeated. "It is not because of you, Cassie."

"What, does your secret guy friend not approve of us?" she teased gently. "We just won a huge battle against the forces of evil; you'd think he could be a little more forgiving."

"It is not that," Aura said softly. "If anything, it is the opposite."

A chime announced the arrival of the lift, and before Cassie could puzzle that out the door had slid open to admit two of Aura's teammates. Cestria and Billy were hand in hand, standing just a little too close, clearly enjoying each other's presence and just as clearly not expecting to find anyone else in the control room.

"Oh," Billy said, taking a step away from Cestria as he caught sight of them. They let go of each other's hands abruptly, sharing a guilty glance that Cassie didn't quite understand. "We didn't know--we didn't think anyone else was still awake."

"Do not let us interrupt you," Aura said quickly. "We were just leaving." She turned pleading eyes on Cassie, and Cassie scrambled to her feet.

"Yeah, we're just going to go... check on the Megaship. You two--have a good night." She saw Billy's puzzled glance as she grabbed Aura's hand and triggered the teleportation controls, but there was no time for anything else before the world turned into swirls of light around her.

When the Glider holding bay reformed around them, though, she looked at Aura curiously. "What was that about?"

Aura pulled her hand out of Cassie's. "They are trying not to hurt me, I think. But their kindness is worse than their indifference would be."

She frowned, wondering if she hadn't been so far off with her teasing about a "secret guy friend". "Aura," she said slowly. "This friend of yours... you really like him, don't you."

Aura caught her eye unhappily but didn't answer.

"Well, if he doesn't realize how lucky he is," Cassie declared, "I'm not sure you should be with him anyway. Now come on; let's go find Ashley."

Only when Aura's silent footsteps followed her did she remember that her friend was barefoot. "Oh, I'm sorry," she exclaimed, coming to a halt. "I saw you were barefoot back in the control room, but I forgot--are you okay with the decking? It isn't exactly coral..."

"No," Aura agreed, glancing down at the metal deck. "But I do not mind. Thank you, but this is not so foreign as you may believe. Our zords are made of metal, after all."

"You don't go barefoot in your zord," Cassie pointed out.

Aura actually shrugged. "I do not mind. We are a race of swimmers," she added, when she saw that Cassie was not convinced. "We are more used to going shoeless than you, I think."

Cassie hesitated, but she wasn't going to cheer Aura up by arguing with her. So she let it go, though she shot occasional glances at the other Ranger as Aura padded along beside her. She seemed perfectly comfortable, and as the lift doors opened onto deck five Cassie let herself forget about it altogether.

As promised, Ashley was waiting in the hallway outside her room. She sat cross-legged on a folded blanket, leaning against the wall and contemplating the back of her hand. She looked up at the sound of the doors, and her smile welcomed them both. "Hi guys," she greeted them, not sounding at all surprised to see Aura with Cassie.

"Hey," Cassie said. "Let's see!"

Ashley held up her hand obediently, and the gold sparkles on her nails reflected the bright light of the hallway. "Nice," Cassie approved. "Do you ever paint your nails, Aura?"

Aura gave her a doubtful look. "Cestria does sometimes. I do not."

"Want to?" Ashley invited, holding her hands out in front of her as she climbed to her feet. "Cass, want to unfold that blanket? My nails aren't dry yet."

Cassie shook the blanket out and spread it across the hallway, suppressing a giggle as it stretched from wall to wall. "What's so funny?" Ashley wanted to know, settling herself on the floor again.

"I was just thinking," Cassie began, motioning to Aura to join them.

"Yeah, you're right," Ashley interrupted impudently. "That is funny."

Cassie made a face at her, sitting down next to her friend. "Very funny. I was thinking that the best thing about you and Andros going out is that we don't have to worry about him complaining about this kind of thing anymore."

Ashley giggled. "I just bat my eyelashes and he does anything I want?"

"You know he does," Cassie said, grinning at her expression. She glanced over at Aura as the other girl shifted, realizing that maybe this wasn't the best topic. "Aura, hold out your hand."

As she reached for Ashley's nail polish, though, Ashley scrambled to her feet again. "Wait, don't use that," she said. "Hang on. I'll be right back."

She disappeared into her room, and Cassie shook her head. "She's probably finding red nail polish for you," she told Aura, amused.

Aura looked a little uncertain. "I am not sure this is a good idea."

"You can take it off," Cassie assured her. "If you don't like it, just say so. Sometimes it's more fun just to paint your nails than it is to actually wear them that way."

"Here we go," Ashley announced, emerging from the door with a plastic container full of nail polish bottles of varying sizes. "If you're going to paint your nails, you might as well have options."

"Do you think you have enough there?" Cassie teased. She gave the box a cursory inspection, pretending to be disappointed. "I'm surprised you don't have polka dots."

"No polka dots," Ashley admitted. "But I do have stickers."

Cassie shook her head, and Ashley laughed. "My aunt works for a cosmetics chain," she told Aura. "Anything that gets scratched or chipped doesn't meet their standards anymore, so they throw it away. Or they give it to the employees," she added. "So I get it for free whenever my aunt comes to visit."

Aura cocked her head. "You are not provided with what you need by your people?"

Cassie shot a covert glance at Ashley, and found her friend returning the puzzled look. Before either of them could answer, though, Aura corrected herself. "Of course not; I must apologize for my question. Carlos said the people of Earth do not know who their Rangers are."

"No," Ashley agreed. "You mean--your people give you what you want, instead of you paying for it or something?"

"We pay for it with our service," Aura said, as though it should be obvious. "It is our job to defend our planet, just as it is the job of others to provide food for our people, or to build, or to create clothing."

"Wow," Cassie said after a moment. "Rangering as a career. I never thought of it that way before."

"I have never thought of it any other way," Aura replied. "Things must be... very different, on Earth."

"I'll say." Ashley picked up a little bottle of nail polish, holding it out toward Aura and comparing it to her skin critically. She put it back and picked another one, repeating the process. "Have you seen Earth? More of it than the lake in Angel Grove, I mean?"

"Have you seen more of Aquitar than the Ranger dome?" Aura asked, watching warily as Ashley played with the nail polish bottles.

Ashley grinned. "Good point. Here, what do you think of this color?"

"I... like it?" Aura offered tentatively, as though she wasn't sure that was the right answer.

"Cool." Ashley squirmed around to face Aura, unscrewing the top of the bottle. "Hold out your hand."

"Why don't we trade tours sometime?" Cassie suggested, as Ashley pressed her fingernails to her lips to make sure they were dry. "Maybe you could show us some more of Aquitar, and we'll show you Angel Grove."

Aura gave her an odd look, but she let Ashley turn her hand over and spread her fingers apart. "I may not know much about your world, but I am aware that I would not be... inconspicuous among your people."

"So what?" Ashley asked. She didn't look up from her careful application of the brush to Aura's fingernails. "Cestria probably goes to Earth all the time, and you don't see *her* on the news."

Cassie saw Aura stiffen. "I am not Cestria."

"Don't move," Ashley chided, not seeming to notice the other girl's tension.

"Of course you aren't," Cassie added. "Ashley just means that there are people on Earth who'd be happy to see you. And there are plenty of places to go in Angel Grove where you don't have to see anyone at all. It would be fun."

"We could get Carlos to come with us, too," Ashley put in. "You two are pretty good friends, right? Maybe the four of us could do some sightseeing next weekend or something."

If Cassie hadn't been watching Aura's reactions after the Cestria comment, she would have missed the way Aura's eyes widened at that suggestion. "I do not think that is a good idea," the other girl said, her calm voice at odds with her words.

Ashley paused, lifting the brush out of the way and giving Aura a puzzled look. "Why not? He's always talking about what you two are doing and how much fun you're having. It's funny," she added, "but sometimes I think he talks about you more than he does about Karen."

She had obviously intended the words to be taken lightly, but Aura just looked away. Watching her, and hearing Ashley's blithe statement a moment before, something clicked into place in Cassie's mind. "Carlos," she realized aloud. "Aura... Carlos wasn't the friend you were talking about before, was he?"

Ashley frowned at her, then at Aura. "What do you mean?"

Aura swallowed, lifting her hand out of Ashley's grasp. "I should go," she muttered.

"No," Cassie said quickly. "Aura, don't leave. I should have noticed before--Carlos has always been terrible at dealing with women."

"Hey!" Ashley exclaimed. Then her eyes narrowed, and she looked at Aura again. "Wait--he likes you? Is that what this is about?"

"Yeah," Cassie agreed, remembering the way Carlos had held Aura almost constantly throughout the afternoon. He had volunteered to go after her in her nightmare, comparing their relationship to Billy and Cestria's. "He does like her, but he hasn't told her, and now Aura thinks he doesn't."

"He does not," Aura insisted, sounding almost on the verge of tears. Cassie put an arm around her automatically, hugging the other girl without regard for her usual reluctance to touch. "He has no feelings for me beyond friendship," Aura murmured, making no move to pull away. "He has told me so himself."

Ashley sighed, setting down the nail polish and resting a hand on Aura's shoulder. "Aura, guys always say that. It's how they avoid getting hurt. I was serious when I said he talks about you more than Karen, even if I didn't think about what it meant."

"I do not wish to compete with another," Aura muttered. "I will not vie for the affection of someone who has already indicated he has no interest in me. It is not fair to his girlfriend, and it is a waste of my time."

Cassie tried not to laugh. "That's the spirit."

"You're not helping," Ashley informed her wryly.

Cassie shrugged, giving Aura a last hug before letting her go. "If he won't tell her how he feels, why should she have to chase him? Let him know what it feels like."

"If she doesn't chase him, he might never know how *she* feels," Ashley pointed out.

"He knows," Aura interjected softly. "Believe me, he knows how I feel."

"Chasing?" A new voice broke into the conversation, and the three of them looked up at once. Kerone stood at the near end of the hallway, regarding them with an interested look on her face. Cassie hadn't even heard the lift doors open. "Is this something I can help with?"

Cassie snuck a quick look at Aura, whose wide eyes and faint shake of the head were all the answer she needed. Luckily, Ashley had seen it too, for the Yellow Ranger just laughed and waved Kerone over to join them. "Definitely. We need a lot of help. Or at least they do," she amended, giving Cassie and Aura an amused glance. "They can't pick nail polish colors to save their lives."

"Hey!" Cassie objected. "I haven't even picked one yet!"

"That's my point," Ashley agreed. "You're too indecisive. Kerone can help you; she's good at that kind of thing."

"Making decisions, or coordinating nail polish?" Cassie asked.

Kerone drew their attention with a simple wave of her hand. She turned her hand over and regarded it carefully for a moment, then held it up for inspection. Her fingernails, which had been natural only a moment before, were now a light blue-violet that matched her blouse.

Ashley laughed. "Both, I'd say. Here, Aura, let me finish your nails."

Kerone hesitated by the edge of the blanket. Cassie thought she would sit down, but a sudden movement at the edge of her awareness distracted her. As quickly as she turned her head, though, she couldn't catch anything from the corner of her eye, and she realized suddenly who it had to be.

*Saryn,* she scolded, knowing that whisper of motion meant that he was listening for her thoughts. *You're supposed to be sleeping.*

*You're not here,* he answered simply, his voice resonating inside her mind and excluding everything else. *The room feels wrong. I wish to be with you.*

He sounded as in control as ever, but his words had an oddly forlorn quality to them that she couldn't ignore. *I'm with Ashley and Aura and Kerone on the Megaship,* she thought, trying to keep her words clear and slow enough for him to pick up. *You'd be right in the middle of girl talk.*

*I wish to be with you,* he insisted.

"Cassie?" Finally she realized that Ashley was trying to get her attention. "Cass, are you all right?"

She gave her head a shake. She didn't know why she still thought that would help, but she couldn't help doing it. "Yeah, I'm fine; sorry. Saryn..." She hesitated, not sure how much she could say without giving herself away. "Saryn's awake. He's going to come up here."

Ashley gave her an odd look. "How do you know?"

"Because I know him," she said lightly, avoiding Kerone's gaze. "He'll probably teleport right into the hallway, wearing the same clothes he wore all day except without his boots, looking all sleepy and cute..."

She trailed off when she realized the others were all looking at her. "Well," she said defensively, "I just know. That's how."

Ashley just laughed, laying Aura's right hand on her knee and reaching for her left. "Right, Cass. Whatever you say."

Saryn's sudden presence prevented her from having to reply to that, but the fact that he arrived exactly the way she had described earned an amused look from Kerone and another giggle from Ashley. He paid no attention to either, sitting down beside her and leaning back against the wall. She stared at him as he closed his eyes. "You came all the way up here just to go to sleep again?"

His eyes flickered open and he regarded her for a moment. "You said it was 'girl talk'," he reminded her. "I do not see what you expect me to contribute to such a conversation. My only motive in coming was to be near you."

She sighed, hard-pressed to argue with that kind of logic. "That's sweet," she murmured, tilting her head to kiss him gently. He smiled at her, then settled back against the wall.

"Saryn," Ashley said suddenly, interrupting the momentary silence.

Without moving, he opened his eyes again and looked at her.

"You worked for your government on Elisia, right?" she asked. Cassie frowned a little, not sure that was a good subject to bring up right now, but Ashley ignored her. "And you're part of the Frontier Defense now--I mean, you help run it and stuff?"

Saryn nodded once, not taking his eyes off of her.

The look on Ashley's face went from one of idle interest to suppressed triumph. She was clearly struggling to keep a straight face. "So in other words, you're a politician."

Cassie tried not to giggle. Saryn was so opposite of any politician that she'd ever met that she couldn't help but find the observation funny. She knew where Ashley was going with it, though, and the idea that his formal words and pretty sentences were a result of his "career" was equally amusing.

Saryn stopped Ashley before she could get to that point aloud, however. "I am a diplomat," he said firmly. "It is different." He closed his eyes, effectively signaling the end of his participation in the conversation.

Ashley might have continued anyway if the lift doors hadn't parted at that moment to reveal TJ. "Hey," he greeted them. "I didn't think anyone would still be up when I got back."

Cassie gave Ashley a puzzled glance, and her friend explained, "TJ took Ali home tonight so their parents wouldn't worry. Jeff and Justin went back with them in the Mega Vs."

"Plus Emily and Rocky," TJ added, tossing Ashley her morpher. "They have classes tomorrow too. Tessa's the only one who's still here. Cassie, catch."

Cassie held up her hands for her morpher, and TJ tossed it in her direction. "I guess I'll have to catch everyone else in the morning," he said, dropping the last three morphers on their blanket and sitting down next to them. "Is this a private girls' party that I'm interrupting here?"

Ashley was giving a negative shake of her head even as TJ glanced pointedly at Saryn. "Oh, hi, Saryn," he said. "Didn't even see you there. It must be the hair; you blend right in."

"TJ!" Cassie gave him a shove, but he just grinned unrepentantly at her. Saryn didn't even open his eyes, not deigning to respond.

"So, who are we missing?" TJ continued, looking around. "Tessa must be in bed, like any smart, normal person. I knew I liked her for a reason. Carlos isn't here, or Andros or Zhane, although they hardly count as normal--"

This time Ashley hit him, and he laughed. "Okay, okay, I can take a hint. I'll behave. So what's going on?"

"Hold out your hand and I'll show you," Ashley suggested sweetly.

TJ rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right. Nice try."

Rooting around in Ashley's box, Cassie picked one of the pinks at random. Kerone offered to change TJ's nails for him, and she laughed at TJ's horrified expression. "Maybe you should tone down the sarcasm, Teej," she suggested, leaning back against the wall. "Nail polish isn't something to mess around with."

"Nail polish is just like girls," he grumbled. "Pretty and impossible to--" He closed his mouth abruptly as a door opened down the hall, and Cassie turned to follow his gaze.

Ashley laughed as Tessa poked her head out into the hallway. "What were you going to say, TJ?"

"Nothing, nothing," TJ said hastily, jumping to his feet. "Sorry, Tess; are we being too loud?"

She shook her head sleepily, stepping out into the hall and wandering in their general direction. "No... I just--" She was interrupted by a yawn. "I heard your voice and wanted to make sure everyone got back all right..."

"Yeah, they're all okay," he assured her, hovering at her side as she tried to decide whether to sit down or not. "Although my parents were kind of appalled by how late Ali was getting back. I don't think she'll be going to school tomorrow."

Cassie heard Kerone giggle, and looked over at her in time to see Ashley look away innocently. The Yellow Ranger caught her eye and mouthed, "Tell you later."

TJ gave them a suspicious look. "What are you saying about me?"

"That I hope you talked to your uncle while you were on Earth," Ashley replied promptly. "My mom's going to call in for me and Cassie, but it would look a little strange if she said, 'Oh, and TJ and Carlos won't be in school today either.'"

"Ooh," Tessa said softly, reaching for Ashley's box. "Nail polish..."

"You're not awake enough to put on nail polish," TJ told her, diverted. "Give me that."

"Since when are you a nail polish expert, TJ?" Cassie asked, not looking up from her own fingernails.

"Since Halloween last year," he informed her.

"That's quick-dry," Ashley told Aura. "You're probably safe with it by now. Here, touch your fingernails to your lips and see if they feel sticky."

TJ shook his head, applying the nail polish Tessa had chosen to her fingernails in a painstaking fashion. "Why do you do that? I've never understood that."

"Because your lips won't leave a mark if it isn't dry," Ashley replied. "Duh," she added, grinning when he rolled his eyes at her.

Aura did as she was told, studying her hands carefully.

"Looks good," Ashley pronounced. "Do you like it? It's easy enough to take off if you don't."

"Thank you," Aura said slowly, still looking at her hands. "I... am not sure."

Ashley gave her a smile. "Fair enough. Just let me know when you decide."

"Have we met?" Tessa asked curiously, looking over TJ's shoulder at Aura. "Or am I just really, really tired and I don't remember you?"

"Oh, I'm sorry," TJ said, looking up. "Tessa, this is Aura, the Red Ranger for the Aquitian team. Aura, this is Tessa. She was flying Mega V5 today."

"It's nice to meet you," Tessa said. She looked a little more awake when she smiled, and Aura nodded in return.

"It is a pleasure to meet you as well," the Aquitian Ranger replied politely. "I did not witness much of the battle, but I am told the Mega V pilots performed admirably. Thank you for being a part of our fleet."

Cassie glanced over at Tessa and was amused to see her blush. "Thanks," Tessa murmured, looking down at her hands.

Ashley followed her gaze and shook her head. "TJ, what are you doing?"

TJ looked up. "What do you mean? I'm painting her nails."

"Yeah, silver-blue!" Ashley exclaimed.

"So?" TJ demanded. "That's the color she wanted!"

Ashley sighed. "Tessa, you know you're a spring, right?"

Tessa didn't answer right away. "Oh, for colors, right," she said at last. "Sorry; it's too late to think about things like that. Yeah, why?"

"Because that's a winter color," Ashley said patiently. "Kerone, can you make that sky blue or turquoise or something?"

Kerone was lying on the blanket, watching the activity with her chin on her hands. At Ashley's request, she reached out and touched the little glass bottle in TJ's hand. With a swirl of purple sparks, the nail polish in the bottle and on Tessa's fingernails lightened and shifted toward the greener side of blue.

A smile spread across Tessa's face. "That must be so handy. Thanks, Kerone."

Kerone just shrugged, returning to her original position. "You're welcome."

Finishing her last fingernail, Cassie set down the nail polish carefully and inspected her hands. Turning them slightly, she saw something she hadn't noticed before. "Kerone," she asked, amused when her nails caught the light, "you didn't do anything to this nail polish, did you?"

Kerone rolled over on one side so she was facing her. "Tessa's is the only one I touched. Why?"

"Because it isn't pink," Cassie said, holding her hand up.

TJ glanced in her direction. "Looks pink to me," he remarked, returning his attention to Tessa.

"Okay, it's pink," Cassie agreed. "But look. It shines purple."

Ashley laughed. "I forgot I had that. It does look pink, until you look closely. It has purple sparkles in it."

"Hold out your hands," Kerone suggested. She did, and violet streamers of light wound briefly through her fingers.

When it faded, Cassie tilted her hands again. As the overhead lights illuminated her fingernails she laughed. "Thanks!" Faint red sparkles had replaced the violet, making the pink color appear to gleam in the light.

She glanced at Saryn automatically and found him looking back. She held out her hands, and he smiled. He caught one hand and lifted it to his lips, kissing her fingers gently.

"Cassie," Ashley's voice interrupted. "We're making a color wheel; come on."

"A color--" She glanced over her shoulder and laughed. "Oh."

She squeezed Saryn's hand and then let go, edging away from the wall to sit next to the other girls in the middle of the blanket. She put her right hand down in the space they'd left for her, between Kerone and Aura. Red, gold, turquoise, violet and pink fingernails adorned the circle of hands.

26. Awake and Dreaming

Carlos gasped, coming awake with the sharp burst of adrenaline usually reserved for nightmares or his little brother yelling in his ear. His heart was pounding, and though he knew he was waking up, for a brief moment he had no idea where.

Then the bright red glow that was DECA checking on him pierced his night-darkened vision, and he turned his head away. He had forgotten to turn his laptop off, and he squinted against the unnatural brightness of the soccer ball screensaver as he sat up. The red shadows in the room disappeared as DECA withdrew wordlessly, leaving the bouncing black and white ball as the room's only illumination.

The Megaship, then, not Aquitar. He took a deep breath, flinching away from the memory of the dream. He'd had that one before. Last time, it hadn't ended with him kissing her...

He swallowed, glancing around the room. He didn't know whom he expected to find watching him, but he couldn't help feeling guilty. What was wrong with him? He *had* a girlfriend, and here he was dreaming of someone else. Again.

"Talk to Ashley," the Karen in his vision had said. Maybe that was his subconscious trying to tell him something. He didn't know, but he really needed to talk to *someone* right now.

"DECA?" he asked. His voice sounded hoarse to his own ears, and he cleared his throat as DECA's camera blinked on again. "Is Ashley sleeping?"

DECA seemed to consider that, though Carlos knew she could run through the privacy rules they'd established before he even noticed she had paused. "No," she told him. "Ashley is awake."

He pushed himself to his feet, not stopping to question his good luck. He didn't even bother to ask what time it was, but as he approached the door something brought him to a halt just before the motion sensor would have recognized his presence. "DECA?" he said again, catching the faint sound of laughter in the hallway. "Who's in the hall?"

There was another pause, as though she was waiting for him to think better of his request. "Kerone, Ashley, Cassie, TJ, Aura, Tessa, and the Phantom Ranger are in the corridor," she replied, listing them in a matter-of-fact manner that was lost on him. Aura's name leapt out at him and froze him in place.

He fought the urge to ask what Aura, of all people, was doing on the Megaship. DECA would never tell him, even if she knew. But there was no way he was going out there--if there was one person he couldn't face right now, it was Aura.

"Show me," he said, before he realized what he was doing.

DECA's camera blinked at him, but the corridors had been ruled public space when the team got together a couple of months ago and decided what they were and were not allowed to find out from DECA. His room's computer terminal sprang to life on the wall opposite his laptop, and he turned to look reluctantly.

