Chapters:

1. Final Days

Neon green and pink flashed as the tennis ball flew past an open doorway, streaking down the hallway to bounce off the exterior wall and vanish around the curve of the corridor. Scrabbling toenails and a blur of yellow announced the tennis ball's would-be captor, and Jetson skidded across the metal decking and took off down the hallway in furious pursuit.

Cassie laughed, giving exuberant chase until her brain caught up with her about five steps past the Glider holding bay. She heard an excited bark from somewhere up ahead, but instead of following she stopped and retraced her steps, peering curiously into the holding bay to see if her eyes were playing tricks on her.

They weren't. She shook her head in disbelief. "What in the name of everything good are you doing up so early? And on a Saturday, no less!"

Her adopted brother shrugged eloquently. "I could ask you the same thing. Why are you and that dog making such a godawful racket at seven in the morning?"

She grinned, unable to contain herself. "Saryn's on his way in! He's going to be here in a few minutes; Jetson and I were going to meet him. What are you doing up?"

"Studying," Jeff admitted, tapping his pencil eraser on the tabletop. "DECA's trying to help me get ready for my chem final."

She made a face, but before she could answer Jetson came bounding back into the room. He slid across the deck toward her, ejecting the tennis ball at her feet and staring up at her expectantly. She laughed as he panted up at her, and she reached down to scratch his ears affectionately. "Good boy, Jetson. Here," she said, picking up the neon tennis ball again and tossing it out into the hallway. "Go get it!"

He needed no encouragement, for he was off after the garish object without a second's hesitation. The ball had rebounded off the far wall and bounced away down the corridor, and Jetson had to scramble to change his momentum in time to make it around the corner. He didn't skid at all, though--he was perfectly used to the metal deck, and the times he did slide she would swear he was doing it on purpose, for the sheer fun of it.

"His feet do okay on the deck?" Jeff asked, as though he was reading her mind.

"They seem to." She turned back to him, glancing down at the papers strewn across the table. "Are you sure you have enough stuff there? Maybe I could get you a couple more books or something."

"Yeah, thanks," he said wryly. He put his hands over his head and stretched, grimacing as he leaned back in the manner of someone who had been hunched in one place for too long. "It's a generous offer, but I'll have to pass. If I had one more thing to study, I think my head would explode."

"How long have you been here?" It was only seven, but he didn't look like he had just sat down.

Instead of looking at his watch, Jeff glanced up at DECA's camera.

"One hour and twenty-three minutes," the computer replied promptly.

"Thanks," Jeff said, and Cassie just stared at him.

"You got up at five-thirty to study chemistry?"

He shook his head. "I got up at five. It took me half an hour to get going." He caught her eye and added, "Believe me, you don't know the meaning of 'exam' until you've lived through finals week."

The unmistakable clatter of toenails on metal prevented her from reminding him that she didn't *want* to know, thank you very much. Jetson flung himself down at her feet, staring up at her with a very pointed look and not letting go of the tennis ball. When she reached for the ball anyway he scrambled backward, just out of reach, and resumed watching her with a slight wag of his tail.

"All right," she said with a laugh, "I'm coming. Good luck studying, Jeff."

He sighed, tapping his pencil on the table again. "Thanks. Have a good day."

"You too!" she called over her shoulder. Jetson let go of the tennis ball with an excited bark, leaping toward the doorway, and she paused just long enough to grab the ball before following him.

Jetson beat her to the hangar bay, as she had known he would. He was pawing at the door when she finally caught up. He whined once when he saw her, and she pointed at the red light above the door. "There's no air in there, Jetson. We have to wait until DECA repressurizes it."

The light flashed green, and Jetson let out a single bark. She laughed and reached out to key the door open, watching him bolt through the doorway the moment the opening was wide enough for him to fit. She stepped through after him, smiling as Jetson parked himself next to the base of the little starfighter and proceeded to bark continuously at the now-motionless ship.

The cockpit seals popped a moment later, and the canopy lifted away from the hull. A figure in red stood up and she waved, laughing as he glared down at Jetson. Leaving his helmet behind, Saryn swung over the side of the fighter and landed easily on the deck, striding past the vocal lab without a second glance.

"You'd think that dog had never seen me before," Saryn muttered, blue eyes catching hers from under bangs that weren't quite long enough to stay back in his ponytail. "Does he forget so quickly?"

"Hello to you too," she said, grinning up at him. "You're in a terrible mood."

His expression lightened noticeably, and the hint of a smile touched his eyes. "Less so, now that I'm with you," he countered. "You should have seen me earlier."

She giggled. "Did you leave, or did they throw you out?"

This time he did smile. "A little of both, I suspect." He reached out to brush her cheek with his fingers, adding, "I missed you."

She reached up and caught his hand, leaning into his touch for a moment. "Me too," she murmured, trying to gauge the look in his eyes. His empathic shields were firmly in place, a leftover precaution that he must not have noticed yet.

Then his flight suit swished quietly as he slid his arms around her, pulling her in close for a tender kiss that she never missed until he was gone. Unfortunately, she'd had ample opportunity to miss it lately, and that made the moment all the sweeter.

She noted distantly that Jetson had finally stopped barking. He had probably settled down on the deck, resigned to their displays of affection by now. She supposed that, to a dog, life was just a long series of hugs and kisses, so why should one be any more special than another?

"You," Saryn whispered in her ear, "are thinking about your dog." She couldn't quite contain a giggle when he added softly, "It's not very flattering."

"You're not supposed to be able to do that," she informed him, kissing him again.

"Nonetheless," he murmured, lifting one hand to her shoulder and scooping her loose hair back. She caught her breath as his mouth brushed against her neck, trailing gentle kisses across her bare skin. She closed her eyes, barely aware of her own fingers clutching his flight suit.

"That's better," he whispered a moment later, and she smiled to herself. Then he pressed his lips to hers, and she could feel him relaxing as she leaned into his embrace. His shields dissolved at last, and she could clearly hear him think, *I love you.*

She didn't know how he projected his thoughts like that anymore than she knew how he could pick up on hers. But she knew he would hear when she answered, *I love you too,* and that was all that really mattered.

Jetson whined softly.

She pulled away reluctantly, leaving her arm around Saryn as she regarded the yellow lab. His head rested on his paws, and he was giving them an extraordinarily pitiful look. She shook her head in fond resignation. "I suppose you think it's your turn," she told him.

He lifted his head eagerly and thumped his tail once, and she had to laugh. "I've been promising him some time in the park since I got up," she said, glancing up at Saryn. "Do you mind?"

He shook his head wordlessly, and she let go of him to wave at Jetson. "Come on, boy! Let's go!"

Jetson sprang forward, nudging his nose under her hand even as she reached down to pat him. Saryn shucked his flight suit with the ease born of long practice and stowed it in his starfighter before turning back to her. Her hand still resting on Jetson's head, she reached out to press her palm to his and a veil of crimson shimmered across her vision.

It was gone in seconds, and Jetson bounded forward across the sunlit grass of the park's east side. Teleportation had never seemed to faze him, which was a lucky thing considering that he had been subjected to it almost daily for the last three months of his life.

Glancing over at Saryn again, she remarked, "You came prepared." He wore a pair of Carlos' old jeans and a t-shirt that had once been TJ's--she had suggested several times that he get some California-style clothes of his own, but so far he hadn't been convinced.

"I changed before I left," he answered, sliding his fingers through hers as they trailed after the inexhaustible dog at a more sedate pace. "If blue jeans become popular on Elisia, I will have you to thank for it."

"You're the one spreading the madness," she teased. "You could have waited until you got here."

"I know you too well to believe you're that patient," he told her, and her eyes widened indignantly. "And they are easier to fit under a flight suit."

She shook her head, momentarily diverted. "I don't understand why you don't just morph. Wouldn't that be easier?"

"Yes," he agreed soberly. "But my flight suit has the Elisian Ranger logo on it."

"Oh," she murmured. "Your Ranger uniform doesn't."

It wasn't a question, but he shook his head anyway. "Elisia is struggling just to get basic food and medical supplies," he said quietly. "It is no different anywhere along the Border. If making the remaining Border Rangers highly visible raises awareness of the situation, it is the least we can do while we are offplanet."

She wasn't sure she liked his newfound tendency to refer to any place that wasn't Elisia as "offplanet", but she didn't comment on it. Instead she just squeezed his hand and stared after Jetson, who was rolling happily in the grass beside the pond. "How are they?"

"Proud," he said succinctly. "Determined. Mirine says hello, by the way. Linnse and Tobin send their regards as well."

"You're changing the subject," she said, stopping to turn and look at him. She didn't let go of his hand, and he was forced to halt as well. She stared at him, trying to see past the echo in his eyes to the true feeling underneath. "What's it like on Elisia?"

He gazed back at her for a long moment. His expression didn't change, but he must have seen something in hers, for at last he answered, "It's a planet of survivors, Cassie. We survived Dark Spectre once, and we'll do it again. We will rebuild our home. But it isn't going to be easy."

"That bad?" she asked gently.

His expression flickered, and a rueful smile flitted across his face. "Yes," he admitted, his eyes acknowledging her desire for honesty. "The terraformed ecosystems were always fragile, and I'm afraid 'marginally habitable' is now a generous term for much of what remains. Power is scarce and food is scarcer, yet people continue to return."

And they probably overburdened what few resources the recently liberated planet did have, she guessed. She could feel the worry emanating from him, and that was confirmation enough for her. She took a step closer, wrapping her arms around him and hugging him tightly. There was little else she could do, but she would offer what comfort she had.

"What scares me," he whispered, hugging her back, "is that the people who lived through the occupation can't even provide for themselves. With all these other people flooding in... they'll either revitalize the planet, or destroy what's left."

"Dark Spectre couldn't do it," she murmured. "A few thousand well-meaning colonists aren't going to succeed where he failed."

She felt him sigh, but he didn't let go of her. "I hope not," he replied softly. "I truly hope not."

He heard the comm channel chime, requesting his personal attention. He continued to gaze up at the bottom of the bunk above him, wondering idly what kind of adhesive sticker manufacturers used. It had to be something awfully strong to have held the glow-in-the-dark stars there for... what, six years now? Almost seven, really. They should consider selling the stuff as hull sealant.

The comm chimed again, and this time he saw DECA's camera light flick on across the room. "Andros," she said curiously. "There's an incoming transmission for you."

"I know," he answered, reaching up to tap one of the stars experimentally. It didn't budge. "I'm weighing the odds of it being Zhane against the probability that it's anyone else."

"It's Zhane," DECA told him.

He sat up, the stickers forgotten. "Then why didn't you say so?" he demanded, giving her camera a mock-frown.

The red light just blinked at him, and he grinned at her unvoiced exasperation. She had no way of knowing that he wasn't accepting anyone's signal but Zhane's. And the Silver Ranger hadn't bothered to send his own mental prompt along with the signal, making the decision to get up or not even more debatable.

He ran a hand through his hair and blinked a few times to get the residual sleep out of his eyes. The comm chimed a third time as he dropped into the chair in front of his computer terminal, and this time he accepted the link.

"Morning," Zhane greeted him, with the irritatingly alert air of someone unaffected by the time difference. Of course, he wouldn't be; he'd been on Eltare for almost a month now. "Did I wake you up?"

"Yes," Andros told him, even though he hadn't.

"Good." Zhane grinned. "You missed all the excitement last night. Two of the backup generators went down and half the city lost power. You got out about half an hour before surface-to-ship teleportation was grounded."

Startled, he tried distractedly to repress a yawn. "When did you get it back?"

"We haven't. The primaries never came back on after the siege, so until the backups are fixed we're in the dark. You wouldn't believe how hard it was to get a vid comm message out, even with Ranger priority."

Andros shook his head, wondering that Eltare could get anything done lately. "Any word on that agri shipment?"

"Last I knew, it still hadn't left." Zhane frowned a little, his cheerful expression dimming. "If it goes much longer, I say we take the Megaship and deliver it ourselves."

"Favoritism," Andros answered automatically. "We shouldn't interfere."

"That's ridiculous and you know it," Zhane retorted. "We're their Rangers. If we don't act on their behalf, who will? That's how things get done in the League."

He sighed. "Zordon's having a hard enough time keeping the Inner Alliance in place without a unified military threat. Anything that we do specifically for KO-35 undermines that."

"We're not part of the Alliance," Zhane argued. "The Kerova system would have been part of the Defense, if we'd ever coexisted, and the Border Rangers are louder advocates for their planets than ever before."

Andros didn't answer. KO-35 might be a part of the Border, but the Sol system was part of the Alliance. Sometimes it was hard to know whom he was speaking for anymore.

"Andros?" Zhane must have understood some of what he was thinking, for he offered, "The others have the Mega Vs; it's not like we'd be leaving them in the lurch. I'm not saying we need the whole team--just you and I. We're Kerovan Rangers, and if our people need us..."

"You're saying we should split up." He did his best to keep his voice even, betraying nothing of what he was feeling inside. "The Earth Rangers go their way, and we go ours."

"No," Zhane insisted. "I'm not trying to divide the team! I'm just saying that Earth has been one of the most peaceful places in the League lately--you wouldn't be spending so much time on Eltare if it wasn't. But KO-35 has been razed, occupied, and abandoned more times than I can count. If there's a planet that needs it's Rangers more right now, I don't know where it is."

Andros looked away from the screen. His friend didn't need to tell him how bad it was on KO-35; he'd been there, and he'd seen it. They'd been back and forth between Eltare and the Border, speaking for KO-35 wherever they could and helping the Defense to reestablish vital supply lines. Yet he kept coming back to Earth...

"Let me talk to the others first," he said abruptly. "I'll be back on Eltare tomorrow. And I'll bring the Megaship with me."

Zhane's relieved smile made him feel guilty for hesitating. "I'll let Kinwon know," his friend promised. "Thanks, Andros."

"Hey, Zhane..." He paused just long enough to get the other's full attention. "Don't work too hard."

Zhane gave him a rakish grin. "Don't worry," he assured Andros. "Kayatachi and I are heading down to the tavern in a few minutes. She tells me they're serving sparklers in honor of the power outage. I just thought I'd let you know what was going on first."

Andros had to laugh. "Thanks. And try not to do anything I wouldn't do."

Zhane's grin widened. "So that rules out what? Nothing?"

"It rules out--" He had to think about it for a moment. "Well, never mind," he admitted at last, trying to ignore Zhane's smirk. "Just have a good time."

"I will," Zhane said smugly. "Hey--"

It was his turn to hesitate, and Andros gave him a questioning look.

Zhane's expression had sobered a little. "Have you heard from Kerone?" he asked finally. His tone was deliberately casual, but his eyes betrayed his concern.

Andros shook his head slowly. "Not since last weekend," he said. "She won't tell me where she is, and you know she can't link over distances, so I don't have any way to get in touch with her."

"Can't, or won't," Zhane muttered. "She's a telepath. She shouldn't have any problem with distance."

They had had this conversation before, and Andros refrained from pointing out, yet again, the apparent differences between his sister's telepathy and their own. He also didn't mention his suspicion that Kerone refused to tell him where she was, not because she didn't want him to know, but because she didn't want Zhane to know.

"I hope she's all right," Zhane said, when he said nothing else. "Thanks anyway. I'll see you tomorrow."

Andros nodded once, returning his friend's absent smile. "Stay safe, Zhane."

"You too."

The screen went dark. Andros regarded it thoughtfully for a moment, wondering whether his sister would change her mind if she could see how troubled Zhane was. Probably not--but where *was* she, anyway? All her transmissions to the Megaship went through several relay stations before they reached DECA, and there was always at least one untraceable link in the chain. He didn't know if she really was that far out of the mainstream, or if she was doing it on purpose to keep them from finding her.

"Andros." DECA's voice interrupted his musings, and he looked up. "Do you plan to resettle on KO-35?"

He blinked, surprised. "Why do you ask that?"

"Zhane implied that your loyalty should be to KO-35," DECA replied matter-of-factly. "You agreed with him."

"That's not what he said," Andros answered, frowning. "He said that KO-35 needs us more than Earth does right now."

"What if it did not?" DECA countered. "Would you make the same choice?"

His frown deepened. "DECA... we're Kerovan. Why *shouldn't* our loyalty be to KO-35?"

"Then you do plan to rejoin the colonists?"

He studied her camera curiously, a little troubled by her persistence. "You say that like it's a bad thing."

"And you say it as though it's a certainty," DECA replied. "I only wonder if the other Astro Rangers have expectations that might not coincide with yours."

He was quiet for a moment, considering that. In truth, the team hadn't discussed their future in any great detail. There was evil in the universe, and they were Power Rangers--that was all any of them had needed since they had banded together last spring. It was true they had protected Earth when it was necessary, but so had they protected myriad other worlds. KO-35, now free once more and in dire need of assistance, was certainly no less important.

He was still thinking about it when he made his way down to the Glider holding bay a little while later. He was somewhat surprised to find Carlos there, as everyone had been planetside when he went to sleep the night before. Jeff's presence wasn't unusual, though; Ashley's brother had been spending more and more time on the Megaship as finals approached. He claimed it was quieter than his dorm on campus, and there was certainly no better tutor than DECA.

"Sorry, man," Carlos was saying as Andros walked in. "Never heard of troponin. Never really want to, either, if it comes to that."

"It's a calmodulin," Andros offered absently, pausing beside the table to look over Jeff's books. "A binding protein for calcium that allows muscle movement."

It took a moment for him to become aware of Carlos' incredulous stare, but Jeff's reaction was immediate and dramatic. He threw up his hands and leaned back in his chair, tilting his head back to appeal to the ceiling. "Why can't he take this exam for me? Why is it important for me to know this when there are other people in the world who are perfectly aware? It's not like the knowledge is in danger of being lost!"

"Perhaps it is not the knowledge itself on which you are being tested," DECA suggested, "but rather, your ability to acquire that knowledge."

Jeff sighed, putting his elbows back on the table and resting his chin in his hands. "That's a depressingly logical thought."

"DECA's good at that," Andros muttered, glancing up at her camera as her earlier questions pushed their way to the forefront of his brain again. "Carlos... can I ask you something?"

"As long as you don't expect me to know the answer," the Black Ranger answered with a grin. "Sure."

Andros regarded him quizzically. "Who are the Astro Rangers?"

Carlos looked at him as though he might have been replaced by an evil clone. "We are, of course. You and me and Cassie and the others. Why?"

"The six of us, then?" Andros pressed. "We're the Astro team?"

Carlos shrugged. "You could make a case for Kerone too, I suppose. Why do you ask?"

"I'm just curious," he said. "So if we're the Astro Rangers... what's our mission?"

"To defend Earth," Carlos answered.

A frown tugged at his expression, and he tried to repress it.

Carlos saw it anyway. "Andros, what's going on?" he demanded. "You're acting strange, even for you."

Andros smiled a little at that. "Nothing," he said, turning away. "Just something someone said to me."

She turned her face upward, feeling the warm water stream across her skin as she rubbed shampoo into her scalp. As the lather started to sneak forward over her forehead, she turned around and let the water wash it away, taking the sweat of the afternoon with it as the shower sluiced her hair clean.

She was running fingers slick with conditioner through the tangles when she heard a familiar chime. "You've got to be kidding me," Ashley muttered, pausing to listen more carefully.

Sure enough, her communicator chimed again, and she rolled her eyes. "I'm not answering that, Andros," she said aloud, stepping back under the stream of water. "I'm not."

But she knew she would. Earth hadn't come under serious attack in months, but the old instincts were too ingrained. She wasn't sure she would ever reach a point where she would actually feel comfortable ignoring her communicator--it was just that some days she wasn't convinced that was a good thing.

She rinsed her hair quickly before she turned the water off and pushed the curtain aside. Stepping out onto the bathmat, she grabbed first for her towel and then her communicator, both perched somewhat precariously on the edge of the sink. "This is Ashley," she said, setting the device down again as soon as it had been activated. "What's up?"

"Hey, Ash," Andros' voice greeted her. "NASADA just contacted us. They have something they'd like us to check out."

She made a face at her reflection in the mirror as she started to towel off. "I thought we had a deal with NASADA. We save the world every now and then, and they don't ask questions."

"Normally," Andros agreed. "I don't want NASADA to get in the habit of using the Megaship as an extension of the space program. But they insist this is unusual, and Tessa thought we should take a look."

She shrugged, wrapping her towel around her and reaching for her hairbrush. "I'll come along for the ride. But only if I get dinner out of it."

She heard Andros chuckle. "You're on," he agreed. "See you in a few minutes?"

She nodded, though she knew he couldn't see it. "I'll be there as soon as I get changed. Love you," she added, smiling over at her communicator.

"Love you too," Andros' voice answered.

The link was broken from his side, and the light on her communicator went out as it turned off automatically. She brushed the tangles out of her hair and wrapped it, gathering up her cheerleader uniform, communicator, and necklace and heading back into her bedroom. She dropped her uniform into the basket at the end of her bed and went over to the closet.

The dress she'd bought for the prom stared back at her as soon as she opened the door, and she smiled. Pushing it aside, she pulled out a skirt and knit top, her thoughts wandering a little as she dressed. What could NASADA possibly want that both Tessa and Andros would approve of?

Tessa would go for any scientific curiosity, that was without question. Anything in space that moved was worth her observation time. But Andros wouldn't budge for anything less than a military threat, and anything that NASADA could pick up in that department would be detected long before by DECA.

She fastened the necklace Andros had given her around her neck, fiddling with the chain to make sure it hung perfectly straight. Sliding her communicator onto her wrist, she headed back into the bathroom to dry her hair. It took longer than it used to, but she hadn't had long hair since junior high and she found that she missed it.

Finally satisfied with her reflection, she unplugged the hair dryer and hung her towel over the back of the door to dry. She stuck her head into her parents' room before she left, and her dad looked up from the computer as she waved. "I'm going to go up to the Megaship for a while," she told him. "NASADA wants us to check something out for them."

"Be careful," he answered automatically.

She rolled her eyes. "Dad, there hasn't been trouble in forever." She caught his eye, and added quickly, "I will, I will; don't worry. See you later."

She moved out of the doorway and touched her communicator. The hallway lit up like a sunburst, brightening until it was indistinguishable, and there was a rushing in her ears that quickly faded into the quiet hum of the Megaship's life support systems. She could hear the murmur of conversation drifting down the hall from the Bridge, and she headed in that direction.

There was a graphic she didn't recognize on the main screen, and the others were gathered around the forward row of consoles. Andros glanced over his shoulder and smiled at her as she paused in the doorway. Beside him, Jeff looked up and winked, holding up two fingers behind Andros' head for the briefest moment.

She stepped forward, trying not to roll her eyes. "What's going on?"

"One of NASADA's probes stopped transmitting," TJ answered, leaning back in her chair at the scanner station. The grin on his face told her that he'd seen Jeff's bunny ears too. "Tess thinks that's weird."

"No offense," Andros said, moving over to make room for her as she joined them, "but those probes are archaic. What's really weird is that they work at all."

"Gee, Andros," Carlos remarked, clearly amused. He was standing behind TJ, leaning back against the nav console as he regarded the Red Ranger. "Tell us what you really think."

"I did," Andros informed him, not seeming to notice the sarcasm. Carlos only shook his head.

Tessa was staring down at the console in front of her, apparently oblivious to the exchange. "Pioneer 10 shouldn't have just stopped sending data," she told them absently. "It was almost out of power, but it still had three working units. The odds of all three failing simultaneously are pretty low."

"Maybe something hit it," Jeff suggested.

Tessa shook her head, glancing up at the screen. Now that Ashley knew what she was looking for she could recognize their solar system, overlaid with an escape trajectory that must represent the NASADA probe.

"It's pretty well out of the ecliptic by now," Tessa was saying. "There's not much out there to hit but micrometeoroids and dust, and anything that small would have to be pretty lucky to take out all three instruments with one shot."

"Well, let's find out," TJ suggested. "DECA, can you take us to the coordinates that NASADA gave us?"

"Calling the information we received 'coordinates' would be overstating the matter," DECA replied, somewhat primly. "Nonetheless, I believe I have been able to decipher the correct location."

"Good work," Andros told her. "I'm sure it was difficult."

"Oh, shut up!" Ashley exclaimed, elbowing him.

He just grinned at her and added, "DECA, hyperrush one. Let's go see what could have made one of these Earth probes even less useful than usual."

Her eyes widened indignantly as the Megaship went to hyperrush, but before she could respond Carlos asked, "Cassie isn't coming?"

"She's singing tonight," TJ said, glancing back at him. "She had to be at the Surf Spot early."

Ashley nudged Andros again, not about to let his comment slide. When he glanced over at her, she murmured, "I'd like to see KO-35 build a probe like NASADA's from scratch."

Just as quietly, he replied, "Why would we bother?"

"Ouch," Jeff remarked with a chuckle, obviously overhearing.

She wrinkled her nose at her brother. "Isn't there something you should be studying?"

He didn't look at all repentant as he informed her, "Study break. There's only so much anatomical chemistry you can take before it just doesn't make an impression anymore."

"Maybe you should have Andros help you," Carlos told him.

Ashley laughed. "Yeah, Andros is good with that stuff. He doesn't recognize superior technology when he sees it, but he can tell you how endorphins work."

"I've already been impressed by Andros' knowledge of physiology," Jeff replied wryly. "But I'm not going to ask how *you* know that he knows about endorphins."

She tried not to blush, and Andros rescued her by saying, "I don't think there's any scale you could use by which NASADA probes would be considered superior to the Megaship, Ash."

"The scale where Power doesn't count," she responded promptly. "That was easy."

"Coming out of hyperrush," DECA interrupted. The image on the main screen vanished, replaced by that of the starfield.

"It's pretty small, isn't it," Andros observed, deadpan.

"I have run a thorough scan of the immediate vicinity," DECA said. "I can find no trace of the NASADA probe. I am, however, detecting the vapor trail of a mid-sized courier ship."

Ashley saw TJ frown. "What would a courier want with that probe?"

"Although I am not detecting the probe," DECA amended, "I am picking up the residual radiation indicative of weapons' fire."

"They destroyed it?" Tessa sounded outraged. "Do you know how many millions of dollars probably went into that probe?"

"No, that doesn't make any sense." Andros was looking down at the scanner console as TJ called up the information DECA had been able to gather. "Couriers don't have weapons. Besides, any ship that passed through the Sol system should have sent a recognition signal to NASADA."

"Should they?" Carlos asked dryly.

"They're supposed to," Andros insisted. "Earth is a League world. There's no Ranger base anymore, but it's still due the same respect as any other member planet."

"Tell that to the person who destroyed our probe," TJ put in.

"Why would someone who was just passing through blow up a scientific probe?" Jeff wanted to know. "Did they do it just for the hell of it? Is probe removal some kind of sport out here?"

"DECA," Ashley said slowly. "Can you trace the ship's vapor trail and extrapolate a course? Find out if they *were* just passing through?"

"Certainly, Ashley." There was an almost imperceptible hesitation, and then DECA continued, "If the courier's vector remained unchanged, it would have eventually intersected Earth's orbit."

"How eventually?" Andros demanded. "Can you tell how fast the ship was moving?"

"Given the apparent disruption of their flight path, I can't estimate with any degree of accuracy," DECA replied. "However, NASADA did lose contact with their probe several hours ago."

The Bridge was quiet for a moment as the implication sank in.

"So, basically," TJ said at last, "we have an armed courier running under radio silence, heading for Earth after having destroyed one of our probes."

"They probably had to work pretty hard to destroy it, too," Tessa added. "NASADA doesn't have many of these; it's not like you just stumble over them at random. They would have had to be looking really carefully for something to hit."

"Great," Carlos said. "So it's an armed courier heading for Earth after deliberately hunting down and destroying one of our probes. Maybe it's just me, but that doesn't sound like a very friendly message they're sending."

"DECA, take us back to Earth and see if you can pick up the vapor trail there." Andros was staring at the main screen, as though the answers that eluded the Megaship's scanners were written there for his eyes only. "I want to find out where this ship went."

"If this happened hours ago," Ashley pointed out, "they probably made it to Earth before we left."

"Probably," Andros agreed. "Which means that if it was there, it was keeping a low profile."

"But if you're trying to hide, there are more subtle ways to do it than blowing up a space probe..." TJ trailed off, and Ashley saw the realization in his eyes even as Carlos finished the sentence for him.

"Unless you're using the probe as a diversion to get rid of the planet's Rangers."

"Contact Cassie as soon as we come out of hyperrush," Andros ordered.

"I don't get it," Ashley murmured, half talking to herself. "We were so close--what could anyone hope to do in just a few minutes?"

The starfield reappeared as the Megaship dropped out of hyperrush once more, and DECA automatically routed a view of Earth to the main screen. The planet looked as peaceful as it had when they left, indeed, as peaceful as it had for months on end.

TJ reached for his morpher, and Andros glanced over his shoulder to give her a grim look. "Let's hope we don't find out."

2. From the Shadows

"I'm not familiar with 'Pioneer 10'," Saryn remarked, his fingers expertly twisting the ends of her hair into what felt like a braid.

"I've never heard of it either," she admitted. She smoothed the front of her short dress a little nervously, telling herself not to glance at the clock for the hundredth time. "But I'm not really up on the space program."

"It's quarter of," Saryn told her, reaching over her shoulder for her hairbrush. "There is plenty of time."

She smiled a little, forcing her hands to stay still. "I know. Sorry."

"You need not apologize." Her ran the brush through her still-loose hair, and she felt a gentle, unintrusive pressure on her mind at the same time. She might not have even noticed it if she hadn't been half-expecting it.

"You don't have to do that," she told him, but she felt herself relaxing anyway. "I'll be fine once I'm actually in front of the microphone."

"I know." He put his hands on her shoulders and turned her around, studying her hair critically.

Apparently satisfied, he let her go, and she picked up her small hand mirror curiously. The hair around her face had been pulled back into a braid, hanging down her back while the rest of her hair was still loose. The pink scrunchy he had taken from her earlier held the braid in place.

She smiled again, tilting the mirror to catch his eye as he watched her study her reflection. "And why doesn't Mirine's hair look this good?" she inquired.

His reflection smiled back at her. "She doesn't feel it's appropriate to her current line of work," he informed her.

She had to concede that, and as she set the mirror down, he reached out to touch her necklace. "As much as I like seeing you wear this," he said softly, "it doesn't match your dress."

She let out a breath of amusement, letting him slide the gold chain out from under her hair. "No," she agreed, watching him place the ruby around his neck with his ring. "And it's not really appropriate to my current line of work."

He smiled at that, but he tapped her wrist communicator reprovingly. "You wear that one for a reason. Don't take it off."

"Yes, Mother," she teased.

"I'll go see if Adelle is still on schedule," he said, not deigning to reply. "Would you like anything?"

She shook her head, then changed her mind. "Some water?"

He kissed her quickly. "Done," he promised. "I'll be back in a few minutes."

As the door closed behind him, she put one foot on the corner chair and tugged absently at her sandal. She had heard this space used to be a locker room, once upon a time, but now it was just one of the smaller game rooms off the main restaurant area. Or a backstage prep room, depending on what function the Surf Spot was filling on a given night.

She heard the door open again, and she smiled to herself. "Back so soon?" she asked, turning to see what had cut his trip short.

Instead of Saryn, or even Adelle, a girl in black jeans and a pink "Worldbeat" t-shirt stood in the doorway. She was utterly unfamiliar, though she looked about the right age to be haunting the halls of Angel Grove High.

"Hi," Cassie said, giving her a curious smile. "Lost? The other two game rooms are open, if you're looking for someone."

"Just you, Pink Ranger," the girl replied. There was no hint of expression on her face.

Cassie's eyes widened. "Excuse me? I think you must have me confused with someone else… I'm not--"

"I know who you are." Without seeming to move, the girl was beside her, and Cassie gasped as fingers pressed harsh lightning against her forehead.

She tried to throw her attacker off, but the energy flash in her eyes and mind was crippling. Her strength deserted her even as the pressure inside her head exploded, fire overwhelming every thought and stamping her senses into oblivion. The last thing she was aware of was her own voice screaming silently for Saryn.

"Water, please," he said, smiling at the student working the counter.

"Coming right up," Shana answered. "Haven't I seen you around before?" she added over her shoulder, as she slid a tumbler underneath the water tap.

"Last weekend," he supplied. "At the tournament."

"Oh, that's right." She dropped a twisty straw into the glass and passed it over the counter to him. "You were there with--"

Something slammed into his mind, probing tendrils that struck his empathic shield and sizzled angrily as they sought a way around the obstruction. He shoved back without thinking, stunned at the intrusion and even more shocked when he felt Cassie cry out. In the seconds it took to realize that he wasn't the one under attack, he was already shoving past someone in the doorway and racing down the hall.

Cassie's door was open, and a dark figure sprang away from her as he burst through. He spared only a single, penetrating glance for the other girl's retreating form before kneeling down beside Cassie. She started to stir even as he put his hand behind her head, and she pushed him away weakly. *Go after her,* he heard her whisper.

"I'm not leaving you," he muttered, aware that they weren't the only ones in the room. He heard Adelle exclaim as she pushed past Shana to join him at Cassie's side, and Cassie struggled to sit up.

"No, really," she managed, though whether in answer to Adelle's concern or his protest, he wasn't entirely sure. "I'm fine. Saryn…" She turned pleading dark eyes on him, and he sighed inwardly.

"Make sure she's all right," he told Adelle, getting to his feet.

"What do you mean, 'make sure she's all right'!" Adelle sounded miffed and worried all at once, which was no mean feat. "Of course I'll make sure she's all right! What happened here? Who was that girl?"

"How did you--" Shana began, still hovering in the doorway.

"Shana," Adelle interrupted. "Come in here and lend a hand. Cassie, are you hurt? You want us to call an ambulance?"

He lowered his defenses just far enough that he could tell "right" should be the correct direction, and he heard Cassie's communicator beep from somewhere behind him. He shook his head, ignoring Shana's curious look as he hurried down the hall toward the rear exit. Her teammates really did have the worst sense of timing.

He pushed the back door open and stepped onto in the cool air, slapping his own communicator as he scanned the lawn behind the Surf Spot. "This is Saryn," he said tersely. "Don't signal Cassie again."

"Saryn?" TJ's voice replied. "What's going on?"

A flicker of pink caught his eye, sliding out of the shadows to disappear around the corner, and he started after it. "Cassie was attacked. Adelle's with her. I'll tell you when I know anything."

He turned his communicator off, extending his senses as far as he dared around the edge of the building. When he found nothing, he swung around the corner and headed for the street, cursing the other girl's head start. It was all too easy to lose someone in the crowds by the front door, especially when he didn't have a particularly clear picture to begin with.

Then he froze, feeling someone's entire focus shift toward him. Behind it was the same trace of malicious intent that had led him out the back of the Surf Spot, and his gaze settled on a blue vehicle that had paused by the sidewalk. It started to pull away, but not before he caught a glimpse of the girl in the passenger seat.

She had blonde hair and wore a solid pink t-shirt, but she was staring directly at him. She waved slowly as the vehicle's momentum carried her out of his sight, and there was nothing friendly in the gesture. Her eyes held the same sharpness that had tested his shields earlier, and he had the feeling that she was still watching him even after she'd faded from his sight.

He turned around and headed back into the Surf Spot, more worried than ever as the implications started to set in. A shapeshifter, capable of mental attack, who had just gone after one of the Power Rangers' alter egos. This did not bode well for Earth's record stretch of peace.

"I'm not sure you should sing," TJ was saying as he slipped back into Cassie's room.

"Well, I am," Cassie replied with some asperity. "I told you, I'm fine."

"If she says she's all right, then she's all right," Adelle informed them. Most of the team seemed to have crammed into the little room, and she didn't look overly thrilled about it. "Now, out, all of you." She pointed toward the door to emphasize her command, and Cassie's gaze caught his.

He shook his head wordlessly, taking a step back to allow the other Rangers to file out. "Andros," he said quietly. The Red Ranger stepped around the doorway, pausing in the hall beside him. "Shapeshifter. She drove off with someone I couldn't catch a glimpse of."

"What did she do to Cassie?" Andros asked, just as quietly.

"I wish I knew," Saryn muttered. "She hit her mind with some kind of pulse, strong enough that I felt it too, and Cassie blacked out."

Andros was silent for a moment, nodding to Carlos and TJ as they gathered closer to listen. "She left with someone," he repeated after a moment, as Ashley joined them. "There's more than one of them, then."

"Perhaps," Saryn agreed. "Or perhaps she only impersonated someone the driver knew."

Andros looked at him for a moment. "You're sure it was the same person?"

"Yes," he said firmly, glancing over his shoulder. "Did you find anything earlier?"

"The probe?" Andros didn't look happy. "It was destroyed, possibly as a distraction for us."

Saryn gave him a sharp look. "Related?"

"Maybe."

"What are you all whispering about out here?" Adelle demanded, hands on her hips as she glared at them from the doorway. "Cassie's going to be fine. Now, get out of here and enjoy the show like everyone else."

"We were just leaving, Adelle," Ashley said sweetly, taking Andros' arm. Adelle's expression left no doubt that she was unconvinced, but she turned and disappeared back into the room without another word.

"Ash and I will stay for dinner," Andros murmured, his glance including all of them. "Teej, you and Carlos had better get going--but be careful. This can't be as random as Adelle thinks it is."

"You think?" Carlos muttered under his breath, exchanging glances with TJ.

Saryn went back inside as they drifted away, ignoring Adelle's exasperated look. "Are you all right?" he asked, touching Cassie's hair automatically. "Let me braid this again."

"Much as I hate to admit it," Adelle added, apparently deciding to ignore him, "TJ might be right." She peered at Cassie. "You sure you're up to singing, now?"

"Yes, I'm sure," Cassie said, smiling first at him and then at Adelle. "I'm fine, really; she just knocked me down."

"Never seen that girl before," Adelle declared, frowning. "Never want to again, either, except maybe to give her a good talking to."

"Me neither," Cassie murmured, putting a hand to her forehead.

Adelle studied her for a moment, then put her hands together briskly. "Well, if you're sure you're up to it, I'll go and make sure everything's ready. Oh, and I'll have Shana bring that water back for you, all right?"

"Thank you," Cassie said, smiling again, and Adelle hesitated only a moment longer before disappearing once more.

Cassie sighed, and his gaze flickered worriedly as he unbraided her hair. "Cassie?" he asked, careful to keep his tone casual.

"I'm okay," she said. She shivered a little, and he let go of her hair as dropped his hands to her shoulders. He rubbed her arms gently, and she shivered again. He moved around to face her, and she stood up and put her arms around his neck without a word.

He hugged her tightly, knowing it was comfort, not questions, that she needed right now. "It won't happen again," he whispered. "I'm not leaving your side all evening, whether you sing or not."

"I want to sing," she murmured. "But thank you."

"Then I'll be there," he told her. "After I braid your hair again," he added, as she finally loosened her embrace a little.

She giggled, and it made him feel better to hear it. "Obviously the most important thing on the agenda," she teased. "How did I ever get by without you?"

"It's a mystery to me," he replied, motioning for her to turn around.

"A shapeshifter?" Ashley asked, careful to keep her voice down. "How likely is that, really?"

Andros shrugged, staring down at his menu moodily. "It's not unheard of. It could have come in on the courier, using the probe as a distraction so we wouldn't detect its teleportation…"

"That doesn't make any sense and you know it," she hissed, pushing his menu down on the table in an effort to get him to look at her. "We never would have detected a single teleportation unless we were looking right at it."

Andros shrugged again, glancing across the room toward the counter. "Maybe it wanted to hide its ship on the surface somewhere. That would explain why we couldn't find it anywhere in orbit. DECA could easily have picked up a ship entering the atmosphere."

"Or maybe we couldn't find it in orbit because it isn't here," Ashley insisted, following his gaze for a moment. Someone wearing a Surf Spot apron was headed in their direction, and she sighed impatiently.

The student waiter caught her eye and smiled, nodding to both of them as he parked himself at their table. "Hi, I'm Chip, and I'll be your waiter tonight," he informed them, his tone almost comically cheerful. "Ready to order?"

She gave her menu a token glance, then shot an apologetic smile at Chip. "Would you mind giving us a few more minutes?"

"Not at all," he replied easily. "Three minutes it is; take your time." With a little wave, he headed for the next table.

Ashley stared after him, slightly bemused, and she wondered briefly if he was for real. Then she gave her head a shake and turned back to Andros, who was now playing with his fork.

"Look, Andros," she said, lowering her voice again. "As horrible as it sounds, maybe it wasn't a monster that went after Cassie. Maybe it was just some kid, not a shapeshifter at all. You know how paranoid Saryn is, and it's not like he sees that well in the dark anyway."

"Doesn't matter," Andros answered, pressing the tines of his fork into his napkin. The fork left four small indents in the cloth when he lifted it up again. "He says a shapeshifter attacked Cassie, so we have to assume that's true until we have reason to think otherwise. A concrete reason," he added, catching her eye for the first time.

She frowned a little, studying him. "Andros, do you know something about this?"

He set his fork down and leaned back in his chair, looking toward the counter again. "I don't know any more than you do."

"So why are you acting so strangely?" she pressed. "You haven't fidgeted this much since I asked you to the prom."

The corner of his mouth quirked at that, but he still didn't look at her. "I'm not acting strangely. You're the second person to tell me that today."

"Well, maybe there's a reason," she told him, slightly exasperated. "You're not even looking at me."

He caught her eye at that, but all he said was, "Here comes Chip again. Do you know what you want?"

"Chip," she murmured, glancing down at her own menu as he managed to distract her momentarily. "That can't seriously be his real name."

"TJ once said that about Zhane, too," Andros reminded her, and she had to smile.

"That's because TJ wasn't here the year we had exchange students from the Middle East. You know, I didn't realize how not hungry I was until I started looking at this menu."

"It was your idea to do dinner," he told her, pretending to look over the top of her menu.

She laughed at his expression, tapping him on the nose with the edge of the menu. "Not because I was hungry, silly. Just because I wanted to spend time with you."

His smile faded a little, and for a moment he looked troubled. "Ash… there's something I wanted to talk to you about."

*Aha!* she thought, but she didn't say it aloud. "Oh?" she asked neutrally. "What's that?"

"Two minutes and 58 seconds," Chip announced, grabbing one of the chairs from a nearby table so he could sit down with them. "Was that enough time, or would you like a little more?"

She glanced over at Andros, not sure whether to grin or roll her eyes "I'm ready," she said, and he gestured for her to go first. The look on his face was distant enough that she ended up watching him while she gave Chip her order, but he didn't seem to notice.

"And you, sir," Chip said, his pen poised with a flourish as he turned toward Andros.

Andros didn't answer, and she cleared her throat. "Andros?"

He blinked, glancing at her and then at Chip. "Sorry," he said, sitting forward in his chair again and scanning the menu. If he hadn't had the same thing a hundred times before, she would have sworn he had just picked it at random. He didn't seem to be concentrating on much of anything this evening.

Chip jumped to his feet, twirling the chair he had been sitting in back to its former position with the ease of someone who had practiced the maneuver before. "Your order is already on its way," he promised, wiggling his eyebrows at them. "Twelve minutes and 23 seconds--time me."

And he was gone, leaving Ashley to stare after him in amusement. "He can't be serious."

"Ash," Andros began, tapping the handle of his fork with his finger.

She glanced up at the clock, making a mental note of the time. "Yeah?"

He didn't answer for a moment. Just as she was beginning to notice the silence, though, he said, "I'm thinking about going back to KO-35."

She looked at him in surprise. "Next week, you mean? Instead of Eltare? I thought you were already going back and forth between Eltare and KO-35."

"We are." Andros picked up his spoon and held it in both hands, turning it over several times before looking back up at her. "But that's not what I meant."

She started to frown inquiringly--and then the meaning of his earnest hazel stare sank in. It took every ounce of effort she had to force her words out with some semblance of calm. "What--what *do* you mean, then?"

He tapped the spoon against his palm, and she put her hands in her lap to keep herself from reaching over and grabbing the silverware from him. "Zhane called this morning," he said quietly. "There's an agri shipment that's been slated for Kerovan delivery for four days now, and it hasn't gone anywhere. There's just no one to divert to deliver it; everyone doing Border runs is straight out as it is."

She swallowed, doing her best to keep her tone level. "And if you went back--with the Megaship? Could you deliver it yourselves?"

"That and all the other supplies that are backing up," Andros agreed, looking up at her again. "It's the Rangers' job to represent their planet, Ash. That means defending it in the face of evil and taking care of it in evil's wake."

"I know," she murmured, looking down at her hands. "I know that."

He didn't say anything else for a few moments, and she couldn't tell him what she was thinking. If he took the Megaship… what reason would he have to come back to Earth?

"It's not like Earth would be defenseless," he said at last. His voice was a little tentative, as though he wasn't sure exactly what her reaction was going to be yet. "The Mega Vs are newer and faster than the Megaship is, and their combined firepower is--"

"I know," she repeated, louder, deliberately cutting him off. "I *know* that, Andros; you don't have to convince me." She took a deep breath, bracing herself. "You're right--you should take the Megaship and go."

It was harder to say than she'd anticipated. Much harder. She felt tears stinging her eyes, and she hated them before they even fell, knowing they would only make Andros feel worse. He was only doing what he thought was right; it wasn't his fault…

The applause was so incongruous that for a moment it didn't even register, but distantly she realized that Cassie had stepped out on the Surf Spot's makeshift stage. Andros scooted around the table to be closer to her and she looked away, not wanting him to see how hard she was trying not to cry. "You're leaving forever, aren't you," she whispered.

"What?" Andros murmured, as the applause faded and Cassie began to sing.

*You're leaving forever.*

"No!" Andros whispered, sounding frustrated. "That's what I thought Zhane meant, too, but it's not! We just need to get KO-35 back on its feet, to make the colony self-sufficient again, and it would be easier if I wasn't…"

"If you weren't commuting," she murmured, trying to take a breath without sniffling. She couldn’t believe she was falling apart like this.

She should have seen it coming, after all. He had been coming back later and later the last few weeks, and if she hadn't been so wrapped up in her own life she might have thought to wonder how hard the constant traveling and time changes were for him. Zhane had stopped returning more than a month ago, and she should have known that Andros wished he could do the same.

"I *want* to go back and forth," Andros insisted softly. "Honestly I do, Ash. It's just--it's not… well, it doesn't *help* anything, not when we need the Megaship on the Border anyway.

"It's not forever," he repeated, touching her cheek. "I promise. It's just until KO-35 is a little better off."

"Yeah," she said, taking another careful breath. "I know." The more he said, the more she hated this plan. Who decided when KO-35 was "better off"? When was a colony considered self-sufficient? It could be years before something like that happened…

But hadn't she been accepted to college? Wasn't that a "years" kind of commitment? What right did she have to think that Andros wouldn't want to do something equally worthwhile with his time?

*More worthwhile,* she admitted, giving in and rubbing her eyes. "Andros," she said softly. "Can we go outside and talk for a few minutes?"

"Sure," he said, glancing over his shoulder before getting to his feet. He pushed his chair back in and gestured for her to lead the way.

She paused by the door to the foyer, shooting a quick look at the stage. Cassie caught her eye briefly, proving that she was more aware of what was going on than Ashley had expected. Saryn was lurking by the corner of the stage, looking strangely unobtrusive in the midst of the Saturday night Surf Spot patrons, but he seemed to be paying very little attention to anyone who wasn't within a twenty-foot radius of Cassie.

Andros put a hand on her shoulder, and she turned toward the fire exit. The alarm had been broken for weeks, and she'd overheard Adelle complaining about students starting to use it as a second door. She supposed that meant it might actually get fixed one of these days, but in the meantime, Ashley had no compunction about contributing.

She pushed the door open, and Andros followed her out into the night. The dark side of the foyer was just barely out of line of sight from the street, but it was, by definition, for emergency use only. She had no doubt that they could carry on a relatively private conversation here.

"Andros," she began, a little awkwardly. She gave her eyes another token swipe and lifted her chin, determined not to let him go without at least trying to figure things out. "We haven't really talked about… the future. I feel like--"

The sense of isolation afforded by their location vanished half a second before someone clapped a hand over her mouth from behind. Her eyes widened, but she didn't even manage to draw a breath before some force pressed hard against her forehead and the whole world collapsed in on itself. There was a whirlwind roar of thoughts and memories and feeling that rushed from her in an unfathomable tide, leaving nothing but oblivion in its wake.

"If we're going to let them rip us off for a movie ticket we might as well see the whole thing," TJ complained.

Tessa only laughed. "This from the person who refused to stay and watch the credits last time!"

"Credits and previews are *not* the same thing," TJ informed her.

"No, the credits were actually relevant to the movie we saw," she agreed. "The only point of the previews is to convince you to buy another overpriced movie ticket in two weeks."

He considered that for a moment, then shrugged. "All right, I'll give you that. But we're still paying to see them."

"Don't worry," she promised, pulling him around the corner of the building. "We're not going to miss the previews. I just want to get away from the streetlights so we can see this."

"What?" he asked, following her gaze automatically.

"That," she answered quietly.

He smiled at her reverent tone, but he had to admit that the "Evening Star" was striking on the horizon, hanging just below the crescent moon. "Wow," he said aloud. "That's awesome."

"It looks like the moon is going fishing," Tessa said dreamily, tilting her head to one side.

He couldn't quite smother a chuckle. "Is that an official astronomical observation?"

"No, but it's true," she retorted, elbowing him gently. "If you really want to know, the moon is three days old and Venus is 57% illuminated. Happy?"

He laughed again. "Okay, okay. Fishing it is. So what kind of bait do you use to catch a planet?"

He saw movement out of the corner of his eye, but he didn't turn fast enough to get a good look at the shadow before it was on top of them. He tried to bring his arms up, but the dark figure was faster and both his strength and his consciousness seemed to be flooding out of him before he could even grasp what was happening.

Distantly, he heard Tessa shouting something into her communicator. The dizzying rush of image, sound, and static turned sapphire blue, a deluge of light that drowned out all rational comprehension.

The first thing he became clearly aware of was the fact that Tessa was speaking to someone.

