Chapters:

1. First Star

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

He grinned unrepentantly. "Cassie, catch!"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"How was the movie?" Karen added.

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

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

Ashley and Andros exchanged looks.

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

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

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

TJ just shook his head.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

TJ sighed. "Nothing."

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

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

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

"Me too," Zhane agreed.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

It beeped before she could touch it.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

There was silence for a moment.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"We can't protect ten transports!"

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

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

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

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

Cetaci inclined her head. "Of course."

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

Andros nodded wordlessly.

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

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

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

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

"You should sleep too," Zhane reminded him.

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

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

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

"Looking for something?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

She looked over at him.

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

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

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

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

"Please specify," the computer reproved mildly.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

*Good night, Saryn.*

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Ash?"

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

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

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

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

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

"I will," he promised.

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Good," he whispered.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2. Defector

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Deck one," she said aloud.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wordlessly, he held up a data disc.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"I will expect you, my princess."

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

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

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

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

"Comm link open," DECA replied promptly.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"DECA?" she asked, frowning curiously.

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

"I do. You disapprove?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

3. Worlds Apart

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Cassie!"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Aura?" Ashley asked, sounding surprised.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ashley looked dismayed. "Was it that obvious?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ashley looked puzzled. "No one ignores you."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Cassie?" Ashley looked worried.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"But?" Cassie prompted.

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

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

"Thanks," Ashley said gratefully.

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

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

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

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

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

"So could you," she countered.

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

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

"Hmm?" Ashley asked, following her gaze.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Their communicators went off simultaneously.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Right."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Incoming fighters!"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Confirmation sent," DECA announced.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Cetaci's voice.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

4. Hear Me

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"What?!"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

There was a brief, awkward silence.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

She snorted. "Of course not."

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

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

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

"Escape hatch," he answered promptly.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The ghost of a smile flickered across his face.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ashley stared at him.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Channel 5," she replied promptly.

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

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

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

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

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

"Sure," she said, sounding puzzled.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

5. Storm Shelter

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

*Are you all right?* Andros asked immediately.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

*Yeah,* he said slowly, not sure how to thank his friend for letting him eavesdrop. *Andros... that really helped. Thanks.*

*You're welcome. Just never, ever tell her I did that!*

Zhane grinned in spite of himself. *I won't. I owe you.*

*You always do,* Andros reminded him lightly. *Let me know when you lift off.*

*Right.* His friend's presence retreated to a bright glow just beyond what his eyes could see, and Zhane pushed himself to his feet. He was going to have a talk with Andros' sister.

He walked around the end of the compact thruster and levered himself up on top of it. He had found that it was possible to climb the zord from the back, if one put one's mind to it, and the startled expression on Astrea's face when he first appeared at the escape hatch without the aid of her teleportation had been well worth the effort.

This time, as he pulled himself up and straightened to walk over to the hatch, he glanced out toward the rapidly approaching heat haze. It looked darker than it had at first, and as he squinted at it, he wondered if he could actually see something moving in that strange air mass.

*Air mass?* he thought suddenly, looking more closely. If it was moving air, not just heat--

"Oh, this is not good," he muttered, dread taking sudden hold in his heart. "Astrea?"

He strode over to the hatch and rapped sharply on the hull. "Astrea, I think you should see this..."

He heard her mutter something that he probably wasn't supposed to overhear, but a moment later she appeared at the bottom of the ladder that led up through the escape hatch. "What is it?"

He motioned to her to come up, still staring off across the desolate expanse of sand and stone that surrounded them. "Just trust me on this one."

She sighed, but he heard her sneakers on the ladder a moment later. He turned back just as she reached the top, and wordlessly offered his hand. She glanced over her shoulder as she reached out to take it, and she froze midmotion.

He clasped her hand anyway, and she gave her head a shake and let him pull her up the rest of the way. "We're going to have to secure the zords," she said, giving both of them a cursory glance. "Did you finish with the stabilizer?"

"Yeah, it's ready to go," he said, gaze riveted on the massive dust storm that was sweeping toward them across the plains. "Is there any way we can lift off?"

She shook her head. "The interface is close to being done, but not that close. We're going to have to wait it out."

He heard what she did not say--that they would have to wait it out inside the zords. There was no other option, of course; the cliffs would provide little to no shelter, and to remain outside in a storm like this would be suicidal. But to be inside, for him at least, might be almost as bad...

"Astrea," he said quietly. "I can't--"

"It'll be okay," she interrupted, pausing the checklist that was clearly running through her mind. She put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a reassuring smile, then pushed him gently toward the back of the zord. "Go make sure that access panel is locked shut, all right? I'm going to check Mega V4, and I'll meet you back here in a minute."

"But I--"

"Don't think about it," she ordered. "Just do it. I'll be right back."

He saw her gaze drift toward the oncoming storm, the stiff breeze whipping her hair around her face. Then a violet shimmer spread over her entire form, outlining her for a brief second before she vanished.

"Don't think about it," he muttered, climbing down over the back of the zord and hitting the ground hard. "Sure; easy for *you* to say."

He checked the stabilizer's access panel, but since he hadn't expected to return to it before they left, it was already locked down tight. He hesitated then, his eyes drawn inevitably back to the rushing sand and sediment caught up in the gale that howled across the plains toward them.

He could hear the storm now, a dull roar that escalated in intensity with each passing second, and the closer it came the more of the horizon it seemed to engulf. He supposed it wouldn't seem to surround them until it was on right top of them, but it looked like it might wrap around the two zords at any second and tighten the circle until there was nothing left.

"Zhane!" He heard Astrea's shout from somewhere above him, and when he glanced up he saw her gesturing urgently to him from the top of the zord. "Come on! We have to get inside!"

He swallowed, but he put one foot on the thruster and obediently hauled himself up the side. She caught his hand as he reached over the top, and he accepted the help gratefully. The wind gusted around them as he stood, and she kept her grip on his hand as she pulled him toward the escape hatch.

Sand stung his bare skin as they made their way across the zord, and suddenly a shimmer of violet sprang up around them. The shield dulled the wind and blocked most of the dust, but he balked when she pushed him toward the ladder.

It wasn't much of a choice--stay out here in the storm, or retreat to the safety of the zord. But with the screen completely obscured by blowing sand he knew he wouldn't last long in the cockpit, and he *really* didn't want her to see him fall apart.

Frozen next to the escape hatch, he simply couldn't make himself move.

He couldn't do it. She could see it in his expression, and they didn't have time to waste. Without another thought, she threw her arms around him and closed her eyes, picturing the interior of the Mega V6 cockpit.