Aura was facing the camera, sitting awkwardly on the goldenrod blanket that Ashley must have laid out on the metal deck. She was clearly listening to someone else talk, although there was no sound. He was allowed to observe, but not to eavesdrop.

From the way Tessa gestured, he assumed she was the one talking. Her back was to the camera as TJ lay on the blanket beside her, his head on her lap while he listened to whatever she was trying to explain. Kerone was on her other side, lying on her stomach and playing idly with a violet light that shimmered around her fingers. Cassie sat next to Aura, across from Ashley and beside Saryn, who looked for all intents and purposes to have dozed off.

It was a friendly circle, one that practically glowed with welcome and invited him to join them in the hallway. But Aura held his eye, dressed in clothes he recognized but had never seen her wear awake. Her dark hair hung loose for the first time since he had met her, and seeing her as she had appeared to him in his dreams was disorienting and a little frightening.

He reached out as if to touch the screen, but he caught himself before he actually did it. She was--beautiful. It had never occurred to him before, at least not when he was awake and thinking rationally. The Aquitians were different, and though it was easier to forget the longer he spent with them, it was always there. Had he thought about it, he would never have expected to find one of them truly beautiful.

It surprised him to think suddenly that Aura wasn't really Aquitian. She was, obviously, and she was proud of it. There was no reason not to be. But he hadn't been thinking of her that way just now, watching her smile at Tessa on the small computer screen. She was Aura first, and Aquitian second.

He remembered once, when he had considered telling her about the dreams he had had. It had been in that fog between sleeping and waking, for until recently he hadn't been able to remember them anywhere else. He had thought drowsily that she would find the idea of the two of them as a couple amusing, and that he should tell her the next time he saw her.

He was glad that he had forgotten the thought as soon as he came fully awake. As he stared at her now, without their differences imposing a psychological barrier between them, he didn't find the idea funny at all.

He turned the screen off abruptly. He wasn't going to stand there staring for the rest of the night. He went back to his bed and lay down, trying to convince himself that everything would make more sense in the morning. Or if it didn't, at least he wouldn't have to think about it for a few hours.

Sleep was impossible, of course. He had known that it would be, but he had to try. He was still too jumpy from that dream and too impatient with his own confusion to be able to lie still for long. He sat up again, staring around the darkened room. He needed to do something, to get away somehow, before the inaction made him so frustrated that he did something crazy.

Glancing down at his bare wrist, he frowned irritably. Jeff had kept his morpher long enough to take Mega V2 back to Earth, and TJ probably had it now. "DECA," he said, looking up. "Can you call Mega V2 for me?"

"Where are you going, Carlos?" The camera's light was steady, giving the impression of staring at him.

He sighed. "I don't know. Away. Earth."

"You do not have your morpher," DECA reminded him, as though he might have forgotten. "You will have no way to contact the rest of the team."

"Mega V2's comm system was working fine the last time I checked," Carlos told her. "If I set down anywhere I'll stay nearby."

DECA did not reply, but a moment later she announced, "Mega V2 is online."

"Thanks," he said shortly, getting to his feet. He changed into a clean pair of jeans and a t-shirt, wanting to leave his Astro uniform as far behind as possible.

"I'm ready," he told DECA.

The camera light blinked at him. "Preparing to teleport."

He nodded, and the world turned bright black. The teleportation stream dropped him neatly in the cockpit of Mega V2, and he settled into the pilot's chair with something like relief. This he knew. This he understood. He pushed the thrusters to maximum and the little zord leapt forward, eager for the race toward lightspeed.

DECA had uploaded a hyperspace vector for Earth into his computer without being asked, and the zord tossed the chains of lightspeed-limited travel aside without hesitation. The cockpit hummed happily around him as the phantom swirls of hyperrush moved in, obscuring the view from the EM scanners as he left the Aquitians' galaxy behind.

The numbing abstractness of hyperrush faded away far too soon, and for a second he considered letting the zord escape back into that anonymous void. But he couldn't help smiling as Earth came into view, the blue-green and white just as comforting in a different way. This was a view few people from Earth had ever seen, and it reminded him all over again how lucky he was.

*Lucky,* he thought wryly, setting the computer to work on an entry vector. *Yeah, I'm lucky to get offplanet and meet a whole new crowd of people to be totally confused by.*

The computer chimed softly, and he accepted a vector that would set him down near the lake. The night was clear and cooler than usual for September as he teleported onto the same sheltered beach where they had met the Aquitians more than a month ago. It was calm now, and a perfect hiding place for his now-invisible zord.

The cloaking effect was a useful one, he had to admit. It had been Saryn's idea, implemented only last week by himself and Aura. He smiled a little, sticking his hands in his pockets as he wandered down the beach. Billy had considered helping for all of two seconds, before Cestria convinced him that he was needed on Aquitar more.

*Probably not for Ranger duties, either,* he mused.

The water was serene and peaceful in the starlight, but as he reached the end of the beach he just kept walking. There was a path that, if followed to its end, connected the park and the lake, and he let it lead him away from the beach. The shadows crept in around him as the trees reached overhead, but it never got quite dark enough to obscure his vision.

He welcomed the walk, welcomed the concentration it took to keep from tripping in the darkened woods. It did occur to him at one point that strolling through the forest in the middle of the night wasn't the safest thing he could be doing, but he figured the odds of something happening on exactly this night were low.

*Yeah, the same as on any other night,* he thought idly. *And yet things happen.*

Still, he was better able to defend himself than pretty much anyone in the city. He let thought slip away and just concentrated on walking. He wondered once how far he would get before he grew bored with it, but didn't give the question serious consideration until he reached the sidewalk bordering the west side of the park.

He paused there. "I'm a long way from the lake," he said aloud, just to see how it sounded. Shaking his head, he realized "a long way" was a significant understatement. He'd probably been walking for hours.

*Carlos,* he thought firmly, *you need some help.* He could feel exhaustion creeping up on him while he hesitated, but the strange urge to walk returned as soon as he put one foot in front of the other.

He forced himself to stop again, considering. He couldn't teleport back to his zord. He didn't want to walk back. And without his communicator, he was truly alone. *Where would a normal person go if they were wandering around the city at night?* he wondered.

He couldn't help chuckling at the obvious answer. *Home.* He hadn't thought to pick up his keys before he left, but he knew where the spare was hidden. So he headed for home.

He almost got there. But the reflective street sign reading "Carista Drive" brought him up short not more than a mile from his own neighborhood. *What could it hurt?* he figured. He'd just walk by, see if there were any lights on... she'd said she'd be getting back late. He didn't have the faintest idea what time it was, but it was without question late.

Not late enough for her to be in bed, apparently. He could see the light in Karen's room from the street, and he went up and tapped on her windowsill before he could seriously consider whether or not it was a good idea.

The curtain was flung back, and Karen squinted out at him. Recognition flashed across her face almost immediately. "Carlos!" she hissed, glancing over her shoulder. "What are you doing here?"

He shrugged, not particularly sure himself. "Don't know. I saw your light on."

"What are you doing out at two in the morning?" she whispered, resting her elbows on the windowsill and staring at him.

He couldn't help smiling ruefully. "I've been asking myself that for at least the last hour."

She studied him curiously. "Carlos, are you okay?"

He tried not to sigh. "Probably not," he admitted. "I'm..."

"What?" she asked, when he stopped. "What's wrong?"

"I'm so confused," he muttered. "I don't really *know* what's wrong."

She looked over her shoulder again. "Want me to come out? I'd invite you in, but my parents are sleeping..."

Carlos hesitated. He desperately wanted to accept her offer, but she was probably the second worst person in the universe for him to be talking to right now. "I'm not sure," he said awkwardly, trying to think of some way to explain it without actually explaining it. "I don't know if I *can* talk to you about this. It's... I think maybe I have to work it out in my own mind first."

She leaned on the windowsill again, chin on her hands as she regarded him intently. "Sounds like one of two things," she remarked at last. "God, or another girl."

"God?" he repeated, startled.

"Well, you know," she said. "Faith. Destiny. The master plan, and your place in it." She smiled at his expression. "Life the universe and everything, as Douglas Adams would say. I didn't really think that was it."

"No," he said quietly. "Although," he added a moment later, "now you've got me wondering."

She let out a soft breath of amusement. "Here, I'll come outside. Don't go anywhere."

The curtain fell back across the window as she turned away, not waiting for his reply. The light went out, and a minute later he heard the front door creak open. Shoving his hands in his pockets, he walked across the lawn to join her. He couldn't help but wonder why he wasn't nervous--she had as much as said she knew what he was thinking about, and he still had no more idea what to say than he had when he'd arrived.

"Hey," she greeted him again, stepping off the front steps. "Aren't you cold?"

He shook his head automatically, only realizing afterward that it was the truth. "I've been walking forever," he said, following her down the walkway toward the driveway. "No better way to stay warm."

"How long have you been wandering around?" she asked, stopping in the driveway where at least they weren't directly in front of the windows. The streetlights provided just enough illumination that he could see her concerned expression.

"I don't know," he said honestly. "I walked from the lake."

"The lake!" She stared at him. "At night? Carlos Vargas, are you crazy?"

"Maybe," he admitted, glancing down at his wrist.

She didn't miss the significance of the gesture. "You haven't done something really drastic, have you?"

He flexed his hand briefly, looking up and managing a quick smile. "I haven't quit, if that's what you mean. I just... needed to be away from it for a while." It was a half-statement that could be taken in any number of ways, but she didn't seem to mind.

"Well, that's good." Karen waited, but he didn't know what else to say. "So who is she?" she asked finally.

"It's not like--" One look at her patient expression convinced him to swallow his objection. Glancing away, he muttered, "I don't think you know her."

"Not from Earth?" she guessed.

He blinked, startled into catching her eye again. "How do you *do* that?"

She laughed. "Carlos, you haven't been spending enough time around here to have gotten interested in another girl. It would have to be someone you knew from... somewhere else."

He frowned, shifting his weight uneasily. "It's not that I'm interested in her, exactly. She sort of has this--this crush on me, and I can't seem to say anything right around her since I found out."

"So you don't like her?" Karen asked, giving him a curious look.

His frown deepened. "I *like* her, I just... I don't know. It doesn't matter now anyway," he added with a sigh. "She's probably never going to speak to me again."

"And you're moping around the streets at two in the morning because of it," she said, wry amusement in her tone. "I can see it doesn't bother you at all."

"She's been such a good friend," he said defensively. "If she never talks to me again, I'll have lost that."

"What did you fight about?" Karen asked, diverted. "If you don't mind me asking."

He scuffed his toe against the ground, remembering that part of the conversation in vivid detail. "She said she didn't want to be friends anymore. She said I've been acting differently since I found out... how she feels about me, and she can't be friends with me like that."

"Differently how?" she prompted.

He shrugged uncomfortably. "I guess maybe I pay a little more attention to her now. But it's only because I don't want her to feel bad," he hurried to add, and then wished he had waited and thought. That wasn't true at all, and he knew it. He had known it for some time.

"I hope you didn't tell *her* that," Karen murmured.

"Not--exactly," he said, trying to call to mind how much he might have implied with the way he had acted.

She sighed. "I wish I could call her up and explain you or something. You do realize that if you don't tell her how you feel she's probably never going to forgive you?"

"Yeah," he muttered. Then he realized what he'd said, and he glanced up to search her expression. "I mean, she knows how I feel. There's nothing else I can do."

"You could start with 'I'm sorry I'm such an idiot,' and the conversation would probably just go from there," Karen suggested under her breath. "Look, Carlos, she obviously doesn't know how you feel or she wouldn't have gotten upset with you. You're just going to have to tell her--things won't get any better until you do."

"But what am I supposed to say to her?" he demanded.

"Say 'I love you,'" she advised. "Gets 'em every time."

He stiffened. "But I don't--"

"Don't what?" she prodded, when he hesitated.

"I don't... I don't *know* if I love her," he said, frustrated. "And--I'd hate to be wrong about something like that."

Karen pressed a finger to her lips, looking thoughtful. She didn't answer for a moment. The silence grew, and he couldn't help thinking he should say something. This was his fault, after all; it wasn't her problem. As he started to speak, though, she motioned for him to wait.

"You know," she said at last, "I don't think I've ever been in love. I mean, I like you a lot, and I've had a great time going out with you these past few weeks. You're a wonderful guy."

He managed to smile when she paused. "You're pretty wonderful yourself," he told her, feeling even guiltier than he had before. "I'm really sorry to be throwing this at you now..."

She waved it away. "No, I'm glad you told me. I wish I had some better advice, but all I can say is that I've wondered if I was in love a couple of times. Once I even told my mom about it." She smiled a little, and he knew how that was unusual in her family. "She said what everyone says: if you have to ask, it isn't love."

He sighed. "I've heard that too," he said quietly. "That's sort of what worries me. What if I say something to her, and then find out it isn't true? I don't think there's anything I could do that would hurt her more."

She smiled a little. "Well, the fact that you're more worried about her feelings than yours must mean something. I'm not really sure about that having to ask thing anyway. I mean, who wouldn't ask?"

*Cassie,* he thought. *Saryn. Andros and Ashley, even if they weren't quite sure of it at first. And TJ. Of course, he cheated...* Aloud, all he said was, "I can think of a few people."

"Your friends are weird," she told him bluntly. "And I mean that in the nicest possible way, because you know I like them. I just don't think it happens that way for most people. Maybe there are some couples that fall in love at first sight, but most of us start out as friends and don't quite notice when we cross the line into something more."

"It must be one heck of a thin line," he remarked. He scuffed the toe of his sneakers against the pavement, a little annoyed with the vagueness of everything.

"Yeah," she agreed. "I think it is, too." There was a grin in her voice when she added, "I can give you the three tests of true love, if you want."

He looked up warily. "What?"

She shrugged. "A friend of mine has these tests. She says they're the three tests of true love. I don't know how true they are, but at least they're more interesting than the 'if you have to ask' thing."

"All right," he said with a sigh, wondering what he was getting into. "Go for it."

"Well, you have to remember it's not about whether you're friends or not," she told him. "It assumes you're already dating. The questions are about whether you really love someone or just think you do."

He held his hands out to the side. "Fine. I think I love her."

"And they're for people in high school," she reminded him.

"Right," he agreed. "She's in high school. Got it." He did try to picture her in jeans and t-shirt, backpack over her shoulder as she wandered through the halls of AGH, but the image only made him shake his head. Aura would have no patience with their school... although it did make him wonder what kind of school *she* had gone to.

"Okay," Karen said. "So the first question is, what would you do if you found out someone else had asked her out?"

He frowned. "Did she say yes?"

"You don't know," she informed him.

"Then I'd find out." He really didn't know what he'd do after that, though the thought that someone else might be after her troubled him. She'd never even met Karen, so he had no reason to assume he knew who was in *her* life. He couldn't help remembering Cestria say, "Maybe you do not know her as well as you think."

"What if she had said yes?" Karen asked. "That's not one of the questions; I'm just curious," she added, a half-smile on her face.

He shrugged uncomfortably, looking down at the ground again. "I don't know. I'd--be upset, I guess."

"Would you try to stop her from going out with him?" she persisted.

"Why do you assume she said yes?" he demanded.

Karen rolled her eyes. "Never mind. The second question is, what would you do if someone hurt her? No--if you *heard* someone hurt her. Sorry."

"What would I do if I heard someone hurt her?" he repeated, trying to suppress the horrible memories of that afternoon. Aura leaping up only to be slashed and tossed aside like she was nothing...

"Yeah," Karen confirmed. She folded her arms across her chest, waiting on his reply.

"How hurt is 'hurt'?" he wanted to know. "Is she going to be okay?"

Karen cocked her head. "You don't *know*, Carlos. You just heard about it. She's not in school, but whoever hurt her is."

"I'd go see if she was all right," he said at last, thinking dark thoughts about her hypothetical attacker.

"Would you cut school?" Karen asked.

He narrowed his eyes at her. "Is this part of the test?"

She grinned. "No; just wondering. Come on Carlos, if you're going to dump me I want to know she's worth it."

He winced, but she didn't look particularly upset. Actually, she didn't look at all upset. "I don't want to dump you," he muttered anyway.

"Then I'm going to dump you," she retorted indignantly. "I'm not going out with you while you're seeing someone from another planet. Hey," she added, almost as an afterthought. "Is she an alien?"

He felt a reluctant smile tug at his lips. "She's definitely an alien."

Karen looked pleased by that. "Cool! Can I meet her? If she ever talks to you again, that is?"

"Thanks for reminding me," he said wryly. "I'm sure Cassie would introduce you if she decides never to see me again."

"Great!" Seeing his expression, she amended hastily, "I mean, I'm sure she'll see you again. You can be pretty charming when you stop thinking about yourself for a while."

"Hey!" He glared at her without any real force, and she just grinned.

"Anyway, what's the last question..." She frowned slightly as she tried to remember. "Oh--this was supposed to be the first question, but oh well. If you called her to ask her to do something and she said she was busy, what would you do?"

He sighed. "Am I still taking this love test? I thought you said there were only three questions."

"There are," she said firmly. "This is the last one. You agreed to it, remember; it's not like I made you do it!"

"All right, all right," he grumbled. "What would I do." He tried to picture that. He could see it happening easily, but probably not the way the test meant it. Finally he gave up. "I'd ask if I could come over and help her with it."

"Huh," Karen answered noncommittally.

He crossed his arms in an unconscious imitation of her. "What does that mean? Did I pass?"

She studied him. "Are you sure you want to know?"

He sighed. "Of course I want to know. Why else would I have let you ask me twenty questions?"

"Three," she corrected. "And for whatever it's worth, your answers are all 'true love' answers. My friend's theory is that if you only *thought* you loved her, you would have gone after the guy who asked her out and the one that hurt her, and you would have tried to reschedule if she said she was busy."

"But I would have done that too," he protested. "How does that tell you anything?"

"But you wouldn't have done it *first*," she told him. "Each time, your first reaction was her. That's the difference."

He had no answer for that.

"So when are you going to talk to her?" Karen asked finally.

He tried to smile. "You just want to know when you can get your introduction."

She shrugged. "Maybe. Or maybe I just want you to be happy."

He caught her eye, troubled. "Karen, I'm really sorry about all this..."

"Don't be," she insisted. "I hate to say it, but you're not exactly around much." She smiled to take the sting out of her words, and added, "I'm glad we got to know each other as more than friends; it was really fun--but I think we both knew it wasn't going anywhere. I hope we can still *be* friends..."

He couldn't resist her hopeful look, and he reached out to pull her into a hug. "You'll *always* be one of my best friends," he promised. "Thanks... for everything."

"You're welcome," she mumbled, hugging him back. "Let me know how it goes, okay?"

He smiled into her hair, feeling as though the proverbial weight had been lifted from his shoulders. "You bet."

As he let her go, she looked up at him questioningly. "Do you need a ride anywhere?"

He shook his head. "I'm just going to crash at home tonight, but thanks."

She rolled her eyes. "You don't have to walk. Get in the car."

He couldn't convince himself to protest, and her car pulled into his driveway a few minutes later. "Hey, Carlos," she called softly, as he climbed out of the passenger side.

He turned around and leaned down to catch her eye, hanging on the doorframe. "Yeah?"

She smiled. "Call me."

He chuckled. "I will. Thanks, Karen."

"Anytime."

He closed the door as quietly as he could and stepped away from the car. Sharp shadows sprang up on the pavement as she put the vehicle in reverse, and he waved as she backed out of the driveway and onto the street. Her car hummed off into the darkness, the brake lights flaring at the end of the street and then fading into nothing as she pulled away.

The night exploded around him, blackness suffocating his sight even as a cry that had to be his own reached his ears. He drew in sharp snatches of air, trying to stop shaking as the fact that he was safe slowly penetrated his brain. He looked up reflexively, though for the first time since coming out of hypersleep he found didn't need the sight of the stars to know that they were there. "The darkness is you, and all the stars are inside of you..."

He heard Andros stir beside him, and a moment later his friend pushed himself into a sitting position. "You okay?" the other asked, his voice thick with sleep as he tried to suppress a yawn.

"Yeah," Zhane answered quietly. "Didn't mean to wake you up."

"S'okay," Andros said, yawning again. "Bad dream?"

Zhane sighed. "Yeah, bad dream."

Andros shifted a little, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and pushing the sleeping bag off of him. "Want to talk about it?"

"I keep seeing that stupid school," Zhane muttered, glancing over at his friend. "You'd think we'd been through enough in the past few days," he added, a little humorously, "that my subconscious could pick something else to be terrified of. Just for variety, you know?"

Andros didn't smile. "How bad?" he asked softly.

Zhane breathed out, considering. His heart had stopped pounding, and he was already feeling calmer. "Not so bad. Honest," he added, when he found himself on the receiving end of a classic Andros look. "I think they're getting better... it was those first couple of weeks after hypersleep that were the worst."

Andros seemed to accept that, though he could sense his friend's frustration. "I wish there had been some other way," Andros said, almost to himself. "I'm sorry about the nightmares."

Zhane shook his head. "It isn't your fault; you know that." He reached over and squeezed his friend's shoulder reassuringly. "Besides, maybe they keep away worse stuff. At least I haven't dreamed about those cat creatures, or leaving people behind. Or that terrible stuff Astrea was eating for breakfast the other day."

Andros did crack a smile at that. "At least she did eat breakfast," he murmured. "And she had a lot for dinner tonight."

"She used her magic a lot today, too." Zhane frowned, shifting on top of his sleeping bag. "I really can't tell if it makes her stronger or weaker, sometimes."

"What do you mean?" Andros shifted too, rearranging his pillow and pushing his sleeping bag to one side.

Zhane shrugged. "She says she doesn't need to eat as much because of it, but when she uses it a lot, like today, she eats more. I don't get it."

Andros was silent for a moment. "I suppose we could ask her," he offered at last, sounding wry.

"Yeah, right." Zhane exhaled with amusement. "I've never been able to get her to talk about her magic. Nothing beyond the fact that she has it and she seems happy with it, anyway."

"Yeah," Andros agreed seriously. "And I guess that's the important part: she's happy with it."

He nodded, not bothering to answer. Andros knew he agreed.

They sat in silence for a few moments, until he thought to ask, "Have you seen that thing she does with memories?"

Andros looked up from where he had been playing with the edge of his sleeping bag. "Seeing what you saw, you mean? Where she gets inside your head and relives it with you?"

Zhane let out a soft chuckle. "She's done it to you too, then."

Andros' slight nod was just perceptible in the dimness. "Once. When she showed up at Rysia and asked where you were, I tried to tell her but all of a sudden she was... there." He shrugged, impatient with his inability to explain. "It was like I went through those seconds when you crashed all over again, only with her watching with me."

"That's it," Zhane confirmed. "That's what it feels like--as though you're there again, only with her. She did it to me a couple of times right after the crash," he added. "But I didn't feel it again until this afternoon."

The darkness moved as Andros shifted. "She did it this afternoon too?"

"No," Zhane said slowly, wishing he could see his friend more clearly. "You did."

There was a startled silence.

"You saw the school, didn't you," he continued, when Andros didn't reply. "During the nightmare, for a few seconds--you were there too. I could tell."