*DECA,* he realized a moment later. That had to be DECA's voice; he didn't know anyone else so consistently calm. Or so vengeful… She had shut down the artificial gravity in his room last week for a third time, and all because he had made some offhand comment about orbital debris around Earth.

"TJ?" Tessa was asking. "Are you okay? How do you feel?"

She had asked him that last weekend at the paintball tournament too. He was relatively sure that Andros wasn't allowed to use the Battlelizer punch against a fellow Ranger, although to this day the Red Ranger maintained that he had done no such thing.

"TJ." DECA even sounded concerned; that was a first. "Are you aware of events around you?"

He laughed, putting his elbows behind him and pushing himself up. Or he tried. It was considerably harder than he had expected, and only as he managed it did he realize that he had been lying on one of the patient beds. "Yeah," he said, frowning a little. "Yeah, I'm awake."

"Are you okay?" Tessa repeated, putting her hands on her hips in a nervous gesture that he'd seen her use a hundred times before.

He rolled his shoulders, surprised to feel every muscle in his upper body complain. Tessa must have seen him wince, for she glanced up at DECA's camera. Trying to ignore that, he offered, "You know when people say they feel like they've been hit by a truck? I think I'm starting to sympathize."

Actually, he reflected, his sister really had been hit by a truck once. A pickup truck, speeding in a school zone, but still. And he thought she had felt a bit better than he did right now…

"Hey," he said, as a relevant thought finally occurred to him. "What happened, anyway?"

Tessa looked at DECA's camera again. Andros was always doing that too; it was incredibly irritating. At least Zhane didn't seem to be in the habit. Of course, that might be because he didn't look at anyone for very long, computer or not.

"What happened?" Carlos demanded, and TJ frowned. He hadn't even noticed the other's arrival. And why was Carlos wearing his soccer jacket? He could quite clearly remember the last game of the season--they'd had some great lemonade.

Tessa had said something, but he'd missed it. That was annoying. He was fairly certain he'd wanted to know the answer to Carlos' question, whatever it had been. He put a hand to his head, trying to press away the sudden pain.

"TJ?" DECA asked, and Tessa put her hand over his instinctively.

"Are you all right?" she asked anxiously. "What's wrong?"

He couldn't help groaning. "Man, I have a killer headache. I feel like there's a swarm of bees inside my head."

"You are experiencing a form of involuntary engram amplification," DECA informed him. "It's not an uncommon side effect of telepathic intrusion."

"Is there an English version of whatever you just said?" Carlos wanted to know.

TJ pressed his fingers to his temples, trying to listen over the pounding in his head.

"An unusually high percentage of the neurons in TJ's brain are firing simultaneously," DECA replied. "The synaptic constellations that compose his memory are being repeatedly triggered by an external source, presumably as a result of the attack that Tessa successfully interrupted."

"DECA," Carlos said with a sigh. "That was remarkably unhelpful."

"As interesting as this is, I'd be ten times more eager to listen to it if I had some aspirin," TJ put in. "You know, little colored pills with brand names on them? As long as they're not gelcaps; I really hate those."

Tessa gave him an odd look, but Carlos just pointed over at the far wall. "Tessa, could you do the honors? The color-coded cough syrup's probably in the synthetron already."

"And has been for the past minute and 33 seconds," DECA agreed.

"Okay, so, memories," Carlos repeated, looking pained. "They have something to do with the attack?"

"Apparently." DECA's camera light flickered once. "It has happened among some telepathic species that a criminal element may attempt to duplicate or 'steal' memories. The results are occasionally similar to what is happening to TJ: the victim's long-term memory is artificially stimulated, causing environmental cues to trigger an unusual number of associations in the brain."

"So that's why he's acting like he has attention deficit disorder?"

"Excuse me," TJ said indignantly. "I'm not deaf."

"Here you go," Tessa interjected, offering him some sort of blue liquid.

He frowned. "What's that?"

Carlos sighed again. "Is there anything we can *do*?"

"His brain chemistry will return to normal on its own, given time," DECA answered. "What concerns me more is his connection to the Astro Power."

"For your headache, remember?" Tessa prompted softly.

He took it reluctantly, forcibly reminded of how much the Power did for them. He hadn't needed a medicinal dose since he'd become a Ranger, and he hadn't appreciated it until now.

"I don't suppose you've checked Cassie's connection to the Power," Carlos was saying. His tone was troubled, and TJ tried to recall the earlier part of the conversation. "It's a little too much of a coincidence that they were both attacked on the same night."

There was a brief pause, one that TJ was sure she used for dramatic emphasis as much as anything. For a computer with unheard of processing ability, instant access to all scanning equipment, and the self-awareness to make independent decisions… Jeff had asked if she was sentient the first time he met her. The question had seemed to amuse her.

He blinked when he realized DECA was speaking again. Whatever serum she had given him must have started to take effect, because the pain was fading again and he managed to focus long enough to figure out what they were talking about. "What does that mean, 'appreciably lessened'?" he demanded. "You can't just steal someone's Power the way you can copy their memories."

"I'm not suggesting an explanation," DECA told him, with some asperity. "I'm only telling you what I'm detecting. Your connection to the Power is noticeably weakened, at least in your resting state, and Cassie's seems to be as well."

"Seems to be," Carlos repeated, his tone making the statement a question.

"It's difficult to determine from a distance, with Saryn in such close proximity to her. I cannot always isolate their Power signatures from each other."

"That weird sharing thing they do," Carlos muttered. "All right, so someone's going around attacking Rangers; possibly stealing memories and somehow draining their Power. Am I the only one who sees something to be worried about here?"

TJ lifted his head, catching Tessa's eye.

"Someone, you mean?" Tessa asked, glancing over at Carlos.

He looked up at the camera mounted on the wall. "DECA, have you heard from Andros and Ashley?"

"Not since they left the Megaship almost an hour ago," DECA replied. "I am attempting to contact them now."

The moment seemed to stretch out, and TJ tried desperately to keep his mind from wandering. Andros and Ashley had stayed at the Surf Spot with Cassie and Saryn; they were surrounded by people. There was no way this mysterious attacker could reach them without being noticed.

"Can you locate their Power signatures?" Carlos asked at last. "If they're at the Surf Spot, maybe they just can't get away."

"Their Power signatures are too weak to provide an accurate fix," DECA answered, a moment later. "They do seem to be in the vicinity of the Surf Spot, but I cannot pinpoint their location any closer than that."

Carlos let out a frustrated breath. "Damn! I'm going down there to find them; you guys wait here. I'll send DECA our coordinates from the surface."

He was reaching for his morpher before it hit TJ what an extraordinarily bad idea that was. "Carlos, wait. You can't go; you're the only one it hasn't gotten. You could be walking right into a trap."

"And they could be dying!" Carlos shot back.

"I'll go." Tessa squared her shoulders when they both turned to look at her. "Whatever went after TJ didn't even look at me, so you guys are obviously the target. If I go down there it probably won't pay any attention to me."

"Maybe not if it's distracted by its 'target'," TJ argued. "But if you interrupt--"

She cut him off. "I'm not stupid, TJ. I'm just going to find them; I'm not going to fight anyone. If Andros and Ashley aren't absolutely, one hundred percent alone, I'll call you right away."

"Good," Carlos put in. "Let's get going, then. And be *careful*."

"I will," she promised. She gave TJ a reassuring smile before she touched the side of her communicator and vanished into a stream of white sparkles.

"I hate this," TJ muttered. "We should be the ones going down there, not her."

"Her assumption was a logical one," DECA offered.

"And if these attacks seemed even remotely logical, maybe that would make me feel better," Carlos said dryly. "Thanks anyway."

"Speaking of logic, what about Cassie?" TJ frowned. "Why is my memory screwed up and not hers?"

Carlos gave him an appraising look. "And speaking of memory, are you feeling better? That was an almost relevant question."

"You could just say, 'I have no idea,' and leave it at that," TJ informed him.

Carlos smiled a little. "Yeah. But that wouldn't have been any fun. Seriously, are you feeling better? You sound better."

"That reminds me of the time--" He grinned at Carlos' expression. "Just kidding. Yeah, I'm doing all right; thanks."

His communicator chimed, and he lifted his wrist quickly. "Tessa?"

"I went around the back way to get to the front door," she said, her voice sounding farther away than usual. "Ashley and Andros are both outside the fire exit by the foyer, on the side facing away from the street. Neither of them are conscious."

She wasn't speaking into her communicator, TJ realized. At least not directly; the signal often sounded like that when someone was keeping their hand at their side to try and remain inconspicuous in a crowd. It was--

He shook his head irritably. He hoped DECA had meant sooner rather than later when she said that his brain would sort itself out on its own.

"Are you alone?" Carlos was asking. "Can you teleport from where you are?"

"Yes," Tessa answered immediately. "But we'd better do it quickly; I'm not sure who might walk by out here."

"DECA?" Carlos asked.

"I'm receiving the coordinates now," DECA answered. "Teleporting."

No sooner had the word been spoken than three sparkling showers of light appeared in the Medical bay. Tessa was only crouched down, hunched worriedly over the unmoving forms of their teammates. Andros and Ashley were unresponsive, lying sprawled on the deck in what was probably the same position in which they'd fallen.

TJ struggled to his feet, trying to ignore his own discomfort as he stared down at them. "This isn't good," he muttered, in what he knew was a severe understatement. "Not good at all."

3. Psycho Therapy

His head hadn't hurt this much in a long time. It was the first semi-coherent thought he had, but the second one was right on its heels: he wanted to go back to sleep.

He twisted restlessly, trying to find some position that was less uncomfortable than the one he was currently in. It seemed to be a losing battle, but the stakes were too high for him to give up so easily. He couldn't see, but he could feel, and he found himself longing for the peaceful oblivion from which his body seemed intent on awakening.

He heard his name in the darkness, barely audible, but impossible to ignore when uttered by a voice he knew so well. Suppressing a groan, he managed to roll over in the general direction of the sound. "Ash?" It came out as a hoarse whisper, but he supposed that was better than nothing.

"It was our wedding," she mumbled, her words an almost unintelligible jumble. "I remember now; we were getting ready for our wedding."

He put out a hand blindly, flinching at the immediate protest of the muscles in his arm. Only when he encountered nothing did it occur to him that he was too close to the edge of whatever he was lying on for comfort. He tried to pull away, and the effort left him breathless.

"In the gateway," he heard her murmur. "Remember when we were in that other dimension?"

There was another voice that he should recognize, but it took him a moment to place it. In fact, he wasn't entirely sure how much time passed between his realization that someone else was speaking and his comprehension of her question.

"Not really," he muttered at last, wanting to sit up but fairly certain he wouldn't be able to do it. "At least, I know I'm not feeling so great… Ash?"

"Lousy," she answered immediately, but her voice was no stronger than his. "I feel awful, but thanks for asking."

"I've alerted the others," DECA said. "They're on their way."

"--twenty-four in the morning," DECA was saying, apparently in answer to something Ashley had asked.

"Can't it wait?" Ashley demanded. "It's the middle of the night; they don't have to get up for us. It's not like we're dying or anything."

"Speak for yourself," he muttered, pressing his fingers to his temples. "What happened?"

"You were attacked by an unidentified entity outside the Surf Spot last night," DECA answered. She didn't sound particularly pleased, but it was hard to tell who her displeasure was directed at.

"Last night?" he repeated. "What time did you say it was?"

"It's three twenty-five in Angel Grove."

He squeezed his eyes shut, not that it helped to stifle the flashback. "I assume you mean in the morning, since it's like deep space in here."

"Would you turn the lights up a little?" Ashley agreed, her voice plaintive. "It's spooky enough not knowing what's going on without being blind too."

The lights came up slowly, strengthening to their usual overnight illumination before leveling out again. "Thanks," Andros managed, getting his elbows behind him and ignoring the discomfort as he pushed himself up. "DECA, what's wrong with us?"

There was a brief pause. "You don't recognize the symptoms."

It was more of a statement than a question, but that didn't make it any less irritating. "If I did, would I have asked?" he snapped.

There was no answer, and he winced as pain lanced through the back of his head. "I'm sorry," he muttered, recognizing her unamused silence. "But I'm tired, and I hurt, and I just want someone to tell me what's going on!"

"--severe withdrawal. Your Power signature is almost nonexistent," DECA told him.

He tried to repress a sigh, knowing she wasn't going to appreciate this. "What did you just say? I didn't hear the first part."

"You too?" Ashley murmured, from her cross-legged position on the next patient bed. "Are you getting these weird flashes of things that've already happened?"

He glanced over at her, trying not to flinch when his eyes rebelled--painfully--against the movement.

"Oh, I know that expression," TJ's voice said sympathetically. The Blue Ranger stepped in between the patient beds, heading for the medical synthetron. "I'm glad you guys are awake, at least."

"How are you feeling?" Cassie added, sitting down gingerly beside Ashley. "You don't look very good."

"That's about how I feel, too," Ashley sighed, leaning gratefully against her friend's shoulder. "What happened?"

"We don't really know," TJ told her, handing each of them one of DECA's custom pain relievers. Andros swallowed his without a second thought, but he saw Ashley make a face at the taste. "Someone attacked you, drained your Power, and probably copied your memories. At least, that's our guess, and if you ask me we're lucky to have gotten that far."

A soft whine came from somewhere near his right hand, and Andros glanced down automatically. Jetson put one paw on the patient bed, nosing his hand gently, and he couldn't help but smile.

"The same person that attacked Cassie?" Ashley was asking. "But I didn't even see anyone."

"Neither of us saw anyone," Andros muttered, trying to sort out his thoughts.

"Tessa says she saw some guy in blue with dark hair," TJ offered, leaning against the end of Andros' bed. "A little shorter than me, she thought, but that's all she could tell."

"These attacks are specifically targeting the Astro Rangers." Saryn stood just inside the door, arms folded and a neutral expression on his face. "There can be no doubt that your attacker knows exactly who each of you is."

"She called me 'Pink Ranger'," Cassie put in. "And if she was wearing TJ's color when she attacked him--"

"Wait," Andros interrupted at last. If they would stop talking so fast, he might actually be able to think. "Just wait, all right? Be quiet."

There was a moment of silence, and then he heard Ashley whisper, "TJ was attacked too?"

He glared at her, and she held up her hands defensively. "Sorry!" Her voice said one thing, but her expression said another.

"I didn't mean--" Finally, he realized what it was that had been tugging at the edge of his awareness. "Did you say you didn't see anyone?"

She frowned a little. "When we were attacked? No, I didn't see anyone."

"Neither of us saw anyone," he repeated. "That's the problem."

He saw her exchange glances with Cassie. "Andros?" she asked, looking back at him uncertainly.

"Someone could have snuck up on one of us," he said, trying to remember the moment more clearly. Ironic that he could remember flashes of old memory in perfect detail, yet the one thing that he *wanted* to call to mind seemed to elude him. "But one person couldn't have surprised us both."

Ashley's frown deepened, and he knew that at least she understood. "She was using both hands," she said slowly. "One hand over my mouth, and one… on my forehead." She gave him a questioning look. "She *couldn't* have grabbed you at the same time."

He shook his head. "There had to be more than one of them."

"Wonderful," Carlos interjected, pressing his open hand against the doorframe in a gesture of frustration. "So now there's two shapeshifting telepathic leeches running around?"

"--more likely," Saryn finished. "It is at least safer to assume that than anything else at this point."

"What?" Andros asked, frustrated at continually missing half the conversation. "DECA, why can't I concentrate!"

"Andros, chill." TJ's tone was just genuine enough to be sympathetic rather than condescending. "Saryn said there might be one of them for each one of us, and you can't concentrate because whoever attacked you did something weird to your memory. Believe me, you're doing a better job than I was."

"Are you all right?" Ashley asked. "What happened to you?"

"Someone attacked me outside the theater." TJ shrugged as though it wasn't important. "Tessa called DECA, and she teleported us here. She said something incredibly complicated, which by the way would have been more impressive if I hadn't had a killer headache at the time--"

"Based on your symptoms and Saryn's description of the attack, I believe that whoever has been attacking you is telepathically accessing your long-term memory," DECA interrupted. "Whether that's the goal or simply a side effect of the Power drain, I do not know."

"Wait--Saryn was attacked?" Ashley sounded as confused as he felt. "I thought someone said these things were only going after Astro Rangers."

"I said it," Saryn answered quietly. "And no, I was not attacked. What I told DECA was based on the impressions I received while Cassie was under attack. I perceived her distress as my own, and reacted accordingly."

"Ow, by the way!" Cassie added.

He looked chagrined. "I was not at first aware that your mind had been turned into a battleground," he murmured. "I'm truly sorry."

She put her hand on his arm and smiled up at him. "It's all right--I'm just as glad to keep my memories. Thanks."

"That's why she wasn't totally distracted afterwards," TJ added, for their benefit. "Saryn managed to protect her through that link of theirs."

Andros frowned, knowing there was more to that than he could think of right now. It wasn't just their memories that had been affected, after all.

"The Power," he said suddenly. "Withdrawal. They're draining our Power? How? And why can we feel it when Cassie didn't? Or TJ?"

"Oh, I felt it," TJ put in. "I still do, trust me. Cassie's was tapped too, but neither of us took as bad a hit as you and Ashley."

Cassie cleared her throat, lifting one hand to touch the ruby hanging over her nightshirt. "DECA says mine's actually been drained more than TJ's, but…"

"I suspect she's drawing mine," Saryn finished quietly. "That's why she suffers no significant symptoms."

Carlos' impatient sigh caught Andros' attention. "Can't either of you control that?"

"You can't steal a Ranger's Power," Andros informed the room at large. "It's not possible. The Power doesn't work like that."

He saw Carlos roll his eyes, but he ignored it. The Black Ranger had been moody since his breakup with Aura, and some days were worse than others. He'd almost gotten used to it by now.

"Not at the source," DECA agreed at last, when no one else offered any reply. "But your connection to the Power has not been transferred, or even completely severed. You are simply not receptive to the same degree you were before."

"What does that mean, exactly?" Ashley wanted to know. "We're weaker? Or whoever did this to us is just stronger?"

"Both?" Andros suggested ominously. "Can we still morph?"

"I don't know," DECA said, and her obvious frustration sent a pang of guilt through him. For all her abilities, she wasn't omniscient. "However, I would not recommend attempting to morph until we know more."

"How will we know more if we don't morph?" Ashley demanded. "We can't just wait for whoever attacked us to try again."

"That's really irritating," Andros muttered. "TJ, how long did it take for your flashbacks to stop?"

TJ gave him an odd look. "Flashbacks?"

"TJ's reaction was not as serious as yours," DECA interjected. "He seemed to regain the state you see now within an hour."

TJ raised an eyebrow at her camera. "State?" he repeated. "I'm in a state?"

"One of several," she agreed. "They are not difficult to classify. Perhaps you would be interested in knowing more at a later time."

"Somehow I doubt it," he said, giving her a suspicious look. "Thanks anyway."

"The morphin grid," Saryn said suddenly.

Andros glanced around, wondering if he had missed another integral part of the conversation. For once, though, no one else seemed any better informed than he was, and he frowned at Saryn. "What about it?"

Saryn looked from him to DECA's camera. "Does it not respond on an instinctive level to alterations in a Ranger's receptivity? Why has it not intervened in this instance?"

"Would it notice this kind of thing?" Andros asked, surprised by the idea. He, too, turned his gaze on DECA's camera.

If DECA could have shrugged, Andros was sure she would have. "Either of you would have far more knowledge of the grid's capabilities than I."

"The what?" Ashley asked at last, and he saw her stifling a yawn as he glanced over at her. She was leaning on Cassie again, watching the conversation through half-closed eyes. "What are you guys talking about?"

"The morphin grid is the original source of the Power Rangers' strength," Saryn said. Even he was leaning back against the wall, and Andros wondered what time the rest of them had finally gone to bed. "There are various devices, artifacts, and morphers that serve as conduits, but the Power comes, universally, from the grid."

"So is it a thing, or a place?" Cassie wanted to know.

"It's not truly either," Saryn said, catching Andros' eye.

Andros just shrugged. "Don't look at me; I've never been inside it. All I know is what Zhane told me."

Saryn looked a little uncomfortable. "I have only been inside it once myself, and the incident was not particularly enlightening. I am, if anything, less certain of what it is now than I was before I experienced it."

"That's what Zhane said," Andros agreed with a small smile.

Eyes closed, Ashley murmured, "But not word for word, I bet."

Andros edged forward, pushing himself to his feet as quickly as he dared. TJ caught his arm as he stumbled, but he didn't sit back down. He took a step forward, leaning on TJ more than he cared to admit, and he put out a hand to catch himself on the other patient bed.

Ashley's eyes had fluttered open, watching his progress worriedly, and she lifted her left hand automatically as he held his out to her. He took her hand, catching Cassie's eye. "We might as well try," he offered. "I've heard the grid is more responsive to team Power."

She frowned, clearly not understanding. Before Andros could say anything else, though, Saryn reached over her shoulder and caught her fingers. He laid them over their joined hands, then motioned for TJ to do the same. "Put your morphers together," he said quietly. "That is how I was initiated as well."

"Right," TJ said, after a moment's pause. With a shrug, he let go of Andros' arm and put his hand over Cassie's. "Okay."

"Carlos," Andros said, and he heard the other sigh.

"Far be it for me to interfere with people who don't know what they're doing," Carlos muttered. He joined them on Andros' other side and put his hand on top of TJ's.

The light brightened abruptly, dispelling the shadows--and the Medical bay, for that matter. For a moment no one spoke.

"If I was dreaming," Ashley said at last. "Someone would wake me up, right?"

Andros let go of her hand carefully, taking a single step backward. The sun was high over the Keyota commons, but the steady tumble of the fountain was the only motion in sight. He took a second look at it as the sound suddenly registered--water hadn't flowed in that fountain for more than six years.

"I'll wake you up if you'll wake me," Cassie murmured. She took a step back and let out a squeak as she bumped into someone. "Saryn!"

"All right," TJ said, looking considerably more intrigued than he had before. He squinted up at the sun, then back at Saryn. "Assuming this is the grid, and not some sort of shared hallucination--should you be here?"

"Um…" It was Cassie who held up his ruby, still hanging on its gold chain around her neck. She actually looked a little sheepish. "Sorry."

"And you would be?" Carlos' voice inquired. Andros had no idea who he was talking to until he put the fountain behind him and turned around.

He blinked. "DECA? What are you doing here?"

She put her hands behind her back with a small shrug. "Your guess is as good as mine." Her eyes went distant for a moment before refocusing on his with a curious expression. "Literally, in this case. I've lost my link to the Megaship's sensors."

"Whoa," TJ interrupted, packing a surprising amount of disbelief into the single syllable. "Say again?"

Eyebrow raised, she turned her head to look at him. "Your guess is as good as mine. Literally, in this case. I've lost my link to the Megaship's sensors."

Andros grinned. "TJ, this is DECA. DECA, TJ."

"We've met," she deadpanned.

"Guys," Cassie said softly. Her tone was serious enough to get Andros' attention immediately, and he was already turning around as she added, "I don't like the look of this."

"If you want a second opinion," Ashley agreed without hesitation, "you've got it. Is it just me, or do they look way too familiar?"

The Astro Rangers stood on the far side of the stone fountain.

"Andros." He turned his head a little and saw DECA nod over his shoulder at the fountain. "If that's a symbolic representation of your Power, I suggest that allowing them access to it could be unwise."

Only then did he notice the unusual mosaic surrounding the familiar fountain. It had always been circular, but now the five Astro colors comprised the outer ring of the circle--as though their logo had been wrapped protectively around the commons' only source of open water.

"But they're us," he murmured over his shoulder, lifting his gaze to their doppelgangers.

"They're not," she said, and even as she spoke he saw what she meant. Each of the false Rangers sported five blood red bars across the front of their uniform, taking the place of the multi-colored Astro logo that would normally be there.

He motioned to the others, and they stepped forward as one.

As they interposed themselves between the impostors and the fountain, he wondered that the false Rangers didn't make any move to stop them. "Who are you?" he demanded, addressing the one in the middle. He tried to ignore the other's eerie resemblance to his own morphed form.

Every one of the false Rangers lifted their right fist to their chest. Flinging their hands forward in a strange shadow of the Astro Rangers' morphing gesture, five voices growled in unison, "Psycho Rangers!"

The figure in the middle came forward, but the other four turned to their respective sides and moved to encircle the fountain. At his back, Andros could feel his team spreading out to echo them, each one of them stepping up to the edge of the circle defensively.

The one in front of him stopped mere inches from the red stone on which Andros stood. "Psycho Red," it sneered, in what he assumed was supposed to be an introduction. Before he could respond, it reached up and removed its helmet.

His own face stared back at him.

He had to lock his knees to keep from taking a step back. He felt DECA shift behind him, subtly reminding him of her presence, and he took a deep breath. He caught a glimpse of Ashley's stunned expression from somewhere to his right, and, perversely, it made him feel a little better.

Then he heard a venomous voice utter the words, "Psycho Yellow!" He turned involuntarily, taking his eyes off of the being in front of him for the first time. Ashley's double stared back at her from no farther away than his own.

When it made no threatening moves, his gaze slid toward Carlos. The black "Psycho Ranger" was at least five long strides from the edge of the circle, and it made no effort to identify itself. TJ's counterpart, however, had no such compunctions.

"Psycho Blue," it hissed, pulling its helmet off with one swift motion. It stood maybe three steps from the circle, but its face was an exact mirror of TJ's.

Just to his left, Saryn had one hand on Cassie's shoulder and was glaring hard enough to drop a lesser threat with the sheer force of his expression. Cassie's "Psycho Ranger" was closer than TJ's, but it didn't stand toe-to-toe with her the way Andros' was. Possibly because of Saryn, Andros thought, trying to be amused by the idea.

"Psycho Pink," the last one declared, rather sulkily. It folded its arms, adding to the sullen impression. It did not remove its helmet.

He felt himself falling suddenly and he tensed, putting his hands out automatically in an effort to catch himself--and then he realized that the floor of the Medical bay was underneath him, and he was leaning back against one of the patient beds.

"Andros?" Ashley's worried voice asked. He felt the patient bed shift, and then her hands were on his shoulders. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," he muttered. The grid's disorienting effect must have been enough to make him lose his balance. "Just--really tired."

"There must be some sort of constant drain on your Power." DECA's camera tilted a little to look down at him. "It must not have ended when the attack did--there is no other explanation for your continuing symptoms."

"They are drawing their own power directly from the Astro Rangers," Saryn surmised, glancing up at DECA's camera for confirmation.

The red light blinked once. "So it would seem."

"By 'they'," Cassie began uncertainly, "you mean--these Psycho Rangers?"

Saryn must have nodded, for TJ added, "All right, so everyone else saw that too. That's good; at least I'm not going crazy."

"I do not believe that fact alone discounts the possibility of your insanity," DECA informed him.

TJ swung around and pointed at her camera. "And you! Since when have you been a person?" he demanded.

"I am nothing more or less than what I was a year ago," she replied calmly--and, Andros thought, a little smugly.

It took more of an effort than he'd expected to lift his head, but he managed. "DECA's always had a holographic interface," he explained. "I just don't use it anymore. Zhane might; I don't know."

"And this never came up before?" TJ wanted to know.

"You didn't ask," Andros began defensively, but TJ cut him off.

"You're not the one I meant." He gave DECA's camera an indignant look. "During that entire 'three thousand languages and all known galaxies' speech, it never once occurred to you to mention that you also happen to be a twenty-something single white female?"

"Do you feel that such a reference to the image I choose to adopt would have added anything to the conversation?" DECA inquired.

"Well…" TJ glanced around helplessly.

As amusing as it was to see the self-possessed Blue Ranger flounder, Andros just couldn't concentrate. Instead of flashbacks, he found himself plagued more and more by an uncontrollable drowsiness, and his position on the floor wasn't helping.

"DECA's appearance aside," Andros said at last, tilting his head back to rest it against the patient bed, "is there any part of this conversation we can't put off until we've gotten some sleep?"

There was a moment of silence before Cassie said, "Probably--" She was interrupted by a yawn. "But I'm not awake enough to know what it is."

Jetson lifted his head from Andros' leg as she stood up, and Andros considered him for a moment. He hadn't even noticed when Jetson lay down, but the dog had apparently been using Andros' leg as a pillow for some time now.

TJ offered his hand to Andros, and he took it gratefully. The other Ranger pulled him to his feet, but when Andros wavered he said, "Maybe you two had better stay here for the rest of the night. Let DECA monitor you for a few more hours, just in case."

"Sure," Ashley murmured sleepily, already curled up on her patient bed again. "Good idea, TJ."

"You all right?" Carlos asked quietly, but Andros nodded and waved him off.

He stumbled over to the other patient bed and managed to sit down before he fell--he could only hope that sleep was going to help. "I'll be okay," he said aloud, when he realized that Carlos was still watching him. "I don't think anyone should go down to Earth before we've had a chance to talk, though."

"Note to self," Carlos replied, sounding a little more like himself. "No sleepwalking."

Andros smiled, then nodded when TJ put in, "Breakfast strategy session, then. No one go anywhere beforehand."

He could barely keep his eyes open as the others started to file out. He heard Jetson's toenails clicking on the deck as the dog followed Cassie and Saryn out into the hallway, and a moment later TJ said something to Carlos that he couldn't quite overhear. But he was too tired to care much at that point, and as he lay down he decided that the supposed discomfort of the patient beds' had been seriously overstated.

DECA let the lights dim without being asked, but just as he was closing his eyes he heard Ashley say his name softly. "Yeah," he muttered, not moving.

There was a pause. "We still need to talk," she whispered at last.

He opened his eyes at that, but he couldn't see anything in the darkness. "Yeah," he agreed finally, letting out a soundless sigh. He hoped those words sounded less ominous in the morning. "I know."

4. Hold On

They needed a bigger bed. It was strange to think such a thing when just months ago he had been literally sleeping in the streets, but there it was. He gazed into the darkness, contemplating the situation idly. There wasn't a lot he could do about it, but it seemed worthy of note nonetheless.

There was no question that he preferred the crowded closeness of Cassie's bed to his own lonelier accommodations on Elisia, but there was also no getting around the fact that the bunks on the Megaship were designed for single occupancy. There really wasn't enough room for two people to sleep comfortably on a regular basis... and there was even less room when a seventy-pound quadruped made his presence felt.

The dog in question whined softly from the floor, which was, as far as Saryn was concerned, the appropriate place for him. Cassie apparently let the creature sleep on the bed during the week, and he seemed to feel that the arrangement was now one of his inalienable rights. Saryn was repeatedly required to correct him.

Cassie stirred as the dog whined again, and he sighed without a sound. The lights might still be dark, but the night was about to come to an end. Each precious night with her was one that he hated to leave behind.

She mumbled something that sounded like "morning" as she rolled over onto her back, and he regarded her fondly as she struggled to open her eyes. "Good morning," he agreed, keeping his arm around her in a futile effort to hold onto the moment.

The dog had jumped to his feet as soon as he realized she was awake. Now he let out an impatient bark, clearly a moment away from putting his paws on the bed and nosing Cassie to make sure she hadn't forgotten him.

"Hey, Jetson," she muttered, reaching out for him blindly. The dog licked her hand eagerly and barked again. "I'm coming, I'm coming," she promised, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes as she started to sit up.

"You are not," Saryn told her. He didn't let her go, and she blinked sleepily at him.

"I have to take Jetson for a walk," she said, leaning over to give him a kiss. He didn't interrupt, but when she pulled away and tried to sit up he stopped her again.

"You aren't going down to Earth." When she opened her mouth to protest, he added, "The Psycho Rangers?"

That gave her pause. "Oh," she said at last, but she didn't settle back against the pillows. "Well, I'll only be a few minutes. They won't even know I'm there."

"They shouldn't have known you were there last night, either," he reminded her. "I will take your dog for a walk, but you must stay here."

She hesitated, and the look in her eyes said she knew exactly how he and Jetson felt about each other. "I know it's not your favorite thing..."

"'Love me, love my pet'," he said with a smile, kissing her gently. "Believe me, I am familiar with the concept."

She let out her breath in amusement. "You'll have to tell me about it some time."

He braced one arm on the other side of her and kissed her in passing before shifting his weight to edge off the bed. His clothes were in the chair where he had left them the night before, and as he dressed he said over his shoulder, "Jenna had a raptor. She was quite attached to it, and soon after we became involved I had to learn to hunt it."

"Hunt it?" Cassie repeated, sounding startled.

"Send it off in search of prey," he elaborated. "And I assure you, the only thing stranger than launching a bird of prey from your arm is having that same bird return with something in its beak."

She giggled. "I can imagine. At least Jetson doesn't eat live animals."

*And the raptor didn't sleep on the bed,* he thought, but he didn't say it aloud. "DECA?" he asked instead.

The camera light blinked on, and without being prompted she informed him, "Three transmissions were recorded for you last night."

Cassie murmured in surprise. "You're popular today."

Jetson barked again, and he raised an eyebrow at the dog. "You'll have to wait your turn, like the rest of the universe. DECA, would you route the transmissions through Cassie's terminal?"

"Certainly, Saryn."

DECA was in a pleasant mood this morning, he thought. That probably boded ill for TJ, or possibly Zhane when she next saw him, but when the seal of the Frontier Defense appeared on the screen he didn't bother to wonder. The seal didn't fade immediately, and a blur of numbers across the bottom of the screen indicated an encryption code in use.

"Tobin, for Saryn," the former Eltaran Ranger said at last, as his face replaced the seal. "I need to speak to you when you have a moment. The Kerova system is petitioning for official Defense membership. Clearly there are problems, but frankly there are few arguments we can make against them that don't apply equally to already established members right now. Whenever you're free," he repeated, and his image vanished.

He heard Cassie stir behind him. "That's funny... Andros didn't say anything about that."

"No," he agreed thoughtfully, as the timestamp for the next message appeared on the screen. "I would have expected him to at least mention it."

The Elisian sunburst logo replaced the timestamp, indicating an official Ranger transmission, and he straightened. But Mirine's face was delighted when she appeared on the screen, and she didn't bother to identify herself. "Saryn!" she cried, obviously out of breath. Water droplets glittered in her unbound hair, and she was grinning at the screen. "It's raining!"

The transmission ended with those words, and the screen went blank. He smiled to himself, and he heard Cassie laugh from somewhere behind him. He hadn't heard her get up, but when he turned his head she slid her arms over his shoulders and kissed his cheek. "It's going to be all right," she murmured.

"Yes," he agreed, lifting his face toward hers. The arrival of winter would not solve all of Elisia's problems, but at least it meant that the atmosphere could still support seasonal rainfall. And sharing Cassie's tender kiss only made the outlook seem more optimistic.

"Hi, Saryn," the last message interrupted. He drew away, startled by the voice, and found familiar hazel eyes looking back at him. Hers was a gaze he hadn't met in person for quite some time now.

"It's Kerone," she added, as though she didn't expect him to remember. "I just wanted to say... well, congratulations. I heard the Rangers are back on Elisia, and I've been meaning to tell you how happy I am for you.

"That's--" she hesitated a moment before continuing, "That's really all. I'm sorry," she said with an apologetic smile. "I'm tired, and I guess I'm not thinking clearly. Say hi to Cassie for me, please? ...'Night."

She disappeared, and he frowned at the darkened screen.

The room was silent, save for the insistent whine of Cassie's dog. For once, though, even Cassie made no move to comfort him. "That didn't sound much like Kerone, did it," she said at last.

Still staring at the screen, he didn't answer.

"Have you heard from her before?" Cassie wanted to know.

"No," he said, shaking his head. "DECA--did she ask you to hold that transmission for me?"

"Yes," DECA replied. "She requested that it be held overnight, so as not to wake you."

There was a pause. Then Cassie seemed to realize what that meant. "She knew you were here," she said slowly. "But how?"

"She must have sources on the Border." He frowned again, considering how quickly she would have had to get the information. "Or--she's on the Border herself. DECA, can you trace that message?"

"Andros and Zhane have never been able to," Cassie said quietly.

He waited anyway, wondering if the odd message might be different from the ones she had sent to her brother and his best friend. The League relays all had hyperboost capability and Ranger recognition codes, so if she had used them DECA ought to be able to backtrack the transmission's path relatively quickly.

"Message originated on KO-35," DECA said at last.

He nodded to himself, not particularly surprised. The Border kept a close eye on its Rangers; it wouldn't have been hard for her to find out when he left or to guess where he was going. She was looking for home, as he was, and if her tone was any indication, she was learning just how lonely that search could be.

"You knew?" Cassie demanded.

"No." He lifted one hand to his ring, and he heard Cassie's voice say quietly, *I love you, Saryn.* "I did not know. But it is a difficult quest she is on."

"Yeah," Cassie said sympathetically. "Finding a place to belong always is."

He blinked, then smiled to himself. Of course she understood. She had gone off on her own search for something to care about two years ago, leaving behind not only her family but her entire life. By ending up in Angel Grove, he knew she had saved more than just herself.

The dog barked again, and he shook his head. Cassie took a step back as he stood up, and he motioned to her dog. "Come on," he said. "Let's go to the park."

The dog leapt forward, needing no further prompting, but Cassie's voice stopped him in the doorway. "I'll let Andros know Kerone called."

"I would rather you did not," he said, turning back toward her. "She could have gotten a message to him just as easily. I am not sure she would thank me for passing this on."

She didn't look convinced, but the barking in the hallway seemed to make up her mind for her. "It's your message," she said with a small smile. "Go ahead; I'll see you in a few minutes."

He lifted a hand in farewell and strode after her dog. The creature threatened to wake everyone on deck five, so he didn't bother going to the holding bay. He just grabbed the dog's collar and teleported them both from the hallway.

The dog wrenched free as soon as there was grass under his feet, and Saryn watched him go with mild exasperation. "Enjoy yourself," he said under his breath, watching the dog bound away into the park.

He couldn't help wondering what the animal would think of Elisia. The scrub grass there was certainly not what he was used to, and they would have to be careful about when they let him out. The sand could burn when the sun got high enough.

He sighed, hooking his thumbs into his pockets as he wandered in the dog's wake. The real question, and the one that he had been trying to avoid for some time now, was what Cassie would think of Elisia. Could she be happy somewhere so...

He frowned down at the ground. Alien. The word was alien, and he couldn't let himself forget it. The consequences of forgetting had become all too clear in Carlos' and Aura's failed relationship.

So could Cassie be happy somewhere as alien as Elisia? Even when the terraforming had been at its height, the planet had been less than hospitable to offworlders. And with conditions the way they were now...

He lifted his head, staring after her dog. She hadn't even seen the planet. She had told him that she would spend the rest of her life on a spaceship if that were what it took for them to be together, but he wouldn't want that for her. He didn't want her to be anywhere that she couldn't truly love.

The dog was chasing some sort of small grey animal, and he wondered briefly if he ought to stop him. When the grey animal disappeared up a tree, though, the dog turned and went about his business without another thought.

*Out of sight, out of mind,* he thought. It wouldn't be that way for Cassie, he was sure. But would she remember Earth fondly as a place where she had once lived, or would she long for it the way he yearned to be back on Elisia?

What would he do if she did?

She herself seemed convinced that her time as a resident of Earth was almost over. Her citizenship could not legally transfer, of course, given the ignorance of most government officials on her home planet, but their marriage would grant her dual citizenship with a minimum of hassle. But citizenship did not confer appreciation, and he couldn't stop worrying.

Kerone had lasted five months on a ship not her own before she decided there had to be something more. Carlos and Aura had only been together four months before their sheer alienness had started to cause problems. And Cassie had already given up one home... how could he ask her to do it again?

His communicator beeped, and he glanced down in surprise. No matter how many times the Astro Rangers used it to page him, he was not completely used to the noise. "This is Saryn," he said, lifting his wrist so that the pickup would be clearer.

"Could you stop that?" Cassie's voice inquired. She sounded as amused as she did indignant. "You're making me nervous."

Chagrinned, he realized that he hadn't put enough effort into keeping his feelings to himself. She was the one person he could not seem to block unconditionally, no matter how many lessons Cestria gave him. "How much of that did you hear?" he asked, wincing a little.

"I didn't hear anything," she replied. "You're just making me nervous, that's all. And you're too distracted to hear me."

"I am... concerned about your reaction to Elisia," he admitted, leaning mentally on her dog's mind. The creature turned around and trotted back toward him obediently. Cestria would probably stare long and hard if she saw him do that.

Cassie didn't answer immediately. "Me too, sometimes," she said at last. "If you want to know the truth. But I am never, ever giving you up, and I'd rather be with you than anywhere else in the universe. So come up here and let's have breakfast before I starve."

Strangely, her confession made him feel a little bit better, and he smiled at her enjoinder to come have breakfast. At least he could count on her to tell him if she was unhappy...

He dropped a hand to the dog's collar, and the world washed away in fiery crimson.

"Greetings," Cestria said, sounding distinctly cheerful. "I hope the dawn finds you well."

She sounded as though it found *her* well--or would, when dawn eventually reached the Ranger dome in Coralside. He turned his back on the pre-recorded message, pulling his shirt on over his head and listening with half an ear as she said something about the latest shift rotation.

"The change in schedule is of course convenient for Cetaci," she continued, as he turned back to the screen. "It means that she is no longer slated to represent the team at the Alliance conference tomorrow afternoon--"

*Today,* he thought, correcting automatically for the lag between the message's arrival and his viewing of it. He had forgotten about the conference, but it didn't particularly affect him one way or the other. As team leader and the only one other than Zhane who could rearrange his schedule at will, Andros usually took care of things like that.

He reached for a hair elastic as Cestria's image added, "Diplomacy isn't Aura's strongest suit, as I'm sure you've noticed. Nonetheless, Delphinius is off-shift as well, and Billy and I have a prior commitment."

*Besides,* he thought wryly, *diplomacy isn't really Cetaci's strongest area either, so it shouldn't make that much difference.*

"She will do well, I'm certain," Cestria said, but the fact that she had to say it told him she wasn't sure at all. He didn't doubt Aura's ability to represent what was currently the second most powerful world in the League, but he was frankly glad that he wouldn't be there.

*All we need is another fight like the last one,* he thought ruefully. *In public. In front of Rangers from half the League worlds. That would really make us look good.*

"You might mention to Andros that he may be asked to stand with the governing Alliance delegation," Cestria went on, as he looked around for his chapstick. One of the side effects of so much time on Aquitar seemed to be that the California air felt dryer than usual.

"I don't believe a final decision has been reached," Cestria's image remarked, "but it is possible that they will want to honor your team for its part in the Alliance's foundation."

He found the chapstick on his bureau, along with his wallet, keys, and miscellaneous other items he had pulled out of his pockets the night before. The wire frame that had been his "Christmas present" from Aura stood beside the clutter, and he touched the picture with one finger before turning away.

"Aside from the conference," Cestria was saying, "there is one other small issue that you might wish to be aware of. I don't know how much time you're planning to spend on Aquitar in the near future, but it would be in all our best interests if you could refrain from mentioning the words 'children' or 'parenting' in Cetaci's presence."

He raised an eyebrow at that, staring back at the screen as though she could see him. Did he want to know where that had come from?

*Yes,* he decided, seeing Cestria hesitate. There had to be a story worth telling behind that one.

"Delphinius made a... well, an admittedly big mistake," Cestria said, the hint of a smile tugging at her lips. "And I'm afraid the rest of us have not been exempt from Cetaci's wrath."

She wasn't going to tell it, he thought, studying her expression. At least, not over a comm link. Maybe he would pay Aquitar a visit, later today while Aura was at the conference.

With a nod of her head, Cestria touched her fingertips together and wished him a good day before signing off. It would have been an abrupt farewell, if he hadn't been getting regular messages from her for some time now. Sometimes he thought he knew her better than he knew Aura... he was certainly more comfortable in Cestria's presence right now.

He turned away from the now blank terminal and headed for the door, only belatedly remembering to thank DECA for playing the message. He wouldn't have said it a week ago, or even a day. This morning, though, he couldn't keep the image of a young woman with blonde hair and golden eyes from surfacing every time he looked at one of her cameras. It was easier to take something--or someone--for granted when it didn't have a face associated with it.

Her reply was simple and perfectly polite: just "you're welcome," nothing more and nothing less. He imagined her tone had a slightly knowing quality to it anyway, as though she was aware of the reason behind his change in habits and found it amusing.

He shook his head, stepping out into the hallway and making his way toward the lift. Now he was second-guessing computers. He didn't know what that meant, but he doubted it was a good sign.

"Deck six," he told the lift, and it hummed to life without acknowledgement. He could only assume that that freed him from the responsibility of thanking her yet again, and he stepped out of the lift without a word. He needed to have a long talk with someone about this whole sentient computer thing.

He could hear Cassie before he even walked into the holding bay, and he grinned as he heard her telling TJ to stop feeding Jetson from the table. "Honestly," she was saying as he came in, "You'd think he never ate otherwise!"

"He's a growing dog," TJ informed her, no trace of repentance in his tone. "A few extra scraps won't hurt him."

"I assure you, he's quite big enough already," Saryn put in. "If it were your bed he slept on, you might look at the situation differently."

"Oh, you!" Cassie gave him an affectionate shove. "He doesn't sleep on the bed when you're here."

Saryn gave her an amused look. "Just because you don't wake up when he jumps on top of us doesn't mean it doesn't happen."

"Want another piece of pancake, Jetson?" TJ inquired solicitously.

Carlos couldn't help chuckling at the look Saryn gave TJ. "'Morning," he said, heading for the Synthetron. "What did DECA do to your pancakes this time, TJ?"

"They're blueberry!" he exclaimed. "I asked for chocolate chip!"

"I thought you liked blueberry," Cassie commented, not sounding particularly sorry for TJ's plight.

"I do," TJ answered. His tone was no less indignant than it had been before. "That's not the point. I wanted chocolate chip!"

Carlos shook his head as he set his plate down on the table and took a seat next to TJ. "And what did you do?"

"I didn't do anything," TJ protested, cutting off another few pieces with his fork. "I think someone just got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning."

"I should not have to remind you that I do not sleep, TJ," DECA interjected. Carlos hadn't noticed the light on her camera come on, but she had clearly been following the conversation.

"And I shouldn't have to remind you to use contractions like the rest of us," TJ replied. "Don't get all formal on a person when you've just deliberately screwed up his pancake order."

"My speech subroutines are hardly relevant to this conversation," DECA told him.

"Yeah, neither is your mother," TJ muttered under his breath.

Carlos tried to stifle a laugh when DECA's response sounded distinctly puzzled. "Your remark is a non sequitur," she said. "I do not understand its significance."

TJ grinned, looking as though he'd just gotten away with something. "No one does, DECA; that's why it's such a good insult."

Carlos thought she was trying to process that when he noticed what Cassie was eating. He frowned a little, exaggerating his disbelief as he squinted at her bowl. "If that's cereal, then General Mills seriously needs to work on their presentation."

She rolled her eyes at him. "It's keris. I'm just trying something new."

"It's what?" he demanded. He'd seen some strange foods in his time on Aquitar, but this was a new one. "Is that stuff even legal?"

"You think they serve poppy seeds on Elisia?" Cassie retorted, and he grinned. It was a reference to an earlier discussion they'd had about how not to test positive for opium after eating poppy-seed bagels.

"I think they probably don't need to," he answered, shooting a significant glance at her bowl.

She just laughed, and TJ gave them a strange look. "You're both on poppy seeds," he muttered, which only set Cassie off again.

Saryn looked from one to the other, clearly not sure what he had missed.

"Don't ask," Carlos advised. "It's not nearly as funny as we think it is."

"But if you get pulled over while you're eating a poppy-seed bagel," TJ added helpfully, "make sure you have peanut butter in the car."

Saryn paused, watching Cassie giggle. After a moment, he nodded to TJ and offered, "I will give your suggestion the consideration it is due."

"'None' would be about right," Carlos put in.

Saryn smiled.

"You're the one who brought it up," TJ reminded Carlos. "I was just offering my opinion on your state of mind."

"The diagnosis of hallucinogenic use is probably not one that you are qualified to give," DECA told him.

TJ glared at her good-naturedly. "I don't think a computer who can't get a simple pancake recipe right has any business criticizing my professional medical ability!"

"Is this the point at which I ought to say something about your mother?" DECA inquired.

Carlos laughed, catching Cassie's eye across the table. She grinned back at him, and he decided that no matter what happened with the Psycho Rangers, he was glad for the enforced company of his teammates. They hadn't all had breakfast together in a long time.

As if on cue, Jetson's head swiveled toward the doorway, and TJ turned to look over his shoulder. Ashley's voice greeted them, and Andros' was only a moment behind her.

Carlos turned to watch them enter, wondering if Ashley's slightly subdued tone had been his imagination. "Morning," he echoed belatedly, when it occurred to him that even Saryn had returned their "hello"s. Ashley did look... quieter than usual, somehow, but that could just be the aftereffects of last night's attack.

"How are you feeling?" Cassie asked quickly, getting to her feet as though they might need help. "Any better this morning?"

"Much," Ashley said, giving her friend a grateful look. "Still a little tired and achy, but at least the flashbacks have stopped." A hint of humor slid across her face, and she added, "I did have some of the weirdest dreams, though."

"I know what that's like," Cassie said dryly, shooting Saryn an uninterpretable look.

Ashley laughed at what was probably a private joke, but the sound wasn't as light-hearted as it usually seemed. Andros didn't answer at all, as though the question had been directed only at Ashley. They were definitely a little off this morning, but whether it was the attack or something more, he couldn't tell.

"How are you doing, Andros?" TJ asked easily, as the Red Ranger sat down. The question was casual, but it was also direct enough that it couldn't be ignored.

"I'm fine." Andros focused on his food, clearly not in the mood to be maneuvered. "I think Saryn and DECA are right about the Psychos using our Power to strengthen themselves. DECA did some checking for me, and there's a precedent for a kind of 'dark Ranger' that replaces or coexists with the original until one or the other is destroyed."

There was silence for a moment, and the comfortable atmosphere slipped away without another word.

"Well, that's a cheery thought," Cassie said at last. "Thanks, Andros; you always know how to brighten things up."

"I'm just telling you what I found out," Andros answered, not looking up. "I thought you'd want to know."

"We do." TJ was suddenly serious, all trace of his earlier banter gone. "So you're saying it's us or them."