She saw the strangely silver-streaked purple flash across her vision, and the wind dropped off sharply, the sound muted by the zord's heavily insulated hull. Letting go of Zhane, she turned and grabbed the ladder's rungs, climbing hand over hand to the escape hatch. Her fingers found the handle, and she wrestled against the ever-increasing wind until, with a last violent tug, the hatch slammed shut.

She twisted the handle until the electronic sensor flashed green, indicating it was not only locked but sealed as well. With a small sigh, she pushed herself away from the ladder and jumped the short distance to the floor. Nothing would be coming through there until it was opened again from the inside.

She glanced over at her companion. He was standing where she'd left him, leaning against the starboard bank of control panels with his eyes closed. "Zhane?"

"I'm fine," he answered. His tone was perfectly normal, though his face looked a little pale and he did not open his eyes.

"Are you sure?" she asked tentatively, not sure what she expected. After all, she had flown with him before, and he had been all right then. He rode the lifts on the Megaship without complaint, too, and that space was at least as small as this.

"Yeah," he said calmly. His eyes still did not open. "No problem."

"Okay," she said, wondering if she had overestimated his reaction. Maybe it was just the memory of the crash that had made him look so afraid before. "I'm just going to finish up the interface, then."

"Right," Zhane agreed, nodding once. "Maybe we can lift off once the storm blows over."

She studied him for a moment, but aside from the fact that he wouldn't open his eyes, he seemed to be fine. She shrugged slightly and turned the pilot's chair toward her so she could sit down. Letting it swivel forward again, she bent over the main console and picked up where she had left off when his knock interrupted her.

The recalibration prompts guided her through the last steps of the procedure, and she thought she almost had the system back online when she heard movement behind her. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Zhane seating himself on the small amount of floor space at the back of the cockpit.

She bit her lip to keep from asking if he was all right again, and she turned back to the interface. As she tried to complete the recalibration, though, the system froze, flashing a single, uninterpretable command up at her. She did everything she could think of to get around it, but it remained stubbornly unresponsive.

*Computers,* she thought with disgust. Much as she didn't want to ask for help at this point--she had gotten this far on her own, after all--it seemed she had no choice.

"Zhane?" she asked, suppressing a sigh. Turning in her chair, she saw him cock his head in her direction. "The interface is recalibrated, but I can't get the system to come back online. It keeps giving me the same error message, over and over."

"Can it wait?" he replied, his tone even.

She blinked. "Well, I guess so. We can't take off in this storm anyway, but you're the one who wanted to get it running again as soon as possible."

He just nodded, and she waited for him to explain.

When he did not, she frowned and looked at him more closely. Was he--shivering?

"Are you cold?" she asked curiously, at a loss to interpret his reaction.

He cracked one eye open at that and looked up at her, then closed it again just as quickly. He shook his head.

Now truly puzzled, she slid out of the pilot's chair to sit on the floor beside him. "Is something wrong?"

He swallowed, and when he spoke, his voice wasn't quite as strong as it had been before. "Maybe you haven't noticed, Kerone, but I'm not exactly at my best right now. I'd really rather not talk about it."

The "Kerone" took her by surprise. He rarely used it when they were alone together, seeming to prefer the name she had given herself when they first met. She found it pleased her to hear it, for she knew when he said "Astrea" that he meant it as a term of affection. For him to have switched back to her real name was unexpected and strangely discomfiting.

"All right," she said at last, leaning against the wall as he was and staring straight ahead at the pilot's console.

After a few minutes, though, she realized he wasn't going to apologize. She shot a sideways look at him, remembering Andros' words: "Maybe he's trying to keep distance between you because you're doing it to him, too."

Zhane didn't have anything to apologize for. He had only told her he didn't want to talk about something, and here she was sulking over him shutting her out again. Not that he hadn't been doing the same thing to her earlier--*It's no wonder we can never talk to each other anymore,* she thought, with a flash of amusement.

"Zhane," she tried again, keeping her voice quiet. "Is there anything... I can do?"

"You can stop asking me questions!" he burst out, reaching up to scrub his face with his hands. "I'm fine, all right? I'm perfectly fine!"

Her eyes narrowed, but then he ran a hand through his hair and let his head fall back against the wall, and the expression of despair on his face cut through to her heart. He was far from fine, she realized, and he couldn't be held responsible for anything he said.

"I just want to help," she insisted, pulling her knees up to her chest and turning a little to face him. "Do you want to talk--about something else?"

"No."

The word was curt, and his refusal should have been enough to deter her. But something wouldn't let her give up. "Zhane... I can't just watch you suffer," she said, studying his profile for any sign of understanding.

His eyes snapped open, and the desperate look in them startled her. "You think this is easy for *me*? I feel like I'm being buried alive in here and there's absolutely nothing I can do about it!"

She couldn't tear her gaze away from his, and she wished suddenly that she could just reach out and hug him. He was shaking harder now, and the temptation to hold him was instinctive, no matter how unwelcome she suspected the gesture would be. His was a fear she could not understand... and she couldn't remember ever feeling this helpless.

He tilted his head back against the wall again, turning his dismayed gaze toward the ceiling. A second later, though, he jerked his eyes away with a wild-eyed stare, and she looked up automatically. The ceiling looked perfectly normal.

"I hate this!" he cried, startling her. "I can't control it, and I *hate* it!"

She swallowed hard, aching to do something, anything, to ease his fear. She knew what it was to be utterly terrified of something that no one else was troubled by--years in the service of Dark Spectre had taught her to turn that part of her off. But the price for being fearless was that you felt very little of anything else, either.

He twisted his head to one side, eyes squeezed shut, and she stiffened as she felt the glow in her mind that was him start to flicker. "No," she breathed, knowing without being able to say how what he was going to do.

When Mega V6 went down, Andros said he had "talked" to Zhane. But she had seen it from Zhane's point of view; he had not been coherent enough to form any kind of sentence. Andros must have felt what she was feeling now--the flare as Zhane's mind tried to protect him the only way it knew how. He was going catatonic.

"Zhane," she said sharply, reaching out to take his hand. She had seen it from his point of view... the thought gave her inspiration. "Zhane, listen to me."

He didn't move, and she grabbed his other hand too. "I'm going to show you a game. You have to trust me--do you trust me, Zhane?"

For the longest moment, he did not respond. Then she saw him swallow, and, incrementally, he nodded. She let go of his right hand to uncurl the fingers of his left and lay them against her own. "Hold your hands up," she said sternly, when he didn't seem inclined to do so by himself.

Laying her left palm against his right, she closed her eyes and deliberately cast back, searching out the beginning of the memory she was looking for.