"Yeah," Andros answered finally. "I did see that. But it didn't... *feel* like what Kerone did."

"Maybe because you were the one doing it," Zhane offered. "It feels different when you're in her memories than it does when she's in yours. When she's in yours it's like you're both there. When you're in hers, it's like--you're her."

"Yeah," Andros agreed, sounding startled. "That's exactly what it was like. I was you."

Zhane grinned into the dimness. "Good thing that didn't last. If there's one thing DECA doesn't need, it's two of me."

"No argument here," Andros said absently. "Does that mean... her memory trick is something we all have? I thought it was part of her magic."

"But she's a full telepath," Zhane said, having already thought it out in his mind. "If that isn't because of the magic, there's no reason this should be."

Andros hesitated. "The only thing I've heard her say about being a telepath is that Ecliptor taught her."

"He couldn't have." Zhane frowned. "Could he?"

There was a whisper of air as Andros shook his head. "I don't think so. Maybe she's a natural telepath, and as it started to show up that was the only way she could explain it."

Zhane cast back, trying to remember a statistic he'd heard in Keyota several times. "The odds on that are... something like two in a million, aren't they?"

"I don't know," Andros admitted. "But *someone* has to be one of those two in a million. It would explain a few things."

Zhane smiled a little as something occurred to him. "If you're going to use that to explain her memory trick, that makes you the other half of the statistic."

"The other one of the two?" Andros asked, sounding amused. "I think I would have known before now. Maybe it *is* magic."

"Could she just be normal, like the rest of us--selectively telepathic?" Zhane suggested. "Maybe the magic just enhances it."

Andros didn't answer, but Zhane knew what he was thinking. "That still doesn't explain you, does it."

"Maybe it's contagious," Andros said, a grin in his voice.

Zhane laughed. "That's probably it. Hey, contagious telepathy would explain Ashley, too. You might be on to something there."

"I'm good with answers," Andros replied confidently. "They're just not always the right ones."

He grinned, the last vestiges of the dream-induced fear gone at last. Andros *was* the answer, the solution to so many things, but he couldn't quite bring himself to say it aloud. *You're a walking right answer,* he told his friend instead. *Thanks for being my best friend.*

He felt Andros' hand on his shoulder a moment later. *Thanks for being *my* best friend.*

Zhane hugged him impulsively. "Best friends forever," he whispered, and Andros hugged him in return.

"Best friends forever," Andros agreed.

(four months)

She was gone when the glow of rehydration faded. He had almost expected her to be, but it still irritated him. As childish as it seemed, he had wanted to be the one deciding whether or not to wait for her, not the other way around.

He wasn't sure he would have waited, of course, but that was hardly the point. He had wanted to have the choice. Instead, the choice had been hers, and she had chosen to leave while he was distracted. Typical.

*Stop it,* he thought, disgusted with himself. He was having an argument with her and she wasn't even there. When had things gotten so bad that he could turn a perfectly innocent incident into an offense of major proportions?

He should go to bed. He had thought rehydrating would restore some amount of civility, but the annoyance that had flared as soon as he realized she was gone said otherwise. It had been a long day, and he hadn't gone into it on a full night's sleep to begin with.

He wasn't moving.

*This is ridiculous,* he thought at last. If she had waited, he would probably be trying to get as far away from here as possible. But she hadn't, and now he couldn't deny an almost overwhelming urge to track her down.

*She's right,* he thought with tired humor. *I am "contrary".*

Would she have gone back to control? Probably; despite Cestria's explicit instructions for her to do otherwise. He wasn't the only one who was contrary.

He took the lift back up to control, and was more than a little surprised to find Cetaci absent. Cestria nodded to him as he wandered through, but he didn't stop to ask. If she wasn't here, she was in her room, and he didn't feel like broadcasting anymore than they already were.

The door through which Carlos had been refused entrance earlier slid open for him, and he slowed his gait so that it closed again before Cestria could see him pause outside Cetaci's quarters. He stared at the chime for a long moment, wondering… She never announced herself at his door, after all.

As he himself had admitted, though, he was always expecting her when she came. He touched the chime tentatively.

There was no answer.

*Take the hint,* he told himself. *Go to bed.* He was too exhausted to face another fight with her right now anyway, and after what he'd said earlier there was probably no avoiding one.

The simple truth, though, was that he had to see her. The need to find her was intensifying the longer she remained out of his sight, and he couldn't help wondering how much trouble she could get into over the course of an entire night. She had been alone such a short time today, and still…

He had almost lost her for good today. He had never been so sure that she wasn't coming back. If it hadn't been for Zhane, he would have stayed behind to face the quantrons, doomed ship or no.

He rang the chime more insistently, and when she didn't answer he rang it again. He didn't know if her door would still open for his code, but if it didn't open on its own he was going to find out.

He waited what he hoped was a decent amount of time, well aware that if she had deleted his access she would in all likelihood be furious with him for trying. But she was furious with him for everything lately, so presumably one more thing on an already unending list wouldn't make that much difference.

He wasn't sure whether to be startled or gratified when her lock accepted his code and the door slid open. He stepped inside before he had a chance to question, and the closing of the door behind him stifled the room's only light.

He found the lights instinctively, but the illumination only confirmed his initial impression: there was no one else in the room. Could she have known he would come? Was she sleeping somewhere else tonight? It was a depressing thought, but he had no doubt that she would go to such extremes to avoid him.

Almost reluctantly, his gaze swept around this place that she now called home. She was the newest of the Rangers, and her quarters were far less lived in than his. Between drills, training, and the recent crises, she hadn't had much time to decorate.

In fact, there seemed to be only a single image in the entire room. He recognized the hologram beside her bed immediately. About as high as his hand, it was an insubstantial representation of the two of them the day before he told her that Delphine was going to retire.

He was dressed in black, but she still wore science blue. His arm was around her shoulders, and the two of them were handfast and smiling and blissfully unconcerned about the future. The holograms turned to look at each other as he took a step forward, causing the light to shift, and the look on their faces made him reach out his hand in a futile attempt to recapture that moment.

His fingers passed right through the 3D image, of course, but his eyes came to rest on the silver cord draped carelessly over the end of her bed. He hadn't known she'd kept that…

The blue wristband looped over it made him sigh, though. He had given her a white one, still embroidered with the science logo, when she joined the Rangers. To this day, he hadn't seen her wear it.

He turned away abruptly, and he found himself staring at her computer terminal. Before he could think about what he was doing, he input his clearance and logged into the Ranger network. He entered a "locate" command for the White Power, and the result came back without delay.

*The sim room,* he thought, somewhere between amused and exasperated. *Of course; why not.* After all, a good workout was exactly what everyone needed after a day like today. He took one last look at the hologram before he logged out and went to find her.

With most of the others under orders to sleep or recover or both, the sim room was predictably deserted. From the observation room, he could just make out a solitary figure moving in the far corner. The place was dark except for the glowing lines of the haline court that surrounded her, and he could hear the repeated thump of the ball down on the floor.

As he pushed the door of the observation room open, he was already doubting himself. He was so tired that he could feel the Power compensating for his sluggishness, and he was doing nothing more than walking down a flight of stairs. Physically, the Power could keep him on his feet for quite a while, but mentally--not to mention emotionally--he wasn't up to this.

He pushed the thought firmly out of his mind, knowing she would have heard him coming already. He wasn't going to stand there watching her forever, and he wasn't going to leave until he convinced his stubborn heart that she was really all right. That left only the option he was now pursuing.

He stopped just outside the court lines, watching her silhouette interrupt the glow of the inner playing area. As his eyes became accustomed to the dimness, he realized that she had changed out of her Ranger uniform. She was dressed in her old workout clothes, the faded blue and green seeming to glow in the light of the court. The only white she wore was, strangely, the same wristband he had given her four months ago.

"Cetaci," he said quietly, knowing that to wait for her to miss was futile.

She didn't answer, but she slammed the ball back with a bit more force this time. It hit the appropriate square, but she was forced to chase it on the rebound.

"Cetaci," he repeated.

She stopped suddenly, not bothering to return the ball at all this time. It bounced out of the court and off into the dimness, but she didn't turn around. "'Start *acting* like one'?" she demanded of the wall.

He sighed. He had hoped that maybe they could at least greet each other before one of them mentioned the scene in the control room. "I really hate this," he muttered without thinking.

Her racket clattered to the floor as she spun around, her angry gaze locking with his. "Do you think I enjoy it? Do you think I like it like this? What do you *want* from me, Delphinius!"

"I want you to love me again!" The words were out before he had time to think about them, and he could only stare at her in horror as the reality of what he'd just said sank in. To admit that was to openly acknowledge the hold they still had on each other, and that was something they had both been trying to deny for what seemed like forever.

She swallowed, not taking her eyes off of him. "You think I ever stopped?" she asked bitterly.

The silence her words had interrupted stretched longer this time, for he had no idea what to say to that. Yes? No? He wasn't even sure what he thought anymore, and he certainly didn't know what *she* thought.

She turned away, taking a step toward the other side of the court as though she meant to go after the haline ball. He caught her shoulder instinctively--they had never been this close to honesty before and he knew somehow that if he let it go there might not be another chance.

She shrugged his hand away, but he took hold of her arm and forced her around. Her eyes flashed as she lifted her head to glare at him, but the retort that was obviously on the tip of her tongue faded without expression as he went down on one knee in front of her.

"What would it take for us to be together again?" he asked softly. He swallowed hard at the look of surprise on her face, knowing that if she walked away now he might never be able to look her in the eye again. "I--I can't promise I can do it," he managed, forcing the words out past his pride and his rising fear. "But I have to know."

She stared down at him for a long moment, no expression to replace the surprise on her face as it faded.

Finally, after what seemed an eternity, she sank slowly to the floor with him. "I can't believe you just did that," she whispered, her gaze not leaving his.

He swallowed again, wondering when his throat had gotten so dry. "Tell me what it would take," he repeated, as steadily as he could. There was no turning back now. "Please."

"I… I don't know," she murmured at last. She glanced down at her fingers as she twined them together, but he didn't look away from her face. "Maybe…"

She didn't finish the sentence, and finally he brought himself to ask, "Maybe--what?"

She looked up again, and the undisguised wistfulness in her eyes took him aback. "Maybe it would take me being able to ask *you* what it would take."

He smiled, just a little, and hoped this wasn't the wrong moment. "I didn't ask for a miracle," he teased gently.

She gave him a dark look, but the corners of her mouth quirked upward. "Delphinius," she said, very softly. She met his gaze without flinching, her soul bare behind her blue eyes. "What would it take?"

For a moment he just looked at her, fighting the transcendent quality of her appearance. Out of uniform, with her golden hair loose over the shoulders of her old blue sleeveless, he was suddenly gripped by the irrational fear that it was someone from the past to whom he was speaking. Promises held no weight with phantoms…

Then she lowered her gaze, and he roused himself. "I don't know either," he admitted, reaching out to touch her face. "But maybe it's just this."

She lifted her head again, and he added, "Maybe, if we can both get this far…" He paused as he felt her take his hand, slipping her fingers in between his.

"Maybe we can do anything?" she suggested, a smile tugging at her lips again. "We believed that, once."

"I still do," he murmured, squeezing her hand.

She took a deep breath. "If you can try," she said firmly, "so can I."

"It's not a game," he told her, more sharply than he'd intended. He wanted this for its own sake; he wasn't going to let her turn it into a challenge.

Her eyes narrowed, and for an interminable moment he thought they were right back where they'd started. He cursed himself for his tone, knowing it might be the thing that shattered their delicate truce… but to his surprise, her irritated expression began to fade. "I'm sorry," she said simply.

He managed to swallow his astonishment. "No," he said quickly. "I'm sorry. I--I just really want this to work."

She smiled, a sincere smile that he hadn't seen for a long time. Her fingers tightened on his, her white wristband reflecting the court light. "Me too."

27. Every Morning

"Incoming message from the Aquitian Rangers."

He pulled the pillow up over his head and ignored the sound, hoping it would give up and go away. There was perhaps little hope of that, but his sleepy brain didn't care. It stubbornly refused to rouse him for something as trivial as a voice that wasn't Ashley's trying to give him information he didn't want.

"Incoming message from the Aquitian Rangers," DECA repeated, louder this time.

He curled up, hiding underneath his sleeping bag and trying to hold on to the wisps of dream that still clung to the edges of his consciousness. The pillow didn't insulate him from the voice, but it was a comforting sign of indifference and he hoped the voice would take the hint.

"Shut up, DECA," he heard a new voice mutter, and he vaguely registered it as Zhane's.

"Not until you wake up," DECA replied impertinently. "Incoming message from the Aquitian Rangers."

Andros poked his head out from under the pillow, blinking in the sudden bright light of the observatory. "Tell them to go back to sleep," he mumbled, and he heard Zhane chuckle appreciatively.

"Tell them yourself." DECA was irrepressible. "Incoming message from the Aquitian Rangers."

"All right, all right," Andros grumbled, pushing the sleeping bag away and forcing himself into a sitting position. "I'm coming."

His friend snuggled further under his sleeping bag, and Andros fumbled for his pillow. "No you don't," he warned his friend. "If I'm getting up, you're getting up."

"Make me," Zhane answered, his reply muffled by the sleeping bag.

Andros hefted his pillow and brought it down on his friend's head half-heartedly. "Get up."

"No." Zhane retreated further under his sleeping bag.

"Yes," Andros insisted, hitting the lump that was Zhane again with his pillow. The lump didn't move.

"Incoming message--"

"I'm coming!" Andros exclaimed, abandoning his pillow and pushing himself to his feet. "DECA, make Zhane get up."

"Hey!" Zhane threw off his sleeping bag and glared up at him. "That's cruel and you know it!"

"So get up!" Andros retorted, holding out his hand to his friend.

Zhane sighed, but he reached out to take the hand offered to him. Andros yelped as Zhane tugged sharply, sending Andros sprawling across his sleeping bag as Zhane scrambled up and out of the way. "DECA," Zhane mimicked, looking down at Andros smugly. "Make Andros get up!"

"Incoming message from the Aquitian Rangers," DECA repeated, sounding stern and completely unamused.

Andros rolled his eyes. "So tell them to wait!"

"We're not eleven anymore, DECA," Zhane reminded her.

"Well, you are," Andros put in.

"Hey!"

DECA's camera blinked in a subtle semblance of resignation. "I will ask Cetaci to wait."

She was standing by the window in their darkened room when the computer terminal chimed. Not by nature an early-riser, she wasn't sure what had awakened her this morning. Maybe something in the air, or maybe some inner restlessness, the sense of something she hadn't done yet but couldn't quite remember. Whatever it was, it had prodded her out of bed first, for once, and she glanced over her shoulder at the sudden noise.

The terminal was flashing a blue triangle symbol at her, indicating a private message from Linnse. She was willing to bet it wasn't for her, and she wasn't about to wake Saryn. Crossing the room as quietly as she could, she tapped in Saryn's "record" code, shunting the message into the Aquitian equivalent of voice-mail before the terminal could chime again.

No sooner had she done so than the terminal chimed once more, and for a brief moment she thought she had done something wrong. But Cestria's yellow wave symbol had replaced Linnse's ID, and Cassie rolled her eyes. It was going to be one of those days.

"Important?" Saryn's voice asked quietly, and she tried not to jump.

"Nope," she answered, entering the "record" command again.

She turned, about to ask how he'd slept, but his smile caught her by surprise. "Good," he said, before she could open her mouth. "Come back to bed."

Startled, she laughed. "Saryn!"

His smile widened, and his gaze wandered suggestively across her body. "I am serious."

She folded her arms, trying to pretend that those blue eyes had no effect on her. "Nice try. Don't think I've forgotten about last night."

He frowned, lifting his gaze to meet hers again. He didn't ask, but there was a wary look on his face all of a sudden, as though he was sure she was about to bring up something he didn't want to talk about.

She shook her head, instantly regretting her vague choice of words. "I mean this," she said, holding her arms out to her sides. "I can move without wincing."

His expression went from wary to guilty in the blink of an eye. "You are feeling better," he said evasively. "I am glad."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "You thought I was asleep, didn't you."

He sighed. "Is it such a crime to wish you well and untroubled by pain? I do not heal just anyone, you know."

"But you didn't *have* to heal me," she insisted, trying to suppress a flash of guilt all her own. She could at least be grateful. "I have the Power too. You don't have to take care of me all the time."

He shook his head, not taking his eyes off of her. "I love you, Cassie," he told her, suddenly gentle. "I do not ask you to give up your independence, but I do ask that you let me care for you at least as much as you care for me. It is only fair, I think... do you not agree?"

She could only look at him, struck by his words and unsure how to reply. He was right; he had to be when he put it like that. So why couldn't she let him do this for her if he chose?

"Are you not worth protecting, Cassie?" he asked quietly. "Do you not trust my judgement?"

She shifted uncomfortably, trying to make some sense out of her thoughts. "No, of course--of course I trust you."

"Then trust me when I say that I love you more than anyone or anything else," he told her. "That love is not misplaced. You are worthy of all that I can give, and more."

She bit her lip, trying to breathe shallowly so as not to sniffle. "I love you, too," she whispered. "I swear I don't know what I did to deserve you."

He stood up, slipping silently through the shadows to her side. "You didn't have to do anything," he murmured, wrapping his arms around her. "You are just... you."

She sniffed, feeling a single tear trickle down her cheek as she leaned into his embrace. She didn't know what made her cry; she wasn't sad. In fact, she couldn't help a wavering smile at the thought that "you are just you" was probably the most inarticulate thing he had ever said. "Thank you," she whispered, feeling his arms tighten around her.

The door chimed, and she felt him sigh. She had to giggle through her tears, wondering who else could possibly want their attention. "Tell them to go away."

Saryn lifted his head from hers and raised his voice. "Go away."

Her giggles turned into full-fledged laughter. "I was just kidding!"

"I was not," he retorted. "I do not wish to talk to anyone but you. For the rest of the day, if possible."

The door chimed again, and she pushed him away gently. "I'll get it," she said, a smile lingering on her face as she brushed the tears away. "I love you," she added, and was rewarded by an answering smile.

He reached out to stroke her cheek as she stepped back. "I love you too."

"Morning Teej!"

TJ grunted in response, squinting at the irritatingly cheerful yellow blur that greeted his arrival in the Glider holding bay. "How are you so awake?" he grumbled, making his way over to the Synthetron.

"How are you so asleep?" she replied pertly, from her place at the table.

"Because I'm normal," he muttered.

"No, you're outnumbered," Ashley corrected. "It's three against one."

He frowned at the Synthetron, trying to remember the right code. "Three, huh?"

"Me, Kerone, and Tessa. We're all awake."

"Girls," he muttered, tapping the control panel half-heartedly. It hummed momentarily, and he crossed his fingers. Somewhat to his surprise, the smell of pancakes wafted out when he opened the door, and he took them quickly before DECA could change her mind.

He stopped beside the table, regarding the predominantly blonde gathering. "Morning, Tessa," he said, a little surprised to find her there. He sat down beside her just as Ashley laughed.

"That's nice, TJ," she teased. "Don't say good morning to anyone else."

He looked at her for a moment, debating whether to remind her not to confuse him this early in the morning. "Good morning, Ashley," he said at last. "Morning Kerone."

Kerone nodded to him, and he took a second look at her plate. "Wait," he said, frowning a little. "Are you eating?"

"No," Kerone replied calmly. "I just put this on my plate because it looks nice."

Beside him, Tessa giggled, and TJ squinted at Kerone. "Don't say things like that when I'm still asleep," he told her sternly. "I can't tell if you're joking."

"She's eating," Tessa said, taking pity on him. "For once. Just eat your pancakes; we'll take care of the conversation."

He gave her a "very funny" look, but he was about to follow her advice when something occurred to his still-drowsy mind. "Hey, where's Carlos?"

Ashley glanced around as though he might come out of the woodwork at any moment. "I don't know. He's probably down on Aquitar talking to--"

She broke off suddenly and obviously enough that even TJ noticed. "Talking to who?" he asked, stopping with his fork poised over his pancakes.

"I'll call Andros and see if Carlos is down there," Ashley said hastily, lifting her arm off the table and touching her communicator. TJ saw Kerone and Tessa exchange glances, and he had to wonder if he was supposed to know what was going on.

"Hi Andros," Ashley said, her voice lightening noticeably. "We're looking for Carlos--is he around?"

Andros' voice came back clearly over her communicator. "I thought he was still on the Megaship."

Kerone tilted her head to regard the camera by the door. "DECA, is Carlos on board?"

"Carlos left the Megaship at 12:32 last night," DECA told her.

TJ looked up, surprised. "Did he say where he was going?"

DECA's camera light flashed at him. "He took Mega V2 to Earth."

"We're going to need him here," Andros said, apparently overhearing the conversation. "DECA, can you contact him?"

DECA was a little slower to answer this time. "I can not," she said at last. "Carlos left his morpher on the Megaship, and he is not answering hails to Mega V2."

TJ shot a look at Ashley and found her staring back worriedly. "I'll go after him," she announced, getting to her feet. "Kerone, can you tell TJ what's up with the debriefing and stuff?"

Kerone looked uncertain. "If there's trouble, maybe I should go with you."

"No, Carlos probably just slept in. I'll be fine," Ashley promised. "I'll get Billy to teleport me, and we'll be back in a few minutes."

He wasn't consciously aware of the tapping until he heard an exasperated voice whisper, "Carlos Vargas, get out of bed this instant!"

"Huh?" He opened his eyes to find Ashley glaring through the open window at him. "Ash?" he mumbled, pushing himself up on his elbows. "What time is it?"

She rolled her eyes. "Who cares? And why didn't you tell anyone where you were going?"

He shrugged as best he could, blinking the sleep out of his eyes. "I needed to be alone for a while. What's going on?"

"Everything," she informed him. "Hurry up and get dressed; we have to get back to Aquitar."

"Aquitar," he complained, throwing the light comforter off. He had slept in his clothes from yesterday. "Why? We have school today."

She snorted. "It's almost lunchtime here, Carlos. If you were going to school, I think you overslept a little. We've got more important things to do--come on!"

"Not until you tell me why," he insisted, turning his back on her as he swung his legs over the side of his bed. "What are you in such a hurry for?"

She sighed impatiently. "Andros and Zhane are meeting with Cetaci and Delphinius now to plan the public broadcast of Dark Spectre's defeat. That's going to be in a few hours, and we're all supposed to be there. Then there's a ceremony honoring everyone this evening, and the rehearsal for that is right after the announcement or speech or whatever."

He tried to process that, tried to reconfigure his day from one of avoiding everything Ranger-related to one of complete insanity. "Why?" he muttered under his breath.

He meant it rhetorically, as a sort of general question to the universe, but Ashley must have overheard. "Because we're awesome!" she exclaimed. "We won, in case you forgot!"

He looked over at his shoulder. Her enthusiasm was not helping his state of mind at all. "What put you in such a good mood?" he grumbled.

She stared at him in disbelief. "Oh, I don't know, maybe the fact that my team just defeated one of the biggest villains in the universe? The fact that I and everyone I care about survived?" When he didn't answer, she added, "The fact that it's a beautiful day and the universe is throwing a party for us; I don't know! Everything! What is there to be *un*happy about?"