"We had no reasonable cause to expect otherwise," Saryn put in quietly.

"What about this replacing thing?" Cassie asked, before anyone could respond. "That doesn't sound good, especially with them trying to steal our memories. Why would they bother if they just wanted to get rid of us? Or Earth?"

"Both," Carlos muttered grimly.

"Not both," Saryn corrected. "Not right away. If they're using you to tap the Power, it is in their best interests to keep you alive long enough to accomplish their goal."

"Destroying Earth?" Cassie guessed. "But how do our memories help them? And why haven't they started yet? Not that I'm complaining," she added hastily, "but if they have the Power, then why haven't they done anything with it?"

"They're missing a member of their attack force," Andros said simply.

Carlos felt five pairs of eyes turn to look at him. "I think I just volunteered to be bait," he said with a sigh.

"No." Andros' sharp reply surprised him. "We need to keep you as far away from them as possible."

Carlos frowned, but the Red Ranger didn't elaborate. He just continued eating as though it was the only thing on his mind, as though the others were having a discussion of which he was not a part. Carlos exchanged glances with TJ, but his friend just raised an eyebrow.

"Andros," Carlos said slowly, "we have the perfect opportunity here. We know what they want--what they'll do next given the slightest chance. All we have to do is be ready for them."

"An ambush," Cassie agreed. "If we keep them from getting to Carlos, it'll be the six of us against four of them."

Out of the corner of his eye, Carlos could see TJ frowning, but Andros spoke first. "We don't know enough about them yet. We don't even know for sure what they want."

"We know that they've come after us one by one, and we know that I can't stay on the Megaship forever," Carlos pointed out. "We'll have to go up against them eventually. It might as well be on our terms."

"And if we fail, Earth is next." Andros still didn't look up. "We need more time, and if we can get it by keeping you free of them, then that's what we're going to do."

"I'd like to know more about these 'dark Rangers' that DECA's found," TJ said unexpectedly. "But I'm not convinced that Carlos is the only one who needs to watch his back. He may be the next in line, but none of the rest of us are at full strength."

"They won't hurt us," Andros said with certainty. "Saryn's right; they need us alive to siphon our Power. I don't think they'll come after us again until they've destroyed Earth, and I don't think they'll try to do *that* until they have a link to Carlos' Power."

*And when did you become such an expert?* Carlos demanded silently. He didn't say it aloud, but Andros hadn't been this short with them since their first months on the Megaship.

"Even if you're right," Cassie began. She sounded just the slightest bit irritated too, which surprised Carlos. Aside from Ashley, Cassie had always been the most tolerant of Andros' moods. "We can't ask Carlos to stay on the Megaship forever. It's not practical, it's not fair, and it won't work indefinitely. They'll either get tired of waiting for him and attack anyway, or they'll try to come after him here."

"They wouldn't get past DECA." Andros barely seemed to be listening. "Besides, it won't be for that long. Carlos will have to go to Irini this afternoon anyway."

Carlos froze, tumbler halfway to his mouth. "Excuse me?"

"The Alliance conference is on Irini." Andros caught his eye briefly before his gaze slid away again. "You guys are going to have to start taking responsibility for Earth's obligations to the Alliance."

Cassie gave him an odd look. "I thought you said we were taking care of that."

"I said *I* was taking care of it," Andros corrected, looking up again. "But I can't keep doing it. KO-35's petitioning for Defense membership, and I can't keep representing two different worlds."

An uneasy silence settled over the table, and Carlos finally remembered the glass in his hand. He set it down, letting the tumbler hit the table with a little more force than was necessary. "So what are you saying? Now that KO-35's back, we're not worth your time anymore?"

"That's not fair, Carlos," Ashley said quietly. It was the first time she'd spoken since Cassie had asked her how she was. "Andros has been doing more than his share of the Alliance work these last few months. We can't ask him to do that on top of everything he owes to KO-35."

"KO-35 is my home!" Andros burst out. "Stop talking about it like it's something I 'have' to do! Why am I allowed to put my life on the line for Earth, but when it comes to KO-35, the smallest thing is suddenly a huge deal? Why can't I be as passionate about my world as you are about yours?"

No one said anything for a moment. Then, just as Andros looked as though he was about to get up, Cassie murmured, "Maybe we're just scared to let you go, Andros. We've been through a lot together, after all. We can't help being a little... clingy."

"That's what makes us good teammates," TJ added, smiling slightly. Cassie smiled back at him.

"We know how much your home means to you," she continued, when Andros didn't answer. "And we'd never stand in the way of that. Sometimes it's just hard for everyone to remember that you have a life away from us, you know?"

"Yeah, well," Andros muttered. "I certainly can't stay on Earth for the rest of my life."

The scrape of a stool was loud on the metal deck, and Ashley dropped her napkin on the table beside her plate. "Excuse me," she said, very deliberately. She turned and walked out of the holding bay.

Andros didn't go after her.

Carlos caught Cassie's eye, but she looked just as confused as he felt. Finally, he pushed his own stool back and got up, following Ashley out into the hallway. As he left, he heard TJ ask carefully, "Did I miss something here?"

She heard Carlos leave the holding bay, but she didn't turn to look at him as he joined her. She put her hands against the wall behind her and leaned back against them, staring across the corridor at the window on the other side. The stars stared back at her, silent and small against the darkness... it was always night in space.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Carlos imitate her posture and follow her gaze, but he didn't say anything. Not that the guy who had never gotten through more than a semester with the same girl had room to talk, but his company was nice.

There were more footsteps a minute or two later, and Andros strode out of the holding bay. He didn't even glance in their direction, instead turning left and disappearing onto the Bridge. Whether he had seen them at all was open to question, but she was inclined to think he had.

There was another quiet moment. She could just make out the muted sounds of resumed conversation from inside the bay, and she wondered what they were talking about. Saryn had barely said a word since she and Andros had arrived, but then, he wasn't particularly talkative under the best of circumstances.

"You going to make it?" Carlos asked at last, breaking into her reverie.

She looked sideways at him, but he was still staring out the window. His thoughts could have been a million miles away--or, more likely, about two hundred thousand light years, she thought--except for his question.

She sighed, turning her gaze back to the stars. "I don't know," she said softly. It was the most honest answer she could give.

"Fair enough," he said a moment later.

When he said nothing else, she looked over at him again. "What about you?" she had to ask. "How are you doing?"

He shrugged, but he did glance over at her. His expression was wry, though she didn't understand why. "Andros picked a lousy time to cop out on us, but other than that, I'm fine."

For once, she didn't bother defending Andros. "You mean the conference?"

"Yeah. The conference." He rested his head against the wall behind him. "Aura's going to be there."

"Oh." She didn't question how he knew. "TJ would probably go instead," she offered instead. "If you asked him."

He just shook his head. "You heard him in there. He wants to do some research, for whatever good it will do. Besides, it's stupid not to go just because she is."

"I don't think it's stupid," Ashley said quietly. She glanced down the hall toward the Bridge, but there was no sign of the Red Ranger.

He didn't answer. She stared out at the stars for a while longer. Finally she wondered aloud, "Why does it feel like this is the end?"

He turned his head to look at her again. "Where did that come from?" The question might have been natural enough, but he didn't sound curious. It was as though he already knew what she meant.

"I've been waiting for graduation all year," she mused, to herself as much as to him. "I just wanted school to be over so we could get on with our lives. But now it's like... this *is* my life, you know? Going to school, and Rangering, and being with you guys."

She couldn't help sighing again. "I want to graduate, but... sometimes I wish everything could just stay the way it's always been."

"I know what you mean," Carlos admitted, looking back at the window. "You get to a point where everything is good, and you think that maybe if you just don't do anything, it will stay that way."

"Yeah." She put one foot behind her against the wall. "But it never does."

"No," he agreed. He was still watching the stars slide slowly past. "That's life, I guess."

"Why," she said, indulging in a little bit of sullenness. "Why does that have to be life; that's what I want to know."

"To show us what's important, I guess." His tone held a hint of amusement for her theatrics. "Hold on to the best and deal with the rest."

She kicked the wall behind her sulkily. "He didn't even ask me to come with him."

"Would you go?" he inquired. He didn't sound surprised, didn't look at her, even, and his tone was idle. It was as though he had expected her complaint, and had prepared a reply ahead of time. "If he asked you?"

"I don't know." She frowned down at the floor. "That's not the point."

"Have you asked him to stay here?"

"Of course not," she said automatically. "It wouldn't be fair."

Carlos gave her an absent smile. "So it's more fair for him to ask you to give up the only life you've ever known to go live on a starving, barely stable planet in a part of space that was a war zone six months ago?"

She opened her mouth. "I--" She stared at him, startled at the feeling his words had evoked. "I don't care about that," she said slowly. "I just..." *I just want to be with Andros.*

"Dammit, Carlos," she muttered, looking helplessly out at the stars. "Why does that suddenly sound so much better than college?"

"Hold on to the best," he repeated calmly. But his words sounded quiet and a bit reflective as he followed her gaze to the window.

5. Unfamiliar Territory

"System Control to Mega Voyager 2. Please stand by."

Carlos rolled his eyes as the cool, almost mechanical voice of "System Control" momentarily overrode the intership chatter with the same message he had been getting for the last fifteen minutes. He was apparently stuck in the Kalenay system's equivalent of a traffic jam.

"I got that kid to sign your shirt," he heard someone saying as System Control turned their attention elsewhere.

"In blue ink, I hope," someone else said. It sounded like a reply, but the comm's chatter frequency was overloaded in the crowded space and he couldn't be sure the two comments were related. It did amuse him to listen, though--the comm couldn't translate everything, but what he did catch was enough to make him shake his head in wonder.

"White's not even a real color!" Someone sounded terribly indignant. "Reds could take you any day!" There was the briefest pause, and the answer must have been buried because the next thing Carlos heard was, "I will! You and me, planetside, after the conference."

He wondered if that had been a challenge. Was that even allowed? There was something fundamentally bizarre about the idea of Rangers fighting each other, even in fun--maybe especially in fun. He and his teammates sparred with each other, of course, but they were friends.

"Manjo, did you get that gig at Southshore? Your brother said you thought you could swing it." Carlos gave the comm a suspicious look as something occurred to him. How did the Mega V computer know English slang, anyway?

"Could this setup be any slower?" someone complained. "Anyone want to race me to the asteroid belt and back?"

"Who is that?" a new voice demanded. "Kali, is that you? You're on!"

Carlos raised an eyebrow indignantly. "Hey!" he exclaimed, to no one in particular. "You want to say that to my face?"

"Who are you?" One of the voices was suddenly louder as it locked onto his comm signal. "You're not green."

*Damn.* He'd forgotten to mute his comm after the brief link with System Control. "I used to be," he answered. He could only hope his automatic protest hadn't offended someone important.

"Ah. In that case--"

The voice was abruptly cut off, and he wasn't sure whether to worry or breathe a sigh of relief. He hadn't really meant to get involved. He didn't know any of these people, and he had no idea what to expect from them.

"I've never seen a Power-boosted delta wing design," someone remarked. "How does it handle in an atmosphere?"

"Sorry, Mega V." The voice that had called Green Rangers showoffs was back as suddenly as it had gone, and he glanced down at the link. The gold outline around a display that read Serra zord 7 was all the ID he had.

"System Control deigned to give me an approach vector," the other pilot continued. "I'll see you planetside--and I'll call you a showoff to your face. Serra 7 out."

He couldn't help an incredulous chuckle. "You do that," he muttered under his breath, aware that the other was probably long gone. Who was she that she was audacious enough to make fun of people she'd never even met?

"Whoever's in the Talon zord needs to move up or shut up before I take your orbit and--" The rest of the threat was lost in the chatter, but he blinked at its brashness.

"Kids these days," a distinctly young-sounding voice chirped. "Better, stronger, faster!"

Carlos laughed aloud. It wasn't just the Serra pilot, he realized suddenly. They all talked that way--as though they were friends, even family, whether they knew each other's names or not. They didn't seem the slightest bit intimidated by each other.

*Why should they be?* he wondered, after a moment's reflection. They were all Rangers here. He supposed everyone was on a fairly level playing field. His original assumption, that the people speaking were the ones who were too important to observe formalities, was just that--an assumption. It was becoming clear to him that not only was it untrue, but that the idea itself might be laughable to many of these people.

He called up the data dump that DECA had sent his way before he left, remembering to mute the comm's chatter frequency this time. He had already reviewed the formal invitation and listened to DECA's addendum twice, but this time he wanted to hear it with a slightly different idea in mind. Despite the repeated delays, the intership chatter was almost... festive, and he had to wonder if he was going into this with the wrong attitude. The others didn't seem to be treating it like a chore, but more like--well, a reunion of sorts.

DECA's image appeared on the small screen in front of him, and this time he didn't jump. The first time he had seen her face instead of just hearing her voice, it had seemed more than a little odd. Now, in the midst of the unfamiliar, he found it strangely reassuring.

"The Alliance Conference is the fourth such event since the liberation of the Eltaran capitol," DECA said. "Its purpose is to serve as a tangible symbol of the spirit of goodwill and cooperation that made the foundation of the Inner Alliance possible. There will be no official procedural, charter, or treaty discussions, and it is probably best to refrain from bringing such things up in idle conversation.

"There will no doubt be a short ceremony, as the Alliance is fond of such things," DECA added. "There is typically a buffet, as well, and vid-recorders and holosnaps are a given. Do not allow yourself to be overwhelmed by newspersons--they will not be allowed in most areas, and where they are, remember that silence cannot be misquoted.

He smiled to himself. *Don't trust me?* he thought wryly. *I don't talk to reporters, DECA.* He and the others had agreed that the less media attention they attracted in Angel Grove, whether as part of a school or team-sponsored event or just as "average citizens" at the scene of something exciting, the better the chance of the Power Rangers remaining anonymous. This was obviously different, but by now the reaction was habit.

The comm lit up, and the incoming transmission overrode DECA's recorded message. He turned off the mute on the mike quickly, but it turned out to be unnecessary. This one didn't need or want a reply.

"System Control to Mega Voyager 2," it repeated, and he waited for it to tell him to standby again.

"Please proceed to Station six along vector 29 by 21," System Control told him. "Station Keeping will give you your berth assignment."

"Greetings, Power Ranger."

He emerged from Mega V2 into a small room that was both well lit and pleasantly warm. It was also a strange shade of purple, vaguely reminiscent of some parts of Aquitar, but he wouldn't hold that against them. Not until he knew more about them, anyway.

"Please follow the blue markers to the corridor," the voice continued. "Proceed to your left until you are intercepted by a greeter, who will then direct you to the reception area. You will be asked to submit to a security scan before entering the conference proper. If you do not carry a translator, one will be supplied to you on request. Enjoy the proceedings."

He glanced around, but he couldn't figure out where the voice was coming from. There only seemed to be one door, though, so he took a step toward it. It slid open as soon as he moved, and he shrugged to himself. At least that part was simple enough.

"Thank you," he said, when the voice didn't seem inclined to add anything else.

"You are welcome," it replied promptly.

He shook his head, bemused. Computer? And if so, artificial intelligence or just an automated speech? He stepped through the door tentatively, but the voice didn't follow him.

The triangular blue markers led into what looked like an airlock, and indeed, as soon as the door rolled shut behind him the air started to cycle. He frowned, a little worried that it seemed to be replacing perfectly good air with something quite a bit heavier, but he reminded himself that killing off conference attendees probably wasn't in the best interests of the Alliance.

When the second door let him out into a corridor, the air was humid and smelled vaguely... metallic. But it was breathable with a minimum of effort, and it occurred to him that with however many hundreds of species currently being hosted by the self-contained conference center, he was probably lucky not to need a breather.

He hadn't taken more than a few steps to the left when a creature that he could only assume was Irinian accosted him. It squeaked briefly before some sort of translation mechanism seemed to kick in, and then, in an eerie echo of the voice outside his zord berth, it said, "Greetings, Power Ranger."

Before he could reply, it held up a red wand and gave it a cursory wave in his direction. He looked down in surprise as his morpher chimed once, and the being lowered the wand. "Welcome to Irini, Ranger Carlos. Your information has been transmitted to the reception area. Please follow this corridor to its end; they are expecting you."

The short, squeaky being hurried off without another word, giving the impression that it had a long line of other people to identify and greet before it had time for idle conversation. Of course, Carlos thought as he headed in the opposite direction, given the delays in orbit, that might be entirely true.

Only as he entered the reception area did he realize that he had forgotten to ask the greeter for his own translator. He was given one by someone he took to be a security guard instead and without hassle, and he was pleasantly surprised to find that the "security check" was no more invasive than the greeter's identifying wand had been.

He was finally shown into the hall where the "conference" was actually being held, and he made it only a few steps before his impulse to simply stop and stare took over.

From above, the structure toward which his zord had been directed looked impressive. It was a sprawling conglomeration of metal-like geometry and medieval-style turrets, interspersed with clear synthate domes that looked out over the planet's surface. Another similarity to Aquitar there, he had noted--not that he was counting.

But from the inside... he hadn't realized that there was any place quite this big. Looking up, he couldn't tell exactly where the walls ended and the ceiling began--but then, he wasn't sure he could see all of the walls, either. The hall contained some of the most outrageously ostentatious decoration he'd ever seen, and it was rapidly filling up with more people than he had been able to imagine. The influx was such that he could actually see the effects of hundreds of corridors and reception areas just like the one he had entered through, all discharging more and more Rangers into the central hall.

"Mega V?" The voice was just the slightest bit familiar, and he turned automatically.

A girl almost as tall as he was stood beside him, violently green hair spilling over one shoulder and cat-like eyes that were just as bright. She considered the insignia on his uniform briefly before pinning her stare on him again. "Or should I say, 'Showoff'?"

He raised an eyebrow, hoping he didn't look as startled as he felt. For a moment his mind went completely blank, and he was sure he wouldn't be able to remember her zord designation to save his life. But he opened his mouth anyway, and he heard himself say, "It's only showing off to people who can't do it, Serra 7. It's called 'skill' to everyone else."

Her eyes widened, and a grin spread across her face. Her pointed incisors made the expression look a little fiercer than she had probably intended--or maybe not, he thought, returning her grin. Maybe she knew exactly what that expression looked like.

"Proud words," she remarked speculatively. "I suppose you race, then."

Her deliberate casualness set off little alarm bells in his mind. "Sometimes," he said, speaking as lightly as she had. "Not entirely about skill, though, is it."

"Oh?" she responded, and this time there was a dangerous note in her voice. He had clearly just insulted something she was passionate about, and he wasn't sure she was going to take it in the spirit it was intended. "And what do you do for recreation?"

He eyed her carefully, wondering if she was really about to pounce or if it just looked that way. "Have you ever been asteroid-hopping?" he inquired. Aura had introduced him to the sport, and it was a bigger rush than racing could ever be.

"You're on!" she declared, her eyes sparkling oddly. "I'll catch you before I leave. Then we'll see who has the skill!"

He opened his mouth to protest, not sure exactly how a few innocent words had turned into a contest, but something made her whirl before he could say anything.

"Whoa there, killer," a gravelly voice rumbled. "Don't point those teeth at me."

"Don't sneak up on me," she retorted, but she sounded more amused than threatening. "What are you doing here? I thought Sheshani was going to get his act together and make a conference for once."

"First off," the grey-skinned being told her, "I did *not* sneak up on you. A large flock of children would have made less noise than I did. Second, Sheshani is terrified of you. It's entirely possible that he is, in fact, here, but I'm sworn on pain of death not to divulge information one way or another. And third--" He rolled one multi-faceted eye in Carlos' direction. "Who's your handsome young friend?"

"Her handsome young friend," someone else interrupted, "is late. Ranger Carlos, I'm told?"

Bemused, he looked around to see a man in a black v-neck, complete with armband and gauntlets, regarding him quizzically. "Yes," Carlos agreed warily. "Do I know you?"

"Not yet," the other replied with a faint smile. "I'm Trey, of--" He cleared his throat. "Commander Linnse asked me to retrieve you."

"I heard that!" Serra 7 exclaimed. "You can't do it, can you. You can't introduce yourself as just 'Trey'!"

Trey gave her an even look. "As I recall, I have until the end of the conference to complete the challenge. I see no reason for you to evaluate my progress before then."

Serra 7 returned his look with another fierce grin. "Keep telling yourself that, Trey."

Trey didn't dignify her remark with an answer. "If I'm not interrupting, Ranger Carlos."

"No," Carlos said quickly, glancing back and forth between them. "Not at all."

"Before you leave, Mega V," Serra 7 called after him, and he waved once without turning. He had hoped she would forget, but apparently he wasn't going to be that lucky.

"What was that about?" he asked quietly. "Unless it's none of my business."

Trey smiled briefly at him. "Hish believes I'm incapable of introducing myself without my title. I'm trying to prove her wrong."

*Hish?* Carlos wondered, but the rest of the sentence caught his attention. "What *is* your title?" he asked curiously.

"Lord of Triforia." He said it in such a matter-of-fact tone that at first Carlos thought he was joking. He had heard of Triforia--at least, enough to know that it was a planet somewhere in Lesser Magellenic--and the idea of one person being "lord" of something so large seemed incredible.

Trey, however, was not smiling. He seemed to be scanning the room as they walked, and Carlos couldn't help asking, "Did you say Linnse sent you? What for?"

"I'm afraid she's a little impatient today," Trey answered distractedly. "When you didn't instantly join us by the ceremonial stage, she was concerned that you might have forgotten your part in the governing delegation." His gaze stopped searching long enough to give Carlos an amused glance, as though inviting him to share in the humor.

"There she is," Trey said abruptly. "I admit to a certain lack of understanding when it comes to Aquitar's attitude toward formal matters. It seems we'll have to collect the Aquitian delegate, too."

Carlos followed his gaze without meaning to, and two things dawned on him simultaneously. The more relevant of the realizations was the fact that what he had assumed to be ornate decoration was actually a subtle amalgamation of several different environments. The area in which the conference was being held was as much a biosphere as it was a function hall.

The more dizzying revelation was that ex-girlfriends rarely grew less beautiful with time.

Aura was perched on the edge of a large fountain that apparently comprised the corner of a water habitat, so skillfully blended with its surroundings that it seemed flamboyant but not misplaced. She herself was more eye-catching than her environment, wearing skintight leggings and the new short-sleeved tunic design that she and her teammates had adopted. He wished she hadn't picked the week they broke up to start wearing her hair loose during the day.

"Rangers," Trey said cordially, pausing beside the fountain.

The Qesiti to whom Aura had been speaking looked up at the greeting, and she lifted her head just as quickly. Her eyes caught his before they reached Trey, and a startled look flashed across her face as their gazes locked. He knew she couldn't have been expecting to see him here, but somehow she recovered more quickly than he did.

"Greetings, Lord Trey," she said, her voice perfectly steady as she flowed to her feet. She pressed her fingertips together and inclined her head, not acknowledging him in the slightest. "How may we be of service?"

"Lord Trey, Ranger Carlos," the Qesiti added, standing slightly behind her. Her courtesy only made Aura's lack more obvious. "It's a pleasure."

"The pleasure's ours," Trey answered. Aura's gaze flickered toward him at that, then slid quickly away. "I hope you can forgive us for claiming your companion so suddenly, but the doors have been sealed and she's needed on the stage."

Carlos looked around in surprise. He hadn't even noticed when the hall was sealed off, but it couldn't have been long ago. From what he'd read, that meant that the conference had officially begun, and no one else would be allowed in or out of the hall until it concluded. He didn't know whether the ban was a security measure or just a courtesy to speakers, but it was a relatively effective signal.

"Of course," the Qesiti agreed. "I enjoyed our conversation," she added, nodding to Aura.

"As did I," Aura replied politely.

As she turned away from her friend, Carlos couldn't help but be aware that she was still ignoring him. She gave Trey a slight smile when he held out his arm to gesture her forward, but she didn't so much as glance in his direction. He was trying not to notice how flattering her new uniform was when the lights went out.

The noise level increased incrementally as people tried to figure out whether the blackout had been intentional. His eyes strained against the darkness, following the first light that moved, and it took him a moment to identify the faint glow as the ocean phosphorescence that Aura sometimes wore on her wrists.

An all too familiar clanking made him tense half a second before maniacal cackling emanated from the center of the great hall. "Long live the legacy of Dark Spectre!" a voice rasped, somehow loud enough to echo throughout the hall, and a tremendous boom followed the pronouncement.

He was already typing the Astro code into his morpher, but even as he pressed "E" he knew something was wrong. There was no curtain of black, no rush of Power, and most of all--no morph. Flashes of light seared his vision, but he couldn't tell who or what before metal arms wrapped his upper body in an iron grip.

Normal reflexes kicked in and a surge of adrenaline flooded through him, compensating only the smallest amount for the inaccessible Power. It was enough to let him break out of what could only be a quantron's grasp, but no sooner was he free than three more seemed to latch onto him. He could hear shouts and similar clashes from all around him, and in the back of his mind he knew the entire hall must be overrun if quantrons could suppress all of them so effectively.

His head exploded with pain, and he lost all sense of direction seconds before the floor slammed into his shoulder. Through the daze that seemed to have frozen his mind, he was vaguely aware that fighting continued around him, and he thought he saw an energy weapon discharge somewhere above him. It roused him to move, finally, shoving aside the ringing in his ears and forcing him to concentrate on something other than how safe the floor felt right now.

It *was* an energy weapon, he decided as he scrambled to his feet. It had to be his imagination that it was gunning for him, but he did his best to stay out of its way anyway. It wasn't easy, between the pounding in his head and the damn quantrons everywhere he turned, but it was going to take more than a blow to the head and one quantron with lousy aim to stop him.

Or so he told himself until he hit the wall--quite literally, since in the darkness he couldn't see anything but streaks of light and sparks as the weapon kept firing. Only then did it occur to him that he hadn't seen the flash of glowing bands that meant Aura was safe since the lights first went out, but he didn't dare yell for her. Backed into a corner with quantrons all around and an insane shooter bearing down on him, he didn't think that attracting more attention was his wisest course of action.

Without warning there came a whistling sound that he wouldn't have liked one bit, if he'd had time to register it before the wall beside him screeched in protest and erupted outward. *Not the wall,* he realized, startled, as light poured through from the other side. Apparently power had only been cut to the function hall itself. *A door.* He had somehow ended up right beside one of the reception entrances.

Something shoved him hard before he could dive for the opening, and he found himself tumbling through the ruined door. He managed to roll, coming up in a defensive position even as the whistling sound came again. It sounded almost like--

He swore out loud as Aura's sabre blade slammed into an ambitious quantron, tossing it back through the gaping hole in the door. "What the hell are you doing?" he shouted, trying to make himself heard over the sound of Q-blades and Ranger kiais.

"What does it look like?" she yelled back. "Get that door open!"

The second entrance to the reception area politely requested authorization to override the seal, which he would have found amusing at almost any other time. He slid his morpher under the scanner, two seconds from smashing the mechanism if it didn't cooperate, but--somewhat to his surprise--it flashed green and the door slid open for him.

"Aura!" he exclaimed instinctively. The quantrons guarding the door from the other side spun, Q-blades raised. "Help?"

He ducked as they sprang forward, swinging at the nearest one and whirling underneath its closest partner. He shoved his elbow between the head and shoulder of another, and suddenly Aura's blade was there, systematically starting to deactivate the remainder.

He leapt back, avoiding her wide swath of destruction and taking a moment to convince the door behind them that the seal override had been a mistake. It slid shut obediently, locking out the second wave of quantrons flooding through the hole Aura had blasted in the hall entryway. It also locked in any Rangers who might have followed her example, but they had morphers.

He glanced over his shoulder quickly, trying to suppress a wry smile as Aura stepped over the fallen quantrons and headed down the hallway. As though locks had ever stopped a determined Ranger before.

"Where are we going?" he asked, his longer stride catching up with her easily.

"Ranger Control," she said shortly. She came to an abrupt halt in front of one of the corridor's emergency exits, and he raised an eyebrow at her choice of destinations.

She seemed to hesitate, but before he could say anything she had turned to him and taken his arm. "Here," she said, putting her blaster in his hand. "The quantrons can't all be stationed in the main hall."

He looked down at the blaster and something clicked into place in his mind. "It was you! You were the shooter in the hall--were you trying to herd me, or kill me?" He didn't consider either one much more probable than the other, lately.

"I was *following* you," she snapped. "You were heading toward the door."

"You could see in there?" He didn't bother to tell her that any direction on his part had been completely accidental. "And where did this come from?" he added, hefting her blaster. "And your sword, for that matter."

She put her shoulder into the metal door and pushed, ignoring the wail of the automated alarm as soon as the circuit was broken. He followed, grunting a little as she let go of the door and it caught his arm on the backswing. It was heavier than she had made it look.

"Billy came up with a counteragent for the nullspheres." Aura stared up the ladder in front of them for several seconds before sheathing her blade and starting to climb. "The entire team was injected with it."

Carlos waited until she paused on the next deck and gestured "clear" down to him before he started climbing. "He thought the one Cetaci brought back was a prototype," she added, as he drew even with her. "We assumed that the only ones in existence were on Dark Spectre's ship when it was destroyed, so we did not bring it to the League's attention."

He kept climbing, his brain struggling to stay alert and keep up with her explanation at the same time. "Nullsphere" was Billy's technospeak for the device that had been used against them on Dark Spectre's ship in the fall. He had known the Blue Ranger was experimenting with them, trying to figure out how they could be capable of cutting a Ranger off from the Power, but he hadn't known he had found a solution. The whole concept had slipped Carlos' mind soon after their victory, and he hadn't worried about it since.

"Obviously a mistake," he muttered to himself, stepping off the ladder and waving down to Aura.

"Obviously." She sounded irritated, and he realized too late that his words sounded like a criticism of their decision. "We couldn't have known then that we would be wrong."

She signed "one more level" at him as she climbed past, and he nodded. There was little for him to be on the lookout for here, as each of the levels seemed to be a replica of the one before. He wondered if the planet's surface was unstable, or unacceptable in some other way for landing ships--the Irini seemed to have an immense capacity for berthing vessels.

He saw her signal "clear" again, and he followed her up. This time, he emerged in some sort of empty corridor nexus. They all looked the same to him, but Aura took off down one of the left-hand branches without a word.

"All right," he said, jogging a few steps to catch up with her. "How do *you* know where we're going? And why are we looking for Ranger Control, anyway?"

"I studied the schematics," she answered calmly. "Never go into a situation blind."

"It wasn't a situation," he reminded her, a little irked at the implication that he had forgotten something. "It was just a political show."

The sound of quantrons boots on the deck was unmistakable, and she pushed him back against the wall. He resisted the urge to tell her that he wasn't stupid, for he knew intellectually that he shouldn't read anything into gesture. They were Rangers, and teammates or not, they were obligated to protect each other. She didn't mean anything by it.

Unfortunately, the featureless corridors offered little cover, and he was the one with the gun. When the quantrons came around the corner, he had reason to wish that he had been the one to react first. Her shoulder gave him somewhere to brace his firing arm, but he had to work twice as hard to concentrate with her pressed up against him.

As the quantron line staggered under fire, though, Aura pulled away. He didn't have the attention to spare to see where she was going, but he did his best to follow anyway. The free movement down the corridor made them more vulnerable, but it also gave him a better angle, and he picked off the last quantron just before the wall fell away in front of him.

He spun, startled, and saw Aura moving purposefully across a wide circular room toward the bank of controls in the center. Motion from overhead caught his eye and he looked up automatically. The sight of open sky through the dome took his breath away, and a long second passed before he remembered he ought to be covering the door.

"That can't be safe," he remarked, turning back the way they'd come. The corridor was still clear, so he took a moment to scan the room for alternate exits. "Having the control center so exposed?"

"It is not." Aura held her morpher in one hand while she did something to the farthest control panel. She didn't spare a single glance for the view above them. "It's a holographic display, fed into the room through realtime sensor arrays."

He shook his head, checking the corridor again. "Is there anything you don't know about this place?"

"We will find out," she muttered, pausing to study the interface again. She switched her morpher to her other hand and moved on to another panel. She brushed her hair back over her shoulder distractedly, paying no attention when it started to slide forward again.

He tore his gaze away. "What are you doing?" he asked, leaning out into the corridor for a moment before turning to check the other two doors.

"Testing Billy's theory," she answered cryptically.

The second door was morpher access only, and presumably the other would be as well. He paused anyway, taking advantage of the fact that her back was to him to stop and watch her. He hadn't had much opportunity to do that lately, and with someone as gorgeous as Aura the loss was all his.

When she moved again, apparently working her way around the central island, he shook himself awake and headed for the third door. It was exactly as he expected, and he paused to look over her shoulder on his way back to the still-open entrance. "Need any help?"

"From someone who didn't even know how where to find Ranger Control?" she retorted. "No thank you."

"You know, you could be a little more understanding," he told her, returning to his position by the door. "I didn't exactly sign up for this. I thought I was going to be at practice this afternoon, until Andros decided at the last minute to inflict his argument with Ashley on the rest of us."

"You missed soccer practice to attend an intergalactic peace conference," Aura observed, moving on to the next panel. "That is a hardship. My condolences."

He rolled his eyes, but he didn't try again. There was a brief silence, while she did whatever it was she was doing to the control island, and he leaned against the doorframe. The sound of quantrons, when it came again, actually surprised him, and he hissed a warning in her direction as he lifted her blaster again.

"I'm almost done," she whispered, not looking up.

He didn't bother to ask with what, for at that moment the mechanical beings assaulted his eyes as well as his ears. He started firing as soon as he could see them, but this time there were twice as many and cover wouldn't do him any good if they reached it before he could knock them all out. He debated taking out as many as he could and then slamming the door shut in their face, but before he could put that plan into action something changed.

His target site was suddenly clearer, and aiming became as natural as breathing. In the space between one moment and the next he knew exactly how many quantrons there were, and they started falling with a methodical precision that he could have only hoped for a few seconds before.

"The Power should be back," Aura said loudly, joining him in the doorway. Her voice was distinct from the laser fire despite the noise, and he knew she was right. Not only could he see, hear, and aim better, but the metallic tang of the atmosphere was no longer weighing on his lungs. He hadn't even noticed his breathing getting harder until the effect was suddenly reduced.

He passed her blaster back to her without a word, and his sprang into his hand to take its place. He stepped farther into the hall to give her room and they fired simultaneously. For the briefest second, their rhythms were in sync, but as soon as he noticed it the phenomenon vanished. He couldn't focus for watching her, so he took another step back--

An arm snaked around his neck, covering his mouth as a second slapped against his forehead, managing to hit the exact same spot that had taken a blow earlier. If he could have made any sound, he would have, but between the pain and the disorienting rush of sensation he couldn't even bring himself to think Aura's name.

Dimly, he saw her spin toward him anyway, and she reached over her shoulder as darkness started to encroach on his sight. Her blade swung free in a dizzying arc that his limited vision couldn't follow, and the grip on his head loosened and finally fell away. Carlos fell with it, unable to stay upright, as the flash of her blade overhead told him that the quantrons were still coming.

He awoke with the thought that either he had fallen asleep on Aura's floor again, or the bunks on the Megaship had gotten substantially less comfortable during the night. His next thought was that the lights were all wrong for either of those places, and furthermore, he should not be hearing the sound of a weapon powering up as he opened his eyes.

He managed to turn his head to one side, and he found himself looking down the barrel of Aura's blaster. It looked a whole lot meaner from this side, he decided. What the hell was going on?

"Prove to me that you're Carlos." Aura's voice sounded steady, but her words had the ring of insanity. It didn't make any sense, but as he stared up at her he saw nothing but sober determination in her silver eyes.

"I love you," he mumbled, pushing himself up on his elbows. Was this Irini? What had happened?

Her eyes narrowed, but she didn't try to keep him from sitting up. "Try again."

Damn. Had he really said that?

His eyes fell on the prone form on the other side of the doorway, and his heart froze. That was his face staring sightlessly up at the ceiling--his body lying motionless in the corridor. He looked down at himself, shaken and not at all sure he liked the direction this conversation was taking.

"Who are you?" Aura insisted, not lowering her blaster.

"Carlos Vargas Simione." He caught her eye, somehow relieved that she was meeting his gaze at all. "I'm the Black Astro Ranger. The rest of the team is Cassie, Ashley, Andros, Zhane, and TJ. My parents are Kelly and Andres, my brother is Gabe, and our cat is named Goof."

"What's your favorite ice cream flavor?" she demanded.

He had to grin. "Mint chocolate chip. Yours is red raspberry, and you like chocolate sprinkles but you hate whipped cream. You always get a cherry, though, because you know I like them. Do I pass?"

Her lips twitched, and she let her blaster fall to her side. "I suppose. But I don't get cherries because you like them."

"Well, you don't eat them," he pointed out reasonably.

"I like the way they look." She didn't wait for him to respond, nodding instead toward the figure in the hallway. "Any idea who that was?"

He followed her gaze reluctantly, feeling a shiver run down his spine again. "I'm not--positive, but... I think you might have just killed my Psycho Ranger. Man," he added, forcing himself to stare at it a little longer, "that's really creepy."

"You think it's creepy," she muttered. "You're not the one who killed it and then had to watch it turn into... you."

He glanced over at her, and found her staring at him with hungry eyes. She seemed to need reassuring for once, so he said quietly, "Thanks. I don't know what else to say, but--thanks for killing it."

She sighed, but she didn't take her eyes off of him. "You didn't seem to be having any measure of success. What is a Psycho Ranger?"

He couldn't help looking over at it once more. "It's kind of a long--"

The lights went out and the steady hum of the ventilation units faded into nothing.

"Am I the only one who thinks that the security in this place needs some serious improvement?" Carlos demanded of the darkness.

"Rangers may have cut the generator power on purpose," Aura's voice answered. "It would be the most effective way to isolate and contain the quantrons."

"Not to mention us!" he said indignantly. "I hate this; I can't see a thing."

"That answers the next question, then." It sounded as though she had gotten to her feet and was moving away. "Whether we ought to stay here and wait for someone to find us, or go in search of them ourselves."

"You're that sure someone's going to come along?"

Her voice was less muffled, as though she had turned around to face him. "We left a roomful of Rangers, Carlos. You can hardly expect them to sit still and do nothing anymore than we did."

"You mean, like we are now?" he suggested.

"If you had better night vision, we wouldn't be," she said with some asperity. She was coming closer again. "We have done our part. Now it's up to the others to do theirs."

"Has anyone told them what their part is?" Carlos inquired.

"If you choose to have so little faith in your counterparts, that is your decision," she informed him. "I, however, know what to expect of those chosen by the Power."

He frowned at that and he must have made some sound, for she asked irritably, "What?"

"You said you know what to expect," he repeated slowly. "I was just wondering if that was why you broke up with me--because I didn't do what you expected."

"You did exactly what I expected," she contradicted, her tone neutral. "*That* was why we broke up."

He frowned again, wondering if that would seem as monumentally unfair if she were saying it about someone else. "Afraid of being predictable?"

"I'm not afraid!" she protested hotly. "You're xenophobic! I did not want it to be true, but it is, and it is not conducive to a healthy relationship."

"I'm what?" He stared at her. Or rather, he stared at the place where her voice had been coming from. "Where did you get that idea? I went out with you, didn't I?"

"That is exactly what I'm referring to!" she exclaimed. "You say that like it matters!"

He blinked, wondering if he had been absent the day they passed out the secret women decoder rings. He didn't have the faintest idea what she was talking about, and that only seemed to irritate her further. If he were smart, he would probably just keep his mouth shut until there was someone else present to run interference.

Luckily, there was a commotion out in the hall before he could find out how far from smart he actually was. There came a noise that his translator proceeded to render as a voice yelling, "Appendages where we can see them! Surrender now or be taken by force!"

He glanced in the general direction of the door. "We pick 'surrender'," he called, when Aura didn't immediately answer. "As long as it doesn't involve getting beaten, punched, or chopped at. I think I've had enough of that for today."

There was a brief pause. "Rangers?"

"That's what they tell me." Carlos winced as high-powered flashlights flooded into the room, filling it with a more than adequate light and bringing a handful of Rangers right behind them. They were a welcome sight in more ways than one.

"Greetings, Rangers." The first voice was tinged with irony, and as his eyes readjusted to the light level, Carlos recognized an Irinian figure standing behind one of the flashlights. "I trust you are enjoying your conference experience so far. Perhaps you will even consider extending your stay."

6. Antiphony

Hi, Carlos, she wrote. All we heard about the conference was what was on the news, and who knows how much of that's true. Aquitar says Aura's back, though, so we told your parents to give you until nine before they called the school about your debilitating 24-hour virus.

"Don't forget to tell him about the Psycho Rangers," Ashley added, glancing over her shoulder as she took her dishes back to the Synthetron.

Cassie rolled her eyes. "Do you want to do this?" But she bent over her notebook again, scribbling, The Psycho Rangers attacked last night. No Black Ranger, though, so be careful today--don't go anywhere alone, okay?

"Eat something," TJ ordered, taking the pen out of her hand. "Come on; we're going to be late."

She made a face at him. "I'm not hungry!"

"Tough." TJ paused in his writing to point at the bagel he'd put in front of her when she first sat down. "Take it with you."

She sighed dramatically, but she grinned at him when he looked up. It was nice that he cared. She didn't usually bother with breakfast when she was at Ashley's house.

TJ grabbed his own dishes and headed for the Synthetron, and she tore the piece of paper out of her notebook and left it on the table. At the bottom of her note, TJ had written, Don't come to school if you're not up to it. Watch your back, man. --Cassie and TJ

She looked up as her backpack appeared on the table beside her, and she smiled at Saryn's solemn expression. "You're sulking," she chided softly, unzipping her bag and sliding her notebook in.

"I'm worried," he countered. "It is not the same thing." He held her backpack for her as she shrugged into it, but the fact that he had already offered to stay twice told her how little he liked this.

"We'll be all right," she promised. She turned to smile up at him, leaning forward for her goodbye kiss. When he obliged, she added, "They can't attack for another few days anyway. We'll survive without you until then."

"We *think* they can't attack." He gazed back at her, resting one arm on her shoulder and tucking her hair behind her ear. "Do not let your guard down, Cassie."

She put her hand over his and tilted her head, leaning into his caress briefly. "I won't. Now get out of here before I have to tell the principal I was late because I was staring into my husband's beautiful eyes."

A small smile tugged at his lips. "I like hearing you call me that," he whispered.

She touched his cheek briefly with her free hand. Just as she was about to pull away, though, he slid his hand around behind her head and pressed his mouth to hers again. It was no "see you later" peck, but a kiss that reminded her why he stayed on Sunday nights. She closed her eyes as the words *I need you* echoed in her mind.

From somewhere behind them, she heard TJ clear his throat. Saryn released her reluctantly, making another token effort to brush her hair back from her face. "Be *careful*," he murmured, and the look in his eyes left no doubt that he meant it.

"You too," she whispered. She squeezed his hand and drew away, smiling over her shoulder at him as she picked up her bagel and joined TJ and Ashley by the door. She glanced down at her morpher as she punched in her teleportation code, but she could feel Saryn's eyes on her until the world went sparkling pink and the Megaship faded away.

"Wow..." Ashley's voice was the first thing she heard as their old teleportation site reformed around them. "How long has it been since we used this one?"

"I think Carlos still uses it for soccer practice sometimes," TJ offered, as they headed across the playing fields behind the school. "Or he did," he added. "I guess he's not on the Megaship much anymore either."

"I wonder if he and Aura saw each other at the conference," Ashley remarked idly.

"I hope not." Cassie shrugged defensively when they both glanced at her. "I heard she was pretty mad at him, that's all."

"Hey--" TJ gave her another sideways look. "I'm not asking if it's none of my business, but did anyone ever find out what he did?"

Shifting her backpack a little higher one her shoulders, Cassie shook her head. On the other side of TJ, though, Ashley said slowly, "I'm not totally sure Carlos knows. I mean, maybe he does--he wouldn't talk to me at all for a while there--but from what he's said, I don't think he's sure."

For a moment, none of them said anything. Then Ashley added, "I wish we knew why he wasn't back yet. He could have called us or something."

The bell rang, and Cassie glanced at TJ. "First or second?"

"No way it's the first," TJ said with a grimace. "It's probably the late bell." As they hurried across the open courtyard, he added, "Someone from Irini would have let us know if anything had happened, Ash. He'll be back soon."

Her class was on the other side of the building, and Cassie started angling toward the east side doors. "See you later!" she called over her shoulder, picking up her pace a little.

Ashley waved as she and TJ continued on toward the west wing, and TJ called, "See you in Spanish! Eat that bagel!"

She grinned to herself. As she let herself into the building, she was relieved to find a few students still wandering the halls--mostly seniors who were flaunting their imminent independence by dawdling or cutting altogether. She made it to Astronomy without running into anyone with a pressing need to talk to her, and she was lucky enough to find the door still open when she arrived.

Mr. Landish gave her a stern look as she slid into her seat, but he said only, "Since Earth-based observation makes up the majority of our information-gathering ability, Mr. Case, I suggest you adjust your attitude. Can anyone tell me what phase the moon is in right now?"

She breathed a silent sigh of relief. Luckily, the teacher was too busy chewing someone else out to pay much attention to her. Easing her binder and songwriting notebook out of her backpack, she glanced over at the empty seat beside her. Heaven help Carlos if he arrived during first period.

She turned to the most recent handouts in her binder and quietly slid her notebook over top of them. She uncapped her pen and started to doodle, making a few moon drawings first to appease Mr. Landish if he decided to wander her way. She wasn't even remotely in the mood for school--senioritis had hit the twelfth grade hard this year, and the knowledge that she wouldn't even be on Earth come next fall didn't help.

*Two more weeks,* she thought, a little apprehensively. She drew a big "6" in the margin, running over it several times with her pen tip. Six days of classes, four of exams, and then bang. Graduation. Somehow, with that looming so close, she couldn't bring herself to care what phase the moon had been in last night.

Did Elisia have a moon? That seemed a far more relevant question. Saryn had said it had two suns, and had even tried to describe to her what that looked like, but she didn't know anything about its moon. She drew a small circle and put a little sunburst inside it, labeling the stylized planet "Elisia". She made a little dot just above it for the hypothetical moon. The one dot looked kind of lonely, though, so she added another one.

She felt herself smiling, and rested her chin in her hand to hide her expression. *Yeah,* she thought, gazing at her sketch. *Sorry Saryn, but I didn't think your planet had enough moons... I added some; I hope you don't mind.*

"Mr. Vargas." Mr. Landish's sardonic tone broke into her musing. "So nice of you to join us. Will you be gracing us with your presence for the entire class, or is this merely a cameo?"

"Sorry, Mr. Landish." Carlos sounded so genuinely apologetic that his next words caught her off guard. "You just can't plan those alien abductions."

There were a few snickers from the rest of the class, but Mr. Landish only raised his eyebrows. "Thus confirming the theory that aliens only abduct those least likely to be believed, among them southern farmers and tardy teenagers. Take a seat, Mr. Vargas."

Carlos sauntered over to his seat, dropping his bag carelessly next to his desk and sitting down as though he hadn't a worry in the world. He put on a good show, but when Cassie leaned over to whisper to him she could see the shadows under his eyes. "I didn't think you were going to make it," she murmured, as he slumped against the back of his chair.

"Neither did I," he whispered back. "Man, that girl can fly."

She frowned, watching him rub his eyes. He looked like he hadn't slept since yesterday, and he made no move to get out his notes. "What girl?" she wanted to know, but a glare from Mr. Landish made her draw back.

Instead, she turned a page in her notebook and wrote, What girl? in large letters. She tipped it in his direction, and he grinned tiredly. He held out his hand for her notebook, not making any attempt to cover up what he was doing.

"Mr. Vargas." Mr. Landish wasn't going to ignore the action. "Do you not have any paper of your own?"

"I take better notes with Cassie's," Carlos drawled, and someone in the class giggled. Carlos gave his best roguish smile, clearly recognizing feminine laughter when he heard it.

"Yes, well, if you take any notes at all I suppose it would be an improvement." Mr. Landish picked up a piece of chalk and continued, "Can anyone tell me why Ms. Johnson's answer is incorrect?"

The only effort Carlos did make was to get out his own pencil, and underneath Cassie's question he started to write out what she hoped was an explanation. She looked up at the board while she waited, watching Mr. Landish draw a month-long cycle of the moon in relation to the sun and Earth. The diagram looked vaguely familiar, but she didn't place it before Carlos handed her notebook back.

Her name's Hish-something-I-can't-pronounce, he'd written, in his nearly illegible handwriting. I think I accidentally insulted her, and she challenged me to a twenty-hit asteroid hop. My zord almost got crunched to pieces trying to keep up with her.

You lost? she mouthed in his direction.

He shook his head "no" and gestured for her notebook again. Before she handed it to him, she added, Was this before or after the conference? Is that why you were late getting back?

She handed it back to him while Mr. Landish was still adding arrows to his diagram. Carlos read the note briefly, then leaned forward to scrawl something else. She put her chin in her hand again, watching him, then glanced down at her Astronomy binder. Idly, she started to recreate her drawing of Elisia.

This time, she decided, it would have three moons. Or maybe four--that way all the phases could be in the sky at once. Mr. Landish would probably appreciate that. She drew the four moons, in their various phases, around the circle she had once again labeled "Elisia". She frowned a little then, realizing that her plan wouldn't quite work... The first and third quarter crescents could never be up simultaneously, any more than the new and full moons could be. Darn.

Well, maybe it was different in a binary system. Of course, if the second sun was as far away as Saryn said it was, probably not... She moved the planet around to the far side of the big sun experimentally, making a little star to represent the farther sun. *Now* she could have a full moon and a new moon at the same time, but only technically. She supposed what she really had were two moons that were both "full" and "new" at the same time.

Carlos set her notebook on the edge of her desk again, and she pulled it around to read what he had written. I wasn't late because of the challenge, it said. I was late because some stupid villain decided that the conference was a nice party to crash, and he brought all his minion crashers with him. Lights out, no more dancing.

There wasn't much room left on the page, so she flipped it over and wrote, You look tired. Did they let you sleep at all? And if you're not late because of the asteroid hopping, then when did that happen?