*No.* Zhane's thought rang through the scene. In his desperation to escape the zord's cockpit, he was strong enough to take control of her "game" and throw them back farther into her memory.

*Zhane!* She gave him a mental shove, trying to push him back a little. *Stop messing with my memory!*

*You didn't see it the way I did...* His tone was wistful, but at least it had lost the panicked edge.

She hesitated, but he had done it to her twice now. Before she could change her mind, she *pushed* against their mental beach--

Zhane said nothing when her own focus drifted back to that moment just before he'd given her the shell, and the memory replayed once more. But she felt his presence in her mind fading, and awareness of her own self began flowing back to take its place.

She opened her eyes, and found him watching her even as he had been on the beach two nights ago. He had let his left hand fall, but his right hand was still firmly pressed against hers as remnants of the memory dissipated between them.

She shifted, tangling her fingers in his and tugging lightly on his hand. He obeyed without a word, eyes fixed on hers as she leaned toward him. At the last moment, though, they fluttered closed, and she kissed him gently.

"Astrea?" he murmured, as she pulled away. He kept his eyes closed, and she was reminded of his reaction when she'd first teleported them into the cockpit.

"What's wrong?" she asked worriedly, wondering if they should escape back into memories of more open places for a while.

"Is this--" He forced his eyes open and stared at her intently. "Is this all just a game, to keep me distracted?"

She caught her breath, feeling as though she'd been slapped. Reality reinstated itself with a violent thud, and she found herself right back where she'd started: a telepathic sorceress, with the ability to keep her friend from hurting himself when claustrophobia drove him to the edge. Nothing they'd shared or remembered had to mean anything more than that.

"Is it..." She tried very hard to keep her voice steady. "Is it just a game to you?"

He shook his head slowly, his entire attention focused upon her. "It was never a game to me. But now--" He hesitated, stumbling over his own words as much as she had. "Now... it could mean something. If--if we wanted it to."

"Do you--want it to?" she asked, almost afraid of the answer.

"Do *you*?" He wasn't going to give her the easy way out this time. She would have to choose, and choose before he told her *his* feelings.

But she knew his feelings, didn't she? Andros had told her, and she had seen them for herself time and again. Their memory "game" was just the latest in a string of similar incidents. It was her own feelings she wasn't so sure of.

She looked at him, and knew only that she didn't want him to turn away. If she said "no", he would look away, make a joke, and things would continue the way they had for the past two weeks. Did she want to keep pushing him away?

But what if she said "yes"? What would change? Would anything? Would he, as Andros had once suggested, want to go back to being only friends in a few weeks anyway?

Was it worth the risk either way?

"Yes," she whispered, watching him carefully for his reaction.

He just gazed back at her, not moving, and she withstood the scrutiny as best she could. She had made her choice. She hated this feeling of dependency, the feeling that it all hinged on his response, but she knew there was no other way to get to where they were. She had to trust sometime, and she was going to start with him.

As he continued to stare at her, though, she felt herself fidgeting. "Well?" she demanded at last, reasoning that no one had said she had to be *patient* and trusting. "What do *you* want?"

He started to smile, and she got the irritating feeling that he had just won some contest she hadn't even been aware of. But his next words banished any resentment she might have felt. "I want you to kiss me again," he confessed. "It's all I've wanted since that night at the campfire--do you remember?"

How could she not?

She felt his palm press harder against hers, and he caught up the hand he had released as well. "I want to show you," he murmured. "Can you make it happen that way?"

Wordlessly, she nodded, and they were plunged back into his memories.

*I still can't think of a single thing,* his voice said softly in her mind, and she swallowed hard. It was strange to see herself through his eyes, to know--to really *know*--how much of his joking was just a cover for the feelings he tried to conceal.

The beach once more started to give way to the stark confines of the Mega V6 cockpit, but she barely even noticed. All she could see was the expression on Zhane's face, and all she could feel was the sensation of his fingers entwining with hers. It had been a long time since she'd had prolonged human contact, and she was still getting used to it again--but she found that his was as comforting as it was unusual.

He let go of her right hand, as he had before, and reached out almost tentatively to touch her face. Once, on the park swings in Angel Grove, he had tried to brush her hair away from her eyes. She had jerked away, not wanting to know what he would read into her expression.

But this time there was nothing to hide, and she let him do what he had not been able to then. His fingers touched her temple, tracing her hairline and tucking the blonde wisps behind her ear and away from her eyes.

She let him stare for a moment longer, charmed by the obvious delight on his face. Then she leaned forward and kissed him again, delighted herself by his sudden surprise.

"You did ask," she reminded him softly, her face lingering near his. " 'I want you to kiss me again,' you said..."

"And again," he murmured, making no move to pull away. "And again--forever might be just about long enough, I think."

She ducked her head, giggling at his contemplative tone, but he caught her chin and turned her face toward his again. "You don't know how long I've waited to see you look at me like this," he whispered. "Don't look away."

Her amused smile faded into one of simple contentment, and she gazed back at him as the storm that raged around the two zords began to subside.

6. Always

He stood by the nav console, staring idly out into space. DECA could have run the systems checks he was performing now more quickly, and in fact she did run them periodically, to make sure anything her diagnostic sensors didn't pick up was reported and fixed. But it gave him something to do while he talked with Zhane, and it kept him from feeling helpless.

Ashley had called to let him know Cassie was missing hours ago, and he had immediately used the Megaship's scanners to track down and isolate the Pink Ranger's Power signature. He had had DECA keep an eye on it while it wandered around Angel Grove, but Ashley had given him specific orders *not* to teleport their friend anywhere.

"If she hadn't wanted to be alone, she would have taken her communicator with her," Ashley had told him. "I think she wants to get away from *everything* for a while, and that includes us. Just let her be by herself for a while."

Ashley had not elaborated on how long "a while" was, but he knew he would face her wrath if he brought Cassie back to the Megaship before she was ready to come. So he let DECA watch Cassie, and he kept himself occupied with unnecessary systems checks.

Zhane, he found soon after, was just as bored as he was, and between the two of them they managed to pass the time. Their chatter made the dull tasks bearable, and Andros found himself amused, as they talked, at how willing Zhane was to discuss anything--except Kerone.

His friend wasn't very subtle about avoiding the topic, but Andros didn't push him. He went along with whatever distractions Zhane found to change the topic, but he was somewhat relieved when Zhane at last brought it up himself.