He sighed. "Nothing, I guess."

She put her hands on the screen and regarded him quizzically. "Aura loves you, you know."

He stiffened, feeling as though someone had just boxed his ears. "What?"

"She loves you. She told us. Now stop moping and come on!"

"Ash--I can't... I said... how did you find out?" he managed at last, shifting to face her.

"She told us," Ashley repeated impatiently. "And you obviously care about her. Can we talk about this on the way? We have more people to pick up."

There was no use trying to get anything out of Ashley when she was in a hurry, so he just ran a hand through his hair and gave his room a token glance. "I don't suppose you noticed if my parents' car is in the driveway?"

She rolled her eyes. "They don't know you're here? No, I didn't. You could always come out the window the way Cassie does."

He almost smiled at that thought. "Yeah. Right. I'll meet you out front."

The house was deserted, and he made his way out the front door without incident. The driveway was completely empty, and Ashley was fidgeting in front of the garage when he stepped outside. "Can we go?" she repeated. "Billy's waiting to teleport us all back and we still have to get the others."

"Who are the others?" he asked, wondering if breakfast and an explanation were in his foreseeable future.

She gave him a passable "duh" look, and he wondered if she'd been taking lessons from Andros. "Jeff, Emily and Rocky. We'll have to come back for Justin and Ali later; they're in school."

"So are Jeff and Emily," he pointed out, realizing she meant for them to drive. "Wait here."

He ducked back into the house and grabbed his keys, remembering to lock the door behind him this time on his way out. "All right. So tell me what's going on."

"I did," she insisted, disappearing into the garage. He followed a little more slowly, walking around to the driver's side. "We have to pick them up so they can come to the rehearsal and know what they're supposed to do," she continued as he climbed in beside her. "Jeff only has morning classes on Mondays. I don't know about Emily, but it won't kill her to skip a class or two."

"Listen to you," he said, as he started the car and backed it out of the garage. "You've become little Miss Delinquent."

"I don't see you in school," she retorted, twisting to help him get out of the driveway. "You're clear on the right."

He pulled out, heading for the end of the road. "I hope you know where to find all these people. And you'd better tell me what you know about Aura, or we're not going very far."

"What's going on?" Kerone whispered, sidling up to Cassie.

The Pink Ranger jumped, putting a hand over her heart as she glanced at Kerone. "Everyone's startling me today; sorry," she muttered.

"You okay?" she asked curiously.

Cassie nodded. "Yeah. It's just... I have this feeling I'm forgetting something, and it's going to sneak up on me at the worst possible time."

She reached out and touched Cassie's shoulder reassuringly. "It'll be all right. So what's everyone doing here?"

Cassie gave her a smile before rolling her eyes at the crowd of people mobbing the newly repaired control room. Only about half of them were clustered around Zordon's time warp; the others were either milling or engaged in heated debates with someone else. Often several someone elses. "Andros calls it a debriefing. I call it a nightmare. Didn't DECA give you the message?"

"She said the Rangers were needed in the control room of the Aquitian Ranger dome." Kerone surveyed the chaos warily. "I said that didn't mean me; she said it did. TJ and Tessa are here too... somewhere."

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Cassie press her fingers to her temples. "You guys can take over for me, then," the Pink Ranger said. "I'm going to take a break."

Kerone gave her a sympathetic look. "Do you know when the broadcast is?"

"Andros said he'd call us," Cassie said. She held up her morpher. "I'll be there for it. I just need to get away from all these people for a little while."

Kerone glanced around the room again, wondering how long this had been going on. "I can't imagine why," she said dryly.

He could sense the crush of minds and emotions on the other side of the door, but they remained safely distant behind the empathic shields Cestria had helped him to press into service earlier in the morning. Even Linnse's feelings were a vague presence on the edge of his mind, noticeable only when he looked for them, and he welcomed the relief of a *quiet* that had been emphatically absent in his life lately.

"I've never been so glad to be wrong," Linnse admitted, smiling at him. She wore her ceremonial Ranger sash over her Defense uniform, and he reached out to straighten the silky blue material for her.

"I must apologize for my behavior as well," he said, a little sheepishly. "If I had better understood your motives, I would have spoken to you long before this."

She laughed. "Well, I was wrong first. I'm truly sorry for that."

"Forgiven," he assured her, pulling her into an affectionate embrace. "Thank you for worrying, Linnse."

"That's what friends are for," she answered, hugging him in return.

He felt the familiar presence slip past his shields as though they weren't there, but it wasn't enough warning for him to pull away from Linnse before the doors opened. Cassie halted in the doorway, surprised at the sight before her, until she remembered to step through and let the door to the control room close behind her.

"Cassie," he began, but she just smiled.

"Hey," she said, coming forward as though there was nothing unusual about the situation. "What's up?"

She was blocking him somehow, but her tight control said louder than words that she wasn't as casual as she sounded. "You," he said, stepping away from Linnse. He gave his friend a pointed glance, but she had already turned toward Cassie.

"I want to apologize," Linnse said. "I was wrong to accuse you of treason. I was worried and upset, but that's no excuse. I didn't know you then--"

"You still don't," Cassie interrupted, a little suspiciously.

"No. But I'd like to, someday, if you can forgive me." Linnse practically radiated sincerity to his eyes, but Cassie didn't look convinced. "I know I've made things difficult for you lately, and I'm sorry. All I can say is that I thought you were... a very different person."

"We were both operating under misconceptions," Saryn put in. "I fear my misunderstanding aggravated the situation as much as yours did."

Cassie gave him an odd look. "What are you talking about?"

He exchanged glances with Linnse.

Linnse shrugged. "I thought you wanted to kill him," she said bluntly.

His lips twitched. "I thought Linnse was jealous."

Cassie bit her lip, and he watched her worriedly until he realized she was trying not to smile. "So did I," she admitted.

Linnse sighed, but she took it in good humor. "Well, at least you think alike. I'd better get back to that insanity they're calling a debriefing before Tari's Second does something drastic." She paused, then added, "I'm truly sorry for any injury I caused you, Cassie."

Cassie hesitated, but she nodded before Linnse could slip away. "Thanks," she said quietly. "Maybe we can... get to know each other better sometime."

Linnse smiled. "I'd like that." She moved forward as though to head back through the door to the control room, and he could see Cassie's surprise when Linnse hugged her instead of walking on past. "Take care of him," he heard the former Eltaran Ranger whisper.

Cassie returned the embrace carefully, looking over Linnse's shoulder to smile at Saryn. "I will," she promised.

Then Linnse was gone, and Cassie shivered a little. "That was kind of spooky," she murmured, looking over her shoulder.

He understood the sentiment, even if he didn't share it. "She wants to like you," he said quietly, watching her stare after Linnse.

"Yesterday, I would have said that was crazy," she said, turning away from the door to regard him. "But today..."

She didn't finish the sentence, but she didn't seem to need to, either. "How are you?" she asked at last. "How did it go with Cestria?"

"It went well," he said, with an inadvertent sigh. "It's--I can not even describe how good it feels to have quiet again."

"I can tell," she said with a smile.

"Of course," he agreed, studying her. "You would be able to."

"Does she know--I mean, what did you... actually do?" Cassie asked tentatively.

He knew what she was asking, but he didn't look away. "She only helped me re-establish some basic empathic shields, of the sort anyone needs to survive day-to-day. I did not say anything to her, but I suspect one of her teammates told her what I did yesterday, for she hinted that there was a great deal more I could learn."

"And--do you want to?" She took a step closer, her feelings close and comforting.

"It is a skill I think I should learn to use," he said quietly. "Or at least control. I can only think that Lyris would... approve."

She smiled up at him. "I think you're right. And I'm glad."

He took a deep breath. "There is something else I have been meaning to ask you--a favor I wonder if you could do for me. You can of course say no," he added quickly, before she could answer.

She gave him an odd look. "Anything for you," she said, a smile still tugging at her lips as she repeated the words they had given each other during a time that seemed so long ago now. "You know that."

"This is... unusual," he warned her, watching her closely.

She shrugged. "Okay."

He reached up and wrapped his fingers around his ruby, pulling the necklace off in one smooth motion. He held it out to her without a word.

She stared at it, and then at him. "What are you doing?"

"This is the favor," he said steadily. "I wish you to keep it for as long as I can be without it. And then I wish you to take it again, afterwards, and again, until you do not need to give it back."

He could see the comprehension in her eyes, and he could feel the sadness she was trying to suppress. "Saryn--" She swallowed hard. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

She was scared for him. He could feel it; there was no blocking her out, it seemed. "I do not wish to be dependent on it any longer," he said softly. "No one can give me any medical reason why I should be. I healed, Cassie. I *healed*. I... wish to recover the rest of the way now."

She tried to smile. "Maybe you already have," she offered, gazing at the necklace in his hand.

He shook his head. "I have not," he said gently. "I know it. I have always known it. Until you, I didn't care."

She looked up, searching his expression. "I love you," she began, but he shook his head again.

"I am doing it for myself as much as for you, Cassie. I wish to control my own destiny again. And as long as I am living in the past, I can not do that."

This time she did smile a little. "Yeah," she agreed softly. "Okay. I understand that."

"Then you will do it?"

She hesitated. "I will... but... what about the Phantom Ranger?"

He had wondered how long it would take her to think of that. She was so used to "Saryn" that he simply wasn't "Phantom" to her anymore. He didn't want to go back to the way it had been. "I will still be the Phantom Ranger in battle. The rest of the time, I will simply be Saryn."

She stared at him as though she thought she might have misunderstood. "*All* the rest of the time?"

He nodded.

"You'll tell people who you are?" she whispered.

He nodded again, taking secret pride in the expression of hope and delight on her face. He wasn't prepared for her to throw herself at him, wrapping him in a hug that almost took his breath away, but he took full advantage of it. He lifted his free arm and slid his necklace over her head, tugging her hair free awkwardly with one hand before returning her embrace for all he was worth.

The Glider holding bay came into being around her with a glittering flash of yellow. She blinked, a little startled as she looked around. This wasn't quite what she had expected.

Alone at the table, Zhane looked up from his half-finished meal. "There you are," he remarked, apparently unfazed by their abrupt arrival. "We were wondering if you'd ever get back."

Side-by-side with Carlos and flanked by Jeff and Emily, she looked around the holding bay again. "I thought Billy would teleport us to Aquitar," she explained, still a little puzzled.

Zhane shrugged. "He probably wanted to spare you. Trust me, you don't want to be down there. *I* certainly don't want to be down there. Hey Carlos. And Emily and Jeff," he added, returning to his food. "Hungry?"

"*We* ate breakfast," Ashley informed him. "Is Andros still there? When's the broadcast?"

"Andros says any minute now," Zhane answered calmly, lifting his juice glass.

Ashley stared at him. "And you're *here*?"

Zhane shrugged again. "'Any minute' in this kind of situation usually means 'sometime today'. He'll let us know when they're about to go on the air."

Ashley sighed in exasperation. "I'm going to go find out what's going on. I'll be right back."

"No way!" Carlos objected as she reached for her morpher. "I'm going with you."

"Trust me, Carlos. You wouldn't be able to talk to Aura in the chaos down there even if you could find her," Zhane interjected, spearing a piece of fruit with his fork. He missed. "You might as well wait for Ash's report."

The last thing Ashley heard before the world flared sparkling gold was Carlos' indignant exclamation. "Does *everyone* know about that?"

"We have to include the Alliance and Defense," Andros argued. "I know they didn't fight directly, but--"

"It is a message from the victors," Cetaci insisted. "I do not see why they should be included. They did not do anything."

"Defense ships fought with us," Saryn interjected quietly. "Alliance ships defended Aquitar. In any event, it is not so much a question of participation as it is of representation. Who we fought *for* is just as important--if not more--than the fact that we won."

There was silence for a moment, and then Andros nodded. "I agree. We should have at least Zordon and Linnse with us."

Cetaci looked irritated, but she didn't reject the suggestion out of hand. "Once we start including people, where does it stop?"

"It was not a Ranger battle," Saryn told her. "No single planet was at stake. It is correct to include representatives of those who supported us."

"She's right, though," Andros said, suddenly understanding what Cetaci meant. "Do we stop with Zordon and Linnse, or do we include the Alliance commander stationed here at Aquitar too? And what about the leader of the Defense wing that was with us at Rysia? How many representatives are enough?"

Saryn sighed. "It is usually better to keep matters like this as limited as possible." He paused, as though realizing the contradiction. "Whose idea was it to include all of the Rangers?"

Neither of them answered, and finally Cetaci volunteered, "I assumed the Aquitian Rangers would be present. I may have... accidentally conveyed a similar message to the other teams."

"The Aquitian Rangers should be present," Saryn agreed. "It is your planet. But you could represent the Astro Rangers, Andros, and if you could choose someone to represent your other team, perhaps we might include only you three, Linnse, and Zordon. Along with Cetaci's teammates, of course."

Andros glanced over at Cetaci, who nodded once. "All right," he said finally. "I suppose Linnse was technically in charge of the fighter wing with us anyway--"

"She was," Saryn said firmly. "And Zordon can be counted upon to speak for most of the Alliance. We are not likely to offend anyone if we keep it to the five leaders, plus this planet's own Rangers."

"Wait," Cetaci broke in, giving him an odd look. "Five? What about you?"

Saryn returned her look impassively. "I did not lead."

Andros opened his mouth to protest, then closed it again slowly. If Saryn led, then so had Kerone. And Ashley. And Zhane. They were all leaders, in their own way, but what mattered to the universe was who wore the leader's emblem. And the Phantom Ranger didn't.

"Then you should represent the Defense," Cetaci argued.

The lift door slid open and Ashley stepped out, pausing at their serious expressions. "Sorry--am I interrupting?"

"No, of course not," Andros assured her, catching Cetaci's glare out of the corner of his eye. Some things never changed. He held out his hand to her. "Are people getting restless?"

She shrugged, squeezing his hand casually as she joined them. "Just wondering what's going on."

"There is a change of plan," Saryn put in. "In an effort to make the process go more smoothly, only the team leaders will broadcast."

"Cool," Ashley said fervently. "You don't know how glad I am to hear that. So how long? Do you know?"

They exchanged glances. "Now," Cetaci said, speaking for all of them. "I will clear the control room." She turned and stepped into the lift Ashley had just vacated, and a moment later it was gone.

"I still think you should be with us," Andros told Saryn. It might be impossible to convince the other Ranger, but he was going to try anyway. The Phantom Ranger might not be a leader in the eyes of the universe, but Saryn was, and he had done as much for this mission as any of them.

Saryn shook his head. "I did not lead," he repeated.

Ashley looked at him in surprise. "The heck you didn't. Why wouldn't you be on the broadcast? You have more experience than all of us put together."

He hesitated, and his answer wasn't quite what Andros had expected. "I fear I would be a distraction."

Andros frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Saryn, where's your ruby?" Ashley interrupted.

Andros gave him a startled look, and Saryn sighed. "That is precisely why I would be a distraction. I wish to reclaim my identity--to no longer be only the Phantom Ranger."

He looked at Ashley sidelong, and found her looking right back at him. "Maybe that's the reason you *should* be on the broadcast," he said slowly.

Ashley nodded vehemently. "You have to start somewhere. If not now, then at the ceremony this afternoon. That won't be any better than this, will it?"

"No," Saryn admitted. "But it is..." he trailed off, and they waited for him to explain why the ceremony was the better time to do it. "It is later," he finished at last.

Ashley actually laughed. "It'll be all right, Saryn. I think you're incredibly brave to do this. Now both of you, get moving--Cetaci's probably got the place evacuated by now. We'll see you at the rehearsal afterward. Go, go," she added, making shooing motions.

Andros squeezed her hand before letting go, and she smiled at him. He took Saryn's arm and steered the older Ranger toward the lift. He could feel the other's reluctance in every step he took, and when the door closed behind them, he asked quietly, "Are you sure you want to do this?"

Saryn gave him a surprised look. "Of course," he said. Then he seemed to reconsider. "Well," he amended honestly, "I am sure that I would like to have it done. I am not sure I will enjoy actually doing it."

"I know that feeling," Andros muttered sympathetically. "But things work out, even when you don't expect them to."

"I know," Saryn said simply. "I have faith."

The lift opened onto a control room that looked almost deserted compared to the melee that had converged on it earlier. Zordon still presided over the room from the security of his time warp, but the space looked much larger now. Aura, Cestria, and Delphinius stood more or less at attention near the middle of the room, while Billy played idly with one of the consoles. Linnse looked up as they arrived, and Cetaci motioned to them to join her in front of the main screen.

It was then that Andros realized what he had forgotten. *The other team,* he realized, and when he glanced at Saryn he knew he wasn't the only one who had just remembered.

Ashley had gone to get half the team, but he thought Zhane had said something about Rocky not coming back with them as planned. Rocky would have been the logical choice as Red Ranger, but failing that...

There was really only one person other than Justin that he knew well enough to say anything about on that team. Justin wasn't there, so he tapped his communicator. "Cassie," he said aloud. "Is Tessa with you?"

There was a brief pause. "Yeah, she's right here. What's up?"

"Send her down here," Andros told her. "She just became the leader of the Earth team."

"But she doesn't even have a uniform!" Cassie objected.

"Neither does Saryn. Unless she has a serious phobia about cameras, ask her to come down. Please."

Tessa appeared less than a minute later, looking terribly apprehensive and more than a little out of place in her pale pink t-shirt and jeans. "Right here," Andros said, motioning her to his side. "I promise you won't have to say anything," he added in a whisper as she joined him.

"Are you sure?" she whispered back, looking around the room nervously.

"Positive. The screen is the camera, so just remember to look over there the whole time and you should be fine."

"Stand up straight," Saryn offered quietly. "Do not frown, and do not worry. Those are the three rules of good presentation."

"And *don't* put your hands in your pockets," Linnse added, when Tessa shifted uncomfortably. "Put them behind your back."

"Don't listen to them," Andros told her. "Do you meditate at all?"

To his surprise, she nodded hesitantly. He smiled in relief. "There you go then. Pretend you're meditating on the blankness of the screen."

"Pretend it has a really great screensaver," Billy put in from behind them. "In fact, I could probably--"

"No," Cetaci interrupted. "No screensavers. Are we ready?"

"No," Saryn said suddenly. He held out one hand, catching Andros' eye and inclining his head.

Andros grinned and put his hand on top of Saryn's. He heard Billy chuckle, and a moment later the Blue Ranger joined them. Aura stepped forward to put her hand over Billy's, and then Cestria and even Linnse. Cetaci regarded the ritual with mild disdain, but when Delphinius joined in, she followed suit.

Andros cocked his head at Tessa, and she hesitated. "Come on," he said. "You fought, remember? You're one of us."

She smiled a little, and carefully put her hand on top of Cetaci's.

"One," Andros said, knowing they didn't have the gestalt to pull it off without counting. "Two... three--"

They didn't all shout, but everyone pulled their hands out at the same time, and even Cetaci and Linnse said the words.

"Power Rangers!"

28. Together Alone

"How's he doing?" Ashley's voice was pitched low, but it carried to everyone on the quiet Bridge.

Few words had been spoken here since the broadcast began. They had gathered on the Bridge to watch, finding comfort in numbers and maybe hoping for some sort of closure. TJ had taken Cassie's seat at the main weapons' station, his feet propped up on the console as he listened in the company of his friends.

It was funny, he had reflected, how different things sounded when one attempted to describe them. He had thought the events of the previous day were clear in his mind, but hearing Cetaci speak, he realized how narrow his own perspective had been. There had been so much he had missed and hadn't even thought to ask... yet at the same time, there was so much being left out of this explanation of events.

Cetaci was a good speaker, he had to give her that. She spoke clearly and got in every essential point, plus a few that hadn't even occurred to him. And when she stopped, in what was obviously a rehearsed pause, Andros picked up the narrative without hesitation. They had clearly put a lot of thought into this, and it told the story--but there was so much no one could ever convey of what had gone on.

The others felt it too, he thought, glancing over his shoulder. They were all very quiet, maybe remembering their own version of what was being retold for the universe to hear. Maybe, like him, thinking of everything that couldn't be said in words: facing down the odds without the benefit of a hero's hindsight, the heart-stopping fear and rush of adrenaline that came with every battle... the helplessness of imprisonment, and the absolute faith they had to have in each other to escape.

Even the dizzying roller coaster ride that followed: free, chased, trapped, free again--the decision to leave behind one of their own, and the terrifying seconds when it had been his finger on the trigger and no way to change things once it was done. The horrible realization that even that might not be enough, and again the sense of helplessness. None of those things came through in the broadcast, and he knew without having to ask that the nightmares that had followed the battle wouldn't even be mentioned.

Yet somehow it didn't matter. The terror and the isolation might be feelings no one else ever associated with the great "battle of Rysia", or whatever it came to be called. But neither would anyone else know the pure and unadulterated joy of triumph, the true amazement that started to take hold when they realized just what they had managed to accomplish. After this, nothing would ever be impossible again.

No one saw these moments, either, TJ thought, leaning back in his chair. The time after, the reflection on what had been and what was to come. The time when they gathered to see what the rest of the universe would hear about them, and compare that to what and who they really were. "Hero" was nothing more than a label, after all--it wasn't an identity.

He glanced over his shoulder once more, smiling to himself. No, their identity lay with each other. It lay in the fact that Carlos and Jeff were playing Hangman on an auxiliary tactical screen, and in the fact that Zhane had deactivated the nav console so he could use it as a chair. It lay in the fact that Kerone sat sideways in Ashley's usual seat, letting Zhane braid her hair while she watched the broadcast with a far-off look in her eyes. And it lay in the fact that Ashley had asked Cassie how Saryn was doing even when he looked perfectly fine--everyone could tell something was wrong, just from the way she was staring at the screen.

Cassie shrugged at her friend's question, her arms folded across her chest and an irritated expression on her face. "He's fine, I guess."

"You guess?" Ashley asked, her voice amused. The words were subdued, as though she too sensed the contemplative air that lingered on the Bridge and didn't want to disturb it.

Cassie looked sideways at her. "I'm going to kill him," she said calmly.

No one so much as started. TJ actually smiled a little. They were all listening, somewhat idly perhaps, but with the curiosity of people who wanted to know what their friends were thinking. With the broadcast playing in the background, no one could forget how much they had been through in the past couple of days, and there was an odd kind of peace hovering in the air. It was as though one could say anything at all and have it accepted with perfect equanimity.

"Huh," was Ashley's noncommittal reply. "When did he give you his ruby?"

Cassie lifted a hand to the ruby that hung around her neck, running it up and down the gold chain in a strangely familiar gesture. After a moment, TJ placed it: it was the same way Andros was wont to play with his locket when he was distracted. "This morning," she said at last. "But I didn't know he was going to do the broadcast without it. If he collapses in front of IN cameras..."

She didn't finish, but no one seemed to expect her to. Ashley just shook her head, sliding her arm around her friend's shoulders. "He's fine," she murmured, resting her head against Cassie's. "You said so yourself. Stop worrying."

Cassie sighed a little, leaning into her friend. "Yeah," she admitted. "Maybe you're right."