She didn't miss Carlos' rueful grin as he read her latest note. He started to respond, and she looked back at her Elisia doodle. It seemed more interesting than Mr. Landish did right now, so she added a little stick drawing of a starfighter near the big sun. Underneath, she wrote idly, "Will you come with me?"

The words made her smile, and she looked up as Carlos handed her notebook back. I was late because of the "debugging", he had written. I was later because of the asteroid hop. Yes, they let us sleep, but they weren't really set up for an overnight stay. And no, I didn't lose the challenge, but that was only because I was lucky. What happened with the Psycho Rangers?

"Ms. Chan." Mr. Landish caught her just as she was about to reply to Carlos. "Why don't we have an eclipse every month?"

She lifted her head, meeting his stare with one of her own. "Because the moon's orbit is inclined so it doesn't travel right above the equator. It's only at the right place to cause an eclipse twice a year, during the eclipse seasons."

"That's correct." He didn't sound surprised, but she smiled to herself anyway.

When he turned away she glanced over at Carlos, and he flashed her an admiring look. She went back to her notebook, but not before she saw the girl in front of her give her a covert thumbs-up. She grinned in return. It never hurt to give teachers something to think about.

I guess the Psycho Rangers got tired of waiting for you, she wrote in her notebook. Me and Saryn managed to hold them off--TJ wanted to help, but every punch he threw just made his Psycho Ranger stronger. We're not totally sure why that didn't happen with mine. Or why yours wasn't there...

She was watching Carlos as he read, which was the only reason she heard him softly clear his throat. He shot her an odd look out of the corner of his eye, and she was suddenly extremely curious about what he was scribbling. She passed up any further Elisia doodling to wait for his answer.

He slid the notebook back onto her desk at last, and her eyes widened. Mine wasn't there because Aura killed it. It must have followed me to Irini. As soon as it attacked, she cut it into little bitty pieces.

That probably explained why the remaining four had attacked, then. She wondered what kind of communication they had, to know so soon after Carlos' Psycho Ranger was destroyed. But more importantly... Aura killed it? When did you see her? What happened?

He gave her a dark look as soon as he read that. He made very deliberate strokes on the page before giving it back, and she rolled her eyes when she realized he'd drawn arrows from each of her questions to the appropriate answer. Yes. At the conference. She killed it. That was all he'd written, making it quite clear that Aura was off-limits as a topic of conversation.

Well, two could play that game. Good, she wrote in large letters at the bottom of the page. She had to tap the floor to get his attention when she held it up.

Carlos nodded shortly, leaning back against his chair and draping his arm over the edge of his desk. She went back to her doodling, and after a moment she saw him reach down to rustle around in his backpack. The noise was unmistakable in the quiet classroom, but Mr. Landish only continued to reiterate the similarities between the Earth-moon and the sun-Venus systems.

Tuning the teacher out again, she encircled "Elisia" with the letters n-e-w-s-u-n. She didn't know why, but given the Ranger symbol that she'd put inside the circle, it seemed appropriate. Underneath "Will you come with me?" she added, "Will you watch the sun rise?"

*Will you watch the new sun rise,* she thought absently, correcting her own words. She wished she had switched back to her notebook, but by now the doodles in her binder were much more detailed than the originals had been. She supposed she could just stick the Astronomy handouts in her notebook; she certainly wouldn't need them for class much longer.

She glanced over at Carlos again, wondering if he had actually settled down or just fallen asleep. His head was propped on his hand, but he did seem to be concentrating on something in his binder. For a moment she entertained the somewhat bizarre idea that he might be taking notes, but then she caught a glimpse of the figures he was making in the margins of one of last week's handouts. They were swirling and painstakingly printed, far neater than his usual handwriting, and they definitely weren't English.

She had seen Aquitar's dominant alphabet several times, but being aware that it existed was as far as her knowledge of it went. Aura had told her that humans didn't have the vocal range to reproduce the Aquitian language, and it had seemed silly to learn the alphabet for a language she couldn't speak. That hadn't deterred Carlos, but she was a little surprised to see that he was still practicing it.

She made another idle squiggle on her handout and sighed quietly, glancing up at the clock over the door. Ten days, total... Time could probably pass more slowly than it seemed to be doing now, but she wasn't sure how.

"Have fun at lunch!" Ashley called over her shoulder. She slammed her locker shut and headed for Mrs. K's room, well aware that she was already late but equally sure the motherly teacher wouldn't hold it against her. As she turned the corner, she saw someone straighten up and push away from the wall.

"Hey," Andros said, falling into step beside her.

She swallowed her surprise, giving him no more than a passing glance. "Hey," she answered noncommittally.

There was a brief pause, and then he asked, "Would you listen if I said I was sorry?"

She kept her gaze on the floor, but she had to bite her lip to keep from smiling. "Maybe."

"Then can I try?"

"I have class," she reminded him, but her protest was half-hearted and he knew it.

"Please, Ash," he said softly, and she sighed. He didn't have any qualms about using that too-sweet vulnerable tone on her whenever he thought it would work.

Pausing outside Mrs. K's door, she finally turned to look at him. His hands were behind his back, and he wore that devastatingly hopeful expression that had gotten him out of trouble so many times before. "Oh all right," she murmured, trying to suppress a reluctant giggle. "Give me a minute."

She ducked into her classroom without another word, heading for one of the open tables near the back of the Home Ec room. Mrs. K. sitting by one of the sewing machines, demonstrating something for a student hovering nearby. Ashley recognized her--Jen wasn't in this class, but she had fifth period free and often chose to spend it here. Mrs. K. made her classroom open to anyone, anytime.

Ashley pushed her bag under the table and went over to her bin. As she always did, she couldn't help smiling at the masking tape label. She had written her name in red and yellow marker, and added a yellow sun and red flame on either side. She'd been in a terribly corny mood when she did that, but it never failed to cheer her up.

"Hi, Ash." Marusia pulled out her own bin and started rummaging through it, taking a moment to grin up at her classmate. "How are things?"

She shrugged once, glancing back toward the door. "Hopefully about to get better," she admitted. "How are you?"

Marusia gave her an inquisitive look. "I'm fine," she said, in a tone of voice that said that was the last thing on her mind. "'Hopefully about to get better'? What's going on? Spill!"

"Can't," Ashley said, pulling out the jumper she'd been working on. "I have to take an extended bathroom break. I'll be back before the end of class."

Marusia sighed dramatically. "Oh, to have a life of intrigue. Tell me what happens!" she called, as Ashley headed back toward her table.

Spreading her jumper out over the table, Ashley smiled to herself. If she only knew. She could just imagine telling Marusia the truth: *Well, actually, I'm mad at my boyfriend because he didn't ask me to live on his home planet after graduation. And I'm mad at myself for being mad when he's really just doing us a favor. I can't go live on another planet... my parents would freak. And I'd have to say goodbye to all my friends--and what if I didn't like it? I'd never be able to come back, not and do all the things I want to do now, anyway... you understand, don't you, Marusia?*

She shook her head, laying her measuring tape across the jumper and pushing the pins over to one side. She looked around, but Mrs. K. was now involved in a distinctly non-clothing discussion by the scrap bin. She couldn't hear much of what was being said, but she did catch the words "prom", "bonfire", and "limo". She shook her head again, figuring it might be better that she didn't know.

Wandering casually toward the door, she amused herself by stealing one of Amos' ten thimbles as she walked past his table. He was over by the supply cabinet, hamming it up with one of the girls, and he probably wouldn't do anything resembling work until class was at least half over. Only then would he notice that his thimble collection had been reduced to nine.

Andros was still waiting when she finally slipped out of the classroom. Her heart melted at the picture he made, slouched against the wall and playing with a single red rose. He looked up and smiled shyly when he saw her.

"It should be illegal to be that cute," she grumbled good-naturedly, coming over to join him.

He straightened, offering her the rose. "I brought you something," he murmured. His tone was charmingly awkward, and she couldn't help but smile.

"Thanks," she said with a sigh. "Should I just accept that I don't have a chance of staying mad at you now, or do you want me to wait till later to tell you you're forgiven?"

"Wait until I apologize," he said, sliding his arm through hers and guiding her toward the doors. "You can decide then."

She smiled again, shaking her head once as she lifted the rose closer to her face. She inhaled the gentle scent carefully, only looking up when Andros pushed the door open for her. "Thanks," she murmured again, stepping out into the open courtyard with him.

The lawn behind the school was covered with blankets and sunbathers, students talking and eating lunch and playing frisbee too close to the building. For most of them this was probably lunch; others must have it free, and still others were probably "getting a drink" or "doing some library research" during their fifth period class.

Still arm in arm with Andros, she let him lead her toward an open spot on the grass. Andros wasn't exactly anonymous at AGH, though she suspected the rose in her hand was responsible for a few of the looks that got thrown their way. She saw Cassie, eating lunch with TJ and Karen on the other side of the courtyard, but before she could register more than that Andros stopped and her gaze was drawn inexorably back to him.

For a moment, they just looked at each other. It didn't take her long to realize that that wasn't making them any less conspicuous, though, so she sat down carefully on the grass. Andros followed her example, but he didn't take his eyes off of her.

Finally she cleared her throat, looking down at the rose self-consciously. She heard him let out a small sigh, and just like that, the rest of the courtyard disappeared. It might as well have been just the two of them there for all that she was aware of anyone else.

"You didn't have to come," she murmured, for lack of anything better to say.

"Yes, I did." He edged a little closer to her, touching her chin lightly. She looked up at the silent prompt, and his hazel eyes drew her in. "I'm really sorry, Ash," he said quietly, and his gaze was too intent for the apology to be anything but sincere.

She struggled to smile, not sure why she suddenly found herself on the verge of tears. "It's okay," she whispered. "I understand."

He shook his head. "No," he said firmly. "It's not okay--I'm sorry for what I said yesterday, before breakfast. And at breakfast. And I'm sorry for avoiding you for the rest of the day. Most of all I'm sorry that I hurt you, Ash."

She swallowed hard, wondering if this was the same person who had gone three months without a sound even resembling the word "sorry" the year before. "I'm sorry too," she mumbled, looking down at the ground again in a futile effort to hide her expression. "I'm sorry I wasn't more understanding."

"Hey," he said softly, and she felt him touch her shoulder. "Don't cry. It was my fault, not yours."

She tried to giggle, but she felt a tear escape anyway. "It wasn't," she started to say, but she couldn't get the words out. Without another word he pulled her into an embrace, and she put her arms around him and buried her face in his shoulder gratefully. Squeezing her eyes shut, she felt the tears slip free and she drew in a shuddering breath.

He just held her, stroking her hair gently, until she managed to regain some semblance of composure. Swallowing, she lifted her head to rest her chin on his shoulder and she hugged him harder. She could feel the rose's thorns digging into her palm, but she ignored them. Lifting her free hand from his back to wipe her eyes, she whispered, "I don't want you to go."

There was a brief silence, and then she heard him murmur, "I don't want to leave you."

The fact that that wasn't exactly the same thing didn't escape her notice, and she closed her eyes. He didn't let her go until she took a deep breath, rubbing her eyes again as she started to pull away. "Ash," he said softly.

She shook her head, trying to smile for him. "I'll never stop loving you," she whispered. "No matter what."

"Hey," he said, looking alarmed. "What's this 'no matter what' stuff? I thought I was forgiven."

"You are," she promised, leaning forward to kiss him tenderly. She rested her forehead against his for a second before drawing back. "But I can't compete with an entire planet, Andros. You're going back to KO-35, and I'm staying here. It's not going to be the same. And we can't expect it to be."

He stared at her, apparently at a loss for words. Finally, he managed to ask, "You're not... are you--are you breaking up with me?"

She looked down, twirling the rose between two fingers. "No," she said softly. Her throat ached with the effort it took to keep from crying. "Of course not."

"You are." Even the utter shock in his voice couldn't make her meet his gaze. She didn't want to see the expression on his face, and she certainly didn't want him to see hers. "Ash... I *love* you."

"I love you too," she whispered. She squeezed the rose's stem until her fingers hurt, feeling the tears pricking her eyelids again. "There's nothing I want more than to be with you, Andros. But that's not enough, is it."

"Yes, it is," he said fiercely. "It has to be!"

She just shook her head, turning her unseeing stare toward the brick walls of the school. She wanted it to be enough, too, but she didn't think she could take this for the next four years. Seeing him only on weekends, never knowing when the next trip might not be worth it, constantly wondering what his life was like when he wasn't with her--it wasn't fair to him, and it would drive her insane.

For a conversation that she had hoped would turn her day around, she reflected bitterly, this one had definitely not lived up to her expectations.

"Ashley." He surprised her by not using her nickname; he hadn't called her anything but "Ash" for some time now. "Look at me."

He sounded as though he was steeling himself for something, and her gaze reverted to his involuntarily. He was giving her that rapt look that he did so well, the one that, time and again, had convinced her that there was nothing more important to him in the universe than her.

"Did you mean what you just said?" he asked quietly. "That you want us to be together more than anything?"

She closed her eyes, unable to swallow. "Yes," she murmured miserably.

"Then--" His hesitation was audible. "Then come with me," he said, so softly that she almost didn't hear him.

Her breath caught in her throat, and she opened her eyes to find him studying her intently. "What?"

"Come with me," he repeated. No sooner had she met his gaze than he looked away, picking at the grass between them. "When the Psycho Rangers are gone, I have to take the Megaship back where she belongs. But... *I* belong with you, and--it would be my dream if you could come with me."

She just stared at him. When she didn't answer, he glanced up at her briefly before letting his gaze slide away again. "Sorry," he muttered. "I know that was a terrible thing to ask. Forget I said anything."

"Is--" She managed to swallow this time, surprised past tears. "Is that really--your dream?"

He only shrugged, snapping off a blade of grass and breaking it into little pieces before tossing it aside.

"Andros..." She reached out and caught his hand. "Is that really your dream?"

He finally lifted his head, catching her eye with a guilty look that almost made her smile. "Yes," he admitted quietly. "I'm sorry, Ash; it's just... I can't stay here forever. I wish I could, I really do... but I can't. The things I care about--I mean, after you--are things I'd be totally cut off from here. My people, my home, the Megaship... Most of Earth doesn't even know they exist."

"The League," she added softly. "Zhane. Kerone. They wouldn't stay here either, would they."

He shook his head unhappily.

"It's okay," she said, squeezing his hand. "You don't have to apologize for that, you know." She smiled, a little wistfully. "I knew I couldn't ask you to stay. I just didn't want you to think that I didn't *want* you to."

His lips quirked at that, and the acknowledgement made her feel better. She bit her lip, hesitating, and wondered how long she had before he said something to take this chance away from her. As he took a deep breath, though, she knew her time was running out.

"Andros," she began quickly. "If I said that... maybe I do want to go with you... would you let me think about it? I mean, the Psychos aren't gone yet, and graduation is only two weeks away... could you wait that long?"

He looked at her without speaking for so long that she wondered if she had somehow misunderstood what he had said. But how many different things could "come with me" mean? What could he be thinking?

"Andros?" she asked at last, unable to stand the silence any longer.

"Yeah?"

She shifted uncomfortably. "Can I think about it?"

He laughed, startling her with the sound. "Can you think about it?" he repeated incredulously, a wide grin on his face. "Can you *think* about it? I can't believe you just asked that!"

Already uncertain, she was even more surprised when he threw his arms around her and pulled her into a ferocious hug. "Can you think about making me the happiest person in the entire universe?" he murmured in her ear. "Yeah, Ash. You can think about that until the stars go out."

Torn between delight at his reaction and the sinking fear that he would hate her if she said "no" now, she whispered, "I didn't say I'd do it, Andros. It's... it's more of a 'maybe'."

"I know," he assured her, hugging her tighter. She felt him chuckle again. "I'm just glad you're not breaking up with me, to tell the truth."

She managed to smile as he let her go. She didn't dare agree with him, because that would make the words "breaking up" all too real. But she didn't know what else to say, and as she looked down her gaze fell on the red petals. "Thanks for the rose," she murmured, lifting it so that she could smell it again.

"Thanks for thinking about it," he replied, still serious. "That means a lot to me, Ash; no matter what you decide."

She raised her eyes to his, and this time her smile was genuine. "No matter what I decide, you *asking* me means a lot to me."

He smiled back. "Does that mean you're going to cut the rest of class so we can talk?"

She bit her lip in an effort to stifle a giggle as she played with her rose. "Only if we can talk about important things. If Mrs. K. catches on, she's more likely to let me off detention if she knows I was discussing my future with the love of my life."

He took the rose from her, touching it to her lips gently. "We can talk about anything you want," he murmured, leaning in to kiss her.

She let her eyes slide closed, and she smiled again when he pulled away. "Tell me about KO-35," she said. She opened her eyes and found him watching her. "Tell me what you and Zhane are doing on the Border. Tell me what it's like there. Tell me what it's going to be like..."

The jeminai stars were high overhead as she rolled off of her cot, hitting the floor on silent feet and padding toward the door. It was late and she was tired, but she wouldn't be doing any more sleeping for a while. She didn't need another dream like that last one.

The hall was quiet as she pushed her door open, but as soon as she stepped through she saw the glimmer of a reading light. Tevi was lying on her stomach under the skylight, her chin resting on her hands as the little diode flicker danced back and forth in front of her. Her idle presence in the hall late at night was not unusual.

Stepping carefully around the other girl, she whispered a greeting and Tevi raised one hand in unspoken acknowledgement. She headed for the main door, lifting the single latch with one finger and pushing outward. It swung open easily, and the night lay spread out before her.

She closed the door quietly and folded her arms over her chest, warding off the chill of a gentle breeze. The smooth stones were cool beneath her bare feet as she wandered over to the waist-high wall that surrounded the gardens. She climbed up on top of it, pulling her knees up to her chest and gazing out over the hills.

One of the shadows by the gate moved, and she tensed involuntarily.

"I was debating whether to wake you or leave a message," a familiar voice said. "It seems you've saved me the trouble."

Since he knew she was aware of his presence, she turned her head quickly. Pale violet curls tumbled across her shoulders, and she narrowed her eyes in his direction. The volunteer shorts and crop top wouldn't fool him, so she didn't bother trying. "How did you find me?"

His moonlit silhouette seemed to shrug. "I admit that asking after 'Kerone' proved to be an exercise in futility. However, 'Astrea' was listed on the agri reclamation roster. From there, it was only a matter of connecting with the appropriate people."

"I'm sure," she murmured, letting her gaze slide away. He had made a career of "connecting with the appropriate people", but she couldn't help being pleased that he had gone to the trouble. "You recognized me quickly."

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him lift a hand to tap his temple. As she had expected, then. She stared out at the faint cloudshadows moving up the hillside toward them, their blurry outlines sliding across field and forest to encroach upon her garden. She lifted her head toward the sky as the clouds danced across the moon, frowning at them until they freed the light once more.

"Your world is beautiful," he observed, breaking into the quiet once more.

Though she agreed, she found herself analyzing the statement. "It's interesting to hear you say that," she said at last.

"Oh?" She was aware of his motion toward the garden wall, though he made no more noise than she did. "Why is that?"

"Because yours is so different." She knew how deeply his world was ingrained in his identity, yet he could look at a place as foreign as KO-35 and see beauty in it. "I wonder if I'd think your world is beautiful."

He settled against the wall beside her, not sitting, but not really standing anymore either. "You may find out for yourself at any time. You will always be welcome on Elisia."

"Thank you," she said simply. She continued to watch the play of light over the hills, wondering at the lack of aurorae tonight. The sun had been particularly active these last few days, yet the sky remained dark.

They remained that way for some time; she lost in her observation and he content to wait. He probably didn't know what he was waiting for, but then, neither did she. She didn't know why she had sent that last, traceable message... but she was glad to see him anyway.

Something streaked by overhead, and Saryn stirred. "Make a wish," he murmured.

She glanced over at him, surprised. "What?"

"It's something Cassie says." He didn't sound the least bit self-conscious, she noted. "Whenever a meteor appears, she believes it is necessary to make a wish. She calls them 'shooting stars'," he added fondly.

She smiled a little, warmed by the obvious affection in his voice. She missed them... she missed all the Rangers. It had been a long time since she had spoken to any of them in person like this.

"I wish I knew how everyone on the Megaship is," she whispered impulsively.

He shifted a little, taking a seat on the stone wall beside her. "They are as well as can be expected," he said, an odd note in his voice. "They labor under the threat of a new villain as well as the normal stresses of everyday life.

"Andros is feeling the pressure of two worlds' demands being placed upon him," he elaborated, when she didn't interrupt. "I'm afraid his relationship with Ashley is suffering for it. Carlos is trying to cover the fact that he is heartsick over the loss of Aura by being short with the rest of the team. Cassie still has not seen the planet that is to become her home in less than a month, and I believe TJ is trying to adjust to the idea of a future without the Rangers.

"All in all," he added, with some amount of humor, "life continues. I can not say with any certainty whether things are more or less tumultuous than they were before your departure."

She smiled to herself, but he had managed to skip the one name she most wanted to hear. "What about Zhane?"

"Regrettably, I can give you little news of Zhane." He actually did sound apologetic, which amused her. She knew he and Zhane had never been close. "I know he continues to work out of Eltare, and I hear from Tobin that he's leading the fight to have KO-35 accepted into the Frontier Defense. That is the extent of my information on his activities, and I suspect you knew that much from your communications with Andros."

"Yes," she admitted quietly. She couldn't expect the same easy emotional analysis Saryn had given of the others for someone he hadn't even seen recently, but she had needed to ask.

They gazed across the moonlit vista in silence a while longer, until again, he was the one to interrupt her reverie. "We could use your help," he told her, still staring toward the horizon.

It was not quite the last thing she would have expected him to say. "On the Border?"

"On Earth." He crossed his ankles in a perfunctory manner, not appearing to give the conversation any serious concern. "The new villain I mentioned comes in the form of four dark Rangers that are feeding off the team's Power. Cassie and I are currently the only ones with any ability to fight them."

She frowned, digesting that. "Because you can both use the Elisian Power," she said at last.

He nodded once. "The situation is not likely to remain viable for much longer."

He still sounded as though he was discussing something as insignificant as the weather. Although, the non sequitur popped into her head, considering where he was from it was possible that weather wasn't such a trivial matter to him.

"You want me to come with you, back to the Megaship." She didn't bother to make it a question.

"My personal preference is not relevant," he said calmly. "I only suggest it as a possibility for you to consider when making plans for your immediate future."

She shook her head, not deceived by the wordplay. He certainly knew how to make it sound like it was up to her. She hoped the Elisian government compensated him well.

"Tell me about these 'dark Rangers'," she said at last, turning toward him.

7. For Knowing You

"I apologize for the unorthodox transportation," he said, as they disembarked in the Megaship's hangar bay. "There are few enough spacecraft to spare on the Border as it is."

"I know," Kerone agreed, running her fingers idly over his zord's hull. "But it's not so strange--Zhane used to take me flying in his zord all the time."

He watched her as she studied his zord, not missing the tinge of wistfulness in her voice when she mentioned Zhane. He knew the two had been quite close before she left, though neither seemed willing to let down their natural defenses long enough to form any sort of lasting commitment to the other. He had little idea how their relationship had fared in the interim.

"I didn't notice this on KO-35," she remarked suddenly, her hand hesitating by the bottom of the sunburst logo. "Is this the team leader's symbol?"

His gaze was drawn involuntarily toward the insignia etched into the zord's Ranger markings. "It used to be."

She gave him an odd look. "'It used to be'," she repeated. "This is still your zord, isn't it?"

"It hasn't been anyone else's since I became a Ranger," he said, still gazing at the logo. "It does, of course, belong to the Red Elisian Ranger."

"Which is what you are," she prompted. She looked from him to the zord and back again, as though she might see whatever he was seeing if she turned quickly enough.

"That does seem to be the general consensus," he agreed wryly.

She frowned at him. "Saryn, if you don't want to talk about it, I wish you'd just tell me instead of playing these stupid games."

Startled, he glanced at her again. Her hazel gaze was as frank as ever, and a smile tugged at his lips as he realized how much he had missed her honesty. The other Rangers' tact had saved him a lot of discomfort--and, when he admitted it to himself, pain--but she managed to be her usual direct self without ever seeming unsympathetic.

"I was the Red Elisian Ranger," he said at last. "I still hold the Red crystal. But I wear the Phantom Ranger's armor, and I feel that if I were meant to be what I once was, the Power would have caused my uniform to revert by now."

She seemed to consider that. "The Power did that, then? Changed your uniform?"

"There is no other explanation. It is not unheard of; the Power does respond to drastic alterations in a Ranger's consciousness or state of need. That is, after all, the principle behind morphing."

"Do you think you've changed that much?" she asked curiously. She regarded him with a penetrating stare that wasn't unfriendly so much as it was contemplative.

He didn't have an answer for that, and she seemed to know it.

After a moment, she looked back at his zord. "So if you don't lead your team," she said, tapping the hull thoughtfully, "who does?"

His team didn't need a leader anymore. It was his first, instinctive reaction to her question, and his eyes widened slightly as he realized the implications of that. Maybe she was right... maybe he hadn't changed as much as he wanted to believe.

She turned, almost as though she had sensed his flash of insight, and caught his expression before it faded. "What?" she asked. "What is it?"

He just stared at her for a moment. "My team is dead," he whispered at last, gazing at her in surprise. "That was my first thought when you asked who led my team."

She took a step closer to him, worry in her eyes, and he had to smile at her concern. "Don't look like that," he murmured, shaking his head. "It's all right, it just--surprised me."

"It surprises me too," she admitted, but her voice was gentle and the worry didn't fade from her face. "I thought you had at least accepted the Astro Rangers as teammates, if not the other Elisian Rangers."

"The Elisian team... the new Elisian team is Mirine's." He frowned a little at that, but the more he thought about it the more he knew it was true. "I'm just the fifth Ranger. Less than that, even, since they've done well enough without a fifth for years."

It was his fault that they had had to learn to cope alone, but they had, and now he was extraneous. His old team was gone, and the new one had long formed a cohesive unit without their Red Ranger. Mirine had led the team for years in his absence--it was no wonder the team leader's insignia seemed out of place on his zord.

"A Ranger's identity is as part of a whole," Kerone said finally, interrupting his reflection. "That's what Andros says. It's no wonder you still wear the Phantom Ranger's uniform."

"No," he agreed quietly. "I suppose it isn't so strange, after all." He managed to smile then, giving her an amused look. "Andros said that, did he?"

Her lips twitched too, leaving no doubt that she was aware of the irony in her brother's statement. "He's not the same person he used to be, either."

"No," he repeated thoughtfully. "We have all changed for knowing each other."

He saw her gaze wander around the hangar bay, and he added, "Speaking of which, I'm afraid the hour is quite late in Angel Grove. Otherwise I have no doubt that DECA would have alerted the entire team to your arrival."

She laughed at that, allowing him to change the subject without comment. "I'm just as glad she didn't, to tell the truth. It was strange enough to see you after so long; I think I need a few more hours to get used to the thought of everyone else."

"You will have them," he assured her. "The others show no inclination to rise before DECA wakes them."

She looked surprised at that. "Are they all on the Megaship? I thought they were spending most of their time on Earth now."

"They were, until the Psycho Rangers. It seems wiser to keep the team together as much as possible right now."

Kerone gave him a knowing look. "And I'm sure you didn't have anything to do with a decision that keeps Cassie on the Megaship every night."

He tried not to smile. "Truly, I am not here as often as that."

She actually smirked at him, and he couldn't suppress his smile any longer. "Your opinion of me is decidedly unflattering," he informed her, amused.

"You'd be surprised," she replied, her eyes sparkling. "I have unflattering opinions about almost everybody; they just don't always know it."

"I don't know whether to be flattered or worried," he said dryly.

"I'll tell you when to be worried," she said with a wink. "In the meantime, I'm hungry--will you join me for something to eat?"

"Of course," he agreed, somewhat surprised. She didn't often plead hunger, but he hadn't eaten for some time and was glad of the excuse.

"So tell me," he added, as they strolled toward the hangar bay's exit. "Is the purple a permanent change, or just a passing style?" She had clearly been trying to conceal her identity on KO-35, but she had changed neither clothes nor hair since leaving.

She laughed, tossing her head. "I haven't decided yet. Do you like it?"

"I like the curls," he said truthfully. "I'm not sure how I feel about the color yet."

She gave her head a shake as they stepped across the hangar bay threshold, and the violet faded back to blonde. "Better?" she inquired, sounding amused. The curls had stayed.

He couldn't help smiling. "I do not presume to dictate your appearance," he told her. His eyes strayed to her hair anyway, and when he met her gaze again he knew she had seen it.

"Yes," he admitted, a little sheepishly. "I do like that better."

She grinned, but before she could answer voices from the holding bay made them pause. He had assumed everyone was asleep, but Carlos' accent was unmistakable.

"You've known about this the whole time?" The Black Ranger sounded distinctly indignant, and Saryn raised an eyebrow.

"I guess so. Since September, anyway."

It took him a moment to place the voice of Ashley's brother. He exchanged glances with Kerone, who just shrugged. She nodded a question at the door, and he almost shrugged in return. There wasn't any reason *not* to go in; he just hadn't expected to find anyone still up.

As they walked into the holding bay, Jeff was asking, "You mean you *didn't* know?"

"Know what?" Kerone asked curiously.

"Kerone!" An honest grin lit Carlos' face, and he put the foot he had been bracing against one of the stools on the floor. He came around the table and wrapped her in a bear hug before she could even respond. "Where have you been? Couldn't you have called someone other than Andros every once in a while? It was like pulling teeth just to get him to tell us how you were!"

She laughed delightedly, hugging him back as best she could. "I told him to say hi to everyone for me. I hope he at least did that!"

"Yeah," Carlos answered. "Grudgingly. Sometimes I wasn't sure if he was just making that up to get us to stop asking questions." He let her go at last, stepping back to take a good look at her. "So are you back to stay?"

She hesitated, glancing over at Saryn. "I heard about the Psycho Rangers," she said evasively. "Saryn thought I might be able to help."

"We need all the help we can get," Carlos agreed, leading her over to the table. He didn't ask again, which Saryn couldn't help thinking was unusually perceptive of him. "Want something to eat?"

"Actually, yes," she admitted. "I've almost missed your food. Hi, Jeff," she added, smiling at Ashley's brother as Carlos pulled a stool out for her.

"Good to see you again, Kerone," he said, smiling in return. "What have you done to Carlos?"

She laughed, but Carlos just rolled his eyes. "When one of your teammates takes off for months and doesn't do more than call her brother every once and a while to say she's still alive, you get a little worried," he informed Jeff. "Hamburger and french fries?" he asked, glancing down at Kerone.

She giggled, shaking her head but obviously flattered by the attention. "I was thinking more of cereal and fruit."

He sighed. "Kerone, you're the healthiest person I know," he complained, going over to the Synthetron. "It can't be good for you. Hey, Saryn," he added, by way of belated greeting.

"Good evening," Saryn answered, smiling a little. "I believe I have been outdone."

He had meant to compare Carlos' welcome of Kerone to his own, but Carlos misinterpreted the remark. "We did just see you yesterday," the Black Ranger reminded him. "In fact, I hear Cassie told you to stop worrying about us and go."

"I did go," he replied calmly. "Then I came back. Kerone needed a ride."

"What were you arguing about when we came in?" Kerone interrupted, as Carlos returned with her cereal. "Thanks, Carlos."

"No problem," he answered, putting his foot on one of the stools again and looking over at Jeff. "We were just talking about DECA. Did you know she has a 'holographic interface', or whatever Andros calls it?"

Saryn paused by the Synthetron, glancing back to catch Kerone's reaction.

"Of course," she said, swallowing her first mouthful of cereal. "Didn't you?"

Carlos rolled his eyes. "That's what Jeff said. Did everyone know this but me and TJ?"

"I did not," Saryn offered, joining them at the table. "The first I knew of it was her appearance in the morphin grid."

Kerone paused, spoon halfway to her mouth. "The what? When?"

"We went into the morphin grid to--because Andros told us to," Carlos amended. "I don't know exactly what it is, and frankly, it wasn't very useful. But when we appeared there, DECA was with us. Looking--"

"Like a Kerovan woman," Kerone finished, taking another spoonful of cereal. "Blonde and white hair, gold eyes, a little shorter than you..."

"Yeah," Jeff agreed. "That's her. The eyes threw me at first, but she says they're not unusual on KO-35."

Kerone giggled at that, glancing up at DECA's camera. "She's being modest. They're not very common at all. It's like people with grey eyes on Earth."

Saryn watched Carlos look back and forth between the two of them, and he saw an odd expression flicker across the other's face at that. But the look was gone too quickly to identify, and all he said was, "So how did you know what she looks like?"

Kerone looked at Jeff over her cereal, and he just shrugged. "When she first started helping me with chem, I told her it was weird to be talking to someone I couldn't see. She said, and I quote--"

"Viewscreen or hologram?" DECA's voice inquired. Her camera light was on, but her tone of voice was perfectly neutral.

Jeff grinned. "Yeah. I didn't have the faintest idea what she was talking about."

Without warning, there was a sparkle of light and the transparent form of the woman they'd "met" in the grid flickered into being. Saryn blinked, and he saw Carlos start out of the corner of his eye. Jeff just nodded to her, and she nodded gravely back. Kerone continued eating.

"My holographic interface was designed to facilitate the passing of information between crew, passengers, and computer," DECA informed them. "Rangers tend to be used to dealing with disembodied intelligence, therefore I did not feel it necessary to inform you of the possibility. However, if you prefer to interact with me in this fashion, I'm happy to oblige."

Carlos was looking around the room suspiciously. "How are you doing that? I thought the Simudeck was the only place on the Megaship that could create holograms."

"My cameras are all outfitted with holographic projectors," DECA replied, her gaze settling on him. "As you can see, they are not as sophisticated as those on the Simudeck, but they suffice."

Carlos studied her for a long moment. "Yeah," he said at last. "I guess they do."

He was clearly at a loss, and Saryn glanced over at Kerone in an effort to shift the focus of attention. "You have known about this particular trait for some time, I assume?"

"Trait," he heard DECA murmur. "That's as polite a word as any, I suppose."

He looked at her in surprise, but the small smile on her face said she hadn't taken offense. She was just reminding them that she was there, as she was sometimes wont to do when they got to discussing something into which she felt she ought to have input.

He had to smile back. The computer's holographic image might have been designed for non-Ranger personnel, but he thought he could get used to having a face to put to DECA's voice.

"Just since I came aboard," Kerone said, gaining his attention again. "Her voice sounded awfully familiar, so finally I asked her about it."

Jeff gave her a puzzled look. "What does her voice have to do with anything?"

"She sounds like our mother," Kerone answered, putting her spoon down. "She looks like her too. Or that's what she says; I don't remember our parents well enough to know."

This was greeted by silence. Saryn took the opportunity to glance at DECA. She stood calmly, hands behind her back as she regarded them. She caught his eye as he looked over at her, but she said nothing.

Jeff, too, was staring at her. "You look like their mom?"

DECA looked faintly amused at his incredulity. "There is a strong resemblance. Andros was only eleven when he first called on the Power, and he was alone but for Zhane. I did whatever I could to make him feel more comfortable."

Saryn smiled to himself, wondering if that explained Andros' remark in the Medical bay the night of the first attacks. "DECA's always had a holographic interface. I just don't use it anymore." Had the Red Ranger "outgrown" such comfort?

"Thanks, DECA," Kerone said, smiling at her. "For him. I know I've already said it, but that was really nice of you."

DECA inclined her head. "For as long as I operate, I am in the service of the Rangers." The hint of a smile on her face said that it was more than that, though, and for the first time Saryn had some inkling of how safe the Rangers actually were on the Megaship. That DECA would recreate her appearance just to put one of them at ease said something about how far she would go if they were in real danger.

"Thank you," he said quietly, getting to his feet. "For as long as we live, DECA, the service is reciprocal." He glanced around the table, and Kerone and Carlos nodded in agreement. Somewhat to his surprise, Jeff nodded as well.

DECA smiled in acknowledgement, looking genuinely pleased. He nodded to her before turning a questioning look on Kerone and gesturing at her bowl. She blinked, but held up her hands in a "finished" gesture, and he put her dishes on top of his. "Thanks, Saryn," Kerone called, as he returned them to the Synthetron.

"Bet you don't get service like this every day," Jeff commented, a grin in his voice.

"I'll make the most of it while it lasts!" she responded promptly.

Coming up behind her, Saryn rested his hands on her shoulders. "See that you do," he said, squeezing her shoulders gently. "I'm going to get some sleep, but it's good to have you back, Kerone."

She looked up at him, smiling. "It's good to be back," she answered. "Thanks for the ride."

There was a look in her eyes that said the thanks was for more than that, but she didn't have to say it aloud. He squeezed her shoulders again before lifting his gaze to include the others. "I wish you all a good night," he said, letting go of Kerone and taking a step back.

"Same to you," Jeff offered, but Carlos straightened up.

"Do you have a second, Saryn?" He didn't look at the others, but he clearly didn't mean here. "I wanted to ask you something."

Saryn raised an eyebrow. "Of course. You are welcome to accompany me to deck five, if you wish."

"Thanks." Carlos nodded to the others as he joined Saryn by the door. "Good night, guys. Good to see you again, Kerone."

She smiled and waved as they headed out into the corridor, quiet until they reached the lift. As the doors closed behind them and the lift started to hum upwards, though, Carlos sighed. "This is going to sound weird."

Saryn almost smiled. "I assure you, I have come to expect no less from this team."

A reluctant grin tugged at Carlos' expression. "All right," he said ruefully. "I'll give you that. Look, I'm asking you this because I feel like you'll be honest with me. I need someone who's objective."

Curious, Saryn touched the control panel by the door as the lift came to a halt. The door stayed closed, and he regarded Carlos quizzically. "I will do my best."

Carlos folded his arms, an odd look on his face. "Am I xenophobic?"

Saryn raised an eyebrow, considering that. "No," he said at last. "Why do you ask?"

"Just 'no'?" Carlos demanded. "Then why did you have to think about it?"

Used to the Black Ranger's single-mindedness by now, he returned the other's gaze evenly. "I was considering all possible definitions of the word. Since you provided me with no context, I was endeavoring to be sure that I could come up with no possible way in which the word could be applied to you."

That gave him pause. "Oh," Carlos said at last. "Well... thanks."

He tried again. "May I ask why you were curious?"

Carlos shrugged distractedly. "Someone told me I was, that's all."

"Someone whose opinion you value, I assume," Saryn remarked.

Carlos only shrugged again, but there was no other reasonable conclusion.

"Carlos," he said carefully. "There is a distinct difference between yourself and a person who has lived their entire life with awareness of an organization like the League. You grew up on an isolated planet, gaining concrete knowledge that offworld cultures exist only within the last year or two. Someone who has always taken that knowledge for granted is bound to be less easily... surprised, by customs foreign to them."

Carlos frowned, looking back at him. "Why does it matter how long you've known? I mean, say two people are both exposed to cultures they know almost nothing about. Does it matter whether one of them grew up in the League? Whatever they know still doesn't prepare them for this particular culture."

"No," he agreed. "But it does make a difference. A large difference. Other cultures..." He paused, smiling a little. "They stretch your mind, for lack of a better phrase. And the more your mind is stretched, the more likely it is that any given thing will fall within its boundaries. We are surprised when something falls *outside* our experience, so it is to be expected that someone with less general experience will be surprised by a greater number of specifics."

Carlos just looked at him for a moment, then muttered, "My head hurts. Okay," he continued, before Saryn could respond, "so you're saying it's not my fault that I'm naive? Is that it?"

"Not entirely." That was, in fact, what he was saying, but Carlos had apparently not gotten the point. "I'm saying that you can not compare your reactions to those of a League-born citizen. They will not be the same, and you can't expect them to be."

Carlos sighed, leaning back against the wall of the lift. "I don't," he admitted, staring over Saryn's shoulder at the other wall. "But I think she does."

With that, something clicked in his mind. Carlos wasn't talking about someone at the conference. He was talking about Aura. Saryn was silent then, considering the conversation in a new light.

After a moment, Carlos pushed away from the wall and reached for the control panel. "Sorry," he said. "Didn't mean to make you deal with that, too. Thanks."

"Wait." Saryn stopped him before he could open the door. "Could you give me a moment, now?"

Carlos looked surprised, but he nodded warily. "Sure."

Instead of questioning him further, Saryn cast back, trying to remember what little he knew about Aura. She was a good person, if not always in complete control of her temper, and he had a hard time imagining her calling someone xenophobic to their face. Especially someone whom, as had been made clear on a number of occasions, she cared about very much.

"You asked only if I thought you were xenophobic," he said slowly. "This implies that she did not give you any reason for her statement."

Carlos shook his head.

"She is not prone to baseless accusations," he commented. "Yet we have already established that she is incorrect... You must believe that she meant it, though, or you would not have asked?"

"Yeah," Carlos agreed. "I think she meant it."

Saryn considered that. Xenophobia... the fear of that which was different or foreign. "You are aware, of course," he said, glancing at Carlos again, "that she is telepathic."

Carlos gave him what Ashley would have instantly labeled "a duh look". "Yeah, obviously. Their whole team is."

"No," Saryn corrected. "Billy is not, and Delphinius' telepathy is negligible. It is their Power allows them that kind of communication."

Carlos digested that, then nodded once. "Okay, yeah, I guess I did know that. Sort of. So?"

"Telepathy is not a highly desirable trait on Aquitar," Saryn told him. "Outside of the Rangers, telepaths are considered... aberrant. Even, in some ways, inferior."

Carlos looked startled. "Why?"

"I can not explain it. Nor can I explain why Cassie's mother disapproved of me because I am not 'Asian'. I can only tell you of the prevailing attitude, not the reasoning behind it."

"So..." Carlos looked like he was still trying to wrap his mind around the idea of someone not liking Aura. A whole group of someones, at that. "You're saying that she'd be discriminated against by her own people if she wasn't a Ranger?"

"Again, you seem to have missed the point," Saryn said quietly. "She hasn't always been a Ranger."

Carlos' eyes widened. "You mean..." He trailed off, and when he spoke again he sounded angry. "Man, I can't believe stuff like that happens on Aquitar! They seem so... advanced! Peaceful, and--I don't know--perfect!"

"No place in the League is perfect. We live and work together in spite of that, and we learn to compensate for each other's flaws. But few people are blind to the fact that there is a great deal of room for improvement."

"And you think this has something to do with what she said to me." Carlos hadn't lost sight of the original point of the conversation. "She couldn't think *I* believe she's inferior!"

Saryn frowned a little. "No," he had to agree. "I don't see how she could. Nonetheless, her history is something you should be aware of, and I can't help thinking that it might have something to do with her accusation."

"Yeah," Carlos muttered. He still looked troubled. "Yeah, I guess it might."

Before he could pull himself together, Saryn added, "I doubt you will appreciate this suggestion, however, I feel compelled to point out that Cetaci is the person with whom you should speak."

Carlos looked at him as though he'd announced the planets would start revolving backwards tomorrow. "Why in the world would I want to talk to her?"

"Because they went to school together. There is no one on the team better qualified to tell you where Aura has been."

"They did?" Carlos looked only a little less startled. "I didn't know that."

Saryn could only stare at him. "What *do* you know about her?" he asked at last, giving in to his curiosity. "Surely you did not spend eight months talking about zord design."

"Actually, we spent a lot of the last four arguing," Carlos muttered. "It never occurred to me to ask whether we were arguing about me or her."

"Perhaps now would be the time to find out," Saryn suggested dryly.

"Yeah." Abruptly lifting his gaze from the floor, Carlos straightened. "Maybe it is. Thanks, Saryn."

"You're welcome," he replied automatically. "I hope you find what you're looking for."

"Me too," Carlos said, keying the door open. As he stepped out into the hallway, though, he paused. "Oh, and Saryn?"

Saryn gave him an inquiring look.

"Aura likes diving, heights, ice cream, and the rain," Carlos informed him. "She hates reporters, getting up early, and the word 'gadget'. She got her diver license when she was twelve. She's dyed her hair twice. And she wants to have a baby girl named 'Coral' someday."

Saryn smiled a little. "I look forward to meeting her," he said quietly.

He didn't want to move. He didn't feel like opening his eyes. He wasn't even particularly thrilled that he was aware, when it came right down to it. There was only one good thing about being aware, and that was the fact that he could choose to go back to sleep.

"Ten more minutes, DECA," he muttered, rolling over to face the wall. Even that small amount of motion convinced him that getting up was going to be truly unpleasant.

"As you wish, Andros." DECA sounded more sympathetic than reproving, and he cracked his eyes open curiously.

Opening his eyes just reminded him of how much he wasn't going to enjoy getting up, though, so he closed them and buried his head in the pillow again. The League was, of necessity, sympathetic to a multitude of time zones, so there was nothing that had to be done that couldn't wait until a more decent hour.

He had no real obligation to get up just because the rest of the Astro Rangers were, either, but he would. He would get up because Ashley was, and there were few enough times when he could count on seeing her lately. Yesterday had convinced him that he'd better take advantage of every one.

No sooner had he closed his eyes than he heard DECA say, "Angel Grove time is 6:40."

He groaned, but he rolled over on his back so she knew he wasn't ignoring her. He squinted at the bottom of the top bunk, blinking hard in an effort to persuade his eyes that it would be less trouble to stay open than not. If he could get that far, maybe sitting up wouldn't seem like such a monumental task.

He shouldn't have stayed up so late talking to Zhane. That was easy to say now, of course, but they had really dragged it out. He had actually spent a considerable amount of time convincing his friend not to join them on Earth. Zhane was, to say the least, unhappy about leaving the rest of the team to face the Psycho Rangers alone, but he was needed where he was.

They had spent another large chunk of the conversation discussing Ashley, and what she might face as a citizen of Earth in a place as introverted as the Border was now. Or, more accurately, they had discussed how they could make her want to face it, whatever "it" turned out to be. Zhane was only slightly less dismayed than Andros at the idea of losing her to college.

He winced as he hit his head on the top bunk, something he hadn't done in longer than he could remember. No, they shouldn't have talked so long, but they couldn't not have. The Psycho Rangers weren't going to wait, graduation was only getting closer, and on top of that the shipping problems on the Border weren't going away. The fact that the Kerova system was a dead end run didn't help, either. KO-35 was as far out as the League boundary extended, so once a ship arrived there was nothing to do but turn around.

He managed to stumble to his feet, locating his clothes without conscious thought and wondering irritably what he had done with his comb. It wasn't usually this hard to get going in the morning, late nights and different time zones notwithstanding. He was feeling the Power's loss in everything he did.

And *where* had he left his comb? He glared around his room. The comb did not appear, but his eye fell on a square of white by the door. It was lying on the floor, as though it had been shoved underneath the door--it took him a moment to figure out why that was strange.

The doors on the Megaship all sealed automatically when they closed to make the rooms airtight. The ability of the ship to compartmentalize made it less susceptible to hull breaches. It also made it quite impossible to slide something under someone else's door.

He went over and picked the piece of paper up, smiling as he recognized Ashley's handwriting. She was at least pretending that he had some privacy. DECA must have opened the door for her, so she could just as easily have left it on his bureau.

Andros, the note read. Thanks for yesterday. I'm glad we can still talk like that. We've been apart so much lately that sometimes it seems like we don't have the chance. But you're still the person I fell head over heels for last spring, and I love you with all my heart. That will never change. Love, Ashley

He touched the piece of paper with his free hand, imagining he could hear her voice saying the words. She wasn't the only one who had fallen "head over heels" that year... What were they going to do? If he couldn't stay, and she couldn't leave?

Never had the threat of graduation seemed so real--or so near.

He finally set the note down and headed for the holding bay, knowing that standing around wondering wouldn't help anything. So he walked and wondered instead, until the lift let him out on deck six and a voice through the open bay doors made him stop in his tracks.

He just stood there for a moment, wondering if his tired brain was playing tricks on him. He couldn't be hearing what he thought he was hearing. She would have told him. DECA would have told him. Someone would have said *something*.

He strode into the holding bay, only to stop again just inside the doorway. The bay was in a state of amiable chaos, with TJ trying to get one of the tennis balls away from Jetson and Cassie trying to steal her notebook back from Saryn. He was teasing her over something, and across the table, Ashley was giggling at them with--

Kerone. Kerone was sitting beside Ashley, a piece of toast in her hand and a delighted smile on her face. She looked older, somehow, despite her curly hair and carefree expression. But she was *here*...

She looked up as Ashley did, and her smile widened into a happy grin. "Andros!"

She leapt off her stool, dropping her toast on her plate in the process, and came at him in a whirlwind of purple and blue. He had to laugh as she threw her arms around him, and he hugged her back just as tightly. "How are you?" he demanded, not letting her go. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming? Is everything okay?"

She laughed too, pulling away from him with a grin. "I'm fine; everything's fine. I didn't tell you because I didn't know until Saryn showed up on my doorstep last night and kidnapped me. How are *you*?"

"I'm all right," he said, squeezing her arm fondly. Anything else he might have said was overridden by Saryn's objection.

"I didn't kidnap anyone," he informed the room. "She offered to come of her own accord."

The meaning of those words suddenly sank in, and Andros glared at him. "Wait a minute--you knew where she was all this time?"

"No, he didn't," Kerone said firmly. "Leave it alone, Andros; it's not his fault I called him. I'll tell you about it later."

He looked at her in surprise. It wasn't that he didn't expect the former princess of evil to assert herself, it was just that he didn't expect his little sister to talk back. He swallowed his reply, knowing--at least intellectually--that she could run her own life. Still, it was a moment before he realized Ashley was trying to get his attention.

"So since I have to get permission before the weekend, I want to give it to the principal today," she said, apparently oblivious to the fact that he had missed most of her explanation.

He gave her a confused look. "What?"

Kerone just laughed. "She wants you to sign this," she said, taking the piece of paper from Ashley and handing it to him.

"Hi Carlos," Cassie said, looking toward the doorway. Out of the corner of his eye, Andros saw her snatch her notebook back when Saryn glanced away.

"Morning," he replied noncommittally. "Hey, Kerone."