They had been silent for a few minutes, working on their separate projects, and Andros hadn't been paying much attention. Until suddenly, his friend announced, *She knows I'm claustrophobic, Andros.*

He stopped, looking up as though he could see Zhane over the distance between them. *So?* he asked calmly. He had suspected that would happen sooner or later, and had been surprised Zhane had been able to fly with her in the Mega V zords without her finding out.

His friend hated the new zord cockpits, though he had voiced his dislike only to Andros. He had gotten in the habit of taking his helmet off as soon as he teleported into Mega V6, just so he would be that much less restricted. Considering his phobia, Andros had not expected his friend to volunteer as Kerone's teacher.

It seemed Zhane's crush on the girl had overcome his good sense, though, for as soon as she expressed an interest in the zords, Zhane had offered his for her to learn on. Andros shook his head--she was bound to find out sooner or later, and he figured it was testament to his friend's control that it had taken until now.

*So... I don't *want* her to know,* Zhane muttered.

*She's not going to think less of you for it, you know,* Andros told him. *Everyone's afraid of *something*.*

*Not her.* Zhane sounded torn between admiration and envy. *I don't think she's afraid of anything.*

Andros shrugged a little, though he knew his friend couldn't see it. Then he thought the better of what he had been about to say, and just reran the nav diagnostic. He was dying to ask how the two of them were getting along, stranded together on an uninhabited planet as they were, but he didn't want to sound like he was checking up on them, either.

After a moment, Zhane added, *Did I mention that this is the most boring job I can remember doing? Ever?*

Andros tried not to smile. *You know, all you have to do is say the word and we'll come get you. The Rysians and the Cai are both long gone from that system--the Megaship could come in and just blast its way through.*

*Don't tempt me,* his friend shot back, and this time Andros did smile.

They talked a while longer, the conversation turning inevitably back to Kerone, and finally Andros volunteered to talk to her himself. It was clear Zhane wasn't going to do it, and someone had to. He let his friend listen in until the morpher on his wrist beeped, and he glanced down automatically.

Activating the communicator, he said curiously, "This is Andros."

"It's Ashley," a voice came back, and he couldn't keep from smiling.

*I have to go,* he told his sister. *Will you be okay?*

"Cassie just showed up at TJ's house," Ashley continued, and he shot an annoyed look in DECA's general direction. She must have known, at the very least, when Cassie's Power signal got so close to one of her teammates', but apparently she didn't consider that useful information.

"Is she all right?" he asked quickly, saying goodbye to Kerone and touching Zhane's mind briefly on his way out.

"TJ says she's tired, but she seems okay. She's going to stay at his house tonight."

Andros couldn't help wondering if Saryn knew about that. The other Ranger seemed jealous of nearly every relationship Cassie had, and of TJ and Zhane's friendship with her in particular.

"I'm glad," he replied, deciding not to ask why she had chosen not to go to Aquitar for the first time in weeks.

"Me too," Ashley agreed readily, but she made no attempt to end the conversation. He waited, not wanting to say goodbye but not sure what else *to* say.

"I was wondering," she said at last. "It's kind of late for dinner, but do you want to get together and watch TV or something?"

He looked around automatically, and noticed the autopilot readout brighten pointedly. He gave DECA a wry look. *I can take a hint,* he thought, amused.

The Megaship was empty except for him, but so had it been often enough in the past weeks. Most of the Rangers chose to maintain some semblance of a normal life while they were in school, socializing on their own planet and living at home whenever possible. The ship would be no more quiet with him gone than it would be any other time the whole team was on Earth, and Zhane could still contact him instantly if he needed to.

"That sounds like fun," he agreed, turning away from the nav console.

"Good," she said happily. "I'll see you in a few minutes, then?"

"I'll be there," he promised, heading out into the hallway.

The red glow from his jump tube seemed stronger than usual, and he shook his head. DECA really wanted him off the ship. Sometimes, he'd swear she acted more like a mother than a friend.

He grabbed the railing and swung up underneath it, just for the fun of it, and turned to grin at DECA's camera before he jumped. "Don't get into too much trouble while I'm gone," he advised. Spinning around, he managed to catch the bar over the red jump tube and vanish into it before she could answer.

Crimson light flashed around him as the tube dumped him onto his Glider, and hyperspace opened up around him. The tunnel would appear as little more than a colored streak of light to an observer in realspace, but to him it was a gateway of infinite possibility.

He couldn't say how the ability to navigate hyperspace had come to him, but he assumed it was a gift granted by the Power. After all, the other Rangers had the same almost instinctive ability, and they certainly had never had a use for the talent before they had come into space.

He could sense his destination beneath him within seconds, and the tunnel of hyperspace responded to his wish, collapsing behind him as he slid back into realspace. He glanced around, confirming there was no one near enough to see him, and demorphed in a flash of sparkling red. Leaping to the ground, he heard his Glider escape back into hyperspace as he strolled down the Hammonds' front walk.

The door swung open before he could ring the doorbell, and he grinned as Ashley pounced on him. "It took you long enough!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around him and kissing him soundly.

"I just left a minute ago," he defended himself, when she let him talk again.

"A minute too long!" she said cheerfully, dragging him inside.

He laughed at her mock-petulant expression, but he couldn't disagree. After their fight last night, and then a whole day without even being able to *talk* to her, he had been terribly disappointed when she cancelled their dinner plans. Not that her reasons weren't valid; he was glad she had stayed with Cassie--but the Megaship had seemed so much more empty after that.

"Hello, Andros," Ashley's dad greeted him, looking up from the work he had spread across the kitchen table.

"Good evening, Mr. Hammond," Andros replied politely.

"We're just going to watch TV for a while," Ashley chirped, going over to the cabinets next to the refrigerator. "Want some popcorn, Andros?"

"Sure, that would be nice." He watched her stand on tiptoe to reach the microwaveable popcorn, and reflected that it must be strange to live in a place where most of the people you were living with were taller than you.

"Here, let me," he offered, joining her. He knew she could have gotten it on her own--Ashley wasn't short, no matter her size relative to her father and brother--but it gave him an excuse put a hand on her shoulder and reach around her.

She let him do it, beaming at him when he handed her the package. "Thanks!"

He shook his head, unable to keep from smiling back. Her good humor was infectious, and when he glanced over his shoulder, he saw even her father smiling as he returned his attention to the paperwork in front of him.

"I'll get a bowl," Andros said, for something to do other than watch Ashley's every move. Not that he wouldn't like to, but it was a fine line between affection and lust in a father's eyes, and he didn't want to know how close he could come to that line before Ashley's dad decided there were plenty of nice Earth boys she could be dating instead.