For a moment, the Bridge was quiet again. Then Ashley said, almost offhandedly, "Of course, you could always ask him."

TJ considered the main screen, wondering if Tessa was really as calm as she looked. She looked almost like she belonged there, and he couldn't help thinking about what the others might have said to her. He knew she didn't like being in front of crowds, and yet she held herself as though she had done this before.

"What do you mean?" Cassie asked, wandering through his train of thought.

"Your telepathy," Ashley replied. That wasn't quite the right word, but it didn't bother TJ. ESP was ESP. He was just glad most of them stayed out of his head.

"It's empathy," Cassie corrected softly. "It doesn't work the way yours and Andros' does."

"Huh," Ashley said again. It seemed to be her word of choice for the day, though she almost never used it otherwise. "That's funny. He said you told him it was girl talk last night, when he came up to the Megaship."

TJ had no idea what to make of that sentence, but Cassie's pause was obvious. "Well, sometimes there are words," she mumbled finally. "It's still not telepathy."

"You use the word differently than I do, then," Zhane interjected from behind them. His tone was casual, not provocative, as though he was only offering the remark at face value instead of implying something else with it.

TJ thought Cassie shrugged, but she didn't answer aloud.

"Oh," Zhane added, and TJ glanced in his direction. The Silver Ranger was apparently rebraiding Kerone's hair, either not satisfied with his original effort or simply more interested in the process than the end result. Now, though, he paused and held something over her shoulder for her inspection. "I forgot to give this back to you. Nice homing device."

Kerone turned her head a little, restrained by his loose hold on her hair, to study the small object. There was a mottled purple star shape in his hand, with centimeter-long sparkly streamers attached to one point. It was almost a pendant, except for the lack of a necklace to hang it on. "It's yours," she said, making no move to take it back. "I didn't give it to you for just yesterday."

"Planning to lose me again?" he teased gently, withdrawing his hand.

She smiled, not turning. "Just not going to let you get away."

TJ smiled too, looking back at the screen. It was the most open he had ever heard the two of them, trading affectionate words without their usual sniping. He supposed there were times in everyone's life when they realized how important it was to let the people they cared about know it.

"Aureole?" Carlos demanded suddenly, raising his voice for the first time since the broadcast had started. "That isn't a word!"

"Sure it is." Jeff sounded surprised. "It's the hazy ring around the moon. Aureole; everyone knows that one."

He heard Carlos turn around. "Who here knew what 'aureole' meant?"

Still watching the screen, TJ raised his hand.

"You don't count," Carlos told him. "Your girlfriend's an astronomer."

"I knew it," Zhane put in.

"I didn't," Ashley offered. "But I'm still surprised you didn't get it, Carlos."

TJ looked up, alerted by the impish note in her voice, and he saw Carlos give her a suspicious glance. "How could I get a word I've never heard of before?"

Ashley shrugged, one arm still around Cassie's shoulder. She too was facing the screen, but the amusement in her voice was clear. "Well, it starts with 'a', 'u', and 'r', and everyone guesses 'e'. You should have only had two letters left."

Carlos narrowed his eyes at her. "Very funny. Do you want to say something, Ash?"

"I just did," she answered, unperturbed. "I still think you should talk to her."

"You should have talked to her last night," Kerone said. "We were all up. You should have joined us instead of going to Earth."

Carlos sighed. "Is there anyone who doesn't know about this? Or anyone who doesn't have an opinion, for that matter?"

"No one except her," Ashley told him.

"Look," Carlos said, his frustration an evident contrast to the calm atmosphere of the Bridge. "I know I've screwed up with Aura. But if everyone could just mind their own business and let me figure this out, that would be great."

There was a brief silence for a moment, and TJ wondered if his friend was truly upset. And if he was, what exactly was bothering him? The way Kerone had told it, Aura was the one who felt guilty for things *she* had said, not the other way around.

He studied the Red Aquitian Ranger on the main screen, but there was no trace of the troubled girl who had had to be coaxed into smiling the night before. He hadn't known what was wrong then, and if Kerone hadn't told him this morning, he probably still wouldn't know. The Aquitians all seemed to be good at hiding what they were feeling.

"Aura?" Jeff asked, his voice interrupting the silence again. "She's one of the Aquitian Rangers, right?"

"Yeah," Ashley agreed. "She likes Carlos."

At Carlos' exasperated exclamation, TJ couldn't help but grin. Jeff didn't make things any better by asking, "Isn't she the one you went back to Aquitar with yesterday?"

"Yeah," Ashley said again, before Carlos could reply. "He likes her, too."

"Could we talk about something else?" Carlos demanded.

"That's cool," Jeff answered, ignoring Carlos. "You going to bring her back to Earth, man? The university would love you guys. You could be the poster child for campus diversity."

Ashley laughed. "That would be great. If there were aliens in town, people could hardly keep fighting over race and stuff."

TJ couldn't help grinning as an image sprang unbidden to his mind. "Imagine little half-Aquitian kids running around the park. That would sure slow people down."

"There aren't going to be any kids!" Carlos exclaimed.

"Really?" TJ asked, glancing back at him. "You've talked about it already?"

"No!"

"That's good," Jeff put in. "With looks like hers, those kids would be pretty cute."

"As long as they don't look like Carlos," Ashley added.

"Don't let me interrupt your fun," Carlos muttered, and something in his tone made TJ pause.

Ashley must have heard it too, for her voice gentled suddenly. "We're just teasing, Carlos. Are you okay?"

"I just don't think it's anyone else's business!"

"We're all each other's business," Cassie said, pulling away from Ashley and turning around at last. "That's what being a team means."

"Yeah, well you don't see me interfering in your love life," Carlos shot back, clearly not appeased.

TJ caught Cassie's eye just then, and the sparkle there told him louder than words the retort she was struggling not to make. He could almost hear her saying, "Maybe if you did a better job with yours--" But she wouldn't, because he was obviously more upset than they had realized, and teasing him further wouldn't help matters any.

"We just want you to be happy," Ashley insisted. "You're not now, so we're just trying to make you do something about it."

Oddly, that seemed to have the desired effect on Carlos. He subsided a little, looking down at the auxiliary console before he answered. "Well, thanks," he muttered at last. "I know I have to do something; I just don't know *what*."

Ashley smiled across the Bridge at him. "It'll work out. It always does, somehow."

"Maybe." He lifted his gaze to glare half-heartedly at TJ. "But that kid remark was totally uncalled for."

TJ tried to suppress a grin, unable to keep the image from popping back into his head. "Sorry."

"Yeah, whatever." Carlos didn't look convinced, but neither did he sound as irritated as he had before.

TJ swiveled back toward the screen, putting his feet back up on the weapons' console. Linnse was offering what sounded like the end of the address, to him, and he hoped they were almost done. The earlier peace of the Bridge hadn't completely evaporated, but he had to feel sorry for Carlos. There must be more between him and Aura than he had realized, for the Black Ranger seemed frustrated by their forced separation.

"Hey," he said, as something else caught his attention. "How come Zordon isn't talking?"

"Because he wasn't there?" Zhane suggested dryly, combing the braid out of Kerone's hair again.

"Are you ever going to be satisfied with that braid?" Ashley inquired, sounding amused.

"Oh, I was satisfied the first time," Zhane admitted. "Astrea just doesn't want her hair braided."

TJ couldn't help chuckling. "Then why on Earth are you doing it?" The colloquialism was out before he remembered where he was, but no one bothered to correct him.

"To annoy her?"

Kerone reached over her shoulder and slapped his knee. Despite her unsmiling expression, it was a fond gesture, and TJ chuckled again. "I guess it's working."

"No reason," Zhane admitted a moment later. "It's just fun."

"Dare I ask how you know how to braid?" TJ asked, watching the Silver Ranger separate her hair into pigtails and start braiding them separately.

Zhane gave him what looked like a genuinely surprised look. "You don't think Andros braids his hair himself, do you?"

Ashley laughed at that. "That's why it always looks so perfect!"

"Hey," Cassie interrupted, drawing their attention back to the screen. "I think it's over."

Sure enough, Linnse had stopped talking, and the scene from Aquitar was replaced by the IN logo a moment later. An image of a being from a species TJ didn't recognize followed, and the screen automatically translated for them. "This address followed by news briefs from Rysia and Parikat, after which we will return for an analysis of the latest Aquitian broadcast."

Every morpher on the Bridge went off simultaneously, distracting TJ before IN could switch transmissions. He glanced around and found everyone waiting on him. He swung his feet off the console and sat up straighter, activating his communicator's transmit function. "This is TJ."

"Teej, we'll meet you guys in the southern research dome," Andros' voice came back. "I can't remember if DECA has the coordinates for that or not--"

"Confirmed," DECA interrupted.

"Great," Andros replied. "We'll see you there in a few minutes."

"We'll be there," TJ said, getting to his feet and gathering up the others with a glance.

Kerone waited for Zhane to loose her hair from its braids once again, and then they both scrambled to their feet as well. Jeff and Carlos moved closer to the center of the Bridge, and TJ caught Cassie's eye again. "Showtime," he heard her murmur, and he smiled.

With a nod to DECA, he declared, "Let's go."

"Hey!" Carlos would have sworn Ashley was moving before the teleportation stream released them; it was the only way she could have ended up in Andros' arms so fast. "You were great!" she exclaimed, hugging him enthusiastically.

He chuckled, not at all embarrassed by the overt display of affection. He had changed so much in the last few weeks. "Thanks," he said, turning his head to kiss her hair fondly. "You should have been with us; Billy was going to make us a screensaver."

"What?" She pulled away to look at him curiously, and he grinned at her.

"You," TJ was telling Tessa, "looked fabulous. I can't believe you told me you didn't like being in front of crowds!"

"I don't," she told him fervently. "And I was terrified. But it wasn't like anyone was actually *in* the room with us..."

Cassie didn't say a word when Saryn appeared at her side, just turned and glared up at him. He returned her stare calmly, with only a flicker of amusement for her exasperation. Finally she just sighed and leaned into him, apparently giving up on reproof.

He put one arm around her, but his other hand went to her chin to tilt her face toward him again. When she looked up he kissed her, without flourish but--for him--very, very publicly. It was a gentle but lingering kiss, and Carlos doubted there was a single person in the room who missed it.

He thought he saw Linnse smile as she turned away, and even Cetaci looked mildly approving. Cassie smiled radiantly when Saryn let her go, and he suspected Saryn wouldn't be able to say or do anything wrong for the rest of the day.

There were two people who were conspicuously absent from the gathering--not including Zordon, whom he hadn't expected to see anyway--and he was wondering how to inquire discretely when the main door slid open again. Delphinius came in, supervising one end of an antigrav mechanism that looked like nothing so much as a buffet table.

Aura was guiding the other end, and an indescribable nervousness gripped his heart at the sight of her. She looked no different from any other day, uniform in place and hair pulled back into a ponytail. Even her injuries were understated, and the scratches on her face had almost disappeared. She nodded at Delphinius' directions on table placement, and to all intents and purposes was exactly the same person he'd known for the last four weeks.

Except that she was studiously avoiding his gaze. She had glanced up as they came through the door, and she gave the room another quick inspection as they slid the table up against the wall by the door. Each time, her eyes flicked past him as though he wasn't there. Today, for the first time, he found himself consciously waiting for her acknowledgement, and for the first time she clearly had no intention of giving it.

"I don't want us to be friends anymore, Carlos."

The words rang in his mind and he willed her to look up, to catch his eye and smile slightly, as she had done so many times before. Thought it remained absent from the reality before him he could see the expression vividly in his mind's eye, the warmth of recognition and welcome that he hadn't missed until it was gone.

"I hope that's for us," Ashley said, raising her voice. "I can think of at least one person who didn't have any breakfast this morning."

Aura lifted her head and smiled in Ashley's direction, and Delphinius picked something remotely fruit-like up off the table before stepping away from it. "It is," he informed them. "We are clearly not all on the same schedule, thanks both to the time difference and recent events, but I hope we can mitigate these influences to some extent."

"Thank you," Andros said, and from the sincere gratitude in his voice Carlos suspected that he was the one to whom Ashley had referred. "We appreciate your effort."

"It is no effort to exert oneself for one's friends," Cestria replied, glancing up from where she and Billy were marking off portions of the dome's floor space. "Please let us know if there is anything else we may do."

"Hey," Carlos said quietly, sidling up to the table in an effort to get Aura's attention without anyone else noticing. "How are you feeling?"

Aura didn't look up. "I am well, thank you," she said calmly, rearranging something on the table.

"Hey, Aura!" Billy's voice intruded suddenly, startling Carlos. "Could you give us a hand over here?"

"Excuse me," she murmured, and she was gone before he could say anything else.

"Can we help?" he heard Cassie ask.

He turned in time to see Billy wave her off, shaking his head. "No, no, we're just trying to get the lights to line up along the aisle. Have something to eat," he suggested with a smile.

"There may be a difficulty," Cetaci announced suddenly.

Carlos glanced at her, surprised, but she was staring toward the elevated platform that had been installed on the other side of the room. She seemed completely oblivious to their surroundings until Delphinius joined her, following her gaze across the room. "Has the wall done something to offend you?" he inquired mildly, offering her the piece of fruit he had taken from the table.

She accepted the fruit almost absently, for once not bristling at his words. "The wall is fine. It is the procession which I am having trouble with."

"If you see a procession there, I suspect there *is* a difficulty," Delphinius agreed, with perfect equanimity.

This time she turned her head. Carlos couldn't see her expression from where he was standing, but Delphinius shifted. "What is the trouble?" he asked, no expression Carlos could read in his tone.

Cetaci turned to regard the rest of them. Most of the Astro Rangers had joined Carlos by the table, and her own teammates were laying floor lights not far away. Studying them all, she asked simply, "Who leads?"

Andros looked up at that. "You, of course. It's your planet."

Cetaci shook her head. "It is my duty to present the ribbons. I will not be a part of the procession, and it is not appropriate for Cestria and Delphinius to lead when members of your team are--when others have seniority."

"Wait," TJ interrupted. "Could someone explain this to me? Just for curiosity's sake? I don't understand the problem."

"The audience will gather in this room, on either side of the aisle which Billy and Cestria are laying out," Delphinius told him. "Cetaci will begin the proceedings from over there--" He indicated the platform. "And the Rangers will enter through this door."

"Two at a time," Cetaci added. "You see the problem."

"Not entirely," TJ admitted. "Why does it matter who goes first?"

Andros chuckled, drawing their attention just as he handed some of whatever he was snacking on to Ashley. "Good question," he said wryly. It was the tone of someone who knew the answer but was more interested in his girlfriend's reaction to alien food than in explaining it.

Carlos couldn't help sneaking another glance at Aura. She was standing a few feet behind Billy, siting down the line that was already laid out toward Cestria. She was apparently coordinating their effort completely by eye, which, while impressive, made it all the easier for her to continue avoiding his gaze.

"It matters because the universe will be watching," Saryn said quietly, his arm still wrapped loosely around Cassie's shoulders. "There are people who will read something into every detail, from the words we speak to the order in which we enter the room. It will not matter that there is nothing to interpret; they will try to do it anyway."

"This is going to be broadcast?" Cassie asked, looking up at him.

He nodded wordlessly.

"Unlike the earlier address," Cetaci added, "there will be reporters here in the Ranger dome as well as in orbit. We will not even control what they see, so this all the more important."

"You said something about seniority," Kerone said, when the pause following Cetaci's words lengthened. "Can't you just have Saryn and Andros lead? They've been Rangers the longest."

"No." Cetaci didn't even have to think about it. "Andros must walk with his teammates; that is simply the way it is done. But because this is Aquitar, the Astro team may not precede the Aquitian team."

"But you just said the Aquitian team can't go first without you," Ashley said, looking almost as confused as Carlos felt. "I don't get it."

"The Aquitian team may go first," Saryn said, raising his voice a little. "I will walk with the Astro Rangers."

"Why wouldn't you?" Cassie wanted to know. "Why are you going before the Aquitians?"

Carlos didn't miss the look that passed between Saryn and Cetaci, but he didn't know what to make of it either. "Cetaci is trying to honor Elisia by having me lead," he said, his voice quieter this time. "It is not entirely without precedent to have a... separated Ranger from a defeated planet open a ceremony such as this."

"Separated?" Cassie repeated, in a voice that said she didn't like the sound of that.

"Surviving," Saryn amended, softly enough that Carlos had to strain to hear him. "In memory of those who have fallen, a surviving Ranger may lead those being honored in a victory ceremony."

No one said anything for a moment.

"I'll walk with him," Kerone said abruptly.

Out of the corner of his eye, Carlos saw even Billy and Aura look up at that. "What?" Delphinius asked, as though he hadn't heard.

She shrugged. "That's what this is about, isn't it? We have to walk in pairs, and anyone who walks with Saryn is separated from their team?"

"You are not a Ranger," Cetaci said, as though it might have escaped her notice.

Kerone tossed her head, giving Cetaci an icy look. "I remind you that *I* was Dark Spectre's second in command. It was *my* information that led to his defeat. I have sacrificed as much as anyone in this room for something I believe is right, and I don't appreciate your implication that I am somehow inferior in spite of it."

"Hey," Andros said, stepping forward. "No one's saying anything like that, Kerone."

She didn't look impressed. "Don't patronize me, Andros."

"I'm not," he said, sounding startled. "I *know* what you've lost; you know that. Cetaci's only pointing out that not everyone will see it that way."

Something drew Carlos' attention to Cassie as she leaned her head briefly against Saryn's shoulder, and he saw her pat Saryn's hand comfortingly. *No,* he thought, rejecting the thought even as it occurred to him. Kerone couldn't be making a scene to distract them from Saryn. That wasn't stopping Cassie from taking advantage of it, though.

Farther across the room, Billy and Cestria were gazing at each other, probably locked in some sort of silent conversation. Aura stood alone nearby, ostensibly listening but keeping her eyes on the tiny coin-shaped light in her hand. It was one of the devices they had been using to mark the aisle, but as he watched, she tossed it a little way up in the air and caught it like a quarter, flipping it over onto the back of her hand. He tried to suppress a smile as she frowned at the light, as though it had come tails-side-up when she wanted heads. He wondered what the question had been.

"This is an impasse, then," Kerone said impatiently. "Either I walk with Saryn at the front of the line or we both walk with the Astro Rangers in the middle. Which is it?"

No one answered for a moment, and Ashley actually sighed. "Well, are we going to vote or something? I say Kerone walks in front."

"So do I," Andros put in. "Show of hands."

The rest of the Astro team raised their hands, except for Saryn. To Carlos' surprise, Aura raised her hand too, and to his even greater surprise so did Cetaci. She hesitated when her teammates didn't agree, and she gave Delphinius a reluctant look. "Is it--" She stumbled over the words, and she wouldn't meet anyone's gaze but his. "Is it appropriate that I change my vote?"

"No," Cestria said from behind her.

Delphinius shook his head. "No," he agreed. "Majority rule is acceptable in this situation. Do you disagree, Saryn?"

"I do not wish to offer my opinion, but I agree that the vote is valid," Saryn answered.

Cetaci looked satisfied with that, but before Carlos could wonder at her sudden change in demeanor Kerone had stepped forward to confront Saryn. "*I* want your opinion," she said firmly. "I don't know anything about politics. Is it wrong to have me beside you?"

Saryn looked at her for a moment, and then a slight smile graced his expression. "It is undeniably symbolic to have the former princess of evil leading this procession. I would welcome either Kerone or Astronema at my side."

"But do *you* want *me* there?" she persisted, and Carlos suddenly got the feeling that he was missing a significant part of this conversation.

"Yes," Saryn said simply.

"Good," Cetaci interjected, turning to regard her teammates. "Have you finished that side of the aisle yet?"

They obviously hadn't, but she waited for Billy's answer anyway. "Another seven lights, I think," he told her, catching the one Aura tossed in his direction. "We're almost done."

Cetaci nodded and returned her attention to the rest of the group, but her impatience had come across loud and clear. Carlos saw Billy and Cestria exchange neutral glances, and he knew something passed between them. He had been around them long enough to get good at recognizing that kind of expression, but that didn't put him any closer to knowing what had been said.

"You will enter here," Cetaci was saying, walking forward from the door. "The lights Billy and Cestria are placing will mark the edges of the aisle, which will likely be the only open floor space in the room. If everyone will assemble in the appropriate order for a moment, I will walk you through the ceremony."

Saryn gave Cassie a brief hug before finally letting her go, and Kerone waited for him to take a place in the aisle. When she joined him, he cocked his head at her. There was a smile evident in his voice when he said, "It would probably be wise for you to stand to my right, rather than left."

She moved, but not without asking, "Why?"

"Team leaders traditionally stand to the left," Cetaci said, motioning to Delphinius. "Although I have a great deal of respect for you, Kerone, I do not think it would be wise to imply that Dark Spectre's former Second is the most important person in this procession."

Ashley laughed. "That would shake them up a little."

"Cestria and Aura will stand here," Cetaci said, nodding to Delphinius as he left a space between him and Kerone. "Delphinius and Billy will be behind them, followed by the Astro team. I confess I am not clear on your ranking system..."

"We have a ranking system?" TJ asked dryly.

"We're all set," Billy said, joining them by the door. The three of them took their places as though their positions were a given, and Carlos tried not to sigh as Aura once more managed to avoid even looking at him.

Without a word, Andros stepped away from Ashley to stand behind Billy, and Zhane stood beside him. No one challenged Zhane, but the rest of them just looked at each other. The only ones who looked more lost were Tessa and Jeff, but neither of them complained.

"TJ," Ashley said at last. "You and Cassie go next, and me and Carlos will be last. Tess, since you got elected as leader, I think you're behind me."

Cetaci's expression was unreadable. "I think it will be a first to have a Pink Ranger represent her teammates as leader."

"To my knowledge," Saryn agreed. He had turned around to watch the arranging, and he gave Tessa a small smile. "You will make history today."

Tessa looked nonplussed. "But I didn't do anything!"

"Just go with it," Jeff advised, standing a little uncomfortably at her side. "Right place at the right time, you know."

She shook her head, but she didn't protest further.

Cetaci apparently considered the matter solved. "You will walk down the aisle--"

"To the tune of "Here Comes the Bride," TJ muttered, and Ashley giggled.

Cetaci ignored him. "The procession splits when you reach the platform, and the two lines will proceed around their respective corners and climb the platform from opposite sides. That will put Saryn and Kerone beside each other again when the two lines meet, but everyone else will be in a different order."

Saryn glanced at her, and when she nodded, he turned to catch Kerone's eye. The two of them started forward at the same time, and the Aquitian Rangers followed smoothly. It wasn't long before Carlos realized that it wasn't as easy as it looked, though, and from Cetaci's expression, he wasn't alone.

No one said anything though, and they walked in near-silence across the room. Saryn gestured to Kerone when they reached the platform, and she turned right without hesitation. Strangely, it was easier to maintain the pace around the platform than it had been during the approach--maybe because there was only one person to follow, he didn't know.

"You will not need extra room during the ceremony," Cetaci told them, studying them from the floor. "You may stand almost shoulder to shoulder and be assured of enough space."