Startled, Andros watched the Black Ranger wander over to the Synthetron. He paused as though he couldn't quite decide what to ask for, but he didn't look over his shoulder. Even given Carlos' mood of late, that was a low-key reaction to someone he hadn't seen since January.

"He and Jeff were awake when she arrived," Ashley said, noticing his surprise. She waved a pen in front of his face. "Sign, please?"

"Never trust a girl who tells you to sign first," TJ put in, drawing his arm back and pitching the tennis ball out into the corridor. Jetson was off after it before he could blink, and TJ turned back to the table to clear his dishes.

Distracted, Andros set the piece of paper down and took the pen. "What am I signing?" he wanted to know.

"Prom permission slip." Ashley picked up her own dishes, adding, "You have to swear that you're under twenty-five, that you won't disrupt the prom, you won't bring your gate-crashing college friends with you, you won't sell drugs, you won't deal in illegal alien technology, that kind of thing."

"They worry about that?" Andros drew back as Cassie swung at Saryn. "I've been hanging out at the high school since I met you. Half the teachers know me anyway."

"They have to worry about that," Ashley answered, sidestepping Cassie and Saryn's tickle fight as she came back to the table. "Someone's parents would freak if they didn't have an official list of every non-AGH date who came. Last name too," she said, glancing over his shoulder.

He gave her an exasperated look. "I don't have a last name."

"Well, make one up," she said, grinning at his expression. "Normally you could use mine, but that might not be a good idea this time. And do you always print your signature?"

He frowned. "How else would I do it?"

Backpack over one shoulder, TJ took the pen from his hand. "Here." With a flourish, he signed 'Andros Kothir' and handed it back. "They'll never know the difference."

"'Kothir'?"

At Ashley's look, TJ just shrugged. "For 'KO-35'. If nothing else, he'll be able to remember it."

There was a muffled crash as Cassie tripped over one of the stools, and Carlos lifted his juice out of her way. "Guys," he said, picking up his backpack. "Get a room already."

"Write 'Kothir' next to your name, too," Ashley suggested. "So it looks like you wrote your name and then signed it."

Andros shook his head, but he did as he was told. She stuck the permission slip in her bag, and he caught her arm as she started to pick up her dishes. "Hey," he said quietly, trying to ignore Jetson's barking. "Thanks for the note."

She smiled at him. "It's true," she promised, kissing him quickly. "I'll see you after school?"

"Sure," he said. "We'll get Kerone used to Angel Grove again."

Ashley smiled at Kerone before grabbing her dishes off the table. "Sounds good," she called over her shoulder as she headed for the Synthetron. "Want to meet at my house? I need to pick some stuff up anyway."

"You have one excused absence left, young lady," TJ was telling Cassie sternly. "So don't tell me you'll be there in a few minutes. Get your stuff and get over here."

"Try to keep Andros out of trouble," Carlos told Kerone, as he joined the others by the door. "I know it's tough, but someone has to do it."

Cassie finally tore herself away from Saryn and Ashley waved as she shrugged into her backpack. "See you later!"

Just like that, they were gone.

"Wow," Kerone said into the sudden silence. "I can hear myself think again."

Jetson let out a single bark, and Saryn glanced down at him. "Yes, we know what you think. Thank you."

Andros was trying to remember whether Saryn had always spoken to Jetson that way--as though he were a person--when he felt Kerone's gaze on him. He saw an amused smile on her face when he caught her eye.

"So," she said, putting her hands on her hips. "What's all this about the prom?"

8. Facade

"We're not riding in a limo."

"Yes, we are," Ashley argued. "My parents already set it up."

TJ rolled his eyes. "So you and Andros take it."

"We're going to. So are Cassie and Carlos and you and Tessa."

"Tessa and I are going in Max's Tracker," TJ informed her. "We've already talked about it."

"She'd rather go in your uncle's car than a limo?" Ashley demanded.

"I don't know, because I didn't ask. We're not going in the limo."

Ashley let out an exasperated sigh. "Why not!"

"Because I've been replaced by an evil space alien," TJ told her. "We're all having dinner together; why do we have to ride together too?"

"Why shouldn't we?" Ashley wanted to know. "We'll be coming from and going to exactly the same place!"

"Which is why I don't see why we have to do it in the same vehicle." He shook his head, knowing his refusal to give a concrete reason wasn't helping anything. "Look, Ash, give a couple ten minutes alone on prom night, okay?"

She gave him a surprised look. "Okay. Sorry--I thought you were upset that my parents were paying for it or something."

The final bell rang, and he pushed his chair back as he got to his feet. Most of the class made a token attempt at rearranging their chairs back into a circle, but getting out of the room seemed to take priority. The "discussion period" had been a laudable attempt on the teacher's part, but no one could forget that there were only five days left. Or rather four, now.

"It's not that," TJ said, shoving his book into his bag and swinging it over his shoulder. "I just want to have a few moments alone with Tess when I won't have to shout over the music, that's all."

"Yeah," Ashley agreed with a smile. "I can understand that. I'm a little worried about what Andros is going to think of it all, actually."

TJ slung a companionable arm over her shoulders as they stepped out into the hall and headed for their lockers. "He'll love it," he promised. "You got him to go to that dance last fall, remember?"

"Yeah, but that was different." She wrinkled her nose at him when he laughed, and added, "It was! The prom's all formal and... kind of boring."

"Boring?" He hugged her shoulders affectionately. "Now you tell me! After you and Cassie went dress shopping three separate times? Think how much trouble you could have saved yourselves!"

She shoved him back. "Getting ready for the prom is fun," she informed him. "Going is anticlimactic."

"Someone's been studying their Lit terminology," he teased, and she rolled her eyes.

"I'm just saying that it's not really Andros' thing," she said, ducking out from under his arm as they reached her locker. "He doesn't like crowds, he doesn't like dancing, and he's not a really big fan of having his picture taken. What else do you do at the prom?"

"Doesn't matter," TJ remarked. "He likes you, Ash, and that's all he's thinking about. Trust me."

"Oh?" She slammed her locker shut again and turned toward him expectantly. "And since when are you psychic?"

"Since I started hanging around with you guys," he replied, grinning. "Guilt by association, you know."

"Hi guys!" Cassie's voice preceded her from the throng, and she slid through a chattering group of girls to join them at Ashley's locker. "What's up?"

"I'm ready to go," Ashley announced. "Are you coming home, or do you have big plans with Quiet Boy?"

Cassie sighed. "'Quiet Boy'?"

"Well, you got mad the last time I called him 'lover boy'," Ashley pointed out. "I'm just asking."

"I need to go home to get some more clothes, anyway," Cassie said, apparently deciding that evasion was the best response. "Are you walking with us, TJ?"

He roused himself from his lounging position against the lockers, pulling his backpack on over his other shoulder. "Yeah, I'm all set. Carlos ditched me for the afternoon, so unless I get DECA to--help me out, I'm walking."

"Where'd he go in such a hurry?" Ashley wanted to know, linking her arm through his as they headed down the hallway. "He was barely awake at lunchtime."

TJ shrugged. "He didn't say, but I'm guessing it wasn't soccer practice."

The control room looked exactly the same as it had two weeks ago, if less empty. Although two Rangers were "on call" at any given time, the Aquitian team no longer tried to maintain a round-the-clock presence in control. Their duties often took them elsewhere, and the last time Carlos had been here it had been deserted.

Today, though, Cetaci leaned idly against the comm console as she chatted with someone working underneath it. She didn't acknowledge his presence in any way, which, not so long ago, he would have taken as normal. They were used to him coming and going, and Cetaci tended to be the least likely to engage him in conversation.

Now, he could only assume that she was deliberately ignoring him. She couldn't think that he was here to talk to Aura, and if he were looking for any of the others he wouldn't have come here first. This would certainly be interesting.

"And furthermore," Delphinius was saying as he slid out from under the console, "I don't see why your technological expertise was never broadened to include basic repair and maintenance. Greetings, Carlos," he added, catching sight of their guest.

"I never said it wasn't," Cetaci told him, making no effort to echo his greeting. "I said that this was more your area."

"Something she'll admit you're better at," Carlos put in. "Don't take it lightly."

Delphinius looked amused, but Cetaci just glanced casually down at the console. "Anyone in the appropriate mood would put forth a better effort, no matter their skill."

"I'm doing this because you don't *feel* like it?" Delphinius demanded, not missing the implication of her remark.

Cetaci smiled, and there was a distinctly smug cast to her expression.

Carlos cleared his throat. "Could I interrupt for just a second?"

"You already have," Cetaci pointed out, catching his eye for the first time. "Is there something you require?"

"Yeah. Five minutes." Her tone had the edge of a challenge, and he didn't ignore it. "I need to ask you something."

Cetaci considered him for a moment, then shrugged slightly. "Don't break anything while I'm gone," she told Delphinius.

"You're lucky I'm fixing it at all," he retorted. "If anything else gets broken it will be intentional, to give you some practice."

"I don't need practice," she answered, motioning Carlos to follow her out of the room. "I know how to delegate."

As they stepped into the hallway that led to the mess hall, he could have sworn he heard Delphinius mutter, "Delegate this."

"I heard that," Cetaci said loudly, pausing outside the nearest of the conference rooms.

"Good!" Delphinius called back.

Cetaci didn't answer as she waited for him to join her inside the conference area. She keyed the door shut behind him, then leaned back against the doorframe and waited. Her posture said that she had a thousand better things to be doing right now--among them, apparently, trading insults with her lover--but she was humoring him because it amused her to do so.

He wouldn't put it past her to be timing him, either, so he got right to the point. "Aura told me she broke up with me because I'm xenophobic. Saryn says she's telepathic and she's been discriminated against for it, and he thinks that might have something to do with what she said to me."

Cetaci just looked at him.

"Does it?" he asked, point blank.

"Why are you asking me?" she countered. "Why are you not asking Aura?"

"I've tried to talk to her," he said, frustrated. "She's gotten really good at vanishing into thin air. And the few times I've run into her by accident, she doesn't even seem to see me."

"What makes you think I will tell you anything she won't?" Cetaci wanted to know. "It isn't my place to speak for her."

He couldn't keep himself from glaring at her. "Do you know how incredibly tired I am of hearing that? I know I'm not your favorite person, but *someone* is going to tell me what's going on! I'd rather get it from you, but if I have to corner Aura and drag it out of her, I will!"

Cetaci didn't move, but suddenly she reminded him of nothing so much as a cat with all its fur bristling. "It was never you I didn't like," she informed him coldly. "It was seeing Aura unhappy. Your threat does nothing to convince me that I was wrong."

He stared at her, startled into listening. Was it fair, after all, to hurt someone to help them? And who was he to say what she needed, anyway? *Was* this actually about what she needed--or what he wanted?

He sighed, folding his arms across his chest defensively. "Is it really that bad?" he had to ask. He doubted he could ever bring himself to "drag" anything out of Aura, but it worried him that the idea so alarmed Cetaci.

She regarded him in stony silence, and he tried not to sigh again. "Look," he said. "You said you didn't like seeing her unhappy, and I know I hate it. So is she happy now? Because if she is, I'd rather have her stay that way than find out what I want to know."

Cetaci hesitated, and after a moment she looked away.

"Cetaci," he insisted, when she still didn't answer. "Is she happy?"

Finally, she shook her head. "No," she said, lifting her gaze to his again. "She is not happy, and she does not hide it particularly well."

He was torn between relief and dismay. "Then tell me what I can *do*!"

Cetaci looked as indecisive as he'd ever seen her. "I... will tell you what I know," she said at last. "But I am not convinced that it will help you. She has not been very communicative of late."

"Anything would be more than what I know now," he muttered.

To his surprise, Cetaci sighed. "While we were in school, Aura was in a relationship with another student. He--" She paused again, frowning. "Some people said that he only went out with her so that he could say he was dating a telepath, but I thought at the time that there was real affection between them."

Carlos shifted, not sure he liked that particular revelation. Aura had never mentioned anyone else, and he had just assumed... It was selfish, he supposed, but he had liked the thought that--

*Okay, okay,* he acknowledged silently. *It was selfish and stuck-up and just all around stupid to think that she'd never fallen for anyone before me.* Someone like her would have had her choice of romantic interests. Just because she'd been single last fall didn't mean that she'd always been that way.

"After they graduated, though," Cetaci continued, "he began to realize that their association was... not advantageous to his career."

"What was this guy's name?" Carlos interrupted. "Just out of curiosity."

"His name is Centori," she answered. "When we knew him, everyone called him Cen--I do not know if he still accepts that or not. I do know that his presence became more and more rare after graduation, and his invitations to Aura almost nonexistent. What little time they did spend together was spent with her friends, not his."

"It's only cool to be a rebel when you're too young to know better," Carlos muttered.

Cetaci considered that for a moment. "Yes," she said at last, regarding him thoughtfully. "I believe that may be the conclusion he came to."

"So they broke up?" he wanted to know. "How long ago?"

Cetaci frowned again. "Almost two years ago, now. Before she was chosen to be a Ranger. It was a painful experience; they did not part--amicably. But it was better that it happened when it did."

"Before she was chosen?" Carlos surmised. "Yeah, no kidding."

Cetaci straightened, giving the impression of a shrug. "She was hurt, but she is stronger than that. She went on, and I suspect she got more than one kind of satisfaction from being chosen. Still," she added, catching his eye again. "You can see why it did not help her heart to get involved with an offworlder. Especially with someone from Earth."

"Especially someone from Earth?" He raised an eyebrow, trying to keep his tone even. She was being unusually open with him, and he couldn't forget that. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Your world is as biased toward aliens as ours is toward telepaths," she said matter-of-factly.

"It's not bias!" he retorted. "It's just--ignorance. You can't accept what you don't know!"

"Either way, the result is the same," Cetaci informed him. "She can not know your home, or your school, or any of the places or people that are important to you because of who she is. It is not a pleasant thing to live with."

"But--that's..." He stared at her as the full import of what she was saying started to sink in. "It's like I was ashamed of her," he realized slowly. "Like Cen was."

She tilted her head slightly. "Maybe," she admitted. "That is only what I saw when I watched you together. She will not share her feelings with any of us lately, so I have no idea how accurate the impression is."

"Why didn't you tell me!" he exclaimed, unable to contain his growing horror. "She must have been miserable!"

"Why did you not ask?" she countered. "Surely you knew she was uncomfortable."

"Yeah, but--I didn't..." He threw up his hands in frustration. "I did ask! She never mentioned any of that! I didn't know--"

She cut him off. "It's as well that you did not. We cannot help where we are from."

He frowned, but he didn't say anything as she turned and keyed the door open. She walked out of the room without another word and he stared thoughtfully after her, wondering.

"Any luck?" she asked, joining TJ and Tessa at the end of the Hammonds' driveway. She already knew the answer; she had just come from the Jenkins'--the last house on the street before the Hammonds', and probably the most likely to have kittens. If they didn't know anything about Ashley's stray, no one would. But it didn't feel right not to ask.

TJ shook his head, exchanging glances with Tessa. "No one we talked to even has cats that young," he said, confirming her suspicion. "There were a couple of people that weren't home, though; we can go back and check with them later."

"I hate to say this," Tessa put in, glancing at her watch, "but I've got to get going. I've got class in a few minutes."

"We'll tell you what happens," Cassie promised, and Tessa sighed.

"I hope the little guy's okay," she said, sliding her helmet off of her handlebars and settling it on her head. "Give him a pat for me, okay?"

"We will," Cassie said with a smile. Secretly, she hoped the ragged looking piece of fluff that Ashley had hauled out of a ditch managed to survive that long. But Tessa was sure he looked worse than he was, and she and Ashley had refused to consider the alternative.

"Thanks for stopping by after school," TJ said, sounding a little guilty. "Sorry we got kind of sidetracked."

"Don't even say that!" Tessa admonished. "I'm just glad Ashley heard him meowing. I wouldn't have found him, that's for sure. I'll see you tonight and you can give me the full update, okay?"

"Right," TJ agreed. "Have fun in class."

She made a face at him, but she gave him a kiss anyway. "Good luck with the kitten!" she called, wheeling her bike out into the road. She put a foot on the nearest peddle and swung her other leg over the back, turning to wave once as she headed back toward the AGU campus.

Cassie glanced over her shoulder, as though she could see inside the house behind her from where they were. "So do we check here first, or do we go straight to Janet's?"

TJ shrugged. "We're already here. We might as well make sure Ashley didn't stop at home on her way back or something." Ashley had taken the injured kitten to Janet Rai, their neighbor and part-time vet, while the rest of them went door-to-door searching for its owner. She hadn't been seen or heard from since.

Until Cassie pushed the front door of the Hammonds' house open and found Ashley sitting at the kitchen table with her father. Behind her, she heard TJ say wryly, "Glad to see you working so hard, Ash."

She pushed her chair back quickly and got to her feet, a guilty look on her face. "I was about to come find you guys," she explained. "I just stopped to drop my backpack off and my dad wanted to know what we were doing."

"Sorry for diverting part of the search force," Joseph Hammond said, looking amused. "Blame me; I distracted her. Did you have any luck?"

Cassie shook her head as she slipped out of her backpack. "No... no one has kittens right now; not even the Jenkins. I don't know where he came from. Ashley and I will have to go check the other end of the street in a little while."

"I'll help," TJ said firmly. "That's a lot of houses to visit by yourself. How's he doing, by the way?" he asked, glancing over at Ashley.

"Janet thinks he's going to be okay," she said, resting her hands on the back of her chair idly. "She said she'd keep him overnight to make sure."

"Does anyone want something to drink?" Cassie offered, heading over to the sink and helping herself to a glass from the cupboard.

Ashley said "no" just as TJ said "yes", and he added, "I'll just have some water, if you don't mind."

"I'm fine, thank you," Ashley's father answered, when Cassie gave him an inquiring look.

Cassie poured some water into two glasses, wondering out loud, "What's going to happen to him tomorrow, then? If he's fine, but we can't find his owner? Are we just going to let Janet find a new home for him?"

"That's not her responsibility," Ashley's father interjected. "We'll have to take it to the animal shelter if we can't find its owner."

She fully expected Ashley to object at that, but her friend said nothing. Cassie gave her a surprised look, and the other girl only shrugged. "That's how it goes," her expression seemed to say.

"I wonder if Max would like a kitten," TJ mused as Cassie handed him his glass. "Thanks, Cass." Before he could do more than thank her, though, his expression fell. "Oh, man! I forgot to ask Tess to bring Max's CD with her tonight!"

Cassie had to grin at his expression. "What CD?"

TJ sighed. "She borrowed Max's 'Alabama' CD last week, and he's been hounding me to get it back ever since. I forgot to say anything before... do you think I could use your phone?"

She had to laugh. "Sure, go ahead. But isn't she in class?"

"I'll leave her voice mail." TJ accepted the phone as Ashley's dad passed it to him, moving a little way from them as he punched in her number. "If I don't, I'll just forget again, and I'll have to listen to Max complain about it every time I see him."

As he lifted the phone to his ear, she joined Ashley by the table. "So where are Andros and Kerone?" she asked, hoping to give TJ at least the semblance of privacy. "Did they suddenly 'remember' something they had to do on the Megaship?"

Ashley looked surprised for just a moment, glancing around the kitchen as though she expected them to appear at any moment. "Andros and--I don't know," she interrupted herself, shooting a helpless look in her father's direction.

"They're in the backyard," he said, a bemused look on his face. "At least, they were the last time I checked. Kerone seemed very interested in the gardens, and when I ran out of things to tell her, Andros said they just wanted to look for a while."

"What do you mean?" TJ's voice, startled and clearly not responding to an automated message, caught her attention before she could respond. He was frowning at the floor when she looked in his direction. "I just saw you five minutes ago."

There was a pause, and then he said, "You were right outside the school. You walked back to Ashley's house with us--Ashley found the kitten, and we went up and down the street looking for its owner?"

She exchanged glances with Ashley, returning her friend's puzzled grin with an uncertain look of her own. If they were playing some sort of game, they had picked a strange time for it. And if they weren't... she frowned, and looked over at TJ again.

"Tess, you had your bike," TJ insisted. "I saw you. I talked to you. You were here--guys," he said, turning back toward them. "Back me up here. I wasn't hallucinating Tess this afternoon, was I? She met us outside the school, right?"

"Yeah," Cassie agreed, an odd feeling in her stomach.

TJ wasn't looking at her, and she wasn't even sure he'd heard her. "It was what?" he said, an uninterpretable look flashing across his face. There was silence for a moment.

"Tess," TJ said at last. There was a grim note in his voice that she hadn't heard in a long time. "Don't go anywhere on campus alone, okay? Get your roommate to walk you to class, and find someone to walk back with.

"Actually," he amended suddenly, "don't. I'm going to pick you up for dinner early. I'll meet you outside the physics building at five, all right? I'm serious, Tess," he added after a pause. "It's important."

She was clutching her glass too hard, and she had to force her fingers to relax. She lifted the rim to her lips and took a tentative sip. The water slid soothingly down her throat, and the act of swallowing seemed to restore a little bit of perspective. Tessa was all right, after all, and none of them were in immediate danger.

"Yeah." TJ agreed with something she couldn't hear, and then he added, "I'll explain the rest of it later, okay? Five o'clock, Tess. Stay with other people."

Ashley's father stood up and went into the living room. It took a moment for Cassie to realize what he was doing, but when she heard the sliding door open she understood. A moment later, Andros and Kerone's voices were audible through the door.

"I love you too," TJ was saying. "And Tess? Max is making lasagna for dinner. Don't go with anyone who can't tell you that."

Cassie caught Andros' eye as he entered the kitchen, and she must have looked worried for he demanded quietly, "What's going on?" Kerone was right behind him, and Ashley's father followed them out of the living room.

"I'm not sure," Cassie said, when Ashley didn't answer. She kept her tone just as quiet, but she stopped and looked at TJ expectantly as soon as he put the phone down

"You guys," he said, glancing around at them. "Tessa's bike was stolen this morning. She hasn't had it since yesterday, and she's been in her room doing work since lunch."

"So?" Andros wanted to know. "What's wrong with that?"

"What's wrong is that we just saw her," Ashley said, tipping the chair in front of her backwards so she could lean on it. "She walked back here from the high school with us. With her bike."

For a brief moment, no one spoke. Then Andros said the words that had to be on everyone's mind: "Psycho Ranger." He glanced at her and added, "Is Saryn busy?"

She shook her head mutely.

"Have him come down here. We're going to need everyone together at once." Andros looked around the room again, as if taking a mental headcount. "Where's Carlos?"

"He took off right after school," TJ answered. "He didn't say where he was going."

*Saryn?* He didn't always hear her, especially over distances, but he had been distracting her all day and she wasn't surprised when the answer came back immediately.

*Is something wrong?*

She almost sighed with relief, glad to hear his reassuring voice fill her mind. It was funny, but talking to him that way made it impossible to feel anything but good--it was as though there wasn't room for anything else. *Yeah. We think one of the Psycho Rangers impersonated Tessa. Can you meet us at the house?*

*I'll be there in a moment,* he promised. *Is anyone else there?*

*Just Ashley's dad. You can teleport straight in.*

"Carlos took Mega V2 at 2:35 this afternoon," DECA's voice was telling Andros. "Aquitar is logged as his destination."

"Thanks," Andros said, just as a red glow from the doorway announced Saryn's arrival. "Go to security level three, and have Carlos contact me as soon as he gets back."

"Acknowledged," DECA's voice replied.

Cassie knelt down, holding out her arms as Jetson bounded over to her. "Hey, Jetson," she murmured, hugging him and patting him at the same time. She giggled as he tried to lick her face, and as she pushed him back she heard Saryn sigh.

She had to laugh when she looked up and caught sight of his expression. "Just when I'd gotten used to seeing you smile," she teased, putting her hands on her knees and pushing herself up.

He caught her hand and pulled her close, and Jetson, forced to leap out of the way, let out an indignant bark. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him bound over to Ashley, and then Saryn turned her face toward his and kissed her gently.

Jetson growled, and she pulled away in surprise. But he wasn't growling at Saryn--he was crouched in front of Ashley, hackles up and teeth bared. The Yellow Ranger had pulled her hand back in surprise, but the idea of Ashley looking unintentionally menacing was laughable.

She met her friend's wide-eyed gaze with her own before rousing herself enough to jump forward and grab Jetson's collar. "Bad dog," she scolded, dragging him back. "Ashley's our friend, remember? You like Ashley!"

He only continued to growl, and Ashley got to her feet and backed away from him slowly. "Sorry, Jetson," she said apologetically. "It must be the cat smell you don't like, huh? I'll wash my hands again, okay?"

Cassie shook her head. "He's never had a problem with cats before. I don't know what's gotten into him, Ash; I'm sorry. I'll put him out in the backyard."

"Saryn." Andros tilted his head in her direction. She rolled her eyes, but Andros' expression didn't change and Saryn fell into step beside her without a word as she headed for the door.

"Nothing is going to happen to me in the backyard," she informed him, pushing the sliding door open again. She knew that wouldn't stop him from coming, but she felt it had to be said.

Saryn just shrugged. "Good," he said simply.

She smiled as she clipped Jetson's sliding leash to his collar. "Have I told you how nice it is to have you around during the week?"

"Yes," he said, and there was a smile in his voice too. "Several times. The feeling is mutual."

She reached for his hand as they turned back to the door, and he squeezed her fingers. The gentle pressure triggered the spell on her ring, and she giggled as his words tickled her mind. "I love you," she whispered.

He pulled the door closed behind them, and this time it was his real voice that answered, *I love you too.*

She squeezed his hand again, and he tugged her a little closer as they stepped into the kitchen. She leaned willingly against his shoulder, catching the end of Andros' explanation as he said, "It's inconvenient for Saryn and Kerone, but until we find a way for DECA to recognize them, it's the best we can do."

"What's inconvenient?" she asked, frowning a little.

"Level three security only lets people with astromorphers onto the Megaship," Ashley offered. "And the people accompanying them. It'll lock Saryn and Kerone out unless they're with one of us."

"It's temporary," Andros said hastily. "Have DECA scan your ruby next time you're on the Megaship, Saryn; she should be able to isolate and confirm its signature. And Kerone..." He paused, looking uncertain.

She rolled her eyes, tossing a sphere of violet light into the air and letting it dissipate into fading ripples. "Andros, I promise none of the Psychos can do that. I'll talk to DECA later. But we're going to have to be sure of each other when we're not on the Megaship, too."

"Is a password too obvious?" TJ offered. "That's basically what I gave Tessa."

"No," Andros said slowly. "I don't think it's too obvious... as long as no one overhears you using it. And as long as it's password-password response, instead of just a single word."

"How about a name?" Ashley suggested. "First name-last name. We could use a different one of our own each day."

"I vote for using Carlos' first," Cassie said with a grin.

Ashley laughed. "That sounds fair," she agreed. "But do we use his last name, or his real last name?"

"Last name," TJ put in. "I can't even spell his real last name."

Andros looked from one to the other. "Should I know what you're talking about?"

"It's a Spanish thing," TJ told him. "Don't ask."

Footsteps on the porch caught Cassie's attention, and out of the corner of her eye she saw Ashley's dad glance that way with a frown. He obviously wasn't expecting anyone, and she gave the crowd gathered in the kitchen a quick assessing look. They all looked relatively normal--for once, she thought wryly--and she figured they could pass at least casual inspection.

Instead of a knock, the doorknob turned, and she frowned. Who would just let themselves into someone else's house?

The front door swung open and Ashley stepped through.

Andros heard Saryn's blaster power up before he even saw the other Ranger move. The Ashley in the doorway stopped in her tracks, staring wide-eyed at his blaster before her gaze slid across the others to trade identically startled looks with her double. Cassie, with slightly more presence of mind, drew her stunner and trained it on the Ashley standing by the kitchen table.

"Whoa!" TJ exclaimed instantly. "Everybody hold it! What's going on here?"

"She's a Psycho Ranger!" Both Ashleys pointed at each other simultaneously, and Andros gave his head a shake.

*Ash?* he demanded silently.

They both turned to look at him. "Yeah?"

He could almost feel the blood drain from his face. That was impossible. No one but Ashley--the real Ashley--should have been able to hear that. He didn't know which was more horrifying: the fact that a Psycho Ranger could hear his thoughts, or the fact that he couldn't tell which one the Psycho Ranger was.

"If you're Ashley, where've you been?" Though Cassie's question was clearly directed at the girl who'd just come in, she didn't take her eyes off of her stunner's target.

"At Janet's," Ashley answered, looking bewildered. "She's been raising two abandoned kittens, and the one we found got out this morning. She's been worried about it ever since."

Andros saw Cassie's gaze flicker briefly toward Saryn, then back toward the girl at the table. "She said Janet didn't know whose kitten it was. She says she stopped here on her way to catch up with us."

"Because I did!" the first Ashley exclaimed. "I came here straight from Janet's house twenty minutes ago--call her if you don't believe me!"

"TJ," Ashley's father said, looking from one to the other. He looked considerably less stricken than Andros felt, and he could only be grateful that someone was still thinking clearly. "Give me the phone."

Suddenly, Andros' brain caught up with him. "Wait," he said. It was strangely important to him that he be able to do this without someone else's help. "The note you left me this morning--what did it say?"

At the table, Ashley wrinkled her nose thoughtfully. It was such a familiar gesture that he almost took a step toward her--but the words "thanks for yesterday" stopped him.

"Thanks for yesterday," Ashley repeated, staring at him from the doorway. "I'm glad we can still talk like that. Sometimes it seems like we're apart more than we're together, lately. But I love you with all my heart, and that will never change."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Saryn shoot a glance in his direction. His expression must have said it all, for the Phantom Ranger swung his blaster around. "What do you want?" Saryn growled, glaring at the girl by the table.

"To destroy your pathetic world," she said cheerfully. She tilted her head a little, her smile still firmly in place. "And in the meantime, Power Rangers, I want you to know exactly how helpless you are against us."

Cassie's stunner hummed, powering up, and "Ashley" melted into a warped version of their own signature teleportation before she could fire. Saryn didn't lower his weapon immediately, but Cassie let hers fall with a sigh. "That was *so* much freakier than anything I wanted to see this afternoon."

Ashley's gaze locked with his, and he held out his hand silently. It was more a plea for forgiveness than anything else, but she threw her arms around him without hesitation. He returned her embrace gratefully, holding her as tight as he could.

He didn't see Saryn's blaster vanish, but he heard the other offer quietly, "My apologies, Ashley. I should have been able to distinguish between the two of you."

"Yeah, you should have," Kerone informed him. "You'll sneak into my mind, but not hers?"

"That was different," Saryn muttered. He sounded distinctly uncomfortable, but Ashley spoke before he could say anything else.

"It wouldn't have helped," she said, not moving. "She knows everything I know. She even knows Andros well enough to hear him think. It's no wonder you couldn't tell us apart."

Saryn didn't look convinced, but it was TJ who answered.

"Not quite everything," the Blue Ranger reminded them. "That was good thinking, Andros."

"It won't work next time," Andros muttered. He loosened his grip on Ashley at last, but he kept a possessive arm around her shoulders. "She was right. We're going to need a better way to recognize each other."

"DECA," TJ offered. "She's never been without an idea before."

"Can she rig our morphers with a recognition code?" Ashley asked. "That's what Carlos says they used at the conference."

"She can do it," Andros said slowly. "But if they're siphoning our Power, how do we know the Psychos can't activate the same code?"

No one said anything for a moment.

Finally, Ashley shrugged a little. "We won't know unless we ask. Let's go find out." She managed to spoil her nonchalant act by leaning her head briefly on Andros' shoulder, but he was grateful for the closeness.

"Just a second," Cassie said quickly. "Let me get Jetson."

Saryn shadowed her from the room again, and Ashley's father got to his feet. "As much as I trust you to handle this situation, I can't say I'm not worried. I was talking to that... girl, one on one for a good ten minutes before you showed up. I'm ashamed to admit it, but I couldn't tell she wasn't my daughter. How will I know it's you next time?"

He felt Ashley sigh soundlessly, but she gave her father a wan smile. "If we knew that, Dad, we wouldn't have to go ask DECA."

TJ folded his arms, a hint of humor flickering across his face. "Try telling her what's for dinner," he suggested.

9. Hazy Dreams

As the cockpit of Mega V2 faded into bright blackness and hovered there, he knew something was wrong. Teleportation wasn't instantaneous, but it was close. If he had time to think about it while it was happening, then it was taking too long.

Before he could do more than register the fact, though, the static color vanished and he found himself in the holding bay on the Megaship. He blinked, wondering if he had imagined the delay--and then his brain caught up with his eyes and he realized that he wasn't alone.

The holding bay was, in fact, filled with every member of the team currently aboard. TJ was leaning against the doorframe with Jetson at his feet, while Saryn stood by the stairs to the jump tubes. Cassie sat on the edge of the half-deck behind him, Kerone leaning on the railing at her side. Ashley and Andros were at the table, Ashley with her chin on her arms and Andros stroking her hair gently.

DECA's translucent form stood near the two Rangers, and she caught Carlos' eye as soon as he appeared. "Andros would like to speak with you," she told him.

Ashley smiled a little, and Andros sighed. "Yes, thank you DECA."

Carlos frowned. The atmosphere was more than just subdued--he hadn't seen everyone this serious since the night the Psychos attacked. "What's going on? And what's up with the teleportation?"

"The Psychos are impersonating us," Andros said, brushing Ashley's hair over her shoulder.

He didn't say anything else, and Carlos raised an eyebrow. "Right now?"

"This afternoon," TJ answered, bouncing a tennis ball off the floor. "First Tess, then Ashley. We couldn't even tell until later when I called Tess and she had no idea what I was talking about. And then Ashley walked in."

"Yeah, that was sort of a giveaway," Cassie murmured.

"You couldn't *tell*?" Carlos demanded. "They're evil! They're not even human, and you couldn't *tell*?"

Andros gave him a disgusted look that reminded him of their first days on board. "They're shapeshifters, Carlos. They can look like anyone, and they know everything we know. Everything. Not some things, or most things--*everything*."

"They know exactly how we react," Ashley added, not lifting her head. "And they know how we expect other people to react. That's how they could do Tessa."

"She asked where everyone was," TJ said. He tossed the ball against the floor again. "The other one asked about Megaship security. And we *told* them."

"There was no reason not to," Cassie put in. "They were perfectly innocent questions, coming from one of us."

"But they weren't coming from one of us!" Andros got to his feet, pacing around the end of the table. "And we couldn't even tell! If we can't trust each other, who can we trust?"

"We can't blame ourselves," Cassie said sharply. "You said yourself that they have all of our memories. How could they *not* fool us?"

"She can hear Andros." Ashley kept her chin on her arms, staring straight ahead of her, but her quiet statement brought complete silence to the room.

"What?" Cassie asked at last.

Carlos glanced over at Andros, but the Red Ranger just ran a hand through his hair and turned away.

"She can hear Andros," Ashley repeated. "The moment I came in, he said my name telepathically. Both of us heard him; that's why he couldn't tell."

Kerovan telepathy had evolved different than that of the Aquitians'. Carlos had heard Zhane explain it once. On KO-35, apparently, it was all or nothing, rather than the degrees of ability found on Aquitar. But Kerovans were only, as Zhane put it, "selectively telepathic"--they could only communicate with those so close or so similar to themselves that they had some intuitive understanding of the other's thought processes.

The word that Ashley used for it was "soulmates".

"She has more than your memories, then," Kerone said slowly, shifting her position against the railing. Her voice was calm but careful, as though she knew she was treading in dangerous territory. "Is it possible that... she has some of your consciousness, too?"

"What are we but the sum of our memories?" Saryn asked softly.

"You're saying that she's... me?" Ashley looked up at last, and her expression was as dismayed as Carlos had ever seen it.

"She is *not* you," Andros said fiercely. He turned around and glared at Saryn. "We may not remember the lives we lived before this one, but they're as much a part of who we are as the memories we have now. You can't be married to Cassie and not believe that!"

Saryn held his gaze evenly for a moment, and Carlos tried to figure out what Andros was talking about without dwelling too much on the "married" remark. It was impossible to think of his teammates that way, and the fact that neither of them had done anything but announce it in the most casual of ways didn't help. Most of the time he found it easier to simply ignore the rings they wore.

"No," Saryn said at last. He didn't look away, and Andros' glare hadn't wavered. "You're right, of course. Forgive me."

Andros folded his arms and glanced at Ashley, who didn't look reassured. "Look, I'm not saying I don't believe in that stuff," she said, shifting in her seat to face them. "But Kerone's right. If one of them can hear Andros, then she can't be just another monster."

The silence stretched just long enough to seem awkward, and then Kerone asked quietly, "How much can she hear? Do you have any way of knowing?"

"You mean was it just that one time, or has she been hearing everything we've said to each other since Sunday?" Ashley sighed, giving Andros an uncertain look. "I wish I knew."

"And if she can hear me," Andros added, "can she hear you and Zhane too?" The frustration was evident on his face, but if he didn't have the answer then he certainly couldn't expect the rest of them to.

"Look," TJ said at last. "This doesn't look good, but we do know a few things." He straightened, stepping out of the doorway and joining Ashley at the table.

"One," he said, sitting down. "The Psycho Rangers can't share the memories they got from us. If they could, Ashley's wouldn't have had to ask about the security levels--she would have known from Andros'."

"Could you not use our names?" Ashley murmured.

TJ cleared his throat. "Sorry. Psycho Yellow and Psycho Red, then."

Jetson looked mildly exasperated at being left alone, Carlos noted absently. The dog was staring at TJ as though waiting for the Blue Ranger to turn around and invite him over. When he didn't, the yellow lab heaved himself to his feet with an audible sigh and padded over to the table. TJ glanced down as Jetson flopped to the floor again.

"Two," he said, reaching down to scratch Jetson's ears affectionately. "They can't share information they've learned instantly. We told the one that impersonated Tess where the others were, but Ash--Psycho Yellow seemed surprised that Andros and Kerone were at the house."

"That's true," Cassie said slowly. "I thought that was odd. And there was another thing, too... she acted strangely when Ashley's dad mentioned taking the kitten to the animal shelter."

Ashley stirred at that. "What? We can't take those kittens to the shelter!"

Cassie smiled a little. "Yeah, that's what I mean. You'd care, but Psycho Yellow didn't seem to."

"That's weird." Ashley frowned, looking a little calmer than she had before. "You'd think she'd act exactly the same way I would."

"Jetson," Saryn said suddenly.

The dog lifted his head at that, turning to look at Saryn. Carlos saw Cassie's eyes widen, and she repeated excitedly, "Jetson! Jetson could tell it wasn't Ashley!"

Jetson jumped up, loping over to her inquisitively, and she grinned down at him. "Sorry I yelled at you, Jetson. You were smarter than any of us!"

"I wouldn't go that far," Saryn muttered.

Cassie slapped his shoulder. "Be nice."

"I am being nice," he retorted. "I'm also being realistic. The fact that he could sense the Psycho Ranger is no reflection of his cognitive abilities."

"But he could sense her," TJ interjected. "That's the important part. Jetson can tell, DECA can tell, and our morphers can 'recognize' each other."

"Don't rely on that," Andros put in, glancing at Carlos. "It's just a Power-verified electronic code, and the Psychos do have our Power. It's possible they could duplicate it."

"Not if they don't know we're using it," Ashley countered. She followed his gaze, catching Carlos' eye for the first time. "We're using a password system, too--how much Japanese do you remember?"

That threw him, and he had to think for a minute. "Not much past the stances. I can count to ten, but that's about it."

"That's all you need," Ashley said, with a hint of her usual cheery smile. "We're using the Mega V numbers in Japanese. Saryn's seven, and Kerone's eight. Your morpher will beep when it sends the code and gets it back, and when you say your number the other person says theirs."

"It's not perfect," Andros warned. "It probably won't take them long to catch on."

"Plus Andros can't remember 'one' in Japanese," Ashley interrupted. "But it's the best we can do."

Carlos grinned at the look Andros gave her, but he had to ask, "What about DECA? If she can tell, why can't she just warn us or something?"

"I can not identify the Psycho Rangers," DECA corrected. "I can only identify you. That's the reason for the teleportation delay that you experienced--I can scan for the Astro Power and prevent anyone without it from boarding the Megaship."

"But if they're using our Power," Carlos began.

"I can differentiate between your Power signatures and the echo that emanates from the Psycho Rangers during battle," DECA told him. "So far, they do not register as Powered beings at any other time."

"Which is too bad," Ashley muttered. "At least then we'd be able to track them."

Andros' head came up. "What did you just say?"

She glanced over at him, frowning a little. "At least then we'd be able to track them?"

"That's how they're doing it." Andros folded his arms, a disgusted look on his face. "They're tracking our Power signatures. That's how they found us today."

"But only other Rangers..." She trailed off. "Oh."

TJ shifted, glancing over at DECA. "Look, the best thing we can do is not talk about anything dangerous unless we're on the Megaship. Keep stuff casual on Earth and we won't give them anything to use against us.

"DECA," he added, tapping the table impatiently. "What time is it?"

"Angel grove time is 4:48," she replied.

He pushed his stool back and got to his feet. "I've got to go pick Tessa up. Don't let this get you down, guys--we've been through tougher stuff than this."

Carlos saw Ashley smile in determined agreement, but Andros just stared down at the table in front of him. Despite the fact that Carlos could come up with several far worse situations right off the top of his head, the Red Ranger didn't look convinced.

Staring down at her Spanish homework with unseeing eyes, Ashley came to a conclusion. Two conclusions, actually. The first was that Spanish should be outlawed. The second was that, although she knew she must have been in worse situations than this in her life, she couldn't think of any at the moment.

Finally she gave up any pretense of studying and lifted her gaze to the wall in front of her. It was a standard issue grey metal wall, of the same type found all over the Megaship. This particular one was distinguished only by the few decorations she had left behind when she taken most of her things home over the winter.

"I'm walking down your street again and past your door, but you don't live there anymore," the radio sang softly.

There was a single picture still hanging over her desk. It was a photograph Zhane had taken last fall, of her and Andros in the park. A testament to the Silver Ranger's utter lack of restraint, the picture had caught the two of them in the midst of a less than chaste kiss. Though Ashley adored the photo, she had left it behind for fear that her parents wouldn't share her sentiment.

She sighed, putting her chin in her hand as she stared at the picture. Everything had been wonderful that day. With Dark Spectre gone and his monarchy crumbling in his absence, it had seemed that maybe, just maybe, the Astro Rangers would be free to live their lives however they wanted to. They had all assumed that they wanted the same thing... it hadn't even occurred to them how different their dreams might be.

Ashley sighed again, deciding that if she were supreme ruler, "Everything But The Girl" would be outlawed along with Spanish. She thought dark thoughts about the band, the single, and its reputation as one of the best love songs of all time. In her mind, good love songs were happy, not catastrophically depressing... but she didn't turn it off.

The comm chimed a moment later, startling her. She frowned to herself as she sat up, uncertain who would be trying to get in touch with her through the regular comm system. "DECA?" she asked curiously. "Do you know who's calling?"

"The signal is an official Astro Ranger transmission from Eltare," DECA answered promptly.

That could only be one person. "Zhane," she said aloud.

"The odds are overwhelmingly in favor of that conclusion," DECA agreed.

She slid her chair over to the screen, smiling a little at the phrasing. "Thanks," she said, accepting the comm link.

The multi-colored bar of the Astro Rangers appeared briefly on the screen before being replaced by Zhane's ever-present grin. "Hey, Ash," he greeted her cheerfully. "Miss me?"

Her smile widened involuntarily. "Hey! What are you doing up so late?"

"Clubbing," he answered, deadpan. His serious air lasted only long enough for him to catch sight of her expression, and he burst out laughing. "I'm kidding! I was talking to Andros, and I thought I'd see how you were doing."

She sighed, her smile fading. "Do we really sound that bad?"

He seemed to give the question serious thought, his expression going from playful to pensive in the blink of an eye. "Honestly?" he said at last. "Yeah, Ash, you do. He says you guys almost broke up yesterday."

Her eyes went involuntarily toward the picture over her desk, and she couldn't answer.

"Ash, talk to me," Zhane persisted. "Andros is scared to death, and you look miserable. What's going on?"

"Nothing's going on," she muttered. "We just don't know what's going to happen, that's all."

"No one knows what's going to happen," Zhane told her. "That's what life is about. It wouldn't be any fun if you knew in advance."

He believed that, too, she thought with a sigh. Zhane was just one of those carefree spirits that honestly believed life was a game. Rules were made to be broken, the bad guys got what they deserved, and everything always came out right in the end. She liked to think that he saw more than she did, but in her more cynical moments she supposed he was just naive.

"Come on," he prompted. "Would you really want to know how everything was going to turn out? What would be the point if you knew that whatever was going to happen would happen no matter what you did?"

She caught his eye briefly before looking down at the edge of the screen. "It would be nice to know *some* things," she said, knowing she sounded more sullen than she wanted to. "The important things."

"Like what?" Zhane wanted to know.

She shrugged a little, but he looked genuinely curious. "I don't know. What I'm going to do this summer. Whether I'll like college. Whether I'd hate myself for going to KO-35 or not."

Zhane gave her an odd look. "Those are the important things?"

She looked up at him again, taken aback. She tried to think of something else, but those were the main things in her life right now. "Well, yeah. I'm graduating next week, Zhane. I have to figure out what I'm going to do."

He frowned a little at that, but he didn't answer right away. "You said you wanted to know what was going to happen," he said at last. "What if you knew when you were going to die?"

She blinked, startled. "You mean when I'm, like, ninety?"

It was his turn to shrug. "Or tomorrow, whatever. No one knows when they're going to die. But say you did. Whether it's tomorrow, or ten years from now, or a hundred, that doesn't really matter. Suddenly you know that you only have a certain amount of time--how would you decide what to do with it?"

She just stared at him. It took her a moment to find her voice again, but when she did she didn't even try to answer. "No one can live thinking they're going to die tomorrow, Zhane."

"That's not the point," he told her. "The point is that you don't have time to do everything, so you'd better do what you want to do now. Right away, before you waste all your time on what you think you *should* do."

"But I don't know what I want to do!" she protested. "That's my problem! Don't you think I'd do what I wanted to if I knew what it was?"

Zhane actually rolled his eyes. "How can you not know what you want? Look, if the Megaship crashed on a deserted planet somewhere and you could only have one thing with you, what would it be?"

She felt a reluctant smile tug at her lips, and she tried to suppress it. "That's a stupid question, Zhane."

"Why? Because it's easy?"

"No, because it's really dumb." A smile threatened despite her best efforts, and she gave up trying to keep a straight face. "I'm never going to be stranded on a deserted planet, or island, or anything else."

"You're as a bad as Andros," Zhane exclaimed. "It doesn't matter if it happens or not; it's a hypothetical question!"

"But it's dumb! Why can't it be something more realistic?" She didn't feel at all bad about giving him a hard time right now. It was easy for *him*--he wasn't deciding his entire future all at once.

"Realism is depressing," he informed her. "Trust me; stick with the deserted planet. Would Andros be your one thing or not?"

She gave a token sigh, but she was still smiling. "Yeah, of course he would."

"So not you summer job?" Zhane persisted. "Or your college, or KO-35?"

"We can bring a whole planet?" Ashley wrinkled her nose at him deliberately. "Why didn't you say so?"

"Are you listening?" he demanded. "You just told me that Andros was the most important thing in the universe to you, even more than the other things that you said were important before. So if someone asked you what you wanted more than anything else, what would you say?"

She leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms over her chest. "Andros, of course," she said, pretending to sulk through her smile. "But--"

"No buts!" He glared at her. "You're both exactly the same. If you know what you want, what does any of the rest of it matter?"

She just shook her head. "I wish it was as simple as you make it sound..."

"Why isn't it?" He folded his arms, mimicking her posture. "Give me one reason it's not that simple."

"My parents," she said promptly. "They'd freak."

"Have you talked to them about it?"

She frowned. "No. And I'm not going to unless I have some amazing revelation. I don't need them getting hysterical over something even I'm not sure about."

Zhane studied her for a moment. "Ash, life isn't about amazing revelations. It's just people making the best decisions they can with what they've got. Sometimes we make good choices, sometimes we make bad ones, but choosing not to choose is the one we end up regretting the most."

Her frown deepened as she stared back at him. "Are you lecturing me?" she asked, only half joking.

His expression softened. "No," Zhane answered. "I'm trying to help you make a decision you'll be happy with, whatever it is. That's what people who care about you do. Maybe it's even what your parents would do, if you gave them a chance."

It was only after she had opened her mouth that she realized she didn't know what to say to that. She looked away, trying to keep her gaze from landing on the picture of her and Andros again. She really couldn't think of any way to respond that didn't involve crying or being horribly cold... she wished they could just change the subject.

Zhane didn't say anything, and the silence between them stretched out. She stared over at her desk, wondering how long it could go on and considering just telling him that she wanted to talk about something else. But in the end, he saved her the trouble.

"You know what the problem with friends is?" he said suddenly. His tone was just the slightest bit rueful, and it was so unusual from him that she glanced back at the screen. He wore a small half-smile. "They don't know when to stop talking."

"No," she said, trying to smile back. "The real problem with friends is that they're usually right. I just--I'll keep thinking about it, okay?"

"Sure," he agreed. "Let me know if there's anything I can do."

"I will." She took a deep breath, shifting to sit up a little straighter in her chair. "So how are you? Tell me what's happening on Eltare these days."

He seemed to hesitate, just for a moment. She had almost dismissed it as her imagination when his question registered. "Actually," he said slowly, "do you think you could do me a favor first?"

"Yeah, definitely," she said, surprised and a little relieved at the diversion. "What is it?"

He looked her square in the eye. "Tell me what you know about these Psycho Rangers. All of what you know, not the watered-down version that Andros keeps giving me. I want to know what you're really up against."

The room was brightly lit but silent, and he didn't move when the door slid open. Cassie hesitated in the doorway a moment, studying him. Saryn's hand-me-downs weren't perhaps the most flattering clothes on him, but they did make him look comfortably familiar. Though she told herself that she didn't prefer them to his Ranger uniform, she did like seeing him look so... informal, every once in a while.