The smile Ashley tossed in his direction on her way to the microwave made the offer doubly worthwhile, though, and he went over to the sink. Pulling a bowl from the cabinets above, he heard the muffled beep as she started the microwave, and he couldn't help but think how much the little appliance resembled a Synthetron.

On the outside, at least. It couldn't *make* food, of course. *But,* he thought with an amused grin, *it does sometimes do a better job than DECA of warming food up.*

He joined Ashley by the microwave, setting the bowl down and watching her idly tap her fingernails against the counter. "No color," he observed after a moment, and she gave him a questioning look.

He reached out and caught her hand, spreading her fingers across his palm. "Your fingernails," he explained with a smile. "No color today."

She looked down at them too, as though they weren't her fingers at all and she hadn't noticed them until now. "No," she agreed at last. "Yellow was getting old, and I feel weird wearing silver now that Zhane's around. There aren't a lot of choices anymore."

"Red," he suggested softly, kissing her hand before letting it go again.

She giggled. "Yeah, red would work. I don't think I'm really a red fingernail kind of person, though."

He only just stopped himself from reaching out again to touch her hand. "I like them the way they are," he told her. "They look nice this way."

"And less fake," she said with a grin. "You wouldn't believe how many people think I wear acrylic nails. Like I have time for that."

Any reply he might have made was interrupted by the beep of the microwave. "Dad, do you want some popcorn?" Ashley asked, looking over her shoulder as she popped the microwave door open.

He waved the offer away. "No, thank you--enjoy it yourselves. Just don't be surprised if you hear me making more in a minute."

Ashley laughed. "All right," she agreed, tearing the bag open and pouring it into their bowl. "Hey!" she exclaimed, as Andros stole a piece as she poured. "You know the rule! You can only eat the pieces that fall on the counter."

"Then what was the point of getting a bowl at all?" he teased, and she slapped his hand gently.

"Until I finish pouring, silly." She crumpled the empty bag up and tossed it into the trash can, and when she rejoined him she nodded in satisfaction. "Okay, now you can eat it."

When she reached for the bowl, though, he picked it up and turned away. "You don't want any?" he asked innocently, and she wrinkled her nose at him.

He had to smile at her expression, and he held up one piece of popcorn. "Well, all right then," he conceded. "You can have this piece."

She smirked at him, and, as he had hoped, leaned forward and ate it out of his hand. He almost melted when he felt her lips touch his fingers, and she smiled happily at him.

Then she threw a sheepish look in her father's direction, and he couldn't help glancing that way too. But her father was studiously bent over the table, doing a good job of pretending not to notice them.

Ashley caught his hand and, stopping only to reach for more popcorn, she pulled him toward the living room. Andros followed obediently, watching her munch on her handful of popcorn. He reached out and managed to push the light switch with his elbow as they entered so she wouldn't have to get it for him.

"Now the only challenge is finding something on TV that's actually worth watching at this hour," she remarked, taking the popcorn from him and setting it down on the coffee table. Perching in the middle of the sofa, she picked up the remote and pointed it at the television.

"Do we have to?" he murmured, sitting down right beside her.

She giggled. "Yes," she answered, just as softly. "Because my dad's still in the kitchen."

*An unofficial chaperone,* she elaborated, and he smiled.

*We should have stayed on the Megaship,* he kidded, not meaning it but amused by the idea of suddenly having a "chaperone".

"But the furniture's more comfortable here," she whispered, and his smile widened when she winked at him.

He glanced over at the TV screen as she started pushing the "channel" button on the remote, apparently flipping through at random. "Doesn't Carlos watch something tonight?" he asked, in an attempt to at least seem like he was helping.

"Star Trek," she said with a grin. "We can watch that, if you want. Or we can put in a movie--we have plenty."

He shrugged a little. *I didn't come to watch TV; I just came to be with you. Whatever you want to watch sounds good to me.*

She stared at him for a moment, and he thought for just a second that she might kiss him. But then she gave her head a shake and turned her attention back to the TV. "Star Trek it is, then," she said lightly.

"--tell you a story," someone was saying, as the TV finally settled on a channel and Ashley dropped the remote back on the coffee table. "An ancient legend among my people."

Ashley reached for another handful of popcorn, and offered him a piece as he had done for her earlier. He took it from her fingers, his loose hair falling forward as he did so, and she brushed it away from his face.

"It's about an angry warrior," the person on the television continued, "who lived his life in conflict with the rest of his tribe. A man who couldn't find peace--"

Suddenly Andros was paying closer attention. "Listen," he told Ashley softly. "He's talking about me."

She smiled indulgently, turning her attention back to the TV.

"For years," the man explained, "he struggled with his discontent, but the only satisfaction he ever got came when he was in battle. This made him a hero among his people, but the warrior still longed for peace within himself."

He glanced over at Ashley, and saw her entranced by the quiet story. He smiled a little at her concentration, studying this character that Andros had so flippantly labeled "himself" as he recounted the story of meeting a woman warrior, brave and beautiful and wise.

"That's you," Andros whispered, putting his arm around her shoulders and giving her a squeeze. She flashed a smile in his direction, and they were silent another moment, listening to the end of the tale.

Ashley turned to him, searching his expression, and he smiled. She smiled slowly in return, and he couldn't resist leaning forward to kiss her, just once.

She closed her eyes, pressing closer to him, and he kissed her again. He didn't mean to, but her arm slid around him and he didn't want her to let go. She didn't seem to mind, but they both started when the front door slammed and they drew apart guiltily.

The murmur of voices said that Ashley's mother had finally arrived home, and they could hear the clattering in the kitchen as her father warmed up what was left of dinner for her. He and Ashley exchanged glances.

Then, with a smile, Ashley shifted a little and leaned against him again, more companionably this time, and turned her attention back to the TV. He hugged her shoulders, relaxing against the sofa's cushions and just enjoying the feel of her snuggled up to him.

A moment later, Ashley's mother poked her head into the room. "Hi, kids," she said, smiling her approval of the scene. "How was school?"

"Hey mom," Ashley answered, tearing her gaze away from the TV as though she had been totally entranced by it. "It was all right."

"And you, Andros?" her mother asked. "How was your day?"

"It was good," he said, figuring he shouldn't say any more than that. *Well,* he narrated silently, *I helped evacuate about three million people from the front lines of Dark Spectre's assault, my best friend was shot down over an alien planet, and my sister disappeared to "rescue" him. How was *your* day?*

Ashley smothered a giggle, but her mother saw it anyway. "I don't want to know, do I," she said ruefully, and Ashley shook her head.

"Probably not," Andros admitted.