Carlos moved a little closer to Cassie as the line moved down, with Jeff on his other side. On Cassie's other side, Zhane shifted uncomfortably. "How long is this ceremony going to be, again?"

"There ceremony itself will be brief," Cetaci replied, regarding them critically. "And I do not wish to allow the reporters to ask questions afterwards." She paused, then asked, "Is there anyone here who does?"

"Hell no," Carlos muttered under his breath, and he heard Jeff chuckle.

"Second that," Zhane said fervently. "What's next?"

"I will announce our victory, and--" Carlos felt a stir of movement down the line, and Cetaci nodded once. "Yes. Everyone is familiar with this, then?"

Carlos glanced to his right. The Aquitians had placed their right hands over their hearts, joined by Zhane, Andros, and Saryn, and he caught Cassie's eye. She shrugged, and he shook his head at Cetaci. "I've never seen that before."

She put her right hand over her heart and then extended it, palm up, toward him. "It is a traditional Ranger gesture of service or greeting," she told him.

He imitated her, and she nodded. "Once everyone is assembled on the platform and I speak, you will all stand thus. I will present Tessa with her ribbon and then move down the line. As I say your name, you extend your hand, receive your ribbon, and return your hand to your chest while the rest of the ribbons are given. We will go through the line once now, so that you can tell me what you wish to be called," she added, coming forward and climbing onto the platform without bothering with the stairs.

"What about you?" Jeff asked. "Don't you get a ribbon, or whatever?"

She paused, looking down the line. "That is Saryn's responsibility, if he chooses to accept it. Otherwise, it falls to Cestria."

"I would be honored," Saryn told her quietly.

She nodded, as though she had expected no less, but Carlos thought he saw a glint of pleasure in her eyes. "Tessa," she said, walking to the opposite end of the platform. "How do you wish to be addressed?"

Tessa put her hand over her heart uncertainly, and Carlos suspected she wasn't thrilled with the idea of going first. But her voice was firm when she said, "Tessa McFarlan."

"Tessa McFarlan," Cetaci repeated, and Tessa extended her hand as Cetaci had done before. Cetaci laid her fingers over Tessa's wrist and then withdrew them, and she added, "The appropriate response is, 'I am honored to serve.'"

"Oh!" Tessa hesitated, then asked, "Before or after?"

Cetaci placed her hand over her heart. "Cetaci of Aquitar," she announced. She held out her hand, wrapped her fingers around her wrist the way she had done with Tessa, and said, "I am honored to serve." Then she withdrew her hand and cocked her head at Tessa.

Tessa nodded. "Okay; I think I've got it."

"After your performance in the control room this morning, I have no doubt of your ability," Cetaci told her. Carlos couldn't help being surprised at the compliment, but Cetaci had moved on to Ashley before Tessa could manage to thank her.

"Ashley of Earth," Ashley said, when Cetaci looked at her.

Carlos tried to repress a smile, but Cetaci only nodded. "Ashley of Earth," she repeated, and Ashley extended her hand.

Cetaci touched her wrist and Ashley said solemnly, "I am honored to serve." She placed her hand over her heart again, and Cetaci moved on.

TJ used his last name, the way Tessa had. Andros said "Andros of KO-35" proudly, and Cestria's quiet "Cestria of Aquitar" was no less so. Delphinius too said "of Aquitar", and Saryn said "of Elisia" the way he always had. Carlos did wonder how Kerone planned to introduce herself, but she only tossed her hair over her shoulder and said calmly, "Kerone of KO-35."

Aura's turn snuck up on him, and Carlos was suddenly glad that there were three people between him and her. He couldn't explain the way his throat closed up on hearing her defiant voice utter the words "Aura of Aquitar", but there were several seconds afterwards when he couldn't have spoken if his life depended on it.

She was right, he thought, he was "different since he found out". Suddenly that subconscious wall that he'd erected between the two of them was gone, and he was left floundering in a tide of emotions he had buried back when they were too insignificant to recognize. Back when he had first looked at her and thought *Man, she's pretty,* and then laughed at himself for even thinking it. Any future thoughts had been immediately suppressed, bubbling up only in his dreams and somehow strengthening despite the lack of attention.

Cassie nudged him, and he blinked. Clearing his throat, he managed to say, "Carlos Vargas." Cetaci gave him an odd look that he tried to ignore as he held his hand out. He could feel the others' eyes on him, and he couldn't help glancing sideways.

Aura's grey eyes were staring back at him, and he was caught. He felt frustration well up in him when she looked quickly away, as though he had missed some opportunity, and he felt Cetaci's fingers squeeze his wrist warningly. He glared at her, just barely remembering to add, "I am honored to serve," before withdrawing his hand. Her return stare was cold before she moved on to Jeff.

"Jeff Hammond," he told her, looking from her to Carlos uncertainly. His expression said "what the hell" plain as day, but there was nothing Carlos could say. "I'm honored to serve," Jeff said, drawing his hand back after her token touch. "What now?"

Cetaci turned and walked back to the middle of the platform without answering, and Saryn stepped out of his place in line to meet her. They faced each other at right angles to everyone else, and Saryn nodded to her. "Cetaci of Aquitar," he said, and she held out her hand. He touched her wrist as she had done for everyone else, and she put her hand over her heart before turning to face the room.

"There will be a brief conclusion," she said, her back to them momentarily. She turned then and added, "I think it best for everyone to leave the way they entered immediately afterward, so that no one tries to take advantage of the silence. Tessa, you and Jeff will lead."

Jeff cleared his throat, but he turned to his left and stepped down off the platform without looking over his shoulder. Carlos saw him and Tessa look at each other as the two lines converged in front of the platform again, but he was too busy trying to catch Aura's eye to pay much attention. Aura was behind him rather than in front as they filed out--which, he had to admit, went much better the second time--and he glanced over his shoulder repeatedly until Cassie gave him a friendly shove from behind. "Watch where you're going," she whispered.

He did, reluctantly, but as the line dissolved outside the door he stepped out of the way and waited. "Aura," he said, as she walked through the doorway. "Can I talk to you for a moment?"

Face to face with him, she didn't look away. After last night's dream, it was doubly disconcerting to have her silver gaze so close--but her words were what made him wince. "We talked yesterday," she said evenly.

"I know, but--it wasn't what I wanted to say." He could feel Billy's eyes on him. The other Ranger hadn't gone far after preceding her out into the hallway, and Cestria and Delphinius took a less than subtle interest in the conversation as they passed by as well. He tried to ignore it, but between the four of them it was almost impossible to concentrate. "I need to apologize, Aura. I have to... look, would you just hear me out?"

She studied him, no hint of her feelings in her expression. "I was wrong when I said I no longer wished to be your friend," she said slowly. "But I think I was right in saying that avoiding each other might be the best course for a time."

"And I think I was right in saying that wouldn't solve anything," he insisted. He heard the chime of a communicator as Cetaci stepped out into the hallway, but he ignored the voice that replied when she acknowledged it. "There were some things I couldn't say then, but--"

"Aura," Cetaci interrupted, lowering her communicator. "Security is requesting details of the ceremony. Perhaps you could take care of that."

"Yes," she agreed quickly. If her expression had been neutral before, there was no mistaking the relief in it now. "I will do so." She made her way through the Rangers without another word, escaping from the group and heading down the hallway toward one of the diver bays.

Carlos glared at Cetaci, but she didn't seem to notice. "We will continue preparations here," she told Andros. "I assume your team has some members to collect before the ceremony?"

"Yeah," Andros agreed. "Some of us will have to head back to Earth to get them. Would it help to have the rest of us stay and work with you here?"

Cetaci hesitated, and Carlos could have sworn she was fighting the urge to say, "Anyone but Carlos." Instead she said, "We would welcome your assistance, yes, but I do not wish to interfere with your duties."

"It's no interference," Andros assured her.

"I'll stay," Ashley put in quickly, and Cassie agreed. It was almost a given then that Saryn would stay, but Jeff's offer of help surprised Carlos.

Carlos opened his mouth to volunteer as well, but Andros shot him a warning look that caught him off guard. He hesitated just long enough for Andros to say, "I think we'll need everyone else on the Megaship--does that help?"

"Your assistance is very much appreciated," Cetaci replied. "We will return your teammates in plenty of time for them to prepare for the ceremony."

Andros smiled. "We'll be back shortly."

Carlos wanted to protest, but Andros wasn't paying any attention. "Don't get into trouble while I'm gone," he told Ashley fondly.

She grinned at him. "Don't worry; I'll make sure any monsters know to wait until you get back to attack."

Carlos could do nothing but follow suit when Andros, Zhane, and TJ opened their morphers. TJ took Tessa's hand, and the five of them rode the teleportation stream back to the Bridge of the Megaship.

"Andros," Carlos complained, as soon as the familiar surroundings appeared. "No offense, but your timing sucks."

Andros just gave him a surprised look. "You're not planning to come with us, are you?"

Carlos frowned, trying to figure out what he meant by that. "To Earth?"

"No, to the center of the sun," TJ retorted. "Of course to Earth. I couldn't believe they wouldn't even let you talk to her," he added, leaning against the pilot's station. "That was low."

"It was like they were conspiring against you," Tessa agreed. "'Aura, come help us with this.' 'Aura, go do that.' Couldn't they let *her* make up her mind?"

Zhane was the only one who had no comment. The Silver Ranger sat down heavily in Ashley's seat, muttering something that sounded suspiciously like, "I hate Aquitar." The words were so close to the ones Carlos wanted to say that he didn't bother asking what Zhane meant. He just stared at the rest of them in surprise, trying to figure out how many of his attempts to get Aura's attention had been noticed.

"You should probably go," Andros said at last. "Before she gets done with Security and decides to go help the others in the research dome."

Carlos gaped at him. "You--you planned it this way?"

Andros looked at him like he had just announced that the sum of two and two was four. "They wouldn't have let you near her if you'd stayed to help set up for the ceremony. If you can catch her in the Ranger dome, you'll probably have a while before anyone notices she hasn't come back."

"Right," Carlos managed, reaching for his morpher. "I--thanks."

"Good luck," Tessa told him, smiling.

29. For Honor

She pulled her damp hair free of its ponytail, dragging her fingers through it to smooth it out. She had left the research diver docked at the security dome in favor of swimming and made her way back to the command center. The control room had been unoccupied for longer than Cetaci would have liked, and it gave her an excuse to delay returning to the research dome.

The lift hummed beneath her feet, and she lifted a hand to her neck tentatively. She suppressed a wince at the heat of the wound there, hoping the abrupt shock of the water hadn't been too much for the Power's healing to handle. She probably shouldn't have been swimming at all, but she had to get her mind off of things somehow.

She pulled her hair over her shoulder as the lift door opened, trying to comb out the last few tangles with her fingers. She made it several steps into the control room before a whisper of air alerted her, and she looked up in surprise.

Carlos was seated by the comm console, watching her every move.

She had been sure he was still in the research dome with the others. One of her teammates would have warned her if he had left. And yet here he was, clearly waiting for her and apparently determined that she wouldn't be able to avoid him this time.

But it was simpler than that. She didn't need her friends to protect her from him; she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself. She turned and walked back toward the lift without a word.

"Aura!" If he had sounded stern or annoyed or in any way insufferable, she would have kept going. But his plaintive tone froze her midstep and she hesitated.

"Aura, please," he said, more quietly. "I really need to talk to you."

"What can you say that you have not already said?" she asked, staring at the lift's door.

"I can say how I feel," he said, and she heard him shift. She thought he had stood up, but she wasn't about to turn around just to find out. "I care about you--a lot."

She tried not to grit her teeth. "I *know* you do. You do not need to remind me of it at every turn."

"I'm not--"

"You never used to say that," she interrupted. This time she did turn, studying him critically. He was on his feet, but he hadn't moved from his place by the comm console. He looked surprised at her interruption, and she pressed her advantage. "There was a time when we could just be friends, and be content with that. But ever since Billy spoke to you, you insist on telling me how much you care about me and how important I am to you.

"I don't like it, Carlos." She heard her voice waver, and she hated it. She frowned at him instead. "I do not like you feeling sorry for me. It is not as if I will never get over this. But by trying to make it easier, you only make it harder."

"I don't feel sorry for you," he protested. "You're the strongest person I know, and I admire you for that."

He had said that yesterday too, and she tried not to think about how upset she had gotten with him when he had come after her in her nightmare. "You were too close yesterday," she muttered, knowing it was no excuse for her lack of control. "Every time I moved, you were holding onto me."

'Because most of the time you would have fallen if I hadn't been!" he retorted.

"It shouldn't have been you," she insisted. "You had no right to keep touching me when you knew how I felt, and how I would react."

He gaped at her. "I wasn't thinking about how you felt! I was thinking about keeping you alive! Yesterday wasn't exactly a picnic for me either, you know. I've never been more terrified than I was for those few seconds when you weren't breathing!"

She swallowed and turned away, knowing she owed him her honor for saving her life. He could have her honor if she could have his heart in return--but she knew that was the one thing he couldn't give, and the constant reminder was grating on her soul. "I am sorry I can not be more grateful," she muttered. "Thank you for my life."

"What?" He sounded startled for a moment, and then, "I don't want your gratitude, Aura. I just want you to understand!"

"I understand very well," she said quietly. "I respect your feelings. I ask that you respect mine as well, and allow me time to overcome them."

He didn't answer, and she took that for assent. But as she started for the lift again, he began, "Aura..."

Her resentment bubbled over, and she whirled. "Let me *alone*, Carlos!"

He looked every bit as frustrated as she felt. "I can't!"

"Why not?" she demanded. "Because you have not done enough already? Because you enjoy seeing me miserable?"

He glared at her. "Because I love you!"

She stiffened. The walls crumbled even as she tried to hate him for those words. "I do not find that funny, Carlos."

"I'd be offended if you did," he shot back. "After the way I've agonized over it!"

"You never used to lie to me, either," she muttered. Though she knew Billy had meant well when he told Carlos, this was exactly why she hadn't told him herself.

"I'm not lying!" Carlos exclaimed. "I've been trying to tell you all morning! I broke up with my girlfriend last night because I couldn't stop thinking about you, and now you won't even listen to me!"

"I do not wish to listen!" She had wanted to hear him say that and mean it for so long, but his feelings couldn't have changed so quickly. It was unfair to both of them for him to do it out pity for her.

"Is this because I'm not worthy?" he asked, sounding suddenly bitter. "No matter what I feel, I'm just not good enough for you?"

She glared at him suspiciously. "What are you talking about?"

"Your nightmare," he answered, as though it should have been obvious. "You said I was weak because I'm from Earth, and that I don't deserve you."

Her eyes widened. "I did not say that!"

"It wasn't *my* nightmare! You created everything in it!"

Her fingers twitched in an instinctive gesture of frustration. "Because it is something Cetaci would say! It is not something *I* believe!"

"Then why?" He threw his hands out to his sides in exasperation. "Why won't you listen to me?"

"Because I don't want your pity!" she shouted, fingers clenching into fists.

"Damn it, Aura!" He took a step toward her and she tensed. He stopped, his dark eyes boring into hers. "It isn't pity! What do I have to do to convince you?"

"I am already convinced," she told him coldly, reacting more to his tone than his words. "You need do nothing more." She turned around and the lift door opened for her even as she glared at it.

The sound of Carlos' laughter made her pause in the doorway, frowning. She put a hand over the door's motion sensor and turned to stare at him. "What is so funny?" she demanded, irked by his sudden irreverence.

"Us," he managed, leaning against the console. "Me. You. All of it; I don't know."

She regarded him warily. The tension hadn't drained out of his frame, but his grin belied his confrontational stance. She couldn't help asking, "Are you all right?"

That only made him laugh again, and she watched with growing concern. They had all been through a lot in the last few days, and they would be a long time in recovering--some of them longer than others, it seemed. "I will summon your teammates."

"No," he said quickly, his eyes still twinkling with mirth. "Aura, wait--there's nothing wrong with me. It's just that if you had any idea how long I was up last night, wondering how to tell you how I felt... Man, I *never* imagined it like this."

She looked at him, put a little off balance by his admission. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I haven't had much experience with this, but I always kind of figured that when I told someone I loved them we'd kiss or something," he said with a grin. "Not get into a shouting match over it. I shouldn't have expected anything so predictable from you."

She frowned, not sure how to react to that. "I am who I am," she said uncertainly.

"I know," he agreed. His grin faded into a smile that was disconcertingly warm. "And I love who you are."

She saw him gesture "truth" out of the corner of her eye, but she couldn't look away from his face. Cetaci would be furious if she saw him doing that...

He was standing in front of her before she registered that he had moved, and she looked down as he took her hand. He lifted their clasped hands slowly, uncurling her fingers with his free hand and sliding his fingers gently through hers. She bit her lip, feeling the situation slipping out of her control the longer she said nothing. He must have seen Billy and Cestria do that.

She lifted her gaze to his and found him staring back at her, waiting to see if she would respond. Her fingers tightened almost of their own accord, and she saw him smile. He squeezed her hand in return and she swallowed hard, trying to read what she saw on his face.

"I do love you, Aura," he said quietly, his eyes searching her expression. "Please believe me."

She couldn't pull away from him, not with him looking at her like that, and she wondered if he knew it. She hated feeling like this, but there was no middle ground. She either trusted him completely or not at all, and she had to know now.

"If you hurt me again," she said, staring at him. He was asking her to give over her soul along with her heart, and he didn't seem to even realize it. "I will never forgive you."

He didn't so much as flinch. "I won't hurt you, Aura."

She let go of the door and stepped forward slowly, allowing the lift to close behind her. Only when she was this close to him did she remember how tall he was, and she had to lower her eyes as he put a hand on her shoulder and pulled her closer. His hand slipped out of hers, and she caught her breath as he put his arms around her and hugged her tightly.

She closed her eyes, trying to relax. He had promised. He had promised he wouldn't hurt her. She slid her arms around him carefully, and he leaned into the embrace the way she had been afraid to. She smiled a little as she realized she could hear his heart beating. "Carlos?" she whispered.

It was strange, not being able to see his expression, but she wouldn't step out of his arms for the world. His voice sounded different, too, as though it was coming from... somewhere else. "Yeah?"

"I love you," she said softly, holding her breath.

His voice might sound different so close, but she could hear the relief and affection in it when he replied, "I'm glad." She felt something brush against her temple, and she wondered if she had just been kissed. "I love you too," he added. "It took long enough to get it through your head."

She breathed out, smiling in amusement. "If this is the result, I will listen better in the future."

"That's all I can ask," he murmured.

This time she was sure she felt his lips on her skin, and she drew back just enough to stare up at him. "Did you just kiss me?"

He looked a little sheepish, but he didn't let go of her. "Yeah?" His tone made it more of a question than an answer. "Is that bad?"

She shook her head once. "I have never been kissed," she admitted. "It is not an Aquitian tradition."

His lips quirked as he returned her curious gaze. "Want to learn?"

She hesitated, but his expression practically dared her to say yes and she had never been one to back down when challenged. "Yes," she replied firmly. "But only if you learn our customs as well."

His dark eyes sparkled at her when he grinned. "There's nothing I'd like more."

The "stars" continued to stream past on the computer-generated graphic that substituted for the scanners while the ship was in hyperrush. Zhane knew they were between galaxies now, and if the EM scanners functioned at this speed all they would see was a rushing darkness. But the simulated stars were comforting in a way the darkness wouldn't be, and he appreciated DECA's effort.

"Justin said he'd be at the dojo with Rocky all afternoon," TJ was saying. "Emily gets out of class at three, which is..." He trailed off. "Man, I don't know. I can't keep up with the time difference."

"DECA, what time is it in Angel Grove?" Andros asked, not even trying.

"Angel Grove time is 4:35," DECA replied.

"Oh," TJ said, sounding surprised. "She should be in her room, then. Me and Tessa will get her, if you guys want to pick up Rocky and Justin."

"Um..." Tessa sounded more than a little uncertain. "I know this is going to sound weird, but I have to ask. What about Karen?"

Zhane leaned back in the pilot's chair, putting his feet up on the console and his hands behind his head. He wouldn't mind seeing Karen come, but no one had asked him.

"You know she'd die for a chance like this," Tessa added, when no one else answered either. "I know it might be kind of awkward, but... is there some kind of rule that says she can't come?"

"I'm not sure that's a good idea," Andros said evasively.

"There's no rule," TJ added. "But--has Carlos even talked to her yet?"

"She's not stupid," Tessa retorted. "If he's really in love with Aura, I can't believe she doesn't have some idea. Up until today, Carlos would have invited her himself, but he can't now and you know how disappointed she'd be if she missed it."

Zhane tried to imagine never having been offworld. Karen's obsession with aliens had always struck him as funny, but he supposed if you had never actually met one it might seem important. He was about to put in his own vote for letting her come when Astrea interceded.

"Karen would have fought, if we had asked," she pointed out. "It's only coincidence that she wasn't one of the Mega V pilots."

Still staring out at the stars, Zhane nodded in silent agreement. He could feel Andros' eyes on him, and a moment later he heard, *Do *you* think she should come?*

Zhane deliberately didn't shrug. *I think she deserves to be invited as our friend, if nothing else. Aside from Carlos, I can't think of any reason *not* to invite her, and he'll have to face her eventually anyway.*

*I'd like to think he's already talked to her,* Andros admitted. *But I suppose you're right.*

"Do you know where she is now?" Andros asked Tessa aloud.

"If I can't find her quickly I won't ask you to wait," Tessa promised, and Zhane could hear the relief in her voice. "Thanks, Andros."

Andros might have nodded; Zhane wasn't sure. He broke the ensuing silence himself as something occurred to him. "Hey, Astrea, are you really going to go to the ceremony as Astronema?"

When she didn't answer, he glanced over at her. She and Andros were exchanging glances--and probably words--while TJ chuckled. "That would be a real show stopper," TJ said wryly. "I don't think I can even imagine how people would react to that."

"I think you should wear an Astro flight suit," Andros said abruptly, and Zhane was sure it was a continuation of some discussion they had been having silently.

"I'm not a Ranger," she objected, and he realized it had been more of an argument than a discussion. They were only speaking aloud to be polite. "I have no right to the uniform."

"But you're a member of the team," Andros told her. "You don't have to hold the Power to be one of us."

She sighed a little. "I know," she admitted. "And I feel like part of the team, thanks to... everyone." She caught Zhane's eye for a moment, and she smiled. "But I am still not a Ranger."

"Then what do *you* want to wear?" Andros asked. "You aren't seriously going to dress like Astronema."

She actually laughed. "You say that like it would be a bad thing, Andros."

Zhane could tell she was teasing, but Andros looked nonplussed. "Not... exactly," he said, clearly trying not to offend her. "But--"

She lifted her left hand above her head and violet sparkles flared to life around her fingers. As she slowly lowered her arm, her outfit transformed in its wake. The tight purple t-shirt and jeans were replaced by an even tighter black outfit: black pants and a sleeveless black tee that didn't quite cover her stomach.

Zhane had to laugh. It was the same outfit she had worn those first few weeks in Angel Grove, before any of them had known who she was--except for the Astro Ranger design emblazoned across her chest. The rainbow of color was surrounded by a faint white haze that made it stand out all the more, and he suddenly remembered to glance at Andros.