"Must you let all of the warm air out?" he inquired mildly. His tone was amused when he finally glanced over at her, and she smiled.

Stepping into the room, she let the door close behind her as she set her backpack down. She wandered over to him, sliding her hands over his shoulders and hugging him gently. "What are you up to?"

He patted her hands absently, pointing with his free hand to the computer screen. "Analyzing the data on the Psycho Rangers. Do you see anything odd about this power distribution?"

"Yeah," she murmured, leaning her head against his fondly and then turning to kiss his temple. "The fact that you're still staring at it. Don't you know it's past my bedtime?"

He shifted, turning toward her with a smile as he met her next kiss with one of his own. She felt his arms slide around her waist, but she wasn't prepared to be tugged abruptly off balance. She squeaked as he pulled her into his lap, clutching his arms as he gathered her close and pointed at the screen again.

"Look. DECA measured the Psychos' energy expenditure during the fight on Sunday. She also kept track of their Power levels, which decreased as the fight went on... but not enough to account for the amount they were actually using."

She frowned at the screen, leaning back against him and resting her head against his shoulder. "What about our Power levels?" she asked after a moment.

"Yours and TJ's decreased at a rate which could account for the difference," Saryn said, tapping the screen with one finger. "But that means that they are drawing your Power at a steady rate, even when they're fighting... I've projected that rate into the future, hour by hour since Sunday night's attack."

"The red line is now?" she guessed, staring at the new curve on the screen.

"Time is on the horizontal axis," he corrected, pointing to it. "The red line represents the level of Power the Psycho Rangers had at the beginning of the fight two days ago. This is now," he added, indicating a point on the curve about a quarter of the way below the line.

"So..." She reached out to touch the point where the curve intersected the red line. "This is when they'll be at full power again." She felt more than saw him nod. "That's--"

"Tomorrow evening," he finished for her.

She was silent for a moment. "We should tell the others," she said at last.

She felt him nod again. "DECA has promised to pass the word in the morning. This is only an estimation, though; there are a considerable number of variables that could be involved--"

"But they can wait," she interrupted. "We're prepared for them to attack any time, Saryn. This is good to know, but it isn't going to make us complacent."

"I didn't think it would," he assured her, and she shifted enough that she could see his expression. He was watching her from somewhere far away, and it surprised her to realize that he wasn't focused on this at all.

She had been about to suggest going to bed again, but the look on his face gave her pause. "What is it?" she asked curiously. "What are you thinking about?"

He looked away, keeping his blue-eyed gaze from revealing anything else to her. All she could feel from him was the neutral calm that seemed to have become his default setting when he was trying not to project, and she nuzzled his cheek gently. "You're blocking me," she whispered.

He turned his head a little, letting his forehead rest against hers briefly before drawing back. "Come see Elisia," he said, searching her gaze. "Come see it before you decide that you want to live there."

"I've already--"

He cut her off with a single word. "Please."

His look was too intense to ignore, and she found herself nodding. "Okay. Sure, I'll go before I decide."

He must have known that she was humoring him, but he still seemed relieved. "Thank you," he murmured. He leaned closer and she turned her face toward his, closing her eyes as their mouths met. His kiss was soft but heart-breakingly sincere, and she let out a small sound of contentment as she snuggled deeper into his arms.

Her footsteps slowed as she came around the corner and found someone already sitting by the windows at the end of deck five. She had a split-second to decide whether to stop or keep on going, and Carlos' mien wasn't exactly welcoming. But something made her pause anyway, and she put her hands on her hips.

"You're in my seat," she informed him.

He didn't look up. "Tough," he answered. "I guess you shouldn't have left then, should you."

It was far more than she had expected him to say, and she wondered if maybe he wasn't as grouchy as he looked. Taking his response as an encouraging sign, she joined him by the window. "Move over."

He slid over agreeably enough, making room for her on the makeshift windowseat. As she sat down, though, she saw him glance at her out of the corner of his eye and do a double take. "Tired of the old hair color?"

She shrugged, reaching up to tuck the light pink curls behind her ear. "It startles Saryn," she said, by way of explanation.

"Good enough," he agreed. She could hear the amusement in his voice, but it was an absent kind of amused, as though the majority of his focus was occupied elsewhere.

"See anything interesting?" she asked, following his gaze back to the window.

"Not really," he admitted. "But I couldn't sleep."

"Yeah." She sighed without meaning to. Dreams had driven her out of her own bed to seek solace in the stars. It was a pattern that was becoming uncomfortably familiar of late. "I know the feeling."

She saw him glance over at her again. "Want to talk about it?"

"Do you?" she countered, still staring out at the stars.

There was silence for a moment. Then he asked slowly, "Have you ever done something really... really stupid? I mean, something that changed your whole life, and you just wish you could undo it somehow. Something that you *know* you did, but you're not sure how it happened... or even exactly what it was."

She tried to smile, but her reflection in the window didn't move. "That's the story of my life, Carlos."

He didn't reply, but she could feel his curious gaze on her.

"I was supposed to be a Power Ranger," she said quietly, knowing she owed him some sort of explanation. "But somehow I ended up being Dark Spectre's second in command instead of Andros'. I don't know how I got so turned around... Andros says I was brainwashed, but that doesn't change what happened.

"The longer I spend away from evil, the less I can remember how it felt to *know* what I was doing was right," she added. "It wasn't like I was evil for the fun of it; I really thought that it was the only way to avenge my family's deaths. But I can't remember why anymore."

"That's what brainwashing is," Carlos told her. "It makes you totally convinced of something you never would have believed otherwise. Nothing that you did as Astronema was your fault."

"Someone has to take responsibility." If it wasn't her fault, then whose was it? "And I'm the one who did all of those horrible things."

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see him frowning. She thought she had stumped him, until he said, "You can't define yourself by what you've done, Kerone. Only by what you're doing now. And right now you're helping us fight evil, not create it."

She looked at him sharply, but his expression was completely sincere. "You..." She shook her head, looking back at the window. "For a moment you sounded like Zhane."

He didn't answer right away. "Have you heard from him?" he asked at last. He didn't sound as though he was sure that was the right question, but she supposed she hadn't given him any other choice.

"Not for a while." She shouldn't have said anything. The only thing that confused her more than she did herself was Zhane. Reaching up to touch the outline of the medallion she wore under her shirt, she asked abruptly, "Don't you define yourself by what you've done?"

"What?" Whatever he'd been expecting her to say, that apparently wasn't it.

"When I asked if you wanted to talk," she reminded him. "You said you were thinking about something stupid that you'd done."

He cleared his throat. "Yeah, well... I'm working on that."

"Really?" She turned to study him. "Does it have anything to do with Aura?"

He rolled his eyes. "Is there anyone who *doesn't* know about that?"

She smiled apologetically. "Andros told me. I heard you broke up a couple of weeks ago."

"Yeah, you and the rest of the universe," Carlos said with a sigh. "I don't know why I pretend I have any privacy around here."

"I kind of missed it," she admitted, still watching him. At his surprised look, she smiled a little. "On--where I was before, no one knew anything about me except what I told them. Real friends are the people who know what you don't tell them."

She couldn't read his expression at first, and she wondered if he had noticed her correction. But all he said was, "Real friends are nosy, you mean."

"Yeah," she agreed. "I guess. But they do know you. Maybe they ask things you don't want to hear, but sometimes they don't have to ask, and that can be nice too. Everyone knew how happy you were with Aura--I'm sure they knew something was wrong before you said anything."

He looked a little rueful at that. "I'm sure they did," he muttered. At her inquisitive look he added, "I, uh--I haven't been the best company lately."

Between his expression and some of the things the others had said, she found herself hard-pressed not to giggle. "So I've heard," she agreed, doing her best to keep a straight face.

He gave her a suspicious look. "Who have you been talking to?"

"Andros," she said promptly. "Saryn. Jeff and Ashley. Even TJ warned me not to mention Aquitar around you."

He raised an eyebrow. "Really. And you haven't, either," he realized. "Although you did ask about Aura."

She grinned. "Aquitar," she said, wiggling her fingers menacingly at him. "Aquitar, Aquitar!"

"Yeah, okay," he said, holding up his hands to ward her off. "I get it. Aquitar." A reluctant grin threatened to echo hers in his expression.

"So?" she persisted. "You said you were working on it. Are you?"

He hesitated, giving her an odd look. "What do you mean?"

"How are you going to make up for whatever happened?" she prompted. "I mean, you've had two weeks to think about it. Isn't it about time you did something?"

His grin had faded, but it hadn't disappeared entirely. "It's funny," he said thoughtfully, "but you're the first person to say that."

"What?" she asked, surprised. "That you should do something?"

"No," he said slowly. "That I *could* do something. You sound like you assume we're going to get back together."

"Aren't you?" She hadn't realized he thought they might not. "What could possibly have happened to make you give up on each other forever?"

He was quiet for a moment. "You know," he said at last. "That's a good question."

She couldn't help smiling to herself as his gaze slid toward the window again. He might not think this was anything special, but after months of being without the easy familiarity of the Astro Rangers, she appreciated it all the more. It was nice to be able to *talk* to someone again.

"So what about Zhane?" Carlos asked, derailing her train of thought. "Why haven't you talked to him?"

She tried not to wince. When he asked if she had "heard from" the Silver Ranger, she had thought maybe he had forgotten what her self-imposed isolation meant. It hadn't been up to Zhane to call or not--it had been her choice, and it was one she knew she was still handling badly.

"I don't know," she muttered, staring out at the stars as though she could lose herself in them again. She might not have found any answers there, but at least she didn't have to talk so much...

But wasn't that what she had just been enjoying?

"He knows me too well," she blurted. "If I talk to him, he just tells me things that I should be figuring out for myself. It isn't the same."

"Are you figuring it out?" Carlos asked.

She watched the stars wink out at the edge of the window. Why did she think she had to figure it out on her own when she had just bullied Carlos into talking about Aura? And why was it so much easier to talk about him than it was to talk about herself?

"I don't know," she said simply.

10. Mimicry

"So Janet's going to be away, and she was going to leave them at the office but she's afraid they won't get enough attention there, even though they'll *have* to stay there soon if she wants to find homes for them--"

Andros eyed the two little bits of fluff warily. Ashley was babbling about something, but that wasn't unusual in and of itself. Under normal circumstances, he would even have listened, but the circumstances weren't normal and he wasn't sure he liked the direction this was going. From what little he'd been able to deduce before her words had lost any semblance of punctuation, she had offered to take care of Janet's homeless kittens while the woman was gone.

From the fact that she was trying to explain this to him at an uninterruptable rate of speed, and the fact that he was here with her and the kittens while she told him about it, he suspected that his role in this was going to be more extensive than he would have liked.

"Of course," Ashley was saying, "it's going to be hard to find someone who will take both of them and Janet would really like them to stay together since they're obviously such good friends and brothers and really--"

"Ash." He lifted his gaze from the two kittens in her lap to catch her eye.

She stopped immediately, but her expression was more expectant than anything. She clearly didn't expect him to be upset about this. Surprised, yes, but not upset.

He sighed. "Ash, you're going to adopt these kittens, aren't you."

She gave him a wide-eyed look. "Of course not! I'm just taking care of them for a few days!"

He just looked at her, and she squirmed uncomfortably. "Well," she admitted, "maybe the thought crossed my mind. But I really can't; I don't have any place for them to live and my parents don't need cats running around the house, especially if..."

She trailed off. "They just don't," she said at last. "So I'm just going to take care of them for Janet, and when she gets back, she'll find them a good home. It's just so they don't have to stay at the clinic for the rest of the week; that's all."

He shook his head wordlessly, glancing back down at the sleeping kittens. Once Ashley's affections were fixed, she didn't let go that easily. If these kittens ever saw Janet Rai again, he would be monumentally surprised.

"C'mon, Andros," she coaxed, lifting the grey one out of her lap and cradling it gently in her hands. She held it out to him, an entreating look in her eyes. "Just hold him for a few minutes. He's really soft."

He rolled his eyes, but it was only for show and she knew it. She placed the kitten in his outstretched hands, her hands sliding down to cup his as though making sure he wouldn't drop it. He felt the corner of his mouth quirk upward, though whether because of the affectionate brush of her fingers or the startling lightness of the little creature in his hands, he didn't know.

"See?" she said, smiling in return. "Aren't they adorable?"

"Yeah," he admitted. He drew the kitten closer to him so that he could support it against his chest and pat it with his free hand. "It's just fur and a face," he commented, looking more closely at it.

"It's a 'he'," Ashley reproved, stroking the kitten in her lap gently. "They're both 'he's."

"And I suppose you're going to name them." He spoke only to keep up the pretense of casualness, not wanting to seem embarrassingly entranced by the still-sleeping kitten that had cuddled up to him instinctively.

"I told you, I'm not keeping them!" she exclaimed. "I'm just taking care of them! Whoever adopts them will get to name them."

"So what are you going to call them in the meantime? Cat one and Cat two?" He shifted the kitten to his other hand and put his free hand over top of it protectively. It opened its mouth a little, as though it were about to yawn, and then changed its mind. He tried not to smile.

"I'm not going to call them anything," Ashley said firmly. "Janet says they'll sleep a lot of the time anyway." A grin tugged at her lips and she added, "And when they're not sleeping, they'll be getting into trouble and I can just call them both 'bad kitty'."

He chuckled without meaning to, still watching the grey kitten sleep. "That works for me."

There was a noise from the porch, and Ashley looked over at the house. "We're in the backyard!" she called.

The sliding door slid open, and a girl who could have been Ashley's identical twin stepped out. She gave a distinctly un-Ashley-like smirk. "Oh, we know where you are, Yellow Ranger. The question is, what are you going to do about it?"

Andros' double stepped out behind her, and he heard Ashley mutter, "We have *got* to start locking the doors."

He was already reaching for his communicator when Psycho Yellow gave him a scathing glance. "Don't bother. The frequency's jammed."

*Kerone!* He tried his communicator anyway, but she was right. *Ashley's backyard, now!*

He felt something slam into him hard, not a physical impact but real nonetheless, and he heard Ashley shout something as he blacked out. He struggled against the feeling, knowing the disorientation could only be meant to keep him from yelling for Kerone again, but it engulfed his mind and pressed his defenses into oblivion.

The next thing he knew he was lying on his back, something holding his head down and noise pounding in his ears. He struggled, realizing as he saw Ashley crouched in front of him that it was only gravity keeping him down. She was obviously prepared to defend the both of them, so he couldn't have lost more than a few seconds--

Even as he managed to shove himself up, four distinctive and very welcome silhouettes appeared in front of them: Kerone's violet shimmer, Carlos' black sparkles, and a crimson and magenta glow that could only be Saryn and Cassie. For an interminable moment, their teammates faced off against the two Psycho Rangers, and Ashley was turning toward him.

Then, behind her, the other two Psycho Rangers appeared and the yard erupted into chaos. Ashley pushed him down, and he heard Kerone shouting something in their direction even as all his senses warned him that there was suddenly someone else as close as Ashley. He rolled backwards, lashing out without thinking, but someone blocked his kick before it could reach its target.

"Whoa!" he heard TJ's voice exclaim over the sounds of an escalating battle. "It's just me! Come on, we've got to get out of here!"

"No!" He laid one hand on the ground to steady himself, only then realizing that he was still holding Ashley's kitten. The creature was really going to hate him after this, but there was nowhere else for it to go. "We can't leave them!"

"You think I want to ditch them?" TJ demanded, hauling Ashley to her feet. "We're a liability, Andros! We'll only compromise them by staying!"

"He's right," Ashley agreed, grabbing his hand. "They can't worry about themselves and us too; we have to go!"

TJ was saying something to his communicator, and the world dissolved around them.

The three of them reappeared on the Bridge, the fight already visible on the screen, and Andros had a moment to wonder if DECA had anticipated him or if TJ had asked for it before he dragged them out of there. Then he realized what was happening, and he stared at the screen in shock. "Why--"

"They're stronger!" Ashley exclaimed, already leaning on the forward consoles. She didn't even seem to realize she was still clutching the other kitten to her chest. "What happened? Cassie and Saryn took them alone last time!"

"I don't know," TJ said grimly. "But they're not going to be able to do it again."

That was putting it mildly. Even as they watched, the team that was Psycho Red and Psycho Yellow took Carlos down. Cassie was at his side in an instant, her stunner glowing an odd reddish color instead of its usual bright pink, but the weapon barely seemed to faze them. It took a blast from Kerone's staff, whirling over her head as she slammed the blunt end into Psycho Blue's chest, to give Carlos and Cassie any breathing room.

Andros blinked as it occurred to him that they *were* fighting the Psychos--not each other. "When did they shift?" He hadn't even noticed when the first two Psycho Rangers went from being human lookalikes to the armored forms that Cassie and Saryn had fought the last time.

"As soon as you called Kerone," Ashley answered, her eyes still fixed on the screen. He didn't bother being surprised that she knew what he meant until he saw TJ give them an odd look.

Saryn managed to knock Psycho Pink back, and the part of Andros' mind that wouldn't stop analyzing every piece of the battle noted that he and Kerone seemed to be having the most success. As Kerone swung into Carlos' place against Psycho Red, Andros frowned. His sister didn't lose any of her momentum with the change of partners, despite the fact that Psycho Red and Psycho Yellow were without a doubt the most powerful of their enemies.

"We don't know how she fights," Ashley said aloud, as though she had somehow overheard his thoughts.

"Of course," he muttered, bracing one elbow against the console in front of him. He patted the kitten in his other arm absently as he felt it stir, but he didn't take his eyes off of the screen. "We never fought Astronema hand to hand. And Kerone's never sparred with any of us."

"Neither has Saryn," Ashley added. "We're lucky when we get him to talk with us, let alone work out."

"That's why they're doing better," TJ said, with the tone of one who had just figured out what they were talking about. "When the Psychos swiped our memories, they didn't get anything on Saryn or Kerone."

"Nothing battle related, anyway," Andros muttered.

He saw TJ glance over at him before fixing his gaze on the forward screen again. "Don't beat yourself up over it, Andros. There wasn't anything any of us could have done."

"Cassie!" Ashley's exclamation was involuntary, of that he was sure--because he had a hard time suppressing his own reaction as his teammate hit the ground and didn't get up. Kerone was completely occupied by Psycho Yellow, and it was left to Saryn to square off against Psycho Red before he could advance on Cassie again.

Carlos, unfortunately, was left to face both the remaining Psycho Rangers alone.

"I hate this!" Ashley cried. "I wish there was something we could *do*!"

The grey kitten squirmed a little as he set it down, carefully positioning it in Cassie's chair before taking a step back. Ashley glanced over her shoulder at his movement, and her eyes narrowed as she saw him reach for his morpher. "Andros," she began, "don't you d--"

The Bridge vanished in a swirl of crimson before she could finish her sentence, and the Hammonds' backyard reappeared. Cassie was struggling to her feet, but Saryn took a bad blow even as Andros' vision adjusted and Psycho Yellow had Kerone pinned down. Carlos was holding his own against Psycho Pink, but all it would take was the slightest bit of interference from any of the others for his rhythm to disintegrate.

Andros glanced down as the Battlizer appeared on his wrist. He didn't like to think what this might do to his connection to the Power, and he definitely didn't want to think what it might do *for* Psycho Red, so he didn't. He didn't think at all as he pushed "03" and shouted, "Red Battlized Ranger!"

It was the first time he had tried to morph since the Psychos' attack, and the Power was sluggish to respond. The familiar rush was muted, as though something was pulling at it, tugging the current away from him even as he called to it. But it did come, surging through him awkwardly, uncertainly, making the battlized transformation even more torturous than usual.

Finally, though, it was complete, and he took to the air without hesitation. The Power bucked briefly before settling down, but even that momentary flicker of rebellion wasn't enough to dull the euphoric rush that came with flying. He glanced down as Psycho Red threw Saryn to the ground, and the scope on his visor zoomed in.

"Battlizer missiles!" He took aim and fired before his morph could prove itself less stable than it seemed. The Red Psycho Ranger glowed briefly and staggered under the blast, but seemed otherwise unharmed. Andros fired again, and two things happened simultaneously.

Psycho Red fell amid a cascade of explosions, effectively out of the fight for the first time since the battle had begun. And Andros fell, too--the battlized armor simply disintegrated, and without wings to support him he lost his place in the sky. His normal morph vanished with a weak flash as he hit the ground, taking the impact before it faded but leaving a wash of exhaustion and a splitting headache in its wake.

He heard someone scream his name, but he couldn't tell whether it was Ashley or Kerone. He tried without success to regain his feet, and suddenly the Black Ranger was at his side. "Come on," Carlos urged, pulling Andros' arm over his shoulder. "Can you stand?"

He only managed to groan, but Carlos got him upright just in time to see Psycho Pink and Psycho Blue ganging up on Kerone. "No--"

That was all he got out before a deep boom announced someone breaking the sound barrier. A streak of unidentified energy shot through the Hammonds' backyard, slicing past the teamup with enough force to knock Psycho Blue to the ground. Kerone swung her staff around without hesitation, slashing Psycho Pink with an arc of violet electricity that sent her foe stumbling backwards.

Zhane's Glider came to an impossibly abrupt stop at the edge of the yard before coming around for another run. This time he went for Psycho Red, still down but moving feebly in the grass, and only the Yellow Psycho Ranger's sudden and ferocious attack kept him from finishing off the Psycho leader. Psycho Yellow took the brunt of his Silverizer's attack, and the sacrifice brought her to one knee beside her "teammate". A moment later, the two of them disappeared into twin flashes of yellow and red.

There was a wordless shout from Psycho Pink that told Andros that hadn't been a part of the plan, and then she retreated in an identical flash of pink. Psycho Blue followed suit instantly, no doubt knowing when he was outgunned. The yard went from battleground to silence in a matter of seconds.

Carlos caught him as he slumped back toward the ground, and a shower of golden sparkles heralded Ashley's arrival. "Andros!" She grabbed for his other arm, helping lower him down and sliding her hand behind his head as he crumpled. "We have to get him back to the Megaship!"

"No," he gasped, starting to shake his head before giving up on the gesture. It only made the disorientation worse. "I'm fine... dizzy--"

Luckily, Ashley wasn't listening to him. "DECA," she told her communicator. "Eight to teleport directly to the Medical bay."

He didn't even hear DECA's acknowledgement before the Hammonds' backyard faded into the sterile grey walls of the Medical bay. *Eight...* He squinted, catching Kerone's concerned look hovering behind Ashley--and there, on the other side of the patient bed, was Zhane.

He didn't have time to say anything before Carlos nudged his friend out of the way, turning a scanner on Andros and glancing up at DECA's camera. "Diagnosis?" the Black Ranger wanted to know.

"I detect nothing physically wrong with Andros," DECA answered. "However, you will wish to review the fluctuation of his Power signature during the battle. It is... curious."

"Yeah, thanks," Andros muttered, struggling to draw breath as he pushed himself up on his elbows. "I appreciate your concern."

"Don't move," Ashley said fiercely. She reached for his shoulder anyway, as though torn between discouraging and helping him. "What were you thinking! You know you shouldn't morph with them around; TJ tried it and look what happened!"

"It is only withdrawal," he heard Saryn's voice murmur. "I can help, if you wish."

"You can't." Cassie's voice held no room for argument. "Sit down and shut up, Saryn."

He managed to turn his head enough to see past Ashley's shoulder. Saryn looked oddly drained, and utterly incapable of protesting as Cassie pushed him down on the second patient bed. He had no doubt of what Saryn had been offering, and while he was flattered, he knew too that Cassie was right. Saryn was only barely keeping his own symptoms at bay; to ask him to help any of them would be terribly unfair.

"Are you--all right?" he managed, grateful to feel Ashley slide an arm around him as she sat down. It gave him just enough strength that he could concentrate on breathing and sitting up at the same time.

"I am well," Saryn answered, with what was obviously meant to be a reassuring smile.

"He's powering both of us," Cassie said bluntly. "The Ranger powers aren't designed for that."

"Wait," Zhane's voice interjected. "He's what? Is that why you were fighting and the others weren't?"

Andros stirred uncomfortably, and he felt the Silver Ranger's gaze fasten on him. "Being too stupid to know when to sit out doesn't count," the other informed him, as though he knew what was on Andros' mind.

Andros glared at him reflexively. "You're supposed to be on Eltare," he retorted, not knowing what else to say.

"Yeah, hello to you too," Zhane drawled. "Glad you missed me."

Andros sighed. Zhane's irresponsibility was at once charming and annoying. "We swore an oath to KO-35," he reminded his friend quietly.

"No," Zhane answered, surprising him. "You swore an oath to KO-35. I swore an oath to you."

Caught off guard, Andros could only stare at him. Wordlessly, Zhane offered his hand, and Andros clasped it without thinking. "We'll vow to fight as a team forever," the Silver Ranger reminded him.

"Forever," Andros agreed, wrapping Zhane's hand in both of his. His friend imitated him, and he only just kept himself from mentally passing on the rest of his words. "Thanks for coming back, Zhane."

"I had to," the other said simply. Then he let go of Andros' hands to cuff his shoulder, a little harder than he needed to. "Thanks for not getting yourself killed in the meantime! What was that, anyway? Can't I leave you alone for a few days?"

"Hey!" He ducked half-heartedly, but with Ashley on his other side that was all he could do. "What was I supposed to do, let them fight alone?"

"Yes," Kerone interrupted firmly. "You won't help anyone by hurting yourself, Andros. Or by making Psycho Red stronger."

Zhane frowned, glancing over at Kerone for the first time. She caught his eye and stared back, and Andros watched with interest as they looked at each other. Finally Zhane asked, "Are you sure it's making him stronger? He went down pretty hard back there."

"Saryn says the use of the Astro Powers makes it easier for the Psychos to drain them," Kerone answered, not taking her eyes off of him.

"It temporarily increases the rate at which the Psychos can draw the Power," Saryn corrected, either not aware of or not bothering to acknowledge the subtext of the conversation. "That is the current hypothesis."

"Then maybe there's some sort of threshold," Zhane countered, his gaze slipping from Kerone's briefly. "Because Psycho Red didn't look too strong when Andros hit him with those missiles."

"I have data that is relevant to this conversation," DECA interjected, sounding a bit impatient. Andros didn't understand why until he remembered her earlier comment.

"My Power signature?" he guessed, tilting his head carefully to look up at her camera. Keeping the movement slow seemed to help, and he saw the red light blink at him.

"Yes," DECA agreed. "Your Power signature, and the echo from Psycho Red. While yours strengthened on morphing, it began to decrease almost immediately, as TJ's did three days ago. Until you attacked Psycho Red--then your Power level and his stabilized briefly, and when you fired again the effect began to reverse."

"My Power increased?" Andros said, frowning. "Then why did I demorph?"

DECA's tone gave the distinct impression of a shrug. "It's possible the backlash overloaded your morpher. The Battlized Power boost has never been as stable as your regular morph."

"So you're saying it's a tug of war," Ashley interrupted. "Between us and them--we're both fighting over the Power. When we hurt them, the way Andros did, we get some of it back?"

"What I suggest is simpler than that," DECA replied. "Andros' attack may have simply disrupted Psycho Red's ability to drain his Power. As the drain rate fluctuates, so would Andros' Power signature."

"But it didn't work when I attacked," TJ reminded them. "I tried to fight Psycho Blue, and I just lost Power faster."

"Could it be Zhane's threshold?" Ashley asked, glancing from him to DECA. "Andros' Battlized attack is a lot stronger than TJ's was."

"We have to hit them hard enough that they can't hit back?" TJ suggested.

DECA's camera light blinked again. "The evidence does seem to support that conclusion."

"Us or them," Cassie murmured. "TJ was right, then. There's no way to get our Power back until they're destroyed."

TJ shifted uncomfortably, but Zhane spoke before he could. "Man, I wish Psycho Yellow hadn't gotten in my way! I could have taken Psycho Red there at the end."

"Guys..." TJ's voice was suddenly uncertain, and it was enough to get everyone's attention. Andros looked up at him in time to see the Blue Ranger exchange glances with Ashley. "Did anyone else see that?"

Ashley looked down, and Andros frowned. "See what?"

"What happened when Zhane tried to attack Psycho Red," Ashley said, not meeting his gaze.

He looked around the Medical bay, remembering to move slowly when things started to swim again. No one looked anymore enlightened than he felt, and he saw TJ fold his arms. "Look, let's go watch the end of the fight again," TJ told them. "I think it's important."

Andros suppressed a sigh at the thought of moving, but TJ and Ashley were giving each other that look again. The only way he could think to describe Ashley's expression was "spooked", and that was enough to get him on his feet. She wrapped her arm around his waist and pulled his hand over her shoulder, and suddenly he decided that the trip might not be so bad after all.

He lifted his head just in time to catch Zhane's knowing smirk, and Andros only barely kept himself from returning it. Ashley wouldn't be impressed, and Kerone seemed to have a careful eye on him all of a sudden too. He wasn't sure when he had become the center of attention, but he was almost glad when Saryn stumbled getting to his feet.

Kerone hesitated, and Carlos waited too while Cassie pulled his ruby off over her head. It occurred to Andros to be surprised as Ashley helped him toward the lift--he hadn't even noticed that Saryn wasn't wearing it. Apparently it no longer mattered who had it, even when they were morphed. He wondered if DECA had any idea how they shared Power like that.

He looked over his shoulder as the others followed them onto the Bridge, and he pulled away from Ashley at last. She watched worriedly as he settled into his chair, but he managed to stand without assistance for the two seconds it took to make it from her arm to the pilot's seat. Saryn remained standing, as though to prove he could, but the others took chairs or consoles as TJ pulled up the record of the fight.

"This is right after Andros teleported down," he said, doing something to Ashley's console. "Watch Psycho Yellow when Andros fires."

"Andros' and Psycho Red's Power signatures are displayed on the lower right," DECA added, as two small graphs were transposed over one corner of the screen.

Andros' eye was drawn to the graphs, and he saw the one on top falling as the one on the bottom climbed. His and Psycho Red's respectively, he guessed, glancing up at the battle just as he heard his voice yell, "Battlizer missiles!"

Psycho Red and Psycho Yellow had been fighting back to back for almost the duration of the fight, but when Kerone and Saryn teamed up against them they had been unable to maintain their formation. He remembered seeing them break apart, but he hadn't paid any attention to it at the time. Now he knew that was the only reason he had been able to single out either of them when he fired.

As the first two missiles struck Psycho Red, the Phantom Ranger lifted one hand to shield his eyes instinctively and Andros winced. He glanced over at Saryn guiltily, wondering why he hadn't realized how close the other had been. Somehow striking Psycho Red down had seemed more important...

Saryn caught his eye and shook his head, very slightly. It didn't make him feel any better, but practicality reasserted itself and reminded him that there wasn't anything he could do about it now. As he turned back to the screen, though, he heard Cassie murmur wordlessly and he realized he had missed whatever they were supposed to be watching for.

'That was the first time," TJ said, straightening up. He folded his arms again, not taking his eyes off the screen. "Watch what happens when Andros fires again."

This time Psycho Yellow's reaction was unmistakable. As Psycho Red fell, she lunged forward, reaching for him even through the explosion. Andros frowned, wondering what her movement meant--was the Psycho Ranger just dismayed by the sudden show of force, or could she actually be worried about the condition of her "teammate"?

"That's not normal," Cassie said at last. "Since when do villains care whether someone goes down?"

"Ecliptor cared," Kerone murmured, and there was an awkward silence.

Zhane appeared on the screen--or rather, the blur that would eventually turn out to be Zhane. Even the computer's filter couldn't slow his motion enough for him to be clearly distinguishable. An explosion rocked Psycho Blue as the blur shot past, and Kerone dealt a blow to Psycho Pink with similar effects.

It was when Zhane went for Psycho Red that things got interesting. Psycho Yellow was in his path faster than Andros could blink, and she released a fireball that was only centimeters from impact despite the speed at which Zhane was traveling. His attack couldn't be stopped, though, and his Silverizer slashed her full across the chest.

As she fell, she reached out and laid a hand over Psycho Red's chest. They both vanished into colored flashes of light, and Psycho Pink let out a frustrated cry. She and the other Psycho Ranger vanished moments later.

"She--did she just protect him?" Carlos demanded.

Andros glanced over at Ashley and found her staring back. He didn't have to ask what she was thinking, because he was thinking it too. *They really are us...*

"Yeah," Cassie said, staring at the now-motionless screen. "Yeah, I think she did. Could they..."

"Is it possible that they care for each other?" Saryn finished quietly, when she trailed off.

"What about the others?" Kerone inquired, when no one answered. "We knew there was something different about Psycho Yellow already. But we still don't know anything about the rest of them."

Her comment, too, was met with silence.

"I don't like this," Zhane said at last. "Just in case anyone was wondering. If they have your memories to the point that they actually feel the things you do, then what separates us from them?"

"What separates us from any villain?" Saryn asked rhetorically. "The ability to love."

"But what if they *do* love?" Ashley pushed herself away from the console and began, uncharacteristically, to pace. "What if she loves him? If she knows everything I know, and she feels for... for Psycho Red the same things that I feel for Andros, then how are we different?"

"Well, for one thing," TJ put in, a hint of wry humor in his voice, "she says she's going to destroy the world. A few memories doesn't make her a different person, Ash, and they definitely don't make her you. Don't forget that."

"Still," Cassie put in slowly. "They may not be us, but they--well, one of them, at least--isn't quite..."

"Evil?" Kerone moved, tossing rose-colored locks over her shoulder. "I disagree. Showing feelings for a fellow soldier is interesting, but not conclusive. TJ's right; we know what she wants: 'to destroy your pathetic world'."

She had slipped back into leader mode; Andros could tell from the way she spoke. Her tone shifted, almost unconsciously, to mimic Psycho Yellow with the last few words, but then she fell back into the more precise phrasing so reminiscent of Astronema. "There's no reason to treat an enemy differently just because they're superficially similar to someone we know."

Out of the corner of his eye, Andros saw Saryn shift uncomfortably. He deliberately didn't look at the other Ranger, but he felt compelled to point out, "That's easy to say, but if she didn't shift to her armored form during battles... I'm not sure I'd be able to fight her."

"Not good," TJ said slowly, into the ensuing quiet. "Ash?"

Ashley hesitated, but at last she shook her head. "I could fight her, but--I'm not sure I could go up against Psycho Red."

"Anyone else?" TJ's gaze swept over the Bridge. "We need to know now."

Cassie looked down, folding her hands in her lap uncomfortably. Carlos didn't look particularly thrilled either, but neither of them said anything. Kerone didn't bat an eye, but then, she'd fought all of them for close to a year

"All right," TJ said finally. "If it comes to that, we need to keep Andros and Ashley from having to go up against each other's doubles."

"You say that as though their destruction is necessarily assured," Saryn said, his voice quiet. "Have we reached a consensus on this matter?"

"No." Andros turned around in his chair, the frozen image from the end of the battle on the screen behind him. "But they've threatened to destroy the world, and if it's our team or theirs, I say we keep each other alive at any cost."

"I don't." It didn't surprise him to hear Ashley disagree, and he tried not to look over at her. "Maybe there's some way we can reason with them. If there's a chance they can change, we owe it to them to try and show them another way."

"They aren't us," TJ argued. "I think we're projecting our own feelings onto them too much. No matter how they act, they're still evil, and it's our duty to stop them." He looked around and added, "So I guess I vote yes; we do what it takes to stop them."

"I agree," Kerone put in. "If someone says they're going to destroy your planet, I'd say that's pretty clear. It doesn't matter what they look like."

"The question is not what they look like," Saryn countered. "It is whether the memories they absorbed have altered them on some deeper level. I think it is entirely possible, and I vote no. We should try to communicate with them."

"They're stealing our Power, Saryn." Cassie didn't look at him. "It's their choice to keep doing that, and it's their choice to fight. If they've changed, it sure doesn't show. I say we treat them like villains, because that's what they are."

"You don't just choose to stop being evil," Zhane told her. "If you don't know any other way, you might not even think of it. I'm with Ashley, so if this is a participatory democracy I vote no."

Andros looked over at Carlos, but the Black Ranger just shrugged. "It's not my Power they're draining, but if they hit me I'm hitting back."

He could feel their eyes on him. It was obvious which way the "vote" had gone, but it was still his call and everyone knew it. He wouldn't have asked for their opinions if he weren't going to consider them.

"If we can find a way to talk to them--reason with them," he amended, giving Ashley a sideways look, "then let's not pass it up. But the safety of this team comes first, and until any of them proves otherwise, they're still our enemies. We can't afford to forget that."

"So we hit back," Kerone said, glancing at him for confirmation.

"We treat them like villains and we hit back," he agreed. "If it's going to be another three days before the next battle, though, we have some time. So if anyone has any suggestions, let's hear them."

"Oh..." Ashley looked as though she couldn't decide whether to laugh or just shake her head. "Saturday. Saturday is three days from now."

Andros didn't get it until he saw Cassie roll her eyes. "They're going to crash the prom, aren't they."

TJ sighed. "That was my thought as soon as DECA told us about Saryn's timeframe," he admitted. "I was hoping I was wrong."

"Is there any way Saryn and I can be there?" Kerone wanted to know. "The four of us barely held them off today, and if they're stronger by this weekend then we're going to need everyone together to face them."

Andros couldn't help wondering if she intentionally didn't mention Zhane.

"Maybe," Cassie said, exchanging glances with Carlos. "Me and Carlos would have to split up and take you. They don't let non-students come unless they have an AGH date."

"They may attack before that," Andros interjected. "They were earlier than we expected today."

"Yeah, but if we don't get permission slips before the weekend we won't be able to do it if we need to." Carlos glanced over at Kerone. "What do you say? Want to be my date for the prom?"

Cassie laughed. "That's about how he asked me, too," she informed Kerone.

Carlos raised an eyebrow at her. "Oh, and I suppose you can do better?"

Cassie tilted her head back, looking up at the ceiling as though giving the matter serious thought. "Okay," she said at last, sliding out of her chair.

Standing in front of Saryn, she said solemnly, "I've known you for more than a year now, and even after everything we've been through, I don't think we've ever once danced. Every evening I spend with you is more romantic than any I could have with someone else, but I'd love to go dancing. So would you like to go to the prom?"

Saryn lifted one hand to her face and ran his thumb across her cheek, smiling at her as though she was the only other person in the room. "I would be honored," he said softly.

"Not fair," Carlos muttered. "That was rehearsed."

Cassie smiled, but she didn't take her eyes off of Saryn and it was hard to tell whether the expression was directed at him or Carlos. She tilted her face upward as Saryn leaned forward to kiss her, and as they held onto each other Andros glanced in Carlos' direction.

He was looking at Kerone. "Did I mention that I don't dance?" he inquired mildly.

She just grinned at him. "I've never danced in my life, and I don't plan to start this weekend."

He heard Ashley sigh. "I think you two may have missed the point of the prom."

"To be ready to fight the bad guys?" Carlos offered. "No, I think we've pretty much got it covered."

"Ash," TJ interrupted before she could respond. "I hate to bring this up now, but..."

He trailed off, and Andros followed his gaze. The Blue Ranger was gazing at the main screen, where an image from the Psycho battle still lingered. "How are your parents going to feel about the yard?" TJ wanted to know.

She sighed again, squirming around until she could slump back in her chair. "Thanks for bringing that up, TJ. I was trying not to think about it."

"What's wrong with it?" Kerone asked, in all innocence.

"It's a disaster area?" Carlos replied.

"We turned it into a battlefield?" TJ suggested at the same time. "Usually the city takes care of that, but I'm not sure how they compensate private property owners. It could be a while before the paperwork goes through."

"For that?" Kerone looked a little surprised. "Do you just want it to look the way it did before?"

"'Just'?" Ashley said dryly. "Yeah, just that."

Kerone shrugged. "I'll take care of it, if you want."

"I'll go with you," Zhane said quickly, getting to his feet.

Kerone didn't answer, looking from Ashley to Andros as though for permission.

"Yeah," Ashley said at last, seeming to realize that she was waiting for an answer. "I mean, if you could do that, that would be great, but I obviously don't expect you to--"

"I'll be back in a few minutes," Kerone interrupted lightly, hopping down from the console she had been perched on. A violet flicker danced around her and she was gone.

Most of the yard was glowing by the time Zhane arrived, and he had seen that expression often enough to recognize intense concentration. So he took a step back, patiently waiting for her to finish working her magic.

Waiting patiently and watching--it felt like all he'd done since he reached Earth. He hadn't expected any big celebration, but he hadn't thought he'd show up in the middle of a battle either. It was great to be able to help, but he hadn't felt as extraneous as he'd felt on the Bridge just now in a long time.

He told himself that it was just his nature to want to be the center of attention whenever possible. It was what Andros would tell him, if not quite in those words. Andros' sister would probably say it too, given the chance--she might even tell him the way he thought she was acting was his imagination.

After all, why would she ignore him? There were six other Rangers on that ship, and all of them had equally or more valid points to make about the Psycho Rangers. He wasn't even contributing anything significant enough for her to ignore.

But he wasn't imagining the silence that was the only word he'd had from her in weeks. And he wasn't imagining the surprise he'd felt on seeing her on Earth in the first place. She had said nothing about returning to the Megaship, and he was trying not to think about how long she might have been there. He could almost forgive Andros for not saying anything... but only if she had arrived since the last time he had asked about her directly.

She was watching him. He hadn't even noticed when the glow faded, leaving only a neat and apparently well cared-for lawn behind. "Nice," he managed, wondering how long he had been oblivious to her regard.

She shrugged. "It wasn't hard. I spent a lot of time out here yesterday."

It was exactly the opening he had hoped for. "How long have you been back on Earth?"

"Saryn gave me a ride back the night before last."

He couldn't help a flare of jealousy, and in some distant corner of his mind he was aware that Saryn would be amused. "Why did you come back?"

"He said they needed me," she replied, looking away. "I guess... I missed that."

"Yeah," he said without thinking. "I know what you mean."

He saw her smile a little, and he couldn't bring himself to regret the confession. "So," he offered awkwardly. "How have you been?"

She seemed to think about that far longer than the question warranted. "I don't know," she said at last. It wasn't an answer, but it had the ring of truth.

"Well, that makes two of us," he said, a bit ruefully. He wasn't even sure whether he meant her or himself.

"Tell me what you've been doing," she said suddenly, startling him. "What's happening with the Defense petition? And why aren't the Kerovan shipments getting to KO-35?"

He opened his mouth to explain when he realized what she had just asked. He only just stopped himself from giving her a sharp look. She could have heard that anywhere... couldn't she?

"Oh," she was saying, with every appearance of regret. "I told Ashley I'd be right back..."

He put a hand over her communicator before she could reach for it. "Tell her you're done and then come for a walk with me," he said impulsively. "I've missed you."

He held his breath as she just looked at him. He was starting to remember exactly how nerve-racking her presence could be. So often he had absolutely no idea how she would react.

He tried not to sigh in relief when she smiled back at him. "I missed you, too."

11. Trust Me

"Hey man, it's me. I won't be in school today. Tell the parents something came up. Yeah, I will. You too. Later."

Carlos snapped his morpher shut and grabbed his backpack, ducking out of the room before the doors had finished sliding open. He didn't meet anyone else on his way to the holding bay, but he couldn't say he was surprised. He was considerably later than usual, and he figured he only had about two minutes before they sent someone looking for him.

Cassie greeted him the moment he walked through the door. "Hey, Sleepyhead!"

"Ashley got you breakfast," TJ added, sliding his dishes back into the Synthetron. "Let's go."

Carlos made no move to join them as they gathered by the door. "I'm not going today. I just came to see you guys off. Don't get into too much trouble."

"Very funny," Ashley said, swinging her backpack over her shoulder. "Come on, Carlos. Only three more days!"

"I'm serious." He folded his arms, well aware that he had just become the center of attention. "There's something else I have to do."

"Carlos," TJ began. "You know we trust your judgement, man, but missing school to save the world is one thing. We can't just--"

"I know," Carlos interrupted. "I don't need the lecture, all right? School, responsibility, graduation, I know it. Some things are just more important."

"Sure, but can't it wait a few hours?" Ashley wanted to know. "I mean, do you really have to--"

"I don't need advice on what can wait from you, Ash." It was brusquer than he had meant it to be, but it was the truth. "I don't need to hear from TJ about priorities, either, and I definitely don't need to hear from Cassie about skipping school. So just let me be irresponsible for a good cause one day out of the year, okay?"

There was a brief silence. Ashley frowned, and Cassie lifted one hand slightly. Whether she meant she was staying out of it or giving him a "whatever" gesture for the skipping school comment, he couldn't tell.

Finally, TJ just shrugged. "All right. Good luck, man."

He nodded wordlessly. He was probably going to need it.

The lift door was slower to open than usual, but she couldn't say she was surprised. It was just that kind of day--anything that could get in her way did, and anything that could slow her down more would. It wasn't that things were going wrong, it was just that they had somehow become frustratingly tedious. She could almost suspect her own teammates of conspiring against her.

The control room, at least, was deserted when she entered. She could be thankful for that. Under normal circumstances she wouldn't have avoided anyone's company, but today... If they had tried, her friends couldn't have done a better job of keeping her busy with things that were utterly trivial.

She made it to her room without any further delays--not that the ones she had already encountered weren't enough. She had been trying to get back here to change ever since her meeting with the SFAs, but things kept coming up. She wouldn't willingly go back to the rotating alert status the war had forced on them all, but sometimes she did wonder if she had gotten more work done that way.

She input her code without paying much attention, but when the door didn't open she frowned. She tried again, mildly surprised that she could have gotten something like that wrong. This time there was only a brief pause before the door slid open to admit her.

She was stepping inside, making a mental note to check on the power grid later, when the state of her room registered.

It was shadowed. That penetrated before anything else, mostly because her room was never shadowed. Dark sometimes, dim others, but shadowed? The bioluminescent coral wasn't bright enough to cast shadows, and the glow of the overhead lighting was pervasive no matter how low a setting it was on.

Nonetheless, she was standing in shadow and surrounded by tiny flickering flames. Candles had been set on every available surface, filling the room with a gentle but alien light. Something sparkled on her bed, and she didn't have to look twice to know that someone had laid sealace on her pillow.

Someone. Her eyelids stung, and she blinked hard.

There was a whisper of sound from behind her and her fingers clenched around her blaster. She whirled, weapon raised, knowing that if he touched her she wouldn't be able to keep herself from doing something stupid.

Carlos didn't flinch. "A little slow today, are we?" he inquired. "Eight seconds... Last time I didn't even get to start counting."

"What do you want?" she demanded. It didn't sound quite as forceful as she'd meant it to, and thinking of the last time she'd pulled her blaster on him here didn't help. She only just managed to keep her grip steady as she glared back at him.

"To talk to you," he said, his gaze locked on hers. "You've been avoiding me."

"So?" How had he even gotten in here? She'd changed her lock code two weeks ago.

"So you make it damned hard for a guy to apologize, Aura!" He was glaring now too, and she took some small amount of satisfaction from that. "Don't you people believe in leaving a 'let's talk it over' number when you walk out of someone's life?"

She frowned warily. For a moment she wished he had worn his flight suit; grey didn't look half as good on him as black. "A what?"

He actually smiled, his anger vanishing as quickly as it had come. "Are you going to shoot me, or do you want to give me a chance to explain?"

She didn't move. "I haven't decided yet."

He shrugged, as though it didn't matter to him either way. "All right. But if you shoot me, you won't get to hear your song."

She narrowed her eyes. "I don't want to hear a song," she informed him. "I want to know what you're doing here. You're trespassing on secure grounds."

"And you just pulled a weapon on a fellow Ranger," he pointed out reasonably. "I won't tell if you don't."

She sighed, letting her blaster fall to her side. "What do you *want*, Carlos?"

"I told you," he reminded her. "I want to talk to you. I want to apologize. And I want to play a song for you."

He pressed a button on the object in his hand, and she recognized his tape player as he set it down. "Cassie got me a copy of this song," he said, almost conversationally. "I figured if you wouldn't listen to me, maybe you'd listen to someone else."

"I'm listening to you now," she informed him, trying not to shiver at the sound coming from the tinny speaker. It was low and soft, despite the sound quality, and not at all the kind of thing he usually listened to. "I don't see why you have to play these games."

He didn't answer, forcing her to listen or keep talking.

She swallowed. She wasn't going to like this song at all; she could tell. "If you have something to say," she snapped, "say it yourself."

"I have," he told her evenly. "I'm sorry, Aura. What do I have to do to convince you?"

"What are you sorry for?" she demanded, trying not to listen. "You already told me that you don't know what you did."

"I'm sorry for hurting you." He looked a little surprised that she could even ask. "I'm sorry that something I did made us both this unhappy, and I wish you'd tell me what it was so I could keep from doing it again."

"It wasn't something you did," she muttered, looking away.

"It was something I didn't do," he finished. When she glanced up in surprise, he shrugged self-deprecatingly. "I talked to Cetaci."

She tried not to sigh. She should have expected that. It had probably been only a matter of time before her teammates got involved anyway.

"Don't look so exasperated," Carlos chided. "It wasn't exactly easy. She must have given me the 'mind your own business' lecture three times in fifteen minutes. I don't know if the fact that I actually got anything out of her says more about her stubbornness or mine."

She almost smiled.

"Was that a smile?" Carlos took a single step forward, still watching her intently despite the teasing tone of his voice. "Man, that's the best thing I've seen in weeks."

She did smile then, turning her head in a futile effort to keep him from seeing it. For a moment, there was only the sound of his song playing softly in the candlelight.

She folded her arms, glancing sideways at him. She shifted uncomfortably when she caught his eye, and she sighed again. "You didn't have to do all this, Carlos."

"Yeah," he said quietly. "I did."

He reached out to turn the tape player off, then added, "Oh, and I brought you a present."

She bit her lip to keep from smiling again, and she had to ask, "All this just to get my attention?"

"Is it working?" he replied immediately.

She hesitated, but he already knew the answer. "Yes," she admitted.

"Then yes," he said, smiling. "Here."

He held out a small plastic container, and she couldn't help giggling. "Raspberries?"

"Do you know how hard they are to find this time of year?" he retorted. "You had to go and get addicted to them in the middle of the winter..."