"As long as you're both safe," Ashley's mother said, resignation warring with a fond look on her face. "And don't stay up too late--it sounds like you've earned your sleep today."

"Definitely," Ashley agreed, not quite suppressing a yawn, and Andros smiled.

When he looked back at the doorway, her mother was gone. "You didn't tell her about Cassie's mom," he said quietly.

"Dad'll tell her," she murmured.

He nodded his understanding, and she squirmed a little closer to him. "Hey," he said, patting her shoulder. "If I'm going to be your pillow, at least give me that one at the other end of the couch."

She giggled, but she sat up to retrieve it for him obediently. He put it between him and the end of the couch, and pushed it into the most comfortable position he could manage.

"Comfortable?" she teased, putting her head back on his shoulder as he finished rearranging the cushions.

"Almost as comfortable as you," he said, kissing the top of her head to show he was kidding.

"Good," she said with a small sigh, rubbing her cheek against his shoulder. "I'm glad you're safe, too, Andros."

He smiled, a little surprised. He heard the reference to her mother's comment in her words, but he hadn't been expecting it. He was touched that her parents seemed to extend their protectiveness to all of Ashley's friends, and to him and Cassie especially, but he hadn't thought more of her mother's remark than that.

"I'm glad you're safe, too," he replied, seeing with sudden clarity just how true it was. "Promise me you'll stay that way," he added impulsively.

"I promise," she murmured, reaching out for his free hand. "You promise too."

He caught her hand, letting her fingers rest loosely in his and breathing in the soft scent of her hair. "I promise," he whispered.

"Good," she said again, her voice content.

Neither of them said anything more for a few minutes, and after a while he found his attention wandering back toward the TV show that still played in front of them. The two warrior characters were teleporting back to their ship, suddenly wearing what he assumed were their shipboard uniforms, and their whole attitude had changed.

Suddenly the two were nothing more than teammates, treating each other with a kind of cool distance that reminded him more of Cetaci and Delphinius. *Not like us, after all,* he thought drowsily, hugging Ashley and feeling her squeeze his hand reassuringly.

He was vaguely aware of her resting comfortably against him, and he thought it was only a moment later that he felt Zhane's sudden presence in his mind. But when he tried to blink his eyes open, his eyelids felt heavier than they should have, and he couldn't remember when Ashley had turned the TV off.

He twisted his head slightly, trying to get a glimpse of Ashley's face, and found her eyes closed too. The living room lights were still lit brightly, though, despite the enveloping silence--her parents had apparently gone to bed already. Ashley must have still been awake when they left the kitchen, or perhaps her parents had left the lights on as a less than subtle hint.

*Andros,* Zhane repeated, and Andros tried to focus on him.

"Yeah?" he asked sleepily, and only when his voice broke into the quiet did he realize he had spoken aloud. *Yeah?* he repeated, a little more clearly. *What's up?*

*We're about to lift off,* Zhane answered. *I just wanted to let you know--sorry for waking you up.*

There was a brief moment in which Andros didn't have the faintest idea what his friend was talking about. Then the memory of that morning crashed home, and he remember exactly where Zhane was. *Are you all right?*

Zhane sounded amused. *Of course we're all right. We're getting ready to leave, remember?*

Andros shook his head once, careful not to disturb Ashley. *Yeah, sorry. Are you--is Kerone going to the Dark Fortress?*

There was a pause, and it let his tired brain catch up a little. Of course she was going to the Dark Fortress; she had been set on the idea since the moment she left the Megaship. The question was whether Zhane was coming back without her or not.

*We're both going to the Dark Fortress,* Zhane said finally. *Don't ask me how I convinced her, because I really don't know. We're taking Ash's zord--we'll come back for mine afterward.*

Andros tried not to sigh. *You're sure it's safe?*

*Oh yeah, I'm totally convinced,* Zhane said wryly. *We're just going to sneak onto Dark Spectre's flagship, leave our *zord* with its impossible-to-miss Ranger markings on the side in a hangar bay somewhere, meet with one of Evil's most ruthless villains, and sneak out again. No problem.*

Andros felt his lips twitch. *Oh, well if that's all, I feel a lot better. Thanks.*

*Anytime,* Zhane replied. *I'll let you know when we're back.*

*Be *careful*, Zhane.*

*I always am,* he answered lightly, and Andros rolled his eyes.

Zhane's focus faded, and Andros found himself wide awake. He didn't think he was going to be able to fall asleep again after that, and he gently tried to disentangle himself from Ashley's embrace.

Her hand was still in his, and she felt heavier now than she had when he had fallen asleep. He smiled to himself. It was as if she had taken all her bounce off into unconsciousness with her, and he was left only with the body she had deserted in favor of dreaming.

When he pushed gently on her shoulder, though, trying to lever himself into a sitting position, she stirred. "Shh," he whispered, when she murmured something incomprehensible. He had hoped not to wake her. "It's okay, Ash; go back to sleep."

His voice proved to have the opposite effect of the one he had intended, for she shifted again and her fingers twitched in his. Her hand curled automatically into a fist as she lifted it to her eyes, and he found her blinking sleepily at him as her fingers relaxed again.

"Andros?" she murmured. "Where are we?"

"At your parents' house," he said softly, brushing a disheveled strand of hair out of her eyes. "We must have fallen asleep watching TV."

"Oh..."

Her confusion was charming, and he kissed her forehead gently. "It's still nighttime. Go back to sleep."

"But what about..." She glanced around the room, squinting her eyes as though whatever she was looking for might be hiding. "I thought--Zhane was here, for a second."

He regarded her in surprise. "I was just talking to him. He and Kerone are on their way to the Dark Fortress."

She craned her neck to look up at him, blinking. "Both of them?"

He nodded silently.

She seemed to think about it for a moment, then curled up against him again. "Kerone will protect them," she said, with a certainty he envied. "They'll be fine."

"Yeah," he said softly, hoping she was right. "Hey, Ash?" He had to say something before she fell asleep again. "I'm going to head back to the Megaship."

"No," she protested immediately, lifting her head again. "Stay?"

He shook his head, smiling so she wouldn't take offense. "I'm not sure your parents would be too thrilled to wake up and find us both still on the couch."

She sighed. "I guess not," she admitted, but she made no attempt to sit up.

He stroked her hair, waiting for her to move, and at last she stretched reluctantly. Her arms extended out in front of her, he looked away as she arched her back and stretched her long legs until they touched the end of the couch.

Then he felt her struggling into a sitting position, and she let out an amused chuckle when she realized he had averted his eyes. "It's okay; you can look now," she teased, touching his shoulder.