Her brother looked, if anything, mildly amused. Zhane didn't understand why until Andros said, "Turn around."

Astrea turned calmly, tossing her head enough to make her hair swirl. The diamond-shaped symbol that formed the point of Astronema's staff was outlined in vibrant purple on the back of her shirt.

He laughed again, and he heard TJ chuckle too. "That's great!" Zhane exclaimed, putting his feet on the floor and regarding her more carefully. Her "uniform" gave him the perfect excuse to stare, and he took full advantage of it. She gave him a sly glance that said she knew exactly what he was thinking, but it was Andros she looked to for approval.

Her brother shook his head, but Zhane knew Andros wouldn't deny her the chance to identify herself any way she wanted. "It looks good," Andros said simply, and Zhane grinned. Somewhere between Astro Ranger and Astronema, the outfit was probably more *her* than a flight suit would ever have been.

She nodded, satisfied, and Tessa shifted. "Uh--is everyone going to be wearing a uniform?"

"Define uniform," TJ teased gently, giving Astrea a pointed glance. Astrea just smiled.

"Do you have a jacket like the one Jeff was wearing this morning?" Zhane asked idly, still watching Astrea. "That looked like a uniform to me, and I've seen other people on Earth wearing them."

"That's not a bad idea," Andros agreed. "DECA could make you one if you don't."

Tessa stared at them. "We're going to go on intergalactic television wearing jean jackets?"

TJ laughed. "Think of it as cultural symbolism. Ashley tells me we're all wearing Kerovan symbols, so there should be *someone* representing Earth there."

Tessa shrugged uncertainly. "If you say so..."

"I am receiving NASADA's recognition signal," DECA informed them. "I'm sending it back--ETA to Earth is 34 seconds."

"Thanks, DECA," Andros said automatically. "You said you know where Emily is, TJ?"

TJ nodded. "Tess gave me directions to her dorm. It shouldn't take more than ten minutes from where I usually teleport."

"Good." Andros glanced at him. "Zhane and I can teleport directly into the dojo to get Rocky and Justin." Zhane nodded in agreement, and Andros added, "Kerone, do you mind going with Tessa to find Karen?"

For answer, she swept her arm upward in a trail of magical violet. Her black outfit turned into the jeans and t-shirt she had been wearing before, and she held up her left wrist to display Cassie's old communicator. "I'm ready," she said simply.

The graphic on the screen wavered as the Megaship dropped awkwardly out of hyperrush. The borrowed hyperspeed boosters cut out too abruptly for the thrusters to kick in and smooth the transition, and the ship floundered momentarily as the computer struggled to compensate.

Finally the thrusters came online, and they dumped residual realspace velocity frantically as the Megaship limped into Earth orbit. The blue-green terrestrial filled the screen as DECA adjusted the feed from the exterior scanners, and Zhane glanced sideways in time to catch Andros' unhappy grimace. The deceleration had actually gone better than the jump *to* hyperrush, but he knew his friend wouldn't be happy until the Megaship was flying under her own power again.

Andros' eyes locked with his, and his frown faded a little. *She'll be all right,* Zhane promised his friend, getting to his feet.

Andros' mouth quirked in silent acknowledgement. "Let's do it," he said aloud, looking around to catch everyone's eye. "We'll meet back here as soon as we can."

They had finally finished preparations in the research dome. With the Megaship docked above Aquitar and "charging" on station power once more, Ashley and Jeff had elected to rejoin their teammates there. He had excused himself on the grounds that he needed to change before the ceremony, and Cassie had claimed that there were things she needed from their room on Aquitar.

Of course, he reflected with a smile, the first thing she had done on returning to their room was to throw herself down on the bed and declare that she wasn't moving for the rest of the day. He suspected that it wasn't "things" she needed so much as the relative peace that had been sorely lacking in all their lives of late.

She had disappeared into the bathroom a few minutes later, so it clearly hadn't taken her long to forget her vow of immovability. He stood in front of the window, contemplating his dim reflection in the curved surface. The bright red of his old Elisian Ranger tunic was a startling contrast to the black he had grown so accustomed to, and he found himself staring at it in the reflected light of the room's interior.

The light moved a little, and he turned to see Cassie standing behind him. She had one hand over her mouth, her eyes wide as she regarded his old Ranger uniform. He looked down self-consciously, his hair falling in his eyes as he moved, and he wondered what she saw.

"Saryn," Cassie murmured, letting her hand fall as looked at him. "You look... that's your Ranger uniform, isn't it. Your real one."

He nodded wordlessly. His belt was tighter than it had been once--he kept forgetting to eat, even with her to remind him--and he had never been one to wear his hair long until recently. But other than that, it was like stepping backwards in time.

"You look happy," she whispered, and he looked up in surprise. "You do," she insisted. "Or relaxed, or... something."

"Normal?" he offered softly. The word slipped out before he could think better of it.

"Less... haunted," she corrected, studying him. "But yeah--I guess "normal" is as good a word as any. You don't look like the Shadow Ranger anymore."

He smiled a little. "I do not feel like the Shadow Ranger," he admitted, knowing her use of the title he had adopted after Elisia had been deliberate. "I feel like... Saryn."

She breathed out in amusement, a smile lighting her face. "You like it."

"It's a good thing I like having you in my mind," he teased, just to see her blush. She squirmed uncomfortably, looking up at him from under her eyelashes, and his heart melted. "Yes," he admitted softly. He reached out to touch her chin, tilting her face up again. "I do like it."

She hesitated, searching his expression. "Would you go back?"

"And be without you?" He didn't even have to think about it. "No. But I would go on, and the Shadow Ranger cannot do that."

"No," she repeated thoughtfully, a far-off look in her eyes. "I guess not."

He caressed her cheek and smoothed her hair back over her shoulder. "I can't do it without you, either," he said quietly, not taking his eyes off of her.

Her gaze fixed on his again, and her smile brightened. "You won't have to," she promised. "I'm not going anywhere."

He wished he could be content with that, but he felt compelled to warn her, "Things may be somewhat... different, now."

She shrugged, reaching up to comb his hair away from his face gently. "It was never 'things' that I loved. It's just you. I don't care what happens as long as we're together."

He pulled her into a hug, feeling her return it immediately. "That is how I feel as well," he murmured. The hand that had been playing with his hair now rested comfortably on his chest, her fingers overlaying the Elisian sunburst logo, and he could smell the sweet scent of her hair as she snuggled against him. Her contentment settled over him, and he smiled to himself. As long as they were together, there was nothing they couldn't do.

"Cassie!"

She looked up at the sound of Andros' voice, turning away from the observation window that looked out on the main portion of the research dome. "Hey, Andros."

He smiled briefly in greeting, glancing over her shoulder. "It looks like they're just about ready."

"Yeah," she agreed. She surveyed the mild chaos taking place in the visitors' lounge. "The question is, are *we* ready?"

His smile widened. "We will be. It always looks worse just before things settle down. Hey, I just wanted to let you know that your mom was poking around the dojo when we were on Earth."

Her stomach clenched and she just stared at him until she remembered to breathe. "Oh," she managed, trying to make her voice sound normal. The nagging sense of something forgotten had vanished, replaced by an unreasonable dread at the mention of her mother. "Thanks."

He studied her, his expression saying he knew full well that there was more to her reaction than she was revealing. "You all right?"

She swallowed, and suddenly she felt Saryn behind her. "What is wrong?" he wanted to know, his hand resting protectively on the small of her back. "Are you all right?"

She had to laugh, relaxing a little. "Yeah, I'm fine." Her mom wasn't a part of her life anymore, and someday she would get over that instinctive response to any mention of her parents. Her friends were what counted now. "Andros just saw my mom at the dojo on Earth, that's all. Ashley's parents probably mentioned that we hang out there sometimes."

She could feel Saryn's gentle concern harden, shifting somehow, but his voice was neutral as he said, "I would like to meet your mother at some point."

She winced. "That's probably not a good idea--"

"Sorry to interrupt," Billy said, appearing from the crowd at Andros' side. "But Darian wanted me to give you these. He says he'd be honored if you would wear the crest of the fighter wing."

Cassie glanced down at the pin he offered her, then up at Saryn. He accepted the crest without a word, but she had to protest, "I only flew with them a handful of times!"

Billy shrugged. He was wearing one of the pins too, she noticed. "That's enough to make you a reserve member of the wing, and all the Aquitian reserve members have crests. There was some debate over whether you two should be included, because you're not of Aquitar, but Darian can be very convincing when he wants to be."

She accepted the pin reluctantly, and Billy flashed a smile at her before turning away again. "I don't even know what to do with this," she murmured, turning it over in her fingers.

Saryn reached over her shoulder and took it from her, turning her around to face him. "You wear it," he told her, amusement lighting his blue eyes. "What else would you do with it?"

She couldn't help smiling, looking down as he fastened the pin to her jacket for her. He wore his on his sleeve, just above the two gold stripes on his right arm, but he put hers on the front of her jacket next to the NASADA symbol that all of the Astro Rangers had adopted. "Is that acceptable?" he asked, tapping her chin gently to make her look up.

"Yeah," she murmured, gazing back at him. "That's perfect; thanks."

"We have a problem," Andros said, from somewhere nearby. He didn't speak loudly, but somehow he managed to get everyone's attention. She glanced over in time to see every eye in the room turn toward Andros.

*It must have been the word "problem",* she thought wryly. *No one wants to hear that right now.*

Andros had to have realized that too, and he didn't keep them in suspense. "Has anyone seen Carlos?"

"Do you ever notice that you start to associate colors with the people you like?"

"Yes... I did not realize it was a common phenomenon."

"I'm not sure it is. Maybe it's a Ranger thing. We're all so attuned to a particular color anyway..."

"But if that were so, surely I would associate you with black."

"You don't? You've always struck me as a very red person."

"You make me think of green."

"I used to be the Green Ranger, on my old team."

"I wonder if there is any significance in the fact that we associate each other with opposite colors."

"Opposites attract?"

"Billy says that sometimes. I had never thought it very likely until recently."

His morpher beeped, startling both of them.

"I think someone wants our attention."

"You should answer it. It could be important."

"It could be nothing."

"What time is it?"

"It could be tomorrow, for all I know."

Her communicator chimed.

"You should answer that. It could be important."

"It probably is not."

They exchanged smiles. Then, reluctantly, he disentangled his hand from hers reached around her to activate his communicator. "This is Carlos."

"Are you planning to be in this ceremony or not?" Andros' voice demanded.

He blinked. "Why, what time is it?"

"Let's put in this way," Ashley's voice told him. "You have five minutes to get your butt down here or we're going without you."

"That late, huh?" Strangely, her deadline didn't startle him. It was hard to be really upset over anything when the girl he loved was tucked securely in his arms.

"Yeah, that late," Andros retorted. "I don't suppose you've seen Aura?"

He cleared his throat, exchanging guilty glances with her. "Uh, yeah. She's right here, actually."

"Good. Cetaci wants to talk to her. Five minutes, both of you."

The comm link ended abruptly, and he sighed. "So much for paradise. Cetaci's going to kill me, you know."

She let out a soft sound of amusement. "Do not worry. I will protect you."

He smiled. "Then I know I'll be okay. We'd better get going."

She stirred, turning her face toward him for a kiss before she slithered out of his embrace. He was only too happy to oblige, and his arms felt empty when she pulled away. She climbed to her feet without effort, apparently unaffected by what had to have been more than an hour of sitting on the floor, and he followed more awkwardly.

"Your uniform is a mess," he said, regarding her critically.

"Yours is no less so," she answered, tucking her shirt back in.

He straightened his jacket and ran his hands through his hair, watching her rewrap the black tunic she wore over her colored shirt. His hair elastic was nowhere to be found, and she looked up just as he started to glance around for it. "Missing something?" she inquired.

He opened his mouth to say "yes" when he realized she was holding it out to him. He grinned, catching her hand and pulling her closer. "Just you."

She squeezed his fingers and twisted away, leaving the black elastic in his hand. "Later," she said firmly. "Cetaci will not start without us, no matter what Andros says, but she will not be pleased if we are late."

"I don't think she's going to be pleased anyway," he muttered, pulling his hair away from his face.

She shook her hair out, running her fingers through new tangles in her now dry hair. "Perhaps not," she agreed, twisting it into its customary ponytail. "But she will accept it. Shall we go?"

He nodded, holding up his morpher to indicate that he was ready. She smiled, and he returned it automatically. "Do *not* smile at me during the ceremony," he warned, trying to put on a poker face and failing miserably. "You know I'll just grin like an idiot, and that will look really good on the news."

Her smile widened. "I would not mind seeing that."

She touched her communicator and vanished into a flash of red before he could come up with an appropriate retort. He just shook his head, well aware that he was still grinning foolishly but with no choice other than to follow.

"Where *were* you two?" Ashley hissed, as Carlos slipped into his place beside her.

"The control room," he whispered back.

"Andros says you were there when he left!"

"So?"

"So what were you doing the whole time?"

"Making out," he whispered matter-of-factly.

She stared at him, but he was looking in the other direction by now. Karen and Jason had elected to watch the ceremony from the observation lounge rather than the midst of the audience. They were both standing in the doorway down the hall now, offering silent moral support, and she saw Karen catch his eye when he looked in her direction. Even Ashley saw the subtle thumbs-up the other girl flashed at him, and she heard Carlos breathe a soft sigh of relief.

"You did talk to her, didn't you?" she murmured.

"Who, Aura or Karen?"

"Both!"

"Yes," he said simply.

Then the doors to the main room slid open and Saryn and Kerone stepped forward, and there was no more time for talk. She followed TJ out into the hushed, almost reverent air of an audience chamber that seemed so much smaller when filled to capacity with intelligent life. She saw Carlos straighten out of the corner of her eye, and she imitated him without thinking about it.

It was a disconcerting feeling to have all those eyes on them, but it was nothing compared to climbing up on the platform and turning around to stare back at them all. *Spooky,* she thought, doing her best to stare straight ahead. She didn't realize she had projected the thought until the spark that was Andros' presence in her mind brightened as he focused on her.

*Smile,* he reminded her quietly, and she almost laughed.

*You're one to talk!*

"The Rangers you see before you have brought about the defeat of Dark Spectre," Cetaci declared, gazing steadily out over the assembled crowd. "We have gathered in their name and for their honor."

Ashley lifted her right hand and placed it over her heart as they all did, and she watched Cetaci walk past her toward the end of the line. The White Ranger turned so that she was looking toward the other end of the platform and announced, "Alison Carter."

Ali's movement was steady as she extended her right hand. An embroidered Earth insignia was displayed prominently on the left front of her jacket, courtesy of DECA. It was rimmed with silver and overlaid with the designation "V6". "I'm honored to serve," she told Cetaci calmly.

Ashley still hadn't seen these "ribbons" up close, but it seemed to take only seconds for Cetaci to lay one across Ali's wrist. She didn't dare turn and see what it looked like, so she just waited patiently while Cetaci presented ribbons to Justin and Tessa.

Then the White Ranger stood in front of her, and she lifted her chin a little as Cetaci said, "Ashley of Earth." She had been the only one to use "of Earth" instead of her last name, but she found she preferred it. Somehow it seemed more symbolic than just "Ashley Hammond".

"I'm honored to serve," she said, extending her right hand, palm up. Cetaci caught her eye and smiled slightly. Surprised, she smiled back, and the other Ranger laid a gold stripe across the cuff of her Astro jacket. The "ribbon" curled around her sleeve of its own accord, the two ends joining together and somehow melding with the fabric.

She withdrew her hand, trying not to look too startled as Cetaci stepped forward and said TJ's name. No wonder it was going so quickly. Now that she had gotten a good look at what Cetaci was giving them, she understood the stripes on Saryn's uniform. The right sleeve of his Elisian tunic already displayed two of the gold ribbons, and she couldn't help wondering how he had gotten them.

"Andros of KO-35."

Her attention snapped back to the ceremony just in time to catch Andros' reply, and she smiled to herself at the sound of his voice. It was amazing how quickly he could switch between boyfriend, leader, and completely befuddled "alien". She did admit that the "befuddled alien" persona was showing up less frequently, but he had never lost the ability to put everything aside and be in command when it was called for.

Though the room had remained almost silent since the stir that accompanied their entrance, Saryn's name produced an unmistakable murmur. Her eyes flicked across the crowd, trying to isolate it, but it was impossible. There was no overt movement, nothing said loudly enough to be distinguishable... but the reaction was there nonetheless.

The murmur did not abate with the pronouncement of Kerone's name--if anything it grew louder, more restless. She hadn't been sure how many people actually knew who Kerone was, but Andros' sister certainly hadn't gone to any lengths to hide it. If the news hadn't been out before, the blatant symbol of Astronema's power on the back of Kerone's uniform ought to do it.

After Saryn and Kerone, the presentation went smoothly. The name "Billy of Aquitar" didn't seem to raise any eyebrows at all, but Ashley couldn't tell whether it was because his affiliation was common knowledge or if he had just been upstaged.

Finally Cetaci made her way back down the line, and Saryn stepped forward to meet her. He took the last golden ribbon from her, and nodded as she put her hand over her heart. "Cetaci of Aquitar," he said, but before she could respond he continued, "You have led us well in the fight against Dark Spectre. Though largely untried, your team has proven itself again and again during recent events.

"The fall of Dark Spectre must signal a significant blow to the forces of evil, and perhaps in the days to come we will reclaim Eltare from the darkness that now holds it hostage. Perhaps we will push that darkness back even farther, and reestablish the border we claim rightfully as our own.

"But in the meantime, Cetaci of Aquitar, it is my hope that this part of the universe may look to your planet, and to you, for the guidance and leadership that has been so sorely lacking since Eltare's fall. On behalf of all of us here, thank you for your efforts in the war against evil."

Cetaci's face was flushed, but her voice was strong as she replied, "It is my honor to serve in any way that I can."

Saryn laid the gold ribbon across her wrist, and it slithered around the cuff of her tunic and embedded itself there, glittering in the bright light of the dome. Saryn took a step back, and she turned to regard the audience. There was a brief pause where Ashley wondered if the unplanned compliment had actually flustered the White Ranger, and then Cetaci announced, "The teams of Aquitar, Kerova, and Earth."

Staring around the dome, she said simply, "We are the soldiers that defend you. We are Power Rangers."

And the dome erupted into applause.

30. Remember This

"Cross your fingers," Ashley murmured.

Zhane glanced up at her, pretending to be offended. "Have you no faith in our work?"

She wrinkled her nose at him good-naturedly, smiling down from her perch on the engine room's upper level. She had put her book aside to watch, although he suspected she had never truly been reading. He had caught her watching Andros too often and turning pages too infrequently to believe she was doing homework.

"DECA," Andros said, holding up his crossed fingers. "Bring the engines online."

"Slowly," Astrea murmured at his side.

Zhane chuckled, but he too held his breath as the core flickered to life. The warm glow strengthened until it was bright enough to see by, and a familiar hum permeated the ship as the engines started to power up. The hum deepened and leveled off, but still no one said anything.

Finally, DECA announced, "Engines are online."

Zhane glanced over at Andros, and found him calling up stats on the power grid. "The core's stable," Andros told them, not bothering to disguise the relief in his voice. "I'm switching us over to internal power."

The lights didn't even flicker as the Megaship disengaged from station power and settled back into its normal dependence on the core's energy. Zhane felt a grin spread across his face, and he fumbled for Astrea's hand. She squeezed his fingers just as DECA reported, "The Megaship is on internal power."

"Clear us for dock departure," Andros said, not looking up.

DECA must have kept her link with the station's computer even after the power transfer was complete, for her answer came back immediately. "We're cleared for departure."

Andros paused at last, though he didn't take his eyes off the console in front of him. "Disengage."

Zhane looked up at DECA's camera. She was as proud as Andros, and he knew she was just as anxious to prove that the Megaship was under her own power again. He could feel the subtle vibration as the massive ship broke away from the orbital station, and a moment later DECA confirmed it. "The Megaship is in self-propelled Aquitian orbit."

"Yeah!" Ashley exclaimed, bringing her hands together delightedly.

Zhane laughed, but they all felt her enthusiasm. He saw the unabashed grin on his friend's face as Andros looked up, and then Astrea's hand slid out of his and she threw her arms around him. Startled, he hugged her back, and he smiled when he heard her murmur, "We really won, Zhane."

"Yeah," he agreed, listening for the comforting purr of the engines through the decking. The glow of the Megaship's heart cast warm highlights across Astrea's pale hair, and he knew the last member of their team had finally been restored. "We really did."

"We have a couple more tests," Andros began, and they all heard Ashley's exaggerated sigh.

"Honestly, Andros," she said, and Zhane looked up to see her gazing fondly down at his best friend. "Just be happy for a few minutes!"

"I am happy," he insisted. He broke off as she put her hands on the edge of the upper level and swung off, twisting to land in a peculiarly graceful manner on the floor. "Don't do that!"

Astrea pulled away from him to regard Ashley with something Zhane suspected was a combination of admiration and surprise, and Ashley just laughed. "Why not?"

'Because my heart stops every time you pull one of those stunts," Andros informed her frankly.

She sauntered over to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. "What, like this?" she murmured, leaning in to kiss him. She didn't let go, and the heat between them was startlingly obvious.

Zhane and Astrea exchanged glances. "Maybe we should start the diagnostics," she offered, amusement sparkling in her eyes.

"Good plan," he agreed quickly. "Race you to the Bridge."

She smirked, and he saw the violet light flare around her instantly. "Not fair!" he exclaimed, but she was already gone.

Zhane's eyes narrowed, and he looked up at DECA's camera again. "DECA--" The world dissolved into silver before he could finish speaking, and he found himself on the Bridge within seconds.

"You cheated," Astrea accused, as the silver sparkles fell away.

"*I* cheated?" he retorted indignantly. Only then did he realize there were other people on the Bridge. "Oh, hi guys."

"Hey," Cassie answered, her hands coming to rest on Saryn's shoulders. "Tell Saryn to stop watching the news."

"Saryn, stop watching the news," Zhane repeated, going over to the nav console.

Instead of joining him, Astrea cocked her head at the screen. "That's the ceremony from this afternoon."

"Part of it," Cassie agreed. "IN's been running coverage of it almost every hour. Saryn's been watching since we got back from Earth."

"How did it go on Earth?" Zhane asked, diverted. The hyperrush diagnostic flashed to life, and he looked up at them while it ran. "No one had to explain where they'd been all afternoon?"

"Not yet," Cassie said, with an amused smile. "They're all SOS."

He blinked. "What?"

"They're calling themselves the SOS squad now," Cassie said, her smile widening. "Significant others and siblings of Power Rangers. They figure everyone's used to them vanishing without explanation by now."

"Did TJ come back with you?" Astrea asked, tearing her eyes away from the screen long enough to glance around the Bridge. "DECA didn't tell us when you got back."

"No, he stayed," Cassie said. An odd look flickered across her face. "The six of them were having a party at the dojo to celebrate, and he decided to stay on Earth with Tess."

Saryn finally looked up. "She left, Cassie."

Cassie patted his shoulder absently, shifting on her feet. "I know. I just don't really know what to think about it."