"It was your fault," she responded automatically, but he just shrugged. "Thank you," she added, more quietly. She didn't just mean for the raspberries.

"You don't have to thank me," he said, studying her. "Aura... I love you."

She turned away, fussing with the container as she set it down. "I know."

"Do you?" He didn't sound surprised, he just sounded... steady. As though he had thought this out so thoroughly that nothing she could say would catch him unprepared.

"Unless you've been lying to me since last fall," she said, still not looking at him. "Yes."

"Then why isn't that enough?"

"It is," she said with a sigh. "It should be. It's just... How much did Cetaci tell you?"

"Not much," he answered dryly. "You know how well the two of us get along."

"I'm a little surprised you went to her at all," she murmured, amused by his tone.

"So am I," he said, a smile in his voice. "It was Saryn's idea."

She looked up at that, though she couldn't quite bring herself to meet his gaze. "Saryn?"

"Yeah." He sounded rueful this time. "Just forget about having secrets around here; that's what I've decided. There isn't a single person who doesn't know something about this."

"Except the person who matters most," she said softly, looking down at the table again.

There was a moment of silence, and then, "Did I not ask the right questions? Or did I just not hear the answers? Tell me where I screwed up, Aura."

She swallowed, pushing the plastic container a little further away. "You didn't screw up."

"I must have," he insisted. "If I hadn't, we'd still be together."

"It isn't always about you, Carlos!" The outburst was enough to make him flinch, and she was glad to see he wasn't quite as calm as he appeared. "Why do you assume this is something you can fix?" she continued, pressing her advantage. "Do you think saying you're sorry will change the way I feel? It isn't you I'm mad at!"

"Then who?" he demanded. "Or what? All I want is to know what's going on! I just want you to talk to me, to trust me not to judge you! Let me help!"

She hugged her arms close to her chest and turned away, willing herself not to let the tears out. She felt his hand on her shoulder as she stared fixedly at the wall, and there was a period of maybe a second and a half when she could have shrugged him off. She could have walked away with her dignity and her secrets and maybe even his good opinion...

But not him. She couldn't keep him if she didn't at least try, the way he was doing now. And if she didn't have him, she had a sinking suspicion that she would never reclaim her heart, either.

So she let him wrap his arms around her and tried to keep her hands from trembling as she laid them over his. She didn't resist when he tugged her closer, until she was leaning back against his chest the way she had so many times before. She sighed without meaning to, and could only hope he didn't notice.

"Talk to me?" he whispered, his breath tickling her ear.

She shifted a little, but he didn't ease his grip on her. "I broke my vow," she murmured, swallowing.

She could almost hear him frown. "What vow?"

He was never going to understand this. "I was six," she said softly. "I remember asking my mother why my friends made fun of me for knowing what they thought. She said that anyone who didn't accept me for who I was wasn't really my friend...

"She also said that no one could make fun of me if I didn't let them. She said that unless I let them mean something, they were just words. So I promised her I'd never let anyone make me feel ashamed of who I was."

"Pretty big promise for a six-year-old," Carlos observed, his voice as quiet as hers.

She sighed. "I had no idea," she admitted wistfully. "I've broken that promise many times since."

"Join the club," Carlos informed her.

She stiffened, but he wouldn't let her turn to look at him.

"Hey," he said quickly, not missing her aborted motion. "I just mean I understand--I'm a minority too, you know. It's not such a big deal in Angel Grove, but there are places in my own country where I wouldn't be at the top of anyone's guest list."

She frowned a little, but his words brought back memories of an incident that had puzzled her for some time.

"You do understand," she said, making it more of a question than a statement.

"I don't remember when I first realized it mattered," he answered, resting his head gently against hers. "But I do remember being self-conscious--at first I was embarrassed, I think, and then, for a long time, I was proud... I had a lot of Hispanic friends in junior high, and we stuck together. We were proud that we were different; we thought it made us special.

"I moved to Angel Grove just before I started high school," he continued. His tone was unusually contemplative, and she found herself relaxing. She always liked hearing him think out loud.

"Ashley was one of my first and best friends," he was saying. "Eventually, I started to get over the whole superiority thing. Like I said, being Hispanic isn't so unusual there. I'm not sure exactly when it happened, but it isn't that big a deal to me anymore. It's just who I am, like... being tall, or liking soccer. I can't change it, and none of my friends treat me any differently because of it."

She waited, but he didn't say anything else. "You have good friends," she murmured at last.

She didn't realize how that sounded until he hugged her tighter and said firmly, "So do you."

"I know," she said hastily. "That is not what I meant. It's only that... I suppose Cetaci told you about Cen." Even after so long, it was hard to say his name without feeling something.

"A little." The distaste was evident in his voice, and she smiled inadvertently. "Enough to know that he's an idiot with the IQ of grass."

She tried to repress a giggle. "Some of that is Cetaci's presentation, I think. He's not such a bad person--or he wasn't, when I first knew him."

"People change," Carlos said darkly.

"Yes," she whispered, staring blindly at the wall in front of her. "And I tell myself that he did, because if I fell for someone who was ashamed of me from the beginning..."

"No one in their right mind could ever be ashamed of you." Carlos' whispered reassurance was as fierce as it was sincere. "I can tell you from personal experience that anyone who really knows you is amazed you know they exist, let alone that you want to spend time with them."

She tried to smile again. "It's sweet of you to say that," she murmured, still staring at the wall. How could she tell him that sometimes he made her feel exactly the way Cen had, toward the end?

"It's true," he insisted, turning her around to face him. "And I'm going to prove it. Are you ready to go?"

She frowned in confusion, trying to remember if he had said anything when he first arrived. "To go where?"

He gave her a mysterious smile. "I'm not telling. You're just going to have to trust me."

It was their standard adventure disclaimer, and despite the recent past she was seriously tempted to take him up on it. But... "My shift is only half over," she reminded him. "I can't be out of contact."

His smiled widened. "After this morning? Believe me, they want us gone. Cetaci's already given you the rest of the day off."

"This morning?" she repeated suspiciously.

He gestured around her room. "You don't think I did all this myself, do you? And what was the deal with locking me out, anyway? Cetaci had to override your code just to get us in. Delphinius helped me set things up in here... Cestria and Billy had the unenviable task of keeping you busy."

She just stared at him. "You... but they--"

"They were worried about you," he finished. "And I finally wore them down. I think they were sick of me asking about you every day." This last he said with a grin, but he wasn't joking. She could see that much in his eyes.

"I was going to change," she said at last, for lack of any better answer. She wasn't sure how she felt about her teammates' part in this... she wasn't entirely sure how she felt about Carlos' part in it, if it came to that.

"So change," he said, the grin still in his voice.

She looked up, and he had such an expectant smirk on his face that she pointed at the door. "Get out!"

He did, but he did it with a look of theatrical disappointment that left her shaking her head in wonder. He couldn't possibly have been serious. And where could he be taking her, anyway?

They could have teleported from Aquitar to Earth. It wasn't like Aura couldn't tell where they were going from the coordinates he gave Mega V2. And even before Zordon had left for Eltare, he had stopped hinting that Billy's boosted teleportation system could be put to better uses than shuttling commuter traffic back and forth.

They could have teleported, but they didn't. He knew Aura was curious, and he was nervous as anything, but more than getting there he just wanted to spend time with her. Having her listen to him again, talk to him, and above all, smile, felt better than he'd dreamed. He hadn't even realized how much he'd missed her until now.

He didn't bother checking in with DECA when they arrived--there was no need, and she wouldn't have let Aura on board anyway. According to some warped sense of computer logic, Kerone was a full time Astro Ranger, and for some inexplicable reason Saryn qualified as a teammate as well. But they were the only exceptions she made to Andros' "security level three".

So they appeared instead in the Vargas household's kitchen, a place Aura was relatively familiar with by now. It was deserted, for which he was thankful. His mother, at least, bent over backward to make Aura feel welcome, but he doubted that he would be as popular today. His parents probably weren't going to count making up with his girlfriend as the kind of emergency that warranted skipping school, and now would be exactly the wrong time to get grounded.

"Here," he said, grabbing a water bottle from the refrigerator and tossing it to her. He took one for himself too, though it was more to be polite than anything else. She knew as well as he did that he'd end up giving it to her before the afternoon was over. "I think that's all we'll need... are you ready?"

"I could better answer that question if I knew where we were going," she pointed out, but she looked intrigued.

"I know," he admitted. What he really wanted to know was whether *he* was ready. But what he was about to do was the whole point of today, and he wasn't going to turn back now. He gave her what he hoped was a nonchalant grin as he headed for the door. "You'll find out in a minute."

She gave him a puzzled look as he held the door open for her, and he felt his grin widening. "After you," he told her. It was already worth it, for the expression on her face as she stepped out into the midday sunshine was priceless.

"Now," he continued, as he pulled the door shut behind them. "To do this properly, we should take my dad's car. Unfortunately, he was inconsiderate enough to need it today, so we'll have to roll the windows down in mine and pretend."

She had no idea what he was talking about, he could tell. At that moment, though, he caught sight of one of his neighbors getting out of her car. He froze for a fraction of a second, then lifted his hand and waved. "Hi, Mrs. Stuart!"

Aura looked at him as though he was crazy, but Lynne Stuart's reaction was even better. She waved back, smiling briefly in their direction as she hurried toward her front door, then stopped in her tracks and did a classic double take.

Carlos just smiled. She stared at them for a moment, then, to his surprise, waved again and turned quickly back toward her house.

He glanced over at Aura, and found her looking back and forth as though there might have been a conversation she missed. He shrugged, walking around the front of his SUV and unlocking the door for her. "Shall we go?" he offered.

"Carlos," she said slowly. She made no move to get in the car. "What are you doing?"

"Taking my girlfriend for a ride," he answered immediately. "What does it look like?"

She just looked at him, and he made a show of chagrin. "Sorry... should I have said 'my ex-girlfriend'?"

Her lips quirked, but she didn't answer right away. She waited just long enough to make him worry, and then shook her head slightly. "No..."

She didn't sound totally convinced, but he wasn't going to let that stop him. "Then let's go. I told you to trust me, remember?"

That did it; he could see it in her eyes. There was an unspoken rule between them that once one of them offered a surprise and the other took them up on it, they weren't allowed to question. They either trusted completely or not at all, and Aura climbed into the passenger seat without another word.

He rolled her window down before he closed her door, grinning at her as he did so. She smiled, a little uncertainly, in return. They were really going to do this, and she was starting to suspect what "this" was.

He banged on the hood as he walked around to his side, then leaned under to make sure Goof wasn't still sleeping there anyway. The driveway under his car was cat-free, and he swung into the driver's seat and started the engine without another thought.

"Your window," Aura reminded him, as they backed out of the driveway.

He chuckled. "Yeah, I was getting to that; thanks." He rolled his window all the way down and reached for the radio. "Are you in a country or pop mood today?"

"Country," she said immediately, though he suspected she chose more for the sake of choosing than anything else.

"Country it is." He pushed the REB preset, and the sounds of "Cat Country" filled the car. He laughed again as he recognized the song.

It was a new song, and probably not one Aura had ever caught him listening to before, but she smiled when he did and at that moment he knew he was doing the right thing. To have her with him, no matter the uproar it caused or what other people might think, was nothing less than the best the universe had to offer.

As they pulled into the dojo parking lot, he turned the radio down a little and pointed out the window at the "Quest Karate" sign. "This is Rocky's dojo; you remember it from Halloween."

He saw her nod out of he corner of his eye, and he pulled into a parking space near the door. She got out as he did, and he added, "I thought we'd just stop in and say 'hi'... the team hangs out here a lot, and it's become sort of a Ranger stronghold. Even the ones who've moved away visit when they're in town."

"Is it... just Rangers?" she asked carefully.

"Nope." He reached for her hand, relieved when she didn't protest. "It's run by Rangers, mostly, and some friends, but it's open to everyone."

It was also mostly deserted this early in the afternoon. Angel Grove as a whole had a greater than average interest in the martial arts, thanks mostly to the influence of the Power Rangers. There were often students in the dojo as soon as school let out, working out individually or sparring under the supervision of whatever sempei happened to be present.

Now, with more than an hour before even the high school students were free, it was just Emily and someone Carlos vaguely recognized from one of Gabe's classes. Gabe's student didn't pause in his bo kata, but Emily greeted them from the weight machine as soon as they walked through the door.

"Hi, Carlos," she called with a smile. "Looking for anyone in particular?"

"No, we're just passing through," he said, glancing around to make sure he hadn't missed anyone. "I thought Aura might like to see what the dojo looked like when it wasn't filled with pumpkins and strobe lights."

Emily laughed, abandoning her weight machine and snatching her towel up off the bench as she wandered over to join them. "Yeah, I heard a lot of stories about that party. Marie took an awful lot of pictures... did you ever get to see them?"

"No," Carlos said, interested in spite of himself. "We talked about taking some, but we never got a chance."

"Well, I'll have to get you some copies." Emily turned her smile on Aura then, greeting her with a slow but passable imitation of the Aquitians' salutatory hand gesture. "I'm Emily, by the way. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Aura's hand slid out of his, and she returned the gesture gravely. "I'm Aura," she replied, offering her hand. "I am pleased to meet you as well."

Emily shook her hand without hesitation. "So are you guys on a tour of the city? You picked a beautiful day for it, if you are."

Before Carlos could answer, he heard a familiar voice call, "Hey, it's Carlos and Aura! Paying a visit to the old folks' home, huh?"

Rocky bounded across the floor, waving energetically in their direction. While Emily wore soft-soled karate shoes, Rocky was barefoot even in his street clothes. He came to a surprisingly graceful halt in front of them, shooting Emily a mock-reproving frown. "You could have told me we had company."

"I didn't want to drag you away from the all-important paperwork," she responded promptly.

Rocky rolled his eyes. "She just wants me to finish it all so she won't have to put in time this evening," he confided in a loud whisper.

Emily punched him lightly in the shoulder, and he caught her hand. Making a show of inspecting it, he announced, "No sparring for you until you cut those nails, young lady!"

She just laughed. "Yellow belts don't spar, Rocky."

"Well, you want to be ready, don't you?" He didn't wait for her answer, instead turning to them and asking, "So how are things in the rest of the world?"

"Things are--" Carlos caught Aura's eye and smiled. "Good. Getting better every day, in fact."

"Hey," Rocky said suspiciously, looking at them and then up at the clock over the door. "Shouldn't you be at school? Or is this senior skip day and no one told me?"

"No, that was last week," Carlos said with a grin. "But we... well, I owed Aura in a big way. So here we are."

Rocky gave him an odd look. "You owed her a visit to the dojo?"

"I owed her a visit to everywhere," Carlos corrected. He could feel Aura's eyes on him, but he kept his gaze on Rocky. "We--talked about it, and it didn't seem fair that I can roam around her planet when she can't even show her face here."

Rocky seemed to take that in stride. "Well, you're always welcome here, Aura," he said giving her one of his more serious smiles. Then he added cockily, "Quest Karate doesn't discriminate on the basis of planet of origin."

Carlos couldn't help grinning, and he saw Aura nod out of the corner of his eye. "Thank you for your hospitality," she said quietly.

Rocky repeated the gesture Emily had used, although he did it with an ease that Emily's had only hinted at. Aura copied it, and Carlos suggested, "We should probably head out, before I make you guys look bad..."

Rocky glanced at the clock again, but he shook his head. "The two of you will never make the dojo look bad," he told them. He was uncharacteristically serious once more. "We tell the younger kids that school is their first priority, but that's because the only way to teach what's *really* important is by example. Respect and tolerance are what we're all about, and you personify that."

Carlos shifted uncomfortably, but he saw Aura smile a little. "Thanks," he said at last, more occupied with her expression than Rocky's words.

"But if you are going to leave," Emily added, "could you do it before the Little Dragons come in? Jason's nephew is in that class."

Her face was so deadpan that Carlos didn't even realize she was kidding until she grinned at him. "We're going," he said, rolling his eyes good-naturedly. "Good to see you again, guys."

"Don't be a stranger," Rocky reminded them. "We have to get all the news from Gabe and TJ lately!"

Or Tommy, Carlos thought, not missing the look Rocky gave Aura. He knew perfectly well that Billy and Tommy were still in touch, and he suspected that Rocky hadn't been entirely surprised to see him walk in with Aura this afternoon. Still, he was grateful for their support, and he hoped Aura's silence didn't mean anything.

"We'll be back again sometime," he promised, and Emily lifted her hand to wave.

"Nice to meet you, Aura," she said warmly. "Keep Carlos out of trouble, all right?"

"I will do my best," Aura answered, sounding far too solemn.

Carlos paused, the door open, to stare at her in surprise. "You'll keep *me* out of trouble? I think you've got that backwards! I'm not the adrenaline junkie, here!"

She positively smirked at him as she preceded him out into the parking lot, and he realized too late that her solemnity had been an act. "I'm not the one showing me around my planetbound hometown, either," she told him.

It took him a moment to come up with an answer for that, but as he opened the driver's side door he stepped up on the frame to regard her over the top of the car. "Are you saying you want to stop?" he inquired, only half-joking.

She considered him, then glanced down as though trying to figure out what he was doing. Finally she put one foot on the doorframe and clumsily climbed up to stare back at him. "No," she said simply, resting her chin on her arms as she gazed at him.

"Good." He reached toward her with one hand, and she reciprocated. He pressed his palm to hers, feeling a calm comfort seep into him when she smiled. "Let's go get some smoothies, and you can meet Adelle."

"What does it mean, 'on the house'?" Aura asked, poking her fruit smoothie idly with her straw.

They stood in the sunwarmed parking lot of the Surf Spot, drawing surprisingly little attention. It wasn't crowded, possibly because the establishment had only just opened for the afternoon, but the people who were passing didn't stare any harder than they might have stared at Rangers on her own planet.

She saw Carlos glance over at her out of the corner of her eye. "It means something's free," he said, leaning against the front of his vehicle. "It's used in... well, it's used mostly by people who work in restaurants, or bars, or... I don't know, athletic centers. Whenever someone's providing a service that you'd normally have to pay for, and they decide not to charge you, they say it's on the house."

She shook her head. "It still surprises me that you are expected to pay," she mused. "None of these places would exist if it weren't for you."

"They're not supposed to know that," he reminded her, lowering his voice despite the fact there was no one near enough to overhear.

She paused, regarding him carefully. "So you did not expect Adelle to understand what you meant when you told her how we met?"

He shrugged. "There were quantrons, you fought them; that was the truth."

"To tell the truth with the intent to mislead is no different than a lie," she said, frowning.

"All right," he agreed easily. "I lied. But Adelle can't know who I am, Aura. Once one of the Power Rangers' identities is out, it's not going to take anyone long to figure out the rest of them. I can't compromise my teammates, even for you."

"I would never ask that of you," she said quickly. "I suppose I am only... unused to the secrecy."

He smiled. "I'm still not used to the way they treat us on your planet, either. It's weird to just--do things. No paying, no waiting... you just do it. It's cool. Even if there isn't much privacy."

It was not lost on her that they each regarded the other sympathetically. She smiled to herself, taking another sip of her raspberry smoothie. "What does yours taste like?" she asked suddenly, glancing over at him again.

He chuckled. "Try it," he invited, handing her the plastic tumbler. "We'd better go, though," he added. "I need to let the guys know what's going on."

She swallowed, deciding that strawberry-kiwi didn't have anything on raspberry. "The guys?" she repeated, handing his smoothie back.

"I was supposed to be at soccer practice right after school gets out," he explained, giving her an inquiring look for the smoothie. She shook her head and he just grinned. "So I figured I'd at least stop by and tell them why I'm ditching them."

"Carlos," she said hesitantly. He was already pulling his door open, so she followed suit. As she climbed inside, though, she continued, "You don't have to... I mean--you don't have anything to prove..."

"I know," he answered, fastening his seatbelt and starting the car again. He flashed her a reassuring smile. "I'm doing this because I want to, Aura. Not because I'm trying to prove something."

She relaxed a little. She had to think this was a bigger deal than he was making it seem, but she didn't know that much about Angel Grove. Maybe this was her chance to learn...

He pointed out his school as they drove by, and she listened to him talk about it with a mixture of fondness and exasperation. It didn't sound anything like the education she had received, and she told him so.

"You'll have to tell me about it sometime," he said, with a grin she didn't understand.

Before she could ask, they were coming to a stop outside the park. Carlos was waving to one of his friends before he even got out of the car, and she couldn't help but feel a flutter of nervousness. These weren't former Rangers or idle acquaintances; these were people Carlos saw every day and whose opinion he valued--and they had no reason to see her as anything but "alien".

"They won't bite," Carlos murmured, leaning back through the open window to whisper to her. "I promise." He looked strangely confident, and though she tried not to, she couldn't help poking his thoughts ever so lightly.

He had told them!

She was torn between glaring at him and laughing as she pushed her door open and clambered out. He must have been planning this for longer than she had known. It was almost embarrassing... how long had he been finding ways to make up for something that wasn't even his fault?

His friends did a credible job of appearing surprised, and she could tell that some part of their startled reactions was completely sincere. Though her people had defended Earth before, she doubted any of them had ever actually spoken with someone from another planet. But not a single one of them was anything but polite, and the one who introduced himself as "David" even went so far as to invite her to their next game.

She just laughed at that, especially when Carlos accused his friend of flirting with her. She couldn't resist teasing him then, pointing out that *he* had never invited her to a game. Carlos looked appropriately chagrinned, and the expression drew chuckles from the others.

Finally someone spotted their coach, and Carlos' friends shooed them away with an urgency she didn't quite understand. She was just as glad to grab Carlos' hand as they hurried back toward the car, and his sudden kiss as he held her door for her was more than welcome. But she didn't forget to demand a breathless explanation as they drove off.

"I wasn't in school," he said, as though she might have forgotten. "I'm not allowed at practice if I don't go to school. Or games, for that matter, but the season's over now and the only thing I'll be missing this afternoon is the scrimmage."

She was silent for a moment, glancing sideways at him as he watched the road disappear in front of them. "I'm sorry," she said at last. She knew how much soccer meant to him.

"I'm not," he answered, and she could hear the smile in his voice. "This is much more fun. Bet my phone rings off the hook this evening, though," he added as an afterthought.

"Carlos," she said quietly.

He shot a quick look in her direction before turning his attention back to the road. "Yeah?"

She smiled, watching the trees flash past through her open window. "I love you."

She felt him fumble for her hand, and she laced her fingers through his without another word. "I love you, too," he murmured. The words were heartfelt, and she squeezed his hand contentedly as they flew on down the road together.

12. Basic Needs

Ashley smiled. That was a new one. She scanned the rest of the door, looking for things that had been added since her last visit. The holographic "normal people worry me" sticker right underneath the room number had been the first thing to go up, and more pictures and quotes seemed to appear on a weekly basis.

The "No Fear" bumper sticker caught her eye, as usual, and right underneath it she saw another new remark: "I can only please one person a day. Today is not your day. Tomorrow does not look promising either."

Rolling her eyes, she lifted her hand to knock. The door swung open before she could touch it, however, and she blinked as Jeff suddenly loomed over her. He had an overfull recycling bin in one hand and the doorknob in the other, and was clearly brought up short at the sight of her standing in the hallway.

"Hi," he said, a startled look on his face. He twisted to glance over his shoulder, making a token attempt at checking the time. "Are you early, or am I that late?"

"I'm early," she assured him, reaching out to take the recycling bin from him. "Let me help with this."

"Uh... yeah, all right." He grabbed the trash and flashed her a rueful smile. "I'm a little disorganized right now; sorry. So what's up?"

"Not much," she said casually, catching the door for him. They headed down the hall toward the dorm's rear entrance, and she added, "Actually, that's not true. I kind of wanted to talk to you before dinner, if you're not too busy."

"Never too busy for you, girl." Jeff grinned at her as he held the door. "As long as you don't mind talking over my packing."

"No, that's fine." She watched him toss the trash into the dumpster, and held the recycling bin while he sorted out the bottles and cans.

"The rest of it goes in there," he said, pointing to the paper recycling a moment later. She dumped the bin's leftovers, and he gave her an inquiring look as they made their way back inside. "So what did you want to talk about? Anything in particular?"

"Kind of." He held the door for her again on the way in, but she noticed he didn't offer to carry the recycling bin. "It's about next year."

"Having second thoughts about UCLA?" he asked, following her up the stairs.

"Not exactly. Well... yeah, sort of."

"Going away?" he hazarded. "Or just college in general?"

"College in general, I guess." She paused in his doorway to set the recycling bin down, and in the process got her first good look at his room. Or what had been his room. "What did you *do*? Open the windows and invite a tornado?"

"Looks like it, doesn't it?" he said wryly. "What can I say; I'm an obsessive packer."

"You're an obsessive something," she agreed with a smirk. "What is all this stuff?"

"This stuff is life," he informed her. "And it's been here all along, so don't give me that shocked look."

"Why do you have shot glasses?" she asked suspiciously, inspecting the dishes piled on his desk. They were half buried under clothes, sheet music, and a battered copy of "The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook", but she couldn't help noticing them. Jeff had always claimed he didn't drink.

"Why do you know what a shot glass looks like?" he demanded, shifting one of his plastic milk crates out of the way.

She rolled her eyes. "Everyone knows what a shot glass looks like, Jeff. Where'd you get them?"

"Credit card company," he answered, stacking another milk crate on top of the first. "Why, do you want one?"

"A credit card company gave you shot glasses?"

"Sure." He pushed his duffel bag out of the way and came over to collect the sheet music. "They're always giving out free stuff if you fill out their applications. I got a t-shirt from Discover that says 'life is short; make fun of it'. It's great."

"So how many credit cards do you have?" Ashley wanted to know, watching him stuff the music into a folder.

"You put down the wrong social and your application gets thrown out." He picked up one of the shot glasses and tossed it to her. "Here. Put candy in it or something; it makes a great paperweight. Plus people ask you why you have a shot glass sitting on your desk," he added with a grin.

She turned it over in her hands, wondering if they had shot glasses on KO-35. Or paperweights. Or desks, for that matter.

*Don't be silly,* she scolded herself. *There are desks on the Megaship.*

"So what's going on?" Jeff seemed oblivious to her musings as he shoved a couple of notebooks into his backpack. "What are you thinking about college?"

She shifted uncomfortably, glancing at his desk chair. It was laden with sweatshirts, a jean jacket, computer printer, and what looked like Jeff's entire poster collection. She chose to sit on the bed instead, pushing aside a beanbag full of CDs and inline skates to make room. "I'm thinking I hope I don't have this much stuff," she said, settling herself carefully on the mattress.

"I hope you don't have half again this much stuff," Jeff retorted good-naturedly. "What with your immense collection of clothes... you'll have to get an extra room just to store them all in."

She wrinkled her nose at him, but he wasn't paying attention. He was staring at his closet instead, a can of WD-40 in his hand as he contemplated a rather large stack of comic books and magazines. She just shook her head, deciding not to comment.

"I thought I wanted to go to college," she said, picking up a glow-in-the-dark slinky. "I mean, everyone's always expected me to go... what's the point of this? You don't have stairs."

Jeff looked over at his shoulder at her change in tone, and saw her holding up the slinky inquiringly. He grinned, putting down a plastic file holder. "Watch this," he said, taking the slinky from her. "This is cool."

Setting it on the shelf above his desk, he pulled out the keyboard drawer and flipped it down. "Ready?"

When she nodded, he gave the slinky a careful push. It obediently swung off the shelf, landing on top of the computer monitor and flipping end over end to put its other foot down on the desk proper. From there it made the short hop to the open drawer, and Jeff scrambled to get his hand underneath it. It obediently touched down on his fingers before continuing the rest of the way to the floor.

"Normally it would go onto the chair," he offered, picking it up again and handing it back. "Looks really cool in the dark."

She looked from him to the slinky and back again. "You have way too much free time."

He shrugged. "Consider it part of the creative process. How can you not want to go to college when you get to do cool things like that?" he added, grinning.

"What's wrong with me," she agreed dryly. "Think of the opportunities I'd be missing!"

"Is it the idea of college itself?" he asked, more seriously. "Or is there just something you'd rather be doing?"

She let the slinky slide from one hand to another, not looking at him. "Well, that's the thing... Andros--Andros sort of asked me to come with him," she finished quickly.

Jeff paused, and she glanced up to see him frowning at his closet. "Ah," he said at last. "Well, that's... interesting."

She studied him, trying to gauge his reaction. "What, that he asked me?"

"Well, that and the fact that I just figured out where my maglite went." There was the sound of something tearing, and Jeff pulled the little flashlight out of his closet. "Check it out!"

Ashley sighed, and he turned the flashlight off. "Just kidding," he promised with a grin, tossing the flashlight into his duffel bag. "Tell me about Andros. He wants you to come with him to KO-35?"

"No--yes," she amended. "I mean, he's not pressuring me to come or anything, he just said it would be nice if I did. Like--he wants me to come, but only if I want to."

Jeff regarded her for a moment. "Do you want to?"

She stared back, wondering what he was thinking. "I'm not sure."

He didn't answer right away. Finally, he asked, "Is he going to stay here, if you don't go?"

She twined her fingers together and squeezed nervously. "I don't know," she admitted. "I don't..." She swallowed. "I don't think so."

"So..." He seemed to be considering his words. "If you don't go with him--you'll break up?"

"No. I mean--we wouldn't, not on purpose, but..." She sighed, the ultimate outcome finally crystallizing in her mind. "I think it would happen eventually."

"Some people can hold together long-distance relationships," Jeff pointed out. "It happens, when people go away to college. Some of them stay together until they can be with each other again."

"But that's the thing," she said slowly. She had never thought about it quite that way--not so long term, just what would happen in the next few months. "Even if we stay together until I graduate, then what? Andros isn't going to live on Earth... I guess I always sort of knew that. So if I go to college, I'll just have to decide all over again when I graduate."

There was silence for a moment, then Jeff said, "Tell me if this is none of my business, okay?"

She nodded, surprised that he would even ask. Neither of them had ever been reluctant to tell the other to butt out. She smiled a little just thinking about it.

"How serious are you guys?" Jeff asked bluntly. "When Andros asks you to go with him, what exactly does he mean? Is this like, 'let's go be Rangers somewhere else for a while' or is it more like, 'will you marry me and start a family on my home planet'?"

She looked down at her hands, then reached for the slinky again. "I think it's more like the 'marry me' option," she said softly, surprised at how hard it was to say out loud. It was like saying the words might make the possibility less real.

"If you knew," Jeff said, "would that make a difference? Would you be more likely to go if you knew that's what he was asking? Are you thinking about going at all?" he added as an afterthought. "I just assumed you were..."

"Yeah, I'm thinking about it," she said with a small smile. "I'm thinking about it more now, actually."

There wasn't much he could say to that, and she watched as he picked up one of his posters and started rolling it up. Her smile widened as she realized what it was a picture of. Her brother had found one of the new Power Ranger posters last fall, and it had hung in his room ever since.

"What do you think?" she asked abruptly, watching him slide a second poster inside the first roll. "About me going to KO-35, I mean?"

He stared at the posters for a moment, then muttered, "That was a really dumb way to do it." He slid the elastic off the outer poster and let both of them unroll. "I'm thinking," he added, giving her a sidelong glance.

He looked around for someplace flat to lay the posters, found none, and made do with the accumulated milk crates and the edge of his cluttered bureau. He added the other large poster to the two he was already working on, and this time he rolled them all up at once. Stretching the elastic band around the roll, he balanced it against the end of his bed and turned back to look at her.

"I think that no one else can tell you what you want," he said finally. "I think you and Andros care for each other an awful lot, and I think you have to do what your heart tells you to."

She made a face. "That's such a cop-out," she complained, but she couldn't keep from smiling as she said it. It wasn't really; it was just his way of saying he wouldn't think she was crazy, whatever she decided.

He shrugged, but he was grinning too. "I know. If you really want to know, I'll tell you something, but it's not my decision to make. It isn't anyone's but yours, and don't let them tell you differently."

"Even Mom and Dad?" The words slipped out before she could think, and if they sounded as worried as she thought they did...

They did. The sympathetic look he gave her said it all. "It's your decision," he repeated. "Not theirs. You've already moved out once; they can handle it again."

She sighed. "Moving to another planet isn't quite the same thing. So what were you going to say?"

"Oh..." He hesitated. "Well, it's just this. I think if you can even think about giving up everything to be with someone else, then that someone else must be the most important thing in your life. And maybe, if you don't do it, nothing you'll ever achieve can make up for not having that one most important thing."

She just looked at him. "I can't decide whether that's depressing or inspiring," she said at last.

He grinned. "Maybe it's not even the truth. But you asked."

"Yeah, I did," she admitted, glancing at the clock. "Thanks."

"For whatever it's worth, you're welcome." He followed her gaze. "We'd better get moving, huh?"

"Yeah... did you accomplish anything here?" she asked, looking around his room.

He shrugged. "We'll see, I guess."

"Pass the potatoes, please?"

Ashley picked them up and handed them across the middle of the table, and Jeff winked at her. "Thanks."

She took a deep breath, deciding that it wouldn't get any easier by waiting. "I have something I wanted to talk about, actually. It's going to sound a little crazy..."

"But we expect that of you," Jeff assured her, helping himself to the potatoes.

She made a face at him, but she was grateful for his unspoken support. "It's about--this summer."

Without looking up, Jeff cleared his throat pointedly, and she added, "Or maybe longer."

She had both her parents' undivided attention now, she could tell. They were both giving her that expectant-but-trying-to-be-neutral look that only overprotective parents can manage. She shifted uncomfortably, and figured she'd better just get it over with. "Andros asked me to go back to KO-35 with him."

"For the summer?" her father asked. He sounded perfectly calm, but it was in that "I haven't decided what to feel about this yet" kind of way.

She swallowed carefully, wishing she felt casual enough to take a sip of water. "More like... indefinitely."

There was silence for a moment, as she had known there would be. "It's kind of a Ranger thing," she added, into the pause. "KO-35 only has two, after all, and now that it's trying to get back on its feet there's all sorts of trade issues and alliances and even practical stuff like getting food and water..."

She took a breath before continuing. "Having another Ranger around that everyone already knows could really help, so he was hoping--" She hesitated for just a second, not sure how to phrase exactly what Andros had been hoping. "Maybe I could do that," she finished awkwardly.

She saw her parents exchange glances. "So is this a professional arrangement?" her mother asked, a little too casually. "Or a personal one?"

She looked over at Jeff, and he gave her a quick smile of encouragement. "It's kind of both," she admitted. "We really want to be together, Mom. But KO-35 needs him more than Earth does right now, and it sounds like they could use my help too."

"Well..." her mother said at last. "If this is something you want, we certainly can't make that kind of decision for you."

"I have to ask, though," her father added. "Do you have any idea what you're getting into? It sounds like you're talking about rebuilding a world from the ground up. You could commit your whole life to something like that and still never finish."

"Which is pretty much what she's doing now anyway," Jeff interjected. He kept his tone light, as though he was making a joke, but that was the truth of being a Ranger and they knew it. Or at least, she thought they were starting to know it.

"I don't really know what I'm getting into," she confessed. "But I didn't know when Tanya asked me to take her place, either, and I managed anyway. I think maybe I could make a real difference on KO-35."

"I know you could," her mom said gently. "What matters to us is whether you'd be happy there."

"I guess I won't know until I try it," Ashley offered, trying to sound more careless than she felt. "I don't know that it will make me happy, but I do know that I want to be with Andros. And I know I'd always wonder if I didn't go."

To tell the truth, she was surprised and more than a little relieved at her parents' reactions. She didn't know what she had expected--they hadn't absolutely forbidden anything in longer than she could remember, but their wordless disapproval had usually been enough to dissuade her. This time, though... they were treating her like an adult, and it was both refreshing and a little frightening. If this didn't work out, she would have no one to blame but herself.

"When would you leave?" her father asked slowly, interrupting her reflection.

"I... I don't really know." She looked down at her plate for the first time in several minutes. "I just told Andros I'd think about it. We haven't talked about it since, so we haven't really made any plans."

"Well, if you go and you love it," Jeff told her, "let us know by July, okay?"

She frowned at him curiously.

He just grinned. "That's when tuition bills start coming."

It wasn't as late as she'd expected by the time she made it back to the Megaship. Her parents had wanted tonight to be a "family night", partly to congratulate Jeff for finishing the semester and her for being so close to finishing, and partly just to spend time together. But after her announcement at dinner, no one objected when she begged off movie watching to go back to the Megaship for a while.

She smiled as the familiar grey walls appeared around her, and she wondered suddenly what it would be like to have this feel more like "home" than the planet she was living on. Would it be strange? Lonely? Or... did she already feel that way, and she just hadn't realized it?

"DECA?" she said, laying her hand against the wall.

"Yes, Ashley?"

She smiled again. There was someone else she had to tell first. "Nothing. Where's Andros?"

"Andros is on deck one," DECA replied promptly.

"Thanks," Ashley answered, making her way toward the lift. There was only one thing "deck one" could mean, but she paused just outside the observatory door when she arrived.

It was entirely possible Andros was with Zhane, and she barely remembered not to call out to him mentally before she went in. She hadn't realized how often she used that alternative method of communication until it was denied to her. Finally she just keyed the door open and stepped inside, hoping she wouldn't be interrupting.

Andros was lying on his back in the middle of the room, sprawled across two sleeping bags directly under the overheard portal. His eyes were closed, and he was alone--effectively. She couldn't help but smile at the puddle of grey fur stretched out on his chest. In that fleeting moment, she knew what Andros had known as soon as he saw them: those kittens would never go back to the vet clinic.

Then Andros turned his head toward her, eyes opening halfway as he regarded her lazily. "Hey," he greeted her, making no movement that would disturb the kitten sleeping on top of him. "Did you have a good time?"

"Yeah," she answered, smiling fondly down at him. "You look comfortable."

A smile spread across his face in return. "Not as comfortable as I'd be if you were with me."

She let out a breath in amusement, and settled herself on the floor next to him. She didn't lie down, though she knew that was what he had in mind. She wanted to be able to see his expression for this.

"So," she said, and she saw his eyes turn curious as he caught onto her hesitation. "Still want me to come with you?"

His face lit up. "Yeah," he said eagerly. "Still thinking about it?"

Her lips quirked. "Yeah. I... I wanted to ask you a few things, though."

"Sure." He sat up, dislodging the grey kitten as carefully as he could. The creature barely protested as it was moved to his lap, and Ashley couldn't resist reaching out to stroke its fur gently.

"Where's the other one?" she asked, glancing around.

"On the Bridge, I think." Andros smiled down at the kitten in his lap. "They've decided that's their new home. DECA's been keeping an eye on them, making sure they don't get in too much trouble."

She almost said something then, but she reminded herself that he wouldn't have any idea where she was coming from if she suggested keeping them right now. "I'm glad they're not lonely," she said instead, patting the grey kitten's head.

"They have each other," Andros reminded her. "They seem okay as long as they can be together most of the time."

She lifted her gaze to his and found him watching her. It wasn't an expectant look, just an idle stare, and she smiled. He smiled back, apparently realizing what he'd said. "Sort of like me with you," he added.

"And me with you," she murmured. "Andros... you don't want to live on Earth, do you."

He blinked. "I--I want to be with you," he said carefully, but she shook her head.

"It's okay," she said, searching his expression. "I understand... I just need you to be totally honest with me for a few minutes."

"I'm always honest with you," he told her. He didn't sound offended, though, and she knew he knew what she meant.

"I know," she said anyway. "But don't try not to hurt my feelings. Would you ever want to live on Earth?"

He hesitated just long enough to make her sure she had been right. "Permanently?" he asked at last. "I... No, I guess I wouldn't. To be honest, I don't know what I'd do here."

"So when you asked me to come to KO-35," she said, studying him. "Did you mean--permanently?"

He shifted uncomfortably. "Well, first off," he said, resettling the grey kitten in his lap, "I didn't ask you to come unless you wanted to. And if you did come, I'd never ask you to stay longer than you wanted to, or--"

"Andros," she interrupted. "I'm not... it's not what you think; I'm not--mad at you. I want to come, but... I need to know if what I'm thinking is what you're thinking."

"What are you thinking?" he asked carefully.

Staring into his eyes, she couldn't quite bring herself to say it aloud. "I asked you first."

He didn't smile, and it was a long moment before he ventured, "I was thinking... permanently."

Her life went from utterly uncertain to absolutely perfect in less than a second. "Me too," she whispered, gazing back at him.

He swallowed visibly. "Does that mean--what I think it means?"

"Are you sure you want me to come live on KO-35 permanently?" she teased, a little breathless. "You know you'll never get me out of your hair."

"You'd come?" He looked torn between shock and delight. "Would you really come?"

"Of course I'd come!" As charming as his surprise was, she couldn't help giggling. "Do you think I'm just saying this? Do you know how much I've been thinking about it?"

"Not as much as I've been thinking about it, I bet," he said ruefully.

"Oh, yeah?" she demanded, grinning. "How much?"

"Every day," he admitted. "Ever since the first time I left."

"Yeah?" she repeated, leaning a little closer. Lowering her voice, she teased, "I've been thinking about it every minute."

He lifted one hand to her face, touching her chin gently. "Every second," he whispered, his soft kiss more welcome at that moment than anything else in the universe.

"We'll call it a draw," she murmured, kissing him again.

"No, we won't," he insisted, resting his forehead against hers as he played with the ends of her hair. "Because I won. You just won't admit it."

"You didn't win," she countered. "Because I'm still thinking about it."

"So am I," he whispered, not moving.

"What are you thinking?" she asked softly. She smiled inadvertently as he tickled her neck. "Share."

"You first," he breathed, giving her another kiss.

"Mmm..." She pulled away, brown eyes catching hazel. "I'm thinking how good that feels."

He cleared his throat, then an impish grin touched his expression. "So do I win?"

"No," she retorted, trying not to giggle. "Are we really going to live on KO-35? Or are we going to stay on the Megaship?"

"We can do more good on KO-35," he answered slowly. Though he seemed to be giving the question serious consideration, she saw his gaze start to wander.

"But you said you and Zhane have been working on Eltare," she said, deliberately rearranging her legs. It was just getting warm enough to wear shorts again, and she had taken full advantage of the weather. "Is there any place to stay on KO-35?"

"Sure," he said, lifting his gaze to hers again. "Zhane and I were in Keyota last week, and it's almost completely rebuilt. It's not like it was before, obviously, but what's there is perfectly livable."

"Livable?" she repeated. "What do you mean by 'livable'?"

"It's not like Earth," he warned her. "But it's nice, I promise. There's running water and good food, and the power's more dependable than it is on Eltare. Zhane and I have rooms at one of the youth hostels... they're not big, but they're nicer than the Megaship."

She made herself smile, trying not to let her uncertainty show. She had survived Cassie's camping trips, after all. And he was probably underestimating things, as usual... Probably.

"So you have rooms?" she said archly, hoping to cover her reaction. "Do I get my own, or will we just have to make do?"

There was a time when the suggestion would have made him blush, but now he just smiled. "You get your own. Nobody shares--especially not Rangers."

"Nobody?" She frowned, surprised. "Is that a hostel rule or something?"

"Sort of," he admitted. "It's just to keep people from getting crowded, though; it's not to keep them from... well, you know."

She was so preoccupied by that news that the thought of teasing him for that last remark was fleeting. "Everyone has their own room," she repeated thoughtfully. That in and of itself probably said more about how few people there were on KO-35 than anything else. "Do you--pay for your room?"

"No, of course not." He looked amused at the idea. "No one pays to stay at a hostel."

"What about meals?" she persisted. "They don't feed you too, do they?"

"The morning meal and the evening one," he offered. "Everything else is up to the resident. But Rangers don't pay for meals, either, so we don't have to worry about that.

"You'll like it, Ash," he repeated, more quietly. "If you give it a chance, I think you'll like KO-35."

"I know I will," she said quickly. "And you know why?"

He shook his head, not taking his eyes off of hers.

She smiled. "Because you'll be there, silly."

A smile spread across his face, and for a moment she thought he was going to kiss her. But then, to her surprise, he reached down and picked up the grey kitten. He held it up next to his cheek, and she laughed at his expression.

"Let me guess," she said, between giggles. "The kittens are coming with us."

He shrugged. "It's up to you," he said, in that tone of voice that told her it wasn't at all. "But they'd have more fun with us than anyone else."

"I'll have to convince Janet, somehow," she said, reaching over to pat the kitten as he set it down again. "She's not going to believe that I can just haul two kittens off to my dorm room with me."

"You could always tell her the truth," he suggested.

She eyed him, not totally sure he was joking until he smiled. She wrinkled her nose at him. "Very funny. 'Janet, my boyfriend and I are going to live on another planet and we'd like to take your kittens with us. You don't mind, do you?'"

"I'm sure she wouldn't," Andros offered. "It's not like it isn't a nice place."

"Not as good as their home planet," she retorted.

"Better than their home planet," he corrected.

"We'll just have to see about that," she said with a smirk.

"You will see," he informed her. "So will they."

She knew there had been a time when their good-natured banter over which planet was "better" had made him angry, but on nights like this she couldn't remember it very well. She smiled, running her fingers through the kitten's short fur again. "We'll have to ask them, sometime."

"Kerone could," Andros said idly, watching her pat the kitten.

She looked up in surprise. "You're kidding."

He shook his head. "She says she hears Jetson sometimes. I don't see why she couldn't talk to them."

"She can talk to Jetson?" Ashley stared at him. "Since when?"

He shrugged, catching her eye at last. "Since always, I guess. It surprised me, too."

"Wait..." She frowned as something occurred to her. "Is she the only one?"

Andros frowned back. "What do you mean?"

"Well... Saryn's awfully convinced that Jetson doesn't like him. I guess you saying that Kerone can 'hear' him made me wonder."

Andros' frown faded. "He's just jealous that Cassie likes her dog more than she likes him," he said, amused. "If there's more to it, he's never said anything to me."

She giggled. "You're probably right. He really doesn't get along with Jetson, does he."

Andros shook his head. "No... unfortunately, Cassie managed to adopt the only other being in the world as jealous as he is."

Ashley's giggles turned into full-fledged laughter. "They'll never get along with each other if that's true!"

He just shrugged, but he was smiling.

"Are you jealous?" Ashley whispered at last, getting herself under control as she leaned down to look the kitten in the eye. "Or should I be, because you're in my spot?"

Andros chuckled, setting the kitten down on the edge of the sleeping bag. "I think the only thing he'd say right now is that he's tired. He was racing around the Bridge with his brother all evening. DECA had to lock them in so they wouldn't fall down an access ladder before she could get to them."

"'Get to them'?" Ashley repeated, crawling into his embrace as he opened his arms to her. "What would she do?"

"Turn off the gravity," Andros answered. "She could catch them pretty well, but only if they were going slow enough that their inertia wouldn't slam them into the floor anyway."

"Oh," she murmured. "I didn't think of that. But she did that to TJ once, didn't she?"

"More than once," he said, a grin in his voice. "She turned off the AG field in his room three or four times, I think."

Ashley thought about that for a moment, and the fact that it took her that long made her suddenly aware of how tired she was. "Could she do that in here?" she asked at last.

"DECA," Andros said, raising his voice. "Could you shut off the AG field on deck one for a while?"

"Certainly," DECA's disembodied voice replied.

That was all the warning they had before "down" abruptly vanished. She tensed, clutching at Andros as she found herself falling--but nothing moved. It took her a moment to realize that everything was exactly as it had been before... except the direction.

There wasn't any. It was the strangest feeling, and she thought that if she hadn't grown almost used to it on her Galaxy Glider, it would be incredibly disconcerting. She tried to relax, only then noticing that her jump when the gravity first cut out had been enough to suspend them several inches above the floor. Unimpeded by a counter-force they were continuing, almost imperceptibly, to drift.

"Wow," she breathed, twisting to look up at Andros. Or was she looking down at him? It was impossible to tell... "This is crazy!"

"I like it," Andros said mildly. "You look pretty in zero-g."

She found herself blushing, and she reached up to tuck her hair behind her ear out of habit. It didn't work, of course; the loose strands just floated off again. But when she glanced down, she realized that their smallest motions--well, hers; Andros wasn't moving at all--were affecting their orientation. She didn't know until she looked that they were a little bit... sideways, with respect to the floor.

"Whoa," she murmured. "It's like--flying."

She had meant piloting a zord, or her Glider, where "up" changed depending on which direction you were facing. But Andros took her more literally, disentangling himself and pushing her arms out to the side before giving her a gentle push. "It's better than flying," he said, as they headed in opposite directions.

As she looked over her shoulder, she saw him move slightly, touching the floor with his foot just hard enough to stop his backward motion and start him going the other way. He overtook her slowly, but with a deliberate grace that made it obvious this environment wasn't as foreign to him as it was to her.

He reached out and caught her arm, skewing both their trajectories even as he pulled her closer. "You can't do this when you're flying," he murmured. His mouth covered hers, and she grasped his shirt awkwardly to keep from drifting away.

He put one arm around her, reaching out to tap the wall with the other when they got too close. "Just relax," he whispered in her ear. "I won't let us hit anything."

She tried, but it was hard when there was nowhere to relax *to*. Then he put his other arm around her, pulling her closer than a hug, and she sighed contentedly. She could do this kind of relaxing.

He returned her kiss gently, and she could feel her heart starting to pound as she did her best to deepen the exchange. Once he had been shy because he was shy, but now that he knew it drove her crazy she was sure he did it on purpose... The effect was only compounded by their mutual weightlessness, for they couldn't press against each other without being pushed in the other direction.

As they wrapped themselves around each other, twisting lazily in midair, something occurred to her. With no small amount of amusement, she realized that they were finally doing, in the observatory, just what their friends had suspected them of doing all along.

It was good to live up to expectations.

(nightmares)

"Zhane. Wake up."

"Mmmph."

"Zhane, it's time to get up."

"Lemme alone..."

The lights flashed to their full brilliance, with no consideration for his half-open and still night-sensitive eyes. "If you do not get out of bed this instant," the voice warned, "I will make this room very uncomfortable for you."

He frowned groggily, the stern note in her tone finally registering. He rolled over onto his back and blinked through a slumber-induced daze at the camera on the far wall. "What's your problem today?" he muttered, forcing the words out past a jaw-cracking yawn. "It can't be that late."