He turned his head in her direction, and without warning she was there to ambush him with a kiss. "You're so cute when you're embarrassed," she whispered, pressing her lips to his again.

His skin tingled as his body started to wake up the rest of the way, and he leaned into her kiss with a hunger he couldn't explain--or deny. He felt her hands on his chest and he shifted restlessly, wanting her closer than she was.

*No, Andros...* Her mental whisper echoed in his mind even as he slid his arms around her, kissing her harder and feeling her fingers tighten on his shirt. *Don't you let go, too,* she said, sounding almost amused. *Or we'll never stop.*

*I told you,* he started to say, and then felt the thought vanish as she slipped her arms around his neck. Her fingers were warm on his bare skin, and she turned her head to kiss his cheek, his jaw, and he wondered why *he* always had to be the one who was in control.

*Not to kiss you when you're waking up,* she finished. *I know, I shouldn't have...*

She started to pull away, tilting her head to lean against the back of the sofa. He watched her eyes slide closed, and he heard her draw in a sharp breath as he leaned forward and kissed her neck lightly. When she didn't protest, he kissed her again, tracing the curve of her neck until he reached her t-shirt. Brushing his fingers against her lips, he whispered, "It isn't fair, you know."

He kissed her mouth then, and he felt her responding to his touch. "What isn't?" she asked breathlessly, when he drew back at last.

"To make me always be the one that stops us," he murmured, watching her flush and trying not to feel guilty for doing that to her.

She looked down, reaching for his hand. She only played with his fingers for a moment, and he let her, watching her bite her lip nervously as she tried to catch her breath. "You're right," she admitted finally, her voice husky as she raised her eyes to his again.

The expression on her face startled him, but not half as much as the demanding kiss she pressed against his mouth a second later. "I'll stop," she promised softly, pulling away enough to catch his eye. She ran her fingers across his face, stroking his cheek and brushing his hair back. "Just... do that again?"

"I don't--" He started to say that he didn't think that was a good idea, but she kissed him, sliding closer and wrapping her arms around his neck before he could finish.

*That's not a good idea,* he managed, but he felt himself kissing her back with an intensity belied by his words.

*Don't trust me?* she asked, pushing him back against the cushions and sliding her tongue into his mouth. He groaned softly, feeling his insides go weak and knowing he couldn't push her away now if he wanted to.

*I promise, Andros,* she said again, her hands clutching his shirt as she relaxed on top of him. He could do nothing with his arms but put them around her, and she shifted within his embrace. Her mouth did not leave his, though, and he found he wanted her to pull away less with every passing second.

She let her arms slide under his, and suddenly her whole body was pressed tightly against his. He could feel her hands behind his shoulders, between him and the sofa, and he was totally surrounded by her. He gave himself up to the feeling, knowing with startling certainty that he had been lost the moment she kissed him.

He didn't know how long they were there--with his heart pounding in his ears to the exclusion of all else, he had no sense of time. All he knew was that his blood was on fire, and anything she did just seemed to make it worse. But something in him was perversely convinced that she was the only thing that could quench it, and that instinct was all he could listen to.

That, and the one that cried out for her when she pulled away from him. With a quick twist, she slipped out of his embrace, and for the briefest instant he might have done anything to get her back.

Then he closed his eyes, reminding himself that this was exactly what they had been trying to avoid. "Ash," he whispered hoarsely, propping himself up on one elbow. All he could see was the back of her head as she sat on the floor, leaning against the sofa.

"I think you're stronger than me," she said, and her tone beneath her utter breathlessness sounded odd. Almost... amused? "That was *hard*," she added, and this time he was sure he could hear a grin in her voice.

He just stared at her, not sure what to say. She was treating this like--a game. *Ash?* he repeated, not trusting his voice this time.

At that, she turned. "Yeah?" she asked, catching his hand and kissing his fingers. Her face was flushed, but she was smiling.

"Nothing," he muttered, suddenly uncertain. His fingers twitched, longing to touch her again, and he pulled his hand away.

"No," she insisted, twisting further to face him. "Tell me."

"It's just..." He gazed back at her, worried that he was the only one to feel this way. "We can't just keep joking about this. It's serious."

She frowned a little, reaching for his hand. "We're just making out, Andros. It's not like we're getting married or anything."

He swallowed. "That's what I was afraid of," he whispered, seeing her hand still on his. "Does this--not mean anything to you, then?"

"What?" she breathed, and the expression of complete shock on her face reassured him somewhat. *Andros--I *love* you. I thought you knew that.*

*I do know that,* he said, finding some comfort in the unshakable truth of their mental rapport. *I just don't know if it means the same thing to you that it means to me.*

She stared at him for a moment, concentration evident in her posture as she hastily tried to decipher that. *What, because of what I said about marriage?* she asked at last. *We're only seventeen!*

*But we've said "always",* he reminded her softly. *Is that so different?*

He could see the turmoil in her expression, and at last she asked slowly, "Andros, are you asking me to marry you?"

He blinked. "No."

"Then what *are* you saying?" she persisted, giving him a searching look. "I love you. I always have--"

"And I always will," he repeated, even as she said the words herself.

A brief smile touched her face. "Yeah. But marriage--that's a whole legal thing, with signatures, and justices of the peace... and it's something you just don't do this soon." Her smile widened for a moment, and she actually giggled. "My parents would freak, for one thing."

"Our love isn't about paperwork, Andros," she continued more softly, turning his hand over and tracing the fate line that ran across his palm. "It's more than that, to me. What is it to you?"

"It's 'always'," he said simply, taking her hand and pressing her palm to his so that their fate lines melded together. "It's never been any less than that to me, and I guess I was just worried that when you said it, you didn't mean it."

"Why?" she insisted curiously, looking up at him. "What did I do to make you think that?"

He shifted uncomfortably, and she sighed. "You're going to make me guess. Okay. Is it because I made a joke?"

He gave her a guilty look, wanting to find the words for her, but unable to do it before she spoke. "That's it, then," she said, with a rueful look.

"Andros, I had to do *something* to break the mood," she told him. "You said it wasn't fair to make you always be the controlled one, and you're right. But you know why it's always you? Because I'm *terrible* at it."

He cracked a smile at that, and she tilted her head to one side to grin affectionately at him. "I'm serious. You saw how badly I handled things, just now--I *knew* how hard it would be when I promised you I would stop, but I told you I could do it anyway. And I almost couldn't. Damn it, Andros, but you're so sexy!"

She immediately clapped a hand over her mouth and glanced over her shoulder, totally missing his blush. "I probably shouldn't have said that so loudly," she muttered.

He felt his lips twitch, and she turned in time to glare at him. "Don't say a *word*," she threatened--but at least she did it quietly.

He let go of her hand at last, reaching out to tuck her hair behind one ear. "You're not exactly easy to resist yourself," he murmured, fingers lingering near her face a moment longer than they had to.

"Maybe we just need more practice," she said impishly.

He shook his head, drawing away from her and pushing himself to his feet. "I think I'm going back to the Megaship now."

"But it's so lonely up there," she purred, looking up at him with dangerous eyes.

He knew she was only teasing, but even her "jokes" got a reaction from him. "Don't tempt me," he whispered, smiling to show he was kidding. He almost was.

Then she laughed, standing up and abandoning the seductress act that she did so well. Too well for his peace of mind, in fact. "Sleep well," she said fondly, and even those words were suggestive to his overactive imagination. "See you in the morning?"

"Always," he promised, reaching for his communicator. He saw her smile at him just as he escaped into the teleportation stream.

Cassie twisted restlessly, feeling the couch beneath her and wondering if she had slept at all since the last time. She felt like she had been awake for hours, and she couldn't remember ever wanting morning to come as fervently as she wished for it to arrive now.

Finally, she threw off the afghan and sat up, wandering over to the sliding glass door between living room and porch. The sky was starting to lighten, almost undetectably, but it was enough for her. She wasn't going back to sleep.

Every since her nightmare about Saryn earlier, her dreams had been increasingly interrupted by bouts of wakefulness. And even odder, as the night wore on, things had been growing more and more loud.

She couldn't explain it; the house itself was perfectly silent. But there was a noise just beyond her ability to hear it, pressing against her mind and keeping her awake. She could pin only one label on the feeling: Saryn.

But the label, no matter how satisfying in its ability to explain away what she would be forced to call hallucinations otherwise, did not make any logical sense. Their empathic bond had only worked over a distance like the one between them now once before, and it had been at a time when he was feeling so strongly about her that his strength had let him project the feeling onto her.

Guilt she had at least been able to understand, even if she didn't agree with it. But this *noise* didn't seem to have any meaning at all, and she couldn't imagine what could be upsetting him so much that he would unknowingly project background noise onto her. He had never done that before, no matter how strong or unintentional some of his broadcasts were.

She sighed, staring out at the shadows visible on the screened-in porch. Cestria said he was unusually strong--strong enough to impress even the Aquitians, who were gifted with their own phenomenal mental abilities. He had admitted to her, though, that he had never had any real training, and that he had, to the best of his ability, shut his empathy down for the last three years.

She would dearly love to see him work with Cestria to try and learn to use his talent, or at least control it better. But she wouldn't suggest it, knowing how many bad memories he associated with empathy. Her own training was limited, and mostly directed at dealing with him, since her own empathy was virtually nil when it came to anyone else. It had gone a long way toward helping her control what she felt around him, though, and she wished he could have that confidence too.

Clenching her teeth, she clapped her hands over her ears. Thinking about something else wasn't helping, although there were admittedly better topics she could have chosen than empathy. This noise was going to drive her insane.

*Come on, TJ,* she urged, watching the pale color of sunrise begin to streak across the sky. *Wake up.*

7. Stone's Throw

"This is ridiculous," Zhane muttered, trying to look over Astrea's shoulder as she peered around the corner. "Tell me why we couldn't just teleport onto the Bridge in the first place?"

"Because thanks to your impromptu rescue attempt a few weeks ago, Ecliptor will have rigged an alarm system around the primary operation areas. I doubt we can teleport directly onto the Bridge without the entire Fortress knowing about it."

He put a hand on her shoulder and leaned closer in an attempt to see what she was seeing, but she quickly disabused him of that notion by elbowing him--none too gently--in the stomach. "Back off," she hissed. "You're distracting me."

"What are you *doing*?" he demanded, and she shot him a glare.

"If you'd be quiet for a minute, you'd see." She turned back to the corridor off of which theirs branched, and proceeded to do absolutely nothing.

Nonetheless, she stepped out into the corridor a moment later and motioned for him to follow. He did, warily, and glanced over his shoulder out of habit. He stiffened--a quantron had come around another corner at exactly the same instant and was heading straight for them.

"Come *on*," Astrea whispered, grabbing his arm. "It isn't seeing us, but it can *hear* us, so be quiet."

"We're invisible?" he guessed, shooting another look over his shoulder. The quantron seemed complete unconcerned with their presence, turning down the corridor they'd just come from without so much as a twitch of its serrated Q-blade.

"No," she said, eyes darting across the walls as they walked. "We look like quantrons. At least to most of them."

"*Most* of them?" he repeated, not sure he liked the sound of that.

Another quantron stepped out of a branching corridor into theirs and stopped in its tracks. Zhane tensed, for even with the limited expression a quantron possessed, this one seemed to be staring right at them.

Astrea took her hand off his arm and extended her fingers, turning her palm in the quantron's direction. He thought he saw a brief flash of purple across the quantron's visor, but it was gone too quickly for him to be sure.

Then the quantron continued down the corridor as though nothing had happened, and Zhane caught her hand as she let it fall. He turned her hand over, palm up, and saw nothing. "What did you do?" he demanded.

"Some of the quantrons are programmed to recognize anomalous behavior in their fellow soldiers," she answered calmly. "That one is one of the more advanced machines, and it isolated us as possible intruders."

"You didn't answer the question," he said, as she pulled her hand away. "What did you do?"

She actually looked a little smug. "The advanced quantrons were all programmed by me. They have a magical failsafe embedded into their intelligence matrix, making them loyal to me above all others."

His eyes widened as she started walking again. "Your own private army," he breathed, staring after her.

"Exactly." She looked over her shoulder and cocked her head, and he blinked.

Hurrying to catch up, he asked, "So they're still loyal to you, even now?"

She nodded. "They'll obey the commands of others, but no matter how they're reprogrammed, the override can't be deleted. It's magically triggered--it can't even be detected with electronics."

He shook his head, impressed.

"I didn't become the princess of evil because of my looks, you know," she murmured, as another quantron passed them without a second glance.

"I can see that," he said, trying not to freeze as a half dozen quantrons appeared at the other end of the hallway. She gave him a wry look, and he realized that probably hadn't been the best choice of words. "Not that you couldn't have," he amended hastily.

She stepped deliberately to the side of the hallway as the quantron troop approached, her back to the wall, and he imitated her. The quantrons marched past, and he wished his heart would stop pounding. No matter what she said, he couldn't completely trust something he couldn't see, and her spell was apparently invisible to both of them.

She crossed the