"About what?" Zhane wanted to know, starting the power grid diagnostic that Andros had already run. Hyperrush had come up fine, but there was no sense in not being thorough.

"My mom," Cassie said neutrally. "She must have been on a stakeout of the dojo or something, because she was there again when we arrived."

"We spoke with her briefly," Saryn put in, turning around in his chair and putting his hand over Cassie's. "I do not believe she will bother you again."

Cassie looked nonplused. "I just can't believe… she liked you."

A look flashed across Saryn's face. It was one Zhane had never seen on him, but it lingered, and finally he put his finger on it: smug satisfaction. "She did not like me," Saryn said calmly. "Surely you saw that."

Cassie frowned a little at him. "Are you sure? I haven't seen her be that civil to someone in… I don't know how long."

"I am certain. She did not like me, but you surprised her. She is convinced now that you are beyond her reach."

"Wait," Zhane said slowly, not sure he wanted to get into this but unable to resist asking. "I don't understand. You're glad that you scared Cassie's mom?"

"We didn't scare her," Cassie protested, but Saryn nodded once.

"Yes," he said, looking vaguely pleased with himself. "I'm glad that we scared her, because it means that Cassie will be her own person until the law of her world says that she is."

"Right," Zhane agreed slowly, looking from one to the other. But they were gazing at each other to the exclusion of all else, and he couldn't help remembering that Cassie had said, "Sometimes there are words…"

He glanced at Astrea instead, but she was studying the main screen. "They don't know who I am," she murmured to herself, obviously not paying much attention to the conversation around her.

He started the last diagnostic and went around the row of stations to join her. "IN?" he guessed.

She nodded, pointing at the screen. "They keep saying, 'Kerone-who-wears-Astronema's-symbol', not 'Kerone-who-used-to-be-Astronema'. It's strange."

He shrugged. "Who cares what they say? They'll figure it out eventually, and in the meantime we can laugh at them."

She turned, giving him a searching look. "How much will it matter, do you think?"

He could see the worry in her eyes, and he frowned. "It doesn't matter at all to the people who care about you," he pointed out. "Since when do you care what the rest of the universe thinks?"

The corner of her mouth lifted in a familiar smirk. "Not since I met you," she said resolutely, and the tender words melted his heart.

"Same here," he said, very softly.

"Oh, how sweet," Cassie teased, and he tried not to blush. He hadn't meant that to be overheard. "If that didn't convince you to turn off the news, Saryn, I don't know what will."

"DECA," Saryn began, and the IN signal vanished from the screen. He gave a token sigh, but he didn't look all that upset. "Thank you."

DECA's camera blinked pertly at him. "You're welcome, Saryn."

Zhane looked up in surprise, but Saryn didn't object. "When did you start calling him Saryn?"

"Saryn asked me to call him by name when he returned from Earth," DECA replied. Her tone added "finally", even if her words did not, and Saryn smiled a little. He too had caught the implied exasperation, but he said nothing.

"I feel like doing something," Cassie said suddenly.

Zhane gave her a suspicious look. "You could help us with the engines, if you're that bored."

"Not *work*," she complained, in such an exaggerated tone that he had to grin. "Come on--let's get Andros and Ashley and go to the Simudeck for a while."

"What about Carlos?" Astrea asked, and silently he heard, *You ask them.*

*He's your brother,* he replied.

*He's your best friend.*

*Which means he's more likely to kill me if I interrupt. You can't kill blood relatives.*

"I believe he went down to Aquitar after dinner," Saryn offered. "He said Aura had invited him to celebrate with her team."

"I bet she did," Cassie muttered under her breath.

Zhane looked at her with deliberately wide eyes. Carlos and Aura's reconciliation had been common knowledge five minutes after the ceremony ended. "Why, Cassie, are you insinuating that Carlos lied?"

"Oh, I'm sure they're celebrating," she said, straight-faced. "I'm just not sure they're doing it with the rest of the team."

*Speaking of which…* He mentally prodded Astrea again, and she shot him a venomous look. *Okay, okay, I'll do it!* he exclaimed hastily.

Before he could say anything, though, she announced, "Ashley says she'll drag Andros to the Simudeck, if you want." Her tone was perfectly calm, though there was the hint of a smug look in her eyes as she glanced over at him.

He only shook his head, wondering if she had thought Ashley would be easier to convince than Andros. *I think you cheated… but I'm not exactly sure how.*

"Great!" Cassie exclaimed. "Let's go!"

She frowned down at the person seated in the grass by the simulated pavement. Dressed in borrowed jeans and one of Andros' t-shirts, he watched the game from the twilight shadows surrounding the brightly lit "court". He regarded the scene with a mild interest that so far had not led to his actual participation, and she suspected his interest had more to do with one of the players than the game itself.

"You don't skate," she observed anyway, not knowing how else to begin the conversation.

Saryn looked up, not seeming surprised by her sudden presence. "Neither do you," he replied easily.

"I don't play street hockey," she corrected. "I do skate; Ashley taught me."

He smiled in acknowledgment. "Will you sit?"

She had planned to, but the invitation surprised her nonetheless. Kerone dropped to the ground beside him, folding her legs in front of her and propping her chin on her fist. Ashley and Zhane had teamed up against Andros and Cassie on the unmarked pavement, and while they had offered to teach the game to their friends it frankly seemed like too much work to her.

"Is it strange to see Kerovan constellations after so long?" Saryn asked, and she looked over at him in surprise. He had tilted his head up and she followed his gaze, regarding the "stars" overhead critically.

To be honest, she remembered little more than vague flashes of her childhood on KO-35. She was about to tell him so when a sparkling triangle caught her eye against the oncoming indigo of night. Andros…

It was strange to suddenly remember something she was sure she had had no memory of only a moment before, but she knew Andros had shown her that constellation. She had a vivid mental image of their tent in the backyard, and his hand as he guided her eyes to those very stars. The two of them were the stars, and the third one had been Zhane--she *did* remember him from KO-35, after all.

"Yes," she said, startled. She sought out Andros with her eyes, and then Zhane. No wonder their voices had always seemed so familiar… how much time had they spent together, before the day Darkonda came? "It--it *is* strange."

She shook her head, focusing on Saryn again. He was watching her now, instead of the sky, and she smiled to let him know she was all right. "I'm a little surprised Andros picked this program, actually."

"As am I," Saryn said quietly. "I hope someday that this…" He gestured around them, to where the buildings of Keyota were visible as dim outlines and the lights of the town shimmered faintly in the deepening twilight. "This may be more than a computer program."

"It was once," she said, gazing up at the sky for confirmation. "It will be again."

"And when it is," he began, and the curious note in his voice caught her attention. "Will you go home?"

Home. The word triggered immediate thoughts of the Dark Fortress, causing near limitless commotion in its high altitude Aquitian orbit. It had maintained radio silence since its arrival, but she knew whom it belonged to. The Dark Fortress was Ecliptor's now, even as the Megaship was hers. Hers and the Rangers'. But was it home?

Her eyes slid toward the others again. "Yes," she said slowly. "I'll go back to KO-35 someday. But not because it's KO-35."

"You'll go because they will," he surmised, following her gaze.

"Yes," she agreed quietly. There was no need to define "they".

"What about you?" she asked, a few moments later. "What will you do?"

He didn't answer right away, and she looked over at him questioningly. Saryn was staring straight ahead, but somehow she didn't think he was seeing what she saw. Finally he shrugged a little and offered, "The Frontier Defense will push for a siege on Eltare, and the Alliance will no doubt go along with it. With Dark Spectre gone and no one to organize the forces of evil in his place, it will not be long before Eltare rises again."

She studied him. "Is that what you want?"

He turned a measured gaze on her, and she couldn't read anything in his eyes. "Everyone wants the liberation of Eltare."

"No," she said slowly. "That's not what I mean. What do *you* want? If… if you had one wish, what would it be?"

She saw the expression flicker across his face instantly, and she amended, "Two wishes, then. After Cassie, what would the second one be?"

He actually laughed, which surprised her. He ran a hand through his hair in a gesture that reminded her of Zhane and admitted, "You know me too well for someone whom I only met a few weeks ago."

"Maybe I identify with you," she said softly, though the compliment pleased her more than she could let on.

His smile faded as he regarded her, and she thought she saw sympathy in his eyes. "Maybe we are more alike than I wanted to admit, at first," he said finally. "Perhaps… that may be why I distrusted you. I hope you have forgiven me for that."

It was her turn to laugh. "You could hardly think I held it against you. It was everyone else who surprised me, by being so friendly. But you were there when I needed you, and that's what matters."

"You were there for me, as well," he said, glancing over at the court again. "I never thanked you for that."

She bit her lip. "I never *apologized* for that," she countered ruefully. "I shouldn't have gotten involved."

He was smiling as he watched their teammates. "Good things came of it," he told her. "I appreciated your concern more than I told you at the time."

She smiled to herself, but when the conversation faded again she remarked, "You never answered the question."

He turned innocent blue eyes on her. "Didn't I?"

"No," she said sternly, trying not to giggle at his expression. She'd bet that worked really well on Cassie. "What do you want, Saryn?"

He didn't answer right away, but after a moment he looked down. "I want my home back," he said, very softly. "But Elisia's freedom is a long way in the future yet."

She wasn't sure how to answer. It was obviously an answer close to his heart, but she wondered if it was *the* answer. "Not so long," she said gently, deciding not to press the issue. "Eltare will see to that."

"Eltare will have enough reconstruction of its own to worry about," he said, turning his head a little to watch the game again. "There is still time."

"There is still time…" She was trying to puzzle that out when Cassie shrieked, and she looked up in time to see the other girl tumble to the ground. The scrape of her plastic wristguards was loud on the pavement as she tried awkwardly to break her fall.

Saryn stiffened, a split-second from jumping to his feet, but Cassie just tossed her head back and laughed. He relaxed a little as Andros helped her to her feet, and she waved over at him to indicate that she was fine. Something in the way he smiled at her made Kerone realize, "You don't think she'd come with you."

He tilted his head in her direction, but he didn't meet her eyes. "She has her own life," he said quietly. "It does not involve the Defense. Or the frontier, should it ever be reestablished."

And Saryn of Elisia couldn't give everything up and disappear onto Earth the way the Phantom Ranger could. He had relinquished his anonymity, and with it any chance of escaping from the public eye. But he had done it for her… anyone could see how closely the two of them were bound together.

"But her life does involve you," she pointed out, careful to keep her voice low. "You're probably the only thing she won't ever give up--you must know that."

He pushed his hair out of his eyes again, not looking up. "I hope so," he murmured. "I truly hope so, Kerone."

"Hey!" Cassie's exultant shout interrupted before she could wonder at his doubt, and the Pink Ranger skidded to a stop at the edge of the pavement. She stepped carefully off into the grass and threw herself down beside them. "What's up?"

Saryn regarded her fondly. "I fail to understand how you can have so much energy after today."

"What?" she said, feigning disbelief. "It's not even midnight! Plus we just won--"

"Did not!" Zhane yelled, and she smirked.

"Depending on whose rules you follow," she offered as an aside, pulling her wristguards off. "Telekinesis or non-telekinesis."

"It wasn't telekinesis!" Zhane protested, and she turned and stuck her tongue out at him.

"Is that an--" He glanced at Saryn and broke off, grinning. "Never mind. We still won!"

She just waved her hand at him in dismissal and turned back to Saryn. Her demeanor changed abruptly, going from triumphant to seductive in the blink of an eye. "You're not saying you're tired, are you?" she purred.

Kerone watched with interest as Saryn's entire focus shifted to Cassie. The rest of the Simudeck might as well have ceased to exist. "Sleep is not high on my list of priorities right now, no," he murmured.

"Good," she said firmly, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and pressing her mouth to his. As reserved as he normally was, it amused Kerone no end to see Saryn return the deliberately provocative kiss with the same intensity that Cassie expressed.

The shadows on the grass moved, and she looked up to see Zhane standing over her. "Since I think Cassie's done with street hockey for the night," he said with a grin, "want to help me beat Andros and Ashley?"

She hesitated, but if it had seemed like too much work a half-hour ago, it definitely seemed so now. "Sorry," she said reluctantly. "I'm sort of tired. I think I'm going to go to bed, but… maybe you could teach me tomorrow."

He brightened immediately. "That would be fun," he agreed, offering his hand to her. "Can I walk you back to your room?"

She clasped his hand with a smile and let him pull her to her feet. "I'd like that."

"Hey!" Ashley exclaimed, as he bumped her shoulder gently. "No checking!"

She slapped her stick against his and he couldn't help pushing her again. The others had called it a night, and it was just the two of them still fooling around on the court. "I wasn't checking! You were in the way!"

She spun away from him, too quickly for him to imitate on skates, and he took off after her. He knew he wouldn't catch her in time, but they weren't technically playing anymore… he reached out with his mind and nudged the ball away from her hockey stick.

"Hey!" she protested immediately. She slid one skate around behind her and whirled, making the maneuver look incredibly easy. "You're just Mr. Rulebreaker tonight, aren't you!"

Andros grinned, reaching out to slap the ball toward the other end of the court--and he let out a yelp as it jerked erratically away from him. "*I'm* breaking the rules?" he demanded, glancing over at her in surprise.

She gave him a wide-eyed look. "Did I do that?"

He laughed, arcing around and coasting back toward her. "'Did I do that'," he mimicked, wrapping one arm around her shoulders to bring himself to a halt. "Your telekinesis is getting better!"

"Since when do you use me to stop!" She grabbed hold of his arm to balance, and she grinned at him as he rested his stick against the pavement. "I told you to practice with the brake!"

"Who needs a brake when I have you?" he asked recklessly, leaning in to kiss her. He couldn't be that close to her anymore without wanting her lips on his, and tonight he couldn't seem to resist the feeling.

He felt her shift, rearranging her feet so she could press against him, and he wished he could put both arms around her. She felt so warm and she wasn't quite close enough--especially when she pulled away enough to murmur, "Is that an invitation?"

"Do you need one?" He kissed her again, knowing the answer to that. Her enthusiasm was contagious, and he was tired of fighting it. He wanted so much to lose himself in her…

She pulled away again, gently disentangling his arm from her shoulders. "Yeah," she said softly. She smiled at him, but he could see the seriousness behind her expression as she turned away. With a few quick strokes she had put considerable distance between them, skating to the side of the court in belated pursuit of the ball. Only when she reached it did she add over her shoulder, "When it comes to us, I do need an invitation, Andros. I keep… I keep trying to remember that."

He watched her avoid his gaze, wondering if he was supposed to understand that. "What do you mean?" he asked carefully.

She shrugged, tapping her hockey stick idly against the pavement. "I know what we've said, and I'm trying to respect it. That's all."

She shifted, about to send the ball rolling in his direction. He took a deep breath, trying to swallow his nervousness, and he skated over to her. She looked up, holding out her hand with a smile to help catch him. He caught her fingers and let her slow him down, but instead of letting go he pulled her closer.

"Ash," he said quietly. As close as she was he had to struggle to keep his eyes on hers, and he wondered if it was obvious. "It was--it *was* an invitation."

She stared at him, a smile spreading across her face. She bit her lip, but there was no way to hide that grin. "An invitation for what, exactly?" The challenge in her tone was at odds with her expression, and he hesitated.

She tilted her head, her smile softening at the look on his face. She lifted her hand and laid her fingers against his cheek, and before he knew it her lips were feather-soft on his. "An invitation for what, Andros?" she repeated quietly, turning her face to brush her cheek against his chin.

Her breath was warm on his skin, and he looked down as she loosened the wristguard on his right hand and tugged it off. She didn't step away from him to do it, and he wanted to wrap his arms around her more with each passing moment. But somehow, he didn't know how to say it.

She pulled his other wristguard off for him too, turning her face toward his as she did so, and that was a temptation he couldn't resist. He pressed his lips to hers, burying his hands in her hair and tentatively teasing her tongue with his. Her fingers tightened on his arm, and she leaned into him without protest.

His skate slipped as she moved, and she giggled. She clutched his shirt, looking away breathlessly as she whispered, "We could at least take our skates off, you know."

She knew. She had to know what he was thinking. He couldn't keep himself from blushing, but he let her pull him off the pavement onto the grass. She dropped to the ground in an amazingly graceful manner, considering her skates added a good three inches to her height.

She looked up with a smile on her face, and he blushed again as he realized he was staring at her. "What?" she asked, sounding amused as she pulled her wristguards off over her fingers. "What are you thinking?"

"That you're beautiful," he admitted softly, sitting awkwardly in the grass beside her. "I'm trying to remember not knowing you… and I can't."

"I feel like I've always known you too," she said, smiling down at her skates as she unlaced them. "It's funny--I keep looking up in class and expecting to see you in the next seat or something."

"I keep--" He broke off, realizing too late that he shouldn't tell her that. He looked down at his own skates, focusing all his attention on tugging them off.

She wasn't fooled. "You keep what?"

He shrugged, uncomfortably aware of her stretching her legs out in front of her and flexing her feet happily. She was wearing jeans instead of shorts, but it didn't matter--he thought she could wrap herself in a blanket and still be devastatingly beautiful. "I keep waking up in the morning and wondering where you are," he blurted out.

She let out her breath in amusement, and he saw her move out of the corner of his eye. When he glanced over at her, she was lying on her back in the grass, hands over her head as she stared up at the "sky". He swallowed hard, wondering if she could possibly know how… how *desirable* she looked.

"I think I've snuck into your room too many times," she said abruptly, still looking up at the stars. "If you're thinking like that." Her tone was teasing, and it made him smile.

"Maybe you haven't done it enough," he countered, leaning back on his elbows carefully. He was surprised to hear those words come out of his mouth, but she just laughed and he relaxed a little.

"You'd better be careful," she warned, putting her hands behind her head and turning her head to look at him. "I might start thinking you're serious."

He pushed himself up again, resting his weight on his hands and not looking at her. "Maybe I am."

"Andros…" He heard her shift a little, and he could feel her sitting up. This close he didn't even have to see her, he could just tell. "You never answered my question," she said quietly.

He glanced over at her inadvertently. Her dark eyes drew him in, and he reached out to touch her face gently. "I thought I did," he murmured, brushing her hair back.

He felt her lean into the caress, and he knew all he had to do was move a little closer… her lips were sweet against his before he was sure what had happened, and he returned her kiss eagerly. He felt her arms go around him, and the embrace made his skin tingle as much as any kiss.

Then she was tugging his hair free of its ponytail, and he felt her lips brush gently against his cheek, and his chin. He slid his free arm around her shoulders, tilting his head back and pulling her closer as she kissed his neck and ran her fingers through his hair. He was struck suddenly by the thought that this was serious--he wasn't going to stop her, and he knew what would happen.

He tried not to think about it, tried to concentrate only on her. It had never been this hard before. It had never been so difficult to keep his mind from racing when she wrapped her arms around him and filled his world with one tantalizing sensation after another. Usually he couldn't think at all by now, and he would pull blindly away from her with whatever willpower he had left.

But he wasn't doing that, and his mind felt disconcertingly removed from his body. He could feel her hands on his skin, but it wasn't *affecting* him the way it had so many times before. He lifted one hand to her chin and tilted her face up toward him again, pressing his mouth to hers and searching desperately for the way to drown himself in her.

*Andros…* He heard her voice in his mind as she pulled away, resting her forehead against his. He closed his eyes, his heart pounding in his ears as her words momentarily overwhelmed his own thoughts. *What do you want? What do you *really* want?*

He swallowed, clasping his hands loosely behind her neck. "You," he breathed, not opening his eyes.

"Do you?" she whispered back. "Or are you just saying that because you know I want *you*?"

He opened his eyes in surprise, but she didn't move and he couldn't see her expression so close. "You do?"

Her shoulders rose and fell in a silent sigh, and her breath tickled his skin. "You must have known that. I'm always so out of control around you…"

"It's one of the reasons I love you," he whispered. "You're so… spontaneous."

She actually giggled a little, drawing back to meet his gaze at last. "I guess that's one word for it," she admitted. "Andros, I don't want you to… to do anything just for me."

"And I don't want to do it just for me," he said quietly. "If it isn't for both of us, I don't think we should do it at all."

She stared at him for a moment, her eyes sparkling as they caught the light from the court and reflected it back at him. "Are we--talking about the same thing?" she murmured at last, searching his expression.

"I told you once that I wanted to wake up with you," he said softly, gazing back at her. "I have, more than once--" She smiled a little at that, and he added, "But never the way I meant it then. I mean it that way now, too… I want to wake up with you tomorrow."

Her smile didn't fade, and she laid her hand against the side of his face. "But?" she prompted gently.

He looked down. "Why does there always have to be a 'but'," he muttered, troubled not because she had asked but because there was.

"Because you felt different," she said simply.

He sighed soundlessly. She *would* notice… but if there was anyone he could trust with anything that was in his heart, it was her. "But I'm scared," he whispered, lifting his eyes to hers again.

"Why?" she asked quietly.

He shrugged, knowing it wasn't an answer. "I don't know," he said helplessly.

She didn't say anything right away, but the caring look on her face was all he needed. She made him feel like anything he thought or felt was all right, like he could do nothing unforgivable in her eyes--she made him feel loved. Unconditionally loved.

"It's funny," she said at last. "I'm--I'm nervous too. You'd think after everything we've been through together…"

"That was different," he said, relieved by her admission. Somehow, it was reassuring. He hugged her impulsively, wondering what he had ever done to deserve her love.

"Maybe not," she murmured, hugging him back. "Maybe we should just stop thinking. After all, it's not like we *have* to do this…" She squirmed out of his embrace a moment later and smiled up at him. "Just kiss me, Andros. Whatever happens, happens."

"I can do that," he said, smiling a little in return. He pulled her closer and kissed her gently, and he felt her arms slide around him again. There was probably no safer place in the world than in her arms, he thought absently.

Kissing her, at least, was as easy as it had ever been, and he felt himself relaxing at last. He could kiss her forever, and as she pressed closer he welcomed the heat of her body against his. He held her against him, barely noticing as she eased into his lap.

Her kiss was less demanding than it sometimes was, but somehow that only made it more suggestive. He had to keep recapturing her mouth--he couldn't tell if she was doing it on purpose, but it held his attention like nothing else and it started, bit by bit, to drive him crazy.

She shifted, and he caught his breath as he finally realized just how close she was. She couldn't move the slightest bit without him feeling it throughout his entire body, and when her kiss faded again he slid one hand around behind her head and pressed his mouth firmly to hers.

She returned the hungry kiss as though she had been waiting for it, and he gasped involuntarily when her fingers started to play with the hem of his t-shirt. Her fingers just barely brushed his skin, but it was enough to make him yearn for more.

"Still scared?" she murmured, nuzzling his cheek.

"Never," he breathed, tracing her shoulderblades and running his fingers down her spine. More than anything, he wanted to keep her this close forever. He wasn't sure what made him say it, but the next time he had a free breath he had to ask, "Still love me?"

"Silly," she whispered, drawing back until he lifted his eyes to hers. "Always have…"

She trailed off, clearly waiting. He found a new appreciation for telepathy as he reclaimed her mouth with his and answered silently, *Always will.*