"It is 2:11 a.m. in Angel Grove," DECA answered. "Get out of bed."

"What!" Zhane stared at her, not moving. "What are you doing waking me up at two in the morning? What's going on?" His brain immediately supplied the worst-case scenario, and he demanded, "Where's Andros?"

"Andros is asleep on deck one," DECA told him. "He's not the one I'm worried about."

"Then who?" Zhane pushed himself up on his elbows, trying to remember where he'd put his shirt. If DECA was this serious, then something was drastically wrong. She would have sounded the alarm if it involved the Rangers, but there were plenty of demons loose lately that couldn't be fought by morphing.

"Kerone has been having nightmares," DECA said, confirming his suspicion. "She seems to be reliving past terrors in her sleep. I have convinced her to visit the Synthetron for something soothing to drink, but I doubt she will let me do more for her than that."

"And you think she'll let me?" Zhane retorted, climbing to his feet and grabbing his t-shirt from the back of the chair. "In case you hadn't noticed, she's not very receptive to that kind of thing."

"Yet you have comforted her when she would let no one else close," DECA reminded him. "It is you she turns to when she doesn't even trust herself, so you are the logical choice to help her now."

"Logical, my left foot," he muttered, glancing around for his digimorpher automatically. "Since when have you let logic influence your decisions?"

Not deigning to reply, she remarked, "Your digimorpher is under your bed. If you have any spare time while you're in the holding bay, you might take a look at your Glider. The secondary damper on the port side is malfunctioning."

Zhane retrieved his digimorpher and the world went silver before he could utter a word. *Intraship teleportation,* he noted, mildly surprised when the holding bay appeared around him. *She's in a hurry.*

Turning, he found the bay empty except for him and his Glider. "Is this my alibi?" he inquired, amused at her thoroughness. "There's nothing wrong with the dampers, you know."

"There is," she corrected. "You missed it when you ran the maintenance check earlier."

He rolled his eyes. "Right... Thanks for noticing."

Her hologram flickered into being beside him, and he raised an eyebrow. "Going to look over my shoulder, too?"

"I suggest that you do not mention the real reason for your presence here," DECA said, ignoring him. "Past experience indicates that she will avoid--"

"Hey," Zhane interrupted. "If you knew how to get her to talk, would you have brought me here? You just tell me what's wrong with that damper."

"Your inability to diagnose the problem yourself does not leave me with a great deal of confidence," DECA remarked.

"Don't get all huffy," he told her. "Nightmares happen to be my area of expertise. Power toys are yours, remember?"

She regarded him for a moment, probably reading more into that statement than he had intended. But it had the desired effect, for at last she offered, "Check the efficiency ratios for the secondary dampers. The port secondary is misaligned."

"Something you'd think I would have noticed, if it was true," he muttered. But he bent to start the check anyway, setting the dampers to recalibrate before turning back to DECA. "Since when do you wait until half a day after the fact to bring these things up, anyway?"

Again, she didn't answer, but this time she had reason. He followed her gaze toward the door and found a familiar figure frozen there, a resigned sort of annoyance on her face as she stared at him. He tried to look surprised, knowing that DECA had been right: feigning ignorance would be his only defense tonight.

"Hey," he offered tentatively. "Couldn't sleep?"

Without a word, she shook her head from side to side. She wore an Astro sweatshirt with Andros' logo displayed prominently on the front, and the color was gone from her hair for the first time in days. He wasn't sure whether to find meaning in that or not.

"Me neither..." He couldn't stop looking at her as her annoyance began to fade, leaving only confusion and fatigue in its wake. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she answered, making a visible effort to appear less haunted.

It didn't work, and he just shook his head as DECA prompted her to check the Synthetron. Somehow he had become "the logical choice" to counsel an exhausted, guilt-ridden, ex-princess of evil who was throwing out distress signals in every direction but just as clearly was not in a talkative mood. She was back after an unexplained and mostly unaccounted for absence, and even the Megaship's computer was worried about her.

It was going to be a long night.

13. Heartbeat

The darkness pressed in, harder and harder, until it was implode or explode. Light flashed outward in every direction as she bolted upright, searing the room with a violet fire that just barely took the place of a scream. She stared around wildly, and the light dimmed imperceptibly as she tried to calm her pounding heart.

White light started to edge the purple out, and she tensed as she saw DECA's camera light flicker on. She reminded herself to breathe, to not find a threat in something so familiar. The pressure in her chest eased a little as her repressed cry sank back, retreating toward the center of her being where it could be safely buried once more.

"It's all right, Kerone," DECA said quietly. Her voice was somehow soothing and concerned at the same time. "It was just a dream."

She swallowed hard, hugging her arms closer to her. "I wish..." She stumbled over the words, making sure the scream could not come so close to erupting again. "I wish that was true."

"Did you remember something?" DECA asked gently.

She stared down at the floor, watching the violet shadows fade. The room's normal lighting crept in as her magic's explosive lightshow dissipated, keeping the level of illumination constant. "I remember every night," she whispered. "I go through... through these phases, where I just have nightmare after nightmare. They stop eventually. For a while."

"Why don't you go down to the holding bay?" DECA's tone was warm and comforting, and she found herself starting to relax a little. "I'll make you something to drink, and perhaps you can try to sleep again later."

She shivered involuntarily, but she found herself sliding off her bunk before she could think about it. "Yeah," she murmured, wrapping an oversized sweatshirt around her shoulders and folding her arms again as she headed toward the door. "That would be nice."

"DECA?" she added, as she stepped out into the hallway. "Do you think nightmares are a punishment? For things we've done wrong in our lives?"

"No," DECA answered immediately. Red lights blinked slowly on and then off, following her down the corridor toward the lift. "Current psychological theories suggest that nightmares are a way of keeping certain neural connections in the brain from becoming dormant."

She paused outside the lift, shrugging the sweatshirt off her shoulders and pulling it over her head. She couldn't seem to get warm enough, otherwise. DECA held the door patiently, and she glanced up at her camera before she stepped inside. "Do you believe that?"

"I have had little personal experience with nightmares," DECA reminded her. "But I've seen nothing to contradict such a line of reasoning."

She sighed, entering the lift and leaning against the back wall as the door closed. "So nightmares keep us from forgetting what it's like to be scared out of our minds?"

"Perhaps," DECA replied. "More than that, though, nightmares keep destructive emotions from being completely suppressed. Suppressed emotions have long been recognized as damaging to the human psyche."

She shivered again, glancing down at the Astro Ranger "V" symbol on her sweatshirt. It went from purple to red in the blink of an eye. She tossed her head, shaking out the sky blue curls in favor of blonde, and she smiled half-heartedly as she felt the air in the lift begin to warm slightly. "You don't have to do that."

"The temperature on the Megaship is maintained for the comfort of its crew," DECA answered as the lift came to a halt. "It's no trouble to raise it if you're cold."

It was noticeably cooler in the hallway, but she didn't doubt that the temperature there was climbing as well. "Thank you," she murmured, tugging her sleeves down over her fingers.

"You're welcome." DECA sounded as though she might add something else, but at the last minute changed her mind.

It didn't take long to figure out why. As she paused in the doorway to the holding bay, she saw DECA's holoimage look up from the other side of the room and nod in greeting. Next to DECA was the Silver Galaxy Glider, its pilot leaning casually against it as he argued something with the Megaship's sentient computer.

She closed her eyes briefly. "Thanks a lot," she whispered, knowing DECA would hear her. She'd been set up. Her only consolation was that Zhane looked just as surprised as she felt when he followed DECA's gaze.

"Hey," he greeted her, an easy smile chasing the surprise off of his face. "Couldn't sleep?"

She shook her head wordlessly.

"Me neither." He peered more closely at her and asked, "Are you okay?"

She forced herself to release her grip on her sweatshirt and appear more relaxed. "I'm fine."

"There is tea for you in the Synthetron," DECA offered, not seeming to notice the awkward silence. Or maybe she spoke to cover it up; it was impossible to say.

"Thank you," she murmured, glad to turn her back on Zhane's curious gaze.

He was frowning down at his Glider by the time she retrieved the mug DECA had left for her, and she was free to study him as she took a cautious sip. He looked somehow... leaner than he had five months ago; not thinner or even taller, really, just--more focused. She couldn't describe it, and she'd been trying to put her finger on it ever since she'd come back.

Now he bent over his Galaxy Glider with as much concentration as Andros, his voice muffled by the metalsynth as he asked, "Are you sure you're linked up right? The dampers all look fine from here."

"It does not require an electronic link to know that the secondary port damper is running below optimum," DECA informed him, sounding mildly exasperated. "Switch the primaries off."

Zhane took a step back, regarding the Glider critically. "I just did. There's nothing wrong."

With some asperity, DECA replied, "Not when it's sitting unloaded in a stable gravity field, no. I submit that the holding bay is not a representative test area."

"Hey, Astrea," Zhane said, glancing over at her. A smirk lingered at the corners of his mouth. "Want to do me a favor?"

She gave him an inquiring look, and he waved her over. "Hop up on my Glider, would you?"

She looked at DECA, but the hologram just folded her arms expectantly. "Why?" she asked Zhane, wrapping her other hand around her mug. Without waiting for the answer, she stepped up onto his Glider.

It remained absolutely stable, as though she were still standing on the deck when in fact she was hovering almost a foot above it. She bounced up on her toes experimentally, careful not to upset her tea. "Feels good to me," she said with a shrug.

"See?" Zhane seemed to take her word as all the proof he needed. "I'm telling you, there's nothing wrong with it."

DECA shook her head. "And I'm telling you that this is hardly the appropriate environment to make that determination. The port secondary is misaligned."

"It's not misaligned!" Zhane exclaimed. "I just checked it!"

"Then you didn't check carefully enough," DECA answered.

Zhane walked around the front of the Glider and eyed its orientation. "It's fine," he muttered, just loud enough for her to hear. Nonetheless, he came closer and inspected the open port panel again. "There's nothing wrong with this thing, DECA."

"It will not take an extended journey." DECA didn't back down, but neither did her calm waver. "Nor will it take battle maneuvers. If the primaries cut out, this is a significant safety risk."

Zhane didn't look convinced. "Well, I guess we'll just have to find out who's right, won't we. Want to come, Astrea?"

Surprised, she glanced down at him. "You're going to try it out?"

"You bet," he said with a grin. "It's the only way to know."

He would do it, too. She didn't even have to see his expression to know. "All right," she said, stepping off his Glider. She took another sip of her tea before setting it down and turning back to him.

Zhane was already on his Glider, holding out his hand as though he'd expected her to agree. "Let's go!"

She rolled her eyes, but she had to hide her smile as he pulled her up in front of him. "Do you have any idea what you're doing, Zhane?"

"Of course I know what I'm doing!" He sounded offended. "I've been flying this Glider for years. I know when the dampers are misaligned and when they're not!"

"Right," she said, unable to keep the smirk out of her voice. She trusted DECA's opinion on all things mechanical over Zhane's any day, but someone had to keep him from getting tossed off a malfunctioning Glider. "Whatever you say."

"Quiet, princess." There was a pause, just long enough for her to consider how long it had been since anyone called her that, and then he added, "Teleporting."

A rain of silver washed away the inside of the holding bay, and an instant later she found herself out among the stars. She let out her breath instinctively and braced for the absolute chill, but there was none. If nothing else, the Glider's atmospheric generator was operating perfectly.

"Not bad," Zhane said, peering over her shoulder as though the view might be different. "We're in good shape so far."

"We haven't done anything yet," she reminded him wryly.

"Spoilsport," he teased, wrapping his arms around her waist. "Hang on."

She barely had time to open her mouth to retort before the world started to slide past, faster and faster as the Glider picked up speed. She could easily have been standing in the holding bay, still and unmoving, but for the lightshow around her. The Megaship closed in above them, hull flashing by too fast for her eye to follow, and when she dared to glance "down" she caught a glimpse of blue and green amidst the twinkling blackness.

The stars burst into their full glory before her as the Glider shot out of the Megaship's shadow, and she tensed as they started to spin around her. "Zhane!"

She heard him laugh in her ear, and she realized suddenly that her hands were clenched on his as the Glider rolled over and over. Her heart pounded in her ears even as they started to level out, and she had a moment of relative peace before the Glider banked sharply and dove. She would have had no indication that they were actually descending had it not been for the Megaship's dorsal side rushing up to meet them at an alarming rate of speed.

The armor plating reached up to embrace them, but she didn't have time to shriek. The Glider's nose rose sharply and their flight path flattened out only meters above the hull, Zhane's arms still firmly around her as the force shielding streaked by on either side. She forgot to breathe as they sailed recklessly between the Megaship's defenses, canyonlike walls fairly sparkling with power as the Glider flaunted its proximity.

She felt Zhane shift slightly and the Glider sped up, racing toward certain doom when they ran out of fissure. And they would, as soon as they reached an overlap--

"Relax, princess," Zhane whispered in her ear. The sound was startlingly loud in the utter silence of space, where all she could hear was the pounding of her heart and the imagined scream of wind and heat as they dared the Megaship's shields. "I'm not going to let anything happen to us."

He thought she was afraid! She let go of his hands with one of hers, lifting her fist defiantly over her head as she laughed. Her, the princess of evil! Dark Spectre's second in command! A self-taught master-level sorceress, and he thought she was afraid!

She could feel the magic gathering with every heartbeat. She didn't have to look to know her hand was glowing as violet sparkles started to spill out from between tightly clenched fingers. Zhane whooped, tightening his grip on her as the Glider pulled up hard. The overlap loomed close enough to see only as they cleared it, shooting straight "up" and out of the electrically charged ravine. Purple fireworks streamed behind them as they soared on into open space.

The Glider arced around, making the sparkling trail visible over her shoulder before it faded all the way out. "Nice," Zhane remarked appreciatively, even as they coasted lazily over the edge of the Megaship.

Earth lay spread out before them. She had had nothing but the impression of its presence until now, when they were actually going slowly enough to see more than "fast", "close", and "big". Not that Earth wasn't big enough itself... a vast expanse of blue-green life protected by swirling white and the thinnest shimmer of atmosphere. But it was finite--not like space, where the stars went on forever, but limited and all the more precious for being so.

For a long moment she could only stare, until she became aware of Zhane muttering something under his breath. She tore her eyes away from the tiny giant in front of them, trying for an inquisitive look that she couldn't quite manage so close to him. "What's wrong?"

"You didn't feel that?" he asked, sounding more rueful than surprised.

She shook her head wordlessly, not bothering to explain that she'd been distracted.

"The secondary port damper just cut out. Good thing the primary kicked in, or we might have been in trouble. I hate it when DECA's right," he added, almost as an afterthought.

She tried to suppress a giggle. "You must hate it a lot, then."

"I do," he agreed. There was a grin in his voice that told her he wasn't even remotely serious. "I'm going to get her someday, though. I'll be right and she'll be wrong; you'll see."

She just rolled her eyes. "Is it really that important?"

"It doesn't keep me up nights, if that's what you're asking," Zhane told her. The grin was still there as he let go of her waist and put his hands on her arms instead. "Take a step forward, okay?"

She did, tentatively, well aware that there was room for only a single step. "What are you doing?"

"Reinitializing the other primaries," he answered, crouching down in the space she'd made by moving. "DECA will say it's silly, but I don't like running on three backups and one main. Might as well have them all working as a team."

"You're anthropopathizing your dampers," she informed him.

"So?" He glanced up at her amused expression and shook his head. "I don't even know what that means," he admitted sheepishly.

"You're giving them human feelings," she said, feeling a smile creep onto her face.

"Ah." He seemed to consider that for a moment, then shrugged cheerfully. "Well, whatever works!"

Her smile widened as she watched him go back to whatever he was doing, but then a shiver took hold of her and she wrapped her arms around herself instinctively. She swallowed, her smile fading, and she was glad when he didn't notice. *You can't be cold,* she told herself sternly. *It isn't cold!*

It was dark, though, just like in her dreams. It was pressing in on her. She wondered fleetingly if Zhane ever felt this way--if this was how he felt when he said that the walls were closing in on him, and nothing she or anyone else said could convince him otherwise.

She took a deep breath, concentrating on the flow of air and the overloud heartbeat that was still rushing adrenaline through her system. She stared at Zhane for lack of anything more comforting, and she felt the fingers of her left hand clench around her locket. It still hung on the same chain she had worn as Astronema...

She couldn't help but remember the sparkles, and as she glanced down her fingers glowed briefly. Where had thoughts like those come from? She knew Zhane had thought her only exuberant, and she had been, but had she been exuberant as Kerone? Or as Astronema?

"Astrea?" Zhane was standing in front of her, a worried look on his face. "You okay?"

Another shiver shook her body, and she tried to step back.

"Hey, whoa!" Zhane caught her just before she would have fallen. "What's going on?"

"I'm so cold," she whispered, her eyes locked with his.

He pulled her into a hug without another word, holding her and her bulky sweatshirt close as she wrapped her arms around him. "You look like you did when you walked into the holding bay," he murmured. "What's wrong?"

This time he must have felt her shiver, for he added, "It's the same temperature as the Megaship... do you want me to adjust it?"

She moved her head back and forth, just enough to let him know he didn't have to. "It isn't the air," she whispered, suddenly glad to have someone to lean on. "It's me. I'm cold on the inside."

"What are you talking about?" He sounded torn between anger and concern, but he held her tighter instead of pushing her away. "Tell me what's going on."

"I just..." She swallowed hard. "I just don't know who I am sometimes," she confessed miserably.

"You're a wonderful, caring person," Zhane replied immediately. "You love to smile and you want to make everything right. What else matters?"

She fought the smile that threatened, and she felt tears prick her eyelids. "So am I Kerone?" she asked softly. She didn't know why the answer was so important. "Or am I Astronema?"

"You used to say you were both," he reminded her, rubbing her back gently. "What changed?"

She sighed. They had been standing too close for too long, but she didn't want to pull away. "I don't know..." she murmured, knowing it was untrue. "Astronema's not... not very popular, Zhane."

He hugged her hard, and she heard him whisper fiercely, "I *love* Astronema, so don't you ever say that again."

"Really?" She couldn't keep her voice steady. "Everyone else loves Kerone."

"They don't love Kerone." He drew back, staring into her eyes. Both hands found her shoulders, and then he lifted one to gently stroke her cheek. "They love *you*. Just like I do."

"But--" She lowered her gaze helplessly. "If I'm really Astronema, then all those horrible things that I did... how can anyone love that?"

"Evil deeds don't make a villain," Zhane said firmly. "No more than noble accomplishments make a hero. All you are is what you're doing right now... all you are is what you believe."

"I don't know what I believe in," she murmured, still staring down at his shirt.

"Not many people can put it in words," he answered. "But that doesn't make it less real."

She touched her locket again, inadvertently. "I believe in family," she whispered. "I believe... in love." She lifted her gaze to his again and took a deep breath. "I believe in you, Zhane."

He smiled, a warm affectionate smile that made his eyes seem lighter. "I believe in you. Astronema, Kerone... those are just names. They may represent different aspects of you, but there's only one you." His blue eyes twinkled, and he added, "After all, we call Andros 'Red Ranger', and you don't see him having an identity crisis, do you?"

A small laugh escaped at the thought, and Zhane grinned back at her. "You call him Castor," she accused, not willing to let that pass without retort. "If anyone's going to give him an identity crisis, it's you!"

Zhane's eyes widened. "How do you know about that?" he wanted to know, his grin fading a little.

"I heard you one night in the holding bay," she said, watching his expression curiously. She had always meant to ask one of them about it. "What does it mean?"

"It's..." He looked uncomfortable. "It's kind of a long story."

"You listened to mine," she reminded him.

"Well--" He hesitated. "Castor and Pollux were brothers, in a story his parents used to tell. Twins." Zhane shrugged self-consciously. "That's all."

She smiled at his reluctance. "I think that's sweet," she said gently. "You should have been brothers."

He grinned, but the expression was strangely shy. "Maybe we were." Before she could respond to that, though, he asked quickly, "So did you mean what you told Carlos?"

"When?" She hadn't expected the subject to change quite so fast.

"Yesterday, on the Bridge. You said you'd never danced."

"Oh." She gave him a mock-frown. "Of course I meant it. I always mean what I say."

He glanced down, tracing a line across the front of her sweatshirt. It was an unusually intimate gesture, until she realized that he must be able to see the silver chain of his phoenix medallion around her neck. She wore it under her shirt, unlike her locket, but he must know it was there.

"Always?" Zhane asked quietly.

She swallowed at the reminder of her broken promise. "Most of the time."

He looked up at her again, one hand still on her shoulder. "Why didn't you call?"

She had called. But not as often as she could have. Not as often as she had said she would. And not at all, toward the end. She had nothing to give him but the truth, now.

"I was afraid to," she said simply.

"Because of me?" he asked, studying her carefully. "Or because of you?"

She hesitated. "Both," she said at last. "You, because it had been so long. Me, because... I don't know."

He lifted his free hand to her face again, but this time he brushed the straight blonde wisps back from her eyes. "I told you I'd be here," he reminded her.

She nodded wordlessly. It was easier to hear than it was to believe, and she suspected he knew it. They both knew the power of unkeepable promises.

"Your hair," he realized aloud. It was the way she had always worn it as Astrea. "Trying to be less like Astronema?" he asked gently.

"Sometimes," she admitted after a moment. "Sometimes more like her."

It was his turn to nod. They said more in the silence than they had with the words.

Then he touched her cheek again, one hand still caressing her hair, and she smiled a little. She turned her face toward his, and he kissed her slowly. It was gentle and unintrusive, but strangely comforting. They stood that way for what felt like a long time, thought it couldn't have been much more than a few seconds before Zhane pulled away.

"I have something to tell you," he said softly. "It's not important, but I don't want you hearing about it from someone else."

"One of those things," she said, a smile tugging at her lips again. "I promise not to throw anything."

"Thanks." He sounded more serious than she'd expected, and more nervous than his earlier disclaimer warranted. "I kissed Kayatachi."

She frowned, sure she should recognize that name from somewhere. "One of the Eltaran Rangers?" she guessed at last.

He nodded, not taking his eyes off of her.

She studied him in return. "Do you love her?"

"No, of course not. We were celebrating, and it just... happened. It didn't mean anything."

She shrugged a little. "Okay then."

He gave her a worried look. "I do love Andros, though."

She smiled. "I know."

"Okay then," he echoed, looking relieved.

"I have something to tell you, too," she said, trying to keep her expression neutral.

"Yeah?" he asked apprehensively.

She bit her lip. "I kissed Saryn."

His eyes widened. "What!"

She couldn't keep from giggling any longer. "Kidding! I'm just kidding!"

He clapped one hand over his heart, miming shock. "Man! I thought I'd been zapped into some sort of parallel universe! Not that you can't kiss anyone you want," he added hastily, "but... Saryn?"

She smirked. "Don't worry. It isn't worth death by Cassie even if I wanted to try."

He laughed, but she saw the glance he shot her out of the corner of his eye. "So you don't?" he asked, his grin just a little bit worried. "Want to try, that is."

She put her hands on her hips. "I thought you just said I could kiss anyone I wanted," she teased, well aware that they weren't just joking around. They were both testing the limits, seeing how far they could go.

"Well," he said with a shrug, clearly trying to be casual about it. "You can. Obviously. But... I guess I just want you to know that--no matter who I kiss, you're the one I love."

"Thank you," she said softly. "That means a lot to me." She tugged the phoenix free from underneath her sweatshirt and stared down at it, not quite able to meet his eyes as she continued. "I don't--I don't really know enough to say 'I love you' and mean it, and I'm sorry, because if anyone deserves it, you do."

She held up the medallion, meeting his eyes involuntarily. "But if this is you, then it's me too. I'm still... I'm still figuring out what it means to be free, and to be able to love without being afraid. But... if it means anything, I think you could teach me--because you've already started."

He was looking at her without a trace of the amusement that usually lingered on his features. "It does mean something," he said quietly. "It means a lot. I'll be here for you as long as you want me, you know."

"Even if it's a really long time?" She hadn't thought about that, she'd just said it, but he didn't hesitate.

"Especially if it's a really long time," he told her.

She smiled tentatively, and he pulled her close for a hug. "Now," he whispered in her ear. "What's all this about nightmares?"

She pushed against his chest indignantly, but he didn't let go. "DECA told you!"

"She told me not to say anything," he admitted, hugging her harder. "She said you'd just leave if I did. But she wanted to be sure I wouldn't make any stupid jokes by accident."

"I like your jokes," she mumbled. She squeezed him back before trying to let go, and this time he let her. "They're just bad dreams; they'll go away."

"Not if you ignore them," he countered. "Bad dreams only get worse when you ignore them. Trust me; I know."

She looked up, searching his expression. "What do you dream?"

"I used to dream that the monster got to Andros before I could," he said frankly. "I would dream that he died back on KO-35. I still dream about the school sometimes, or hypersleep--that I'm trapped, and that I won't die; I'll just stay that way forever and no one will even know."

"You dream about being alone," she murmured, looking away. "I'm never alone in my nightmares. There are always people around and I know that I'm going to hurt them but there's no way to warn them... I know they're going to die and it's because of me but there's nothing I can do!"

"Hey," Zhane said softly. He caught her hand and she tried to pull away, not wanting him to see the tears in her eyes. "Uh-uh," he said, twining his fingers through hers and holding her fast. "It's not that easy. You can't turn away from nightmares; you have to face them."

She lifted her head, knowing her eyes were too bright. "Like you?" she said, wishing her voice wouldn't tremble.

"I do the best I can," he said softly. "That's all any of us can do. We cry when we have to, and sometimes we just scream out loud, but we're always stronger for it."

A tear slid down her cheek, and to her embarrassment she felt a sob slip out. She swallowed hard, trying to turn away again, but he wouldn't let her. Staring down at his shirt she whispered, "This is not me being strong, Zhane."

"Yes it is," he insisted, catching her other hand and squeezing it tight. "Astrea, people who aren't afraid never have to be strong! People who don't feel anything aren't heroes; they're machines! Nothing stops them, nothing slows them down, but it's not because they're strong, it's because they don't *care*!"

She sniffed, wiping her cheek against her shoulder. "So next time I should just scream, huh?" she whispered, trying to smile. "Carlos won't like that; he's right next door."

"Did you want to scream tonight?" Zhane asked quietly.

She hesitated, but she managed to make herself nod.

"Turn around." He gave her a little push when she looked at him oddly. "I mean it; turn around."

Reluctantly, she let go of his hands and turned around to face the stars. She felt him put his hands over her ears, and then she heard him whisper, *Go ahead. Scream. It'll make you feel better.*

She tried to shake her head. "I can't just scream!"

*We're not strong because we're never afraid, Astrea. We're strong because we're afraid and we go on anyway. So scream and prove it. Scream to prove that you're afraid, and that it doesn't matter.*

She took a deep breath, knowing that in the end she would scream not because she needed to but because he had asked her to. So she did, screaming so that he would hear her and know that she was trying as hard as he was. She could hear herself, too, despite his hands over her ears, and the sound caught at something inside of her.

Something woke at the sound of the scream, uncoiling deep inside of her and forcing its way to the surface before she could even recognize it. It got into her throat and took over her voice, turning a half-hearted shriek into a full-bodied howl of release. It was the stuff her nightmares were made of, and she screamed and screamed until she couldn't feel it inside her anymore.

Zhane's arms went around her waist the moment she stopped, hugging her close and holding her up when she slumped against him. "Feel any better?" he murmured, kissing the back of her head and smoothing her hair with his cheek.

"No," she sulked, her voice barely above a whisper. She did, in a way. Less pent-up, more tired. She couldn't tell if it was a good change or a bad one, but at least it was a change. "My throat hurts."

"Wuss," he teased gently, kissing her again. "You have a pretty scream."

She elbowed him, hard, but she felt a smile tug at the corners of her lips. "I suppose you've made a lot of girls scream."

"Not since I was six and fell into a mudhole," he said wryly. "But don't tell anyone. I have a reputation to maintain."

"Really?" she murmured, putting her hand over her throat. She was really going to regret that tomorrow. "How much of it's true?"

"What?" He sounded surprised. "My reputation, or the mudhole story?"

She managed to giggle. It was a good feeling. "Both."

"The mudhole story's true," he told her. "And it was an accident, no matter what Andros tells you. The reputation thing, though..." He paused for a moment. "I've kissed a lot of girls, Astrea. But that's it."

She nodded once. "Just curious," she whispered. "Thanks."

"For what?"

"For telling me," she said, having to think about it. Thanking him had been automatic. "And--for making me scream."

"Yeah, well, I have that effect on a lot of people," he cracked.

She giggled, elbowing him again. "Liar."

"Is that a compliment?"

"Maybe," she said with a smile.

They stood that way for a few moments, staring into the void and letting the stars' peace seep into them. Finally she murmured, "You're going to have to admit to DECA that the damper got fried eventually, you know."

"Yeah, I know." He sounded like he was grinning sheepishly. "But not yet."

She was about to ask what he was waiting for when he added, "So about the dancing thing... Did you mean it when you said you weren't planning to start?"

"I meant I wasn't planning to start with Carlos," she answered, twisting to look over her shoulder. "I didn't mean I wouldn't dance ever."

"Good." He loosened his grip on her, carefully, as though he wanted to make sure she could stand on her own. "Turn around again and I'll give you your first lesson."

She turned, about to make a sarcastic remark when she saw the look in his eyes. She closed her mouth without a word, smiling a little instead. He smiled back, and the expression warmed her heart.

"Okay," he said, edging a little closer to her. "Rule number one." He slid his arms around her, pulling her into an embrace that wasn't quite a hug. "Music is optional."

She wasn't sure how her hands had ended up on his shoulders, but it didn't seem quite right. She wound them around behind his neck before she could think about it, and he smiled again. They were close enough that they were almost-touching, in a way that was somehow more intimate than hugging would have been.

"Rule number two," he continued, his voice a little lower. "Moving is also optional."

She leaned a fraction closer, keeping her eyes on his until the last second. "What about kissing?" she murmured, brushing her lips against his. "Is kissing optional?"

"Kissing is good," he mumbled, letting her capture his mouth again.

When their kiss ended she whispered breathlessly, "I think my heart is dancing. Is that silly?"

He shook his head. "No," he breathed, kissing her again. "Mine too."

Finally she found herself staring into his blue eyes again, getting lost in something deeper than the stars. "Zhane?" she whispered at last. "When will I know that I love you?"

He smiled at her. "When you don't have to ask," he answered. "Hey..."

She gave him a curious look, and he ran his fingers through her hair. "Would Astronema have done this, do you think? Danced on a Glider?"

"Yes." The answer came easily, and she found herself smiling. "If you'd asked me, I would have."

14. Ring Finger

She wouldn't have heard the knock if she hadn't been standing right in front of the door. She threw her towel down on the bed and grabbed for the remote, turning the volume on the stereo down to a more reasonable level. She shot another look at the mirror before pulling the door open.

"TJ!" she exclaimed delightedly. "I was just thinking about you!"

"What a coincidence," he said with a grin. He pulled his hand out from behind his back and offered her a wrapped bundle of rainbow colored flowers. "I was just thinking about you, too."

"Ohh..." Tessa took them from him carefully, inhaling the soft scent of fresh roses. "These are beautiful! Thank you!"

She pushed the door wide for him as she turned toward her desk, adding "Come on in," over her shoulder. "What's the password?" she added belatedly, laying the flowers beside her computer.

"The password is 'pretty please,'" TJ answered, putting his hands on her shoulders from behind. "'I want to see my gorgeous girlfriend.'"

She laughed, turning in his embrace to smile up at him. "Flatterer. What are you doing here so early?"

"Since when do I need an excuse?" he inquired. "I just wanted to say hi. And I like your hair," he added, grinning.

She rolled her eyes. "Most people's hair straightens out when it's wet; mine just gets curlier. I don't understand it."

"I like it," he repeated, touching her hair briefly. "So what are you up to?"

She gave him a look of amused disbelief. "Hello, prom? You think a girl can get ready in five minutes?"

"Just checking," he said lightly, and she did her best to repress a frown at his apparent evasion.

"Did you come by just to bring these?" she asked, keeping her smile firmly in place as she glanced down at the flowers. "You shouldn't have gone out of your way."

"Well, I admit that the flowers were an afterthought," he teased. "I am a guy, after all. Mostly I just wanted to see you."

She laughed, giving him a gentle push. "You'll see me in an hour," she reminded him. "Now get out of here so I can get ready!"

He sighed. "I'll see you later, then," he said over his shoulder, letting her push him toward the door.

"Yes," she said firmly. "Later. Thanks for the flowers!" she added, her hand on the doorknob. She hadn't meant to say that, but he looked so disappointed that she just had to.

He smiled at her when she waved, and she resisted the urge to lock the door behind her when it was finally closed again. He would be able to hear the click of the deadbolt from the hallway, and that would only tip him off that something was wrong. She couldn't say anything for the same reason--the walls around here were too thin for anything but the illusion of privacy.

She tried to go back to her hair instead. Unfortunately, the mirror was on the back of the door, and the more she stared at it the easier it was to imagine that he was on the other side of the door, staring back. Finally she took her brush over to the window, wondering if he would leave the normal way.

He did. She saw him exit through the main doors only a moment later, and he glanced up at her window automatically. She hadn't expected that, and she just barely kept from turning away. She even managed to wave, and he blew her a jaunty kiss. Just like TJ always did...

She swallowed, watching him saunter off down the street toward the commuter parking lot. The windows were wide open, so she waited until he was out of sight to look around for her communicator. She had taken it off before she showered.

It was on her desk, right where she'd left it--underneath the flowers. She pushed them gingerly aside, rescuing the yellow-banded communicator before backing away. She activated the little device as she sat down on Marie's bed. "TJ?" she asked, still staring at the flowers. "This is Tessa."

"So you think she'll like it?"

Carlos didn't even look up from his computer. "Yeah, man. I think she'll like it."

"Are you sure?" TJ persisted. "I mean, we haven't talked about this much."

"It's supposed to be a surprise," Carlos answered absently. "Telling her in advance sort of defeats the purpose."

"Yeah, but--" His communicator chimed, and he hesitated. Carlos kept typing, not paying any more attention than he had before.

Tessa's voice came across the comm link before he could even acknowledge it. She sounded a little... odd, and he frowned. "Tess? What's wrong?"

The answer startled him. "You gave me flowers," she said, the strange note still in her voice.

"What?" He saw Carlos look up from his laptop at last. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, your Psycho Ranger did," she amended, and a cold feeling settled into the pit of his stomach.

"Are you all right?" he demanded. "Are you alone? Where's Marie?"

"She went home for the weekend. Yes I'm alone, and yes I'm fine, if you don't count being incredibly creeped out. He's gone now... I don't think he knows I caught on, but--"

"I want you on the Megaship," TJ interrupted. "And I want you to be able to get here whenever you need to. Should I bring you up now, or do you want to wait a couple minutes while I talk Andros into changing the security protocols?"

"Give me a couple of minutes," she answered, and he didn't think he was imagining the relief in her voice. "I'll be ready to go then."

"All right." He exchanged glances with Carlos. "Don't let anyone else in, okay? If anything happens, call right away and we'll get you out of there."

"I will," she promised. "See you in a few minutes."

"Be there soon." He tapped his morpher and let his wrist fall, heading for the door before Carlos could say a word. "DECA, where's Andros?"

"Andros is one deck one," DECA replied.

"With?" TJ prompted as he stepped into the hall. Andros was rarely in the observatory alone.

"Zhane is also on deck one," the computer offered.

"Thanks." As he entered the lift, it occurred to him to ask, "DECA, do I have the authority to alter the Megaship's security level?"

"All Astro Rangers have that authority," she told him.

"Deck one," he said automatically, and the lift hummed to life. "So if I told you to go to security level four, you'd do it?"

"Of course. Control of ship's functions is the responsibility and the privilege of the Astro Rangers. You may alter shipwide security at your discretion."

He considered that for a moment. "Well, that's good to know," he muttered, half to himself. Still, he had no doubt that Andros would be informed the moment he gave the order, and the Red Ranger would naturally want an explanation. With no one in immediate danger, he'd better explain first.

"All right, who took my barrette?" Cassie was holding a single braid away from her face as she scanned the room impatiently. "I just had it a second ago."

"I ate it," Ashley told her. "Sorry. Want an elastic?"

Tessa stood up and tested her sandals, unable to keep from making a face when one of the straps cut into her ankle. Bracing her foot on the chair she'd just been sitting in, she tried to loosen it a little. "Who invented these annoying buckles?" she asked, not addressing anyone in particular.

"Here," Ashley offered, appearing beside her in an instant. "Let me do it."

The Yellow Ranger knelt next to her, her usual grace not hindered by heels and a flared ballgown. She pulled the strap free easily and slid it down a hole. "Just one, or more?"

"I think that's good." Putting her foot back on the floor, Tessa shifted her weight experimentally. "Yeah, that's great. Thanks."

"Oh, no you don't!" Ashley caught a little brown wisp of fur just before it would have tackled her sandal. "Nice try," she told the kitten. "Why don't you go talk to Kerone?"

Kerone lay sprawled on Cassie's bunk in jeans and a t-shirt, paying no attention to the activity around her. She had a comic book propped up against her knees and she seemed, for all intents and purposes, completely engrossed in it. The grey kitten was already curled in the crook of her arm, chewing contentedly on something.

"Here," Ashley said, dropping the other kitten on Kerone's stomach. "Hold on to this one too, would you? And what is--oh. Cassie?"

The grin in her voice got Tessa's attention again, and she looked up in time to see Ashley pull a pink rhinestone butterfly away from the grey kitten. "I found your barrette," Ashley offered, inspecting it. "It looks okay. No teeth marks, anyway."

"I didn't even see him take it!" Cassie held out her hand, and Ashley passed the little clip over to her. "Thanks for noticing that, Kerone."

"No problem," the other girl answered absently. Her voice sounded a little quieter than usual, but Tessa couldn't tell whether she was hoarse or just distracted.

"Want some help?" Ashley was hovering next to her friend, studying her reflection in the mirror. "I can put that in for you."

Cassie shook her head, but she handed the barrette back without argument. "How can you be ready to go?" she asked, as Ashley clipped her braid into place. "I thought you'd be the last one dressed!"

"More practice," Ashley told her with a grin. "Hold still and I'll do the other side."

Tessa laid her wrist on the edge of Cassie's desk and managed to fasten her bracelet. She paused to inspect her fingernails before reaching for the collar--she had painted them the night before, and true to form, one of them was already chipped. She supposed she should be grateful she was wearing a light color; the imperfection was less noticeable than it could have been.

She heard Ashley scold Cassie for moving her head, and Cassie's retort that if her friend would stop pulling her hair she wouldn't have to move. Tessa smiled, glancing over at Kerone. Andros' sister was still reading, though she had had to lift the comic book up when the kittens started playing with her locket. Otherwise, she seemed unperturbed.

Fastening the collar around her neck, Tessa decided that she had something to thank the Psycho Rangers for after all. Getting ready in her dorm room wouldn't have been nearly as much fun. She wouldn't have had Ashley to help, or Kerone to keep a sense of perspective... what was she reading, anyway?

"You look good," Ashley said, from out of nowhere, and she turned around with a smile.

"Thanks. So do you," Tessa added. "I was just thinking how nice it is to get ready together like this."

"Some of us, anyway," Cassie added wryly, giving Kerone a pointed look. "It's good to know that there's at least one person who isn't stressing over her hair."

Kerone seemed to sense their regard. "What?" she asked, lifting her head to look back at them.

"Nothing," Ashley said with a laugh. "Almost done with 'ElfQuest'?"

"Yeah..." Kerone set the comic down carefully, a slight frown creasing her forehead. "I don't quite understand, though--you have wolves on Earth, but not elves? Is that right?"

"That's right," Cassie told her, tilting her head to put in one of her earrings. "Wolves are like... wild dogs, kind of. Elves are--" She paused, shooting Ashley and Tessa a helpless look.

"Blonde, pointy-eared people with a sense of humor?" Ashley suggested, adjusting the double spaghetti straps over her right shoulder. "That's a tough one. Tessa, what are elves?"

"Um..." Caught, she could only shrug. "Imaginary woodland spirits with--magical powers?"

"Barefoot imaginary spirits," Cassie amended, making a face as she pulled off the socks she'd been wearing over her nylons. "Why am I wearing these shoes?"

"You're not, yet," Ashley pointed out. "You can take them off at dinner. Kerone, do you need any help?"

"No, thanks." Kerone sat up and stretched lazily, dislodging both kittens in the process. She put a hand over each one before they could slip away and smiled up at Ashley. "I'm still on kitten duty."

Tessa studied the other girl carefully, trying to decide whether Kerone's smile was just a tad bit smug. She had to wonder if she would still look that calm when it was time to go. She knew Kerone could change her appearance at will, but still...

"All right, time for some glitter," Ashley announced. "Cassie, if you're not using the mirror, could you stop sitting in front of it?"

"I will be using it," Cassie retorted good-naturedly. "As soon as I stand up."

"Are you going to wear glitter?" Tessa asked, surprised. It was something she might have expected of Cassie, but not her more classically attired teammate. Cassie's fitted silhouette dress was stunning, but the side slit was just a little too high and the single shoulder strap looked deliberately loose. It was as though the Pink Ranger couldn't suppress her rebellious streak even for a single night.

"No," Ashley replied cheerfully. "I'm not going to wear it; you are. Come here."

"Why would I wear glitter?" She joined Ashley by the mirror anyway, trading places with Cassie. The other girl was still smoothing her dress back into place after bunching it up to slide her shoes on. "I think my collar's sparkly enough."

"That's why you can wear it," Ashley informed her patiently. "It matches."

Tessa studied her reflection. She was the only one wearing a two-piece dress, and next to Ashley she felt underdressed in more ways than one. Her hair was loose and unadorned, and she wore illusion netting over a midriff-baring top and turquoise skirt. The outfit was both more revealing and slightly less formal than her friends', and she wasn't convinced glitter would be an improvement

"Here," Cassie said, reaching for the glitter. "Watch me do it wrong, then you can figure out what to change."

Tessa laughed inadvertently. "I guess that's fair."

She moved to one side to give Cassie some room. Opening the little jar, Cassie set the cover down and stepped closer to peer at her face in the mirror. "The trick," she murmured, "is to get it closer to your eyes than you think it's supposed to be..."

"Yeah, that sounds safe," Ashley interjected dryly.

There was silent movement behind them, and Tessa caught a glimpse of Kerone's purple t-shirt in the mirror. She saw Ashley glance over her shoulder when Kerone warned them, "The kittens are loose."

"There," Cassie said, sounding satisfied. "That looks pretty good." She had underlined both eyes with streaks of rainbow-colored glitter, invisible until she moved and the light caught it. "Do you want some, or should I do the rest first?"

"You're going to use more?" Tessa inspected Cassie's face, then took a step back and considered the overall effect critically. "That does look cool."

"Yeah... I'll probably just put some on my wrists and neck, too," Cassie answered. She glanced over at Ashley. "What do you think?"

"I think Saryn won't thank you for putting anything on your neck," Ashley told her with a smirk.

Cassie only laughed. "Maybe not," she admitted. "All right, wrists it is."

Tessa's focus was on Cassie, so she didn't even notice when Ashley looked over her shoulder again. A moment later, though, Ashley got everyone's attention with a single word. "Wow!"

They looked up in surprise, just in time to see Kerone put her hands on her hips. "Well?" she inquired mildly. "You didn't think I was going in jeans, did you?"

She wore a simple tank top style dress with a skirt that swirled just above her ankles, but even as Tessa watched Kerone smoothed her hands over the waistline and the gown became a two-piece. She smiled when Kerone winked at her, the bright lilac-colored skirt and sequined top shimmering in the light.

"Am I presentable?" Kerone wanted to know.

Ashley laughed. "Very!"

Cassie just rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. "Someone remind me to be a sorceress in my next life. Tessa, hold still."

She did her best not to blink as Cassie scooped up some glitter gel and ran one finger over her cheekbone. "Does this stuff come off?"

"Yes, so don't touch your face," Cassie warned, applying some under her other eye. "You can rub a lot of it off just by accident, but it stays pretty well otherwise. Want anymore?" she added, taking a step back to consider her handiwork.

Tessa glanced at the mirror, moving her head back and forth to see where the glitter began and ended. "No... Actually, that looks good," she admitted, tilting her head down to see what it looked like from above. "Thanks, Cassie."

"You're welcome," Cassie answered, smiling as she capped the jar again. "So are we all ready?"

"Kerone," Ashley interrupted before anyone could answer. "No one is going to believe you did that to your hair with dye!"

Tessa turned around curiously, but saw nothing unusual. "What are you talking about?"

Kerone put her hands behind her back, a distinctly smug smile on her face as she turned. "What are they going to think I used? Magic?"

Her straight blonde hair was pulled back at the top and loose underneath, the ends curling slightly as they always seemed to. It was a simple enough hairstyle--until one saw the rainbow wound through her short ponytail. Tessa put a hand over her mouth to stifle a giggle. "Speaking of elves," she murmured.

"Fairies," Cassie corrected with a grin. "Fairies have colored hair."

"We need a picture," Tessa realized suddenly. "Not just of Kerone," she added, when everyone looked at her. "Of all of us."

"Believe me," Ashley told her, a note fond exasperation in her voice, "my parents will take plenty. One of each of us, one of each of the couples, about fifty of us all together..."

"She's right, though," Cassie said. "We should have one of all us girls before we leave."

"DECA," Kerone put in. "Could you take a picture for us?"

DECA's camera swiveled slightly to regard them. "Certainly. Shall I display it on the comm screen?"

"That'd be great!" Ashley put her arm around Kerone's shoulders and motioned to Cassie and Tessa. "Come on, guys... Are we all ready?"

Tessa put her arm around Cassie's waist and tried to straighten her dress with her free hand. "I'm ready," she agreed, and in the mirror she saw Kerone nod.

Cassie squeezed her shoulders affectionately. "Smile!"

DECA's camera light flickered, probably more for dramatic effect than anything else, and an image of the four of them appeared on Cassie's computer terminal.

"Oh, I blinked," Ashley complained. "We have to do another one."

"No one move," Cassie said, rolling her eyes. "And keep your eyes open this time!"

"Everybody make a face," Kerone suggested, and Tessa giggled.

"No, I know!" Ashley exclaimed. "Everyone hold out your right hand!"

Cassie laughed this time, and as soon as Tessa freed her right arm she saw what Ashley meant. They put their right hands together in the middle, trying not to giggle as they vied for position.

"All right," Cassie declared at last. "Everyone stop being silly!"

Kerone outright laughed at that and Ashley snickered, but they stopped shoving each other.

"Ready?" Ashley asked, as they looked up at DECA's camera. Four pink and yellow communicators glittered on their outstretched wrists. "Everybody smile!"

"Just one more picture--stand close together, you two!"

"Mom!" Ashley called from inside. "Let them go already! We're going to make it to the prom before they do, at this rate!"

"All right, all right," her mother said with a smile, lowering her camera. "Go ahead; I won't hold you up."

"Thanks for dinner, Mrs. Hammond," TJ said, pausing by the steps. "We really appreciate you letting us eat in your dining room."

"It was our pleasure," she assured him. "Have a good time tonight!"

"Thanks again!" Tessa said, waving as she waited by the car.

Ashley's mother waved back, smiling, and TJ hurried to open the passenger door. "Drive safely!" she added, and then, "Sorry, I had to say it. Good night!"

TJ grinned and waved while Tessa settled herself in the car. "Good night, Mrs. Hammond."

Tessa smiled at him and he closed her door carefully. To his surprise, she leaned over and pushed his door open for him the way she always did, which was no mean feat in her dress. "Thanks," he said automatically as he climbed in. "You don't have to do that, you know."

"Reverse chivalry?" she suggested with a smile, smoothing her skirt. "Don't worry; I don't think I'm going to do it again. I'm not sure how much twisting this dress can take."

"You look fabulous," he told her as he started the car. "I'm sure I've already told you that, but you look great."

She laughed, waving out the windshield as they backed out of the Hammonds' driveway. "A girl can never hear it too often," she told him. "Thanks. You look pretty stunning yourself."

He flashed her a grin. "I knew I'd have a lot to live up to. That's the thing about having a gorgeous girlfriend; I have to be careful not to let you make me look bad."

She smiled at that, but her expression was distracted. When she didn't answer, he shot another quick look at her. "That was supposed to be a compliment," he offered, a little ruefully. "Sorry if it didn't come out that way."

"What? Oh, no," she said quickly, smiling again. "I thought it was sweet. I was just thinking about the Psycho Rangers."

Keeping his eyes on the road this time, he raised an eyebrow. "Was it something I said?"

She laughed. "No," she assured him. "Well, sort of... but not in a bad way. It was just you calling me 'gorgeous'... that's what your Psycho Ranger said this afternoon."

"Huh." TJ frowned at the road, trying to keep the mood light. "He's stealing all my lines. We'll have to have a little chat about that next time we meet."

Tessa was quiet for a moment. "Do you think they'll be at the prom?" she asked at last.

It was his turn to hesitate. "Honestly?"

"No, TJ; lie to me." She sounded amused. "Of course honestly."

The car came to a halt at a two-way stop and he glanced over at her. "Yeah," he admitted. "I do think they'll be there, for two reasons.

"One," he said, as they rolled forward again, "they should have attacked before now, so they're obviously waiting for something. It's as likely to be that as anything else. Especially since, two, they'll know we can't be as careful at the prom. It'll be crowded and noisy and we won't be able to keep track of each other very well. It's a perfect opportunity."

She didn't answer right away, and he wondered if that had been a little more than she'd asked for. But when she spoke all she said was, "So tell me why we're going on ahead, if sticking together is that important?"

He shrugged self-consciously. "Well, it's still prom night. And if the Psychos really are planning to attack, I thought maybe we should get to our seaside stroll sooner rather than later."

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Tessa put a hand over her mouth. "Oh, no!" she exclaimed. "I knew I'd forgotten something."

"No, you didn't," he said, trying not to smile.

"My sneakers!"

"They're in the back. I grabbed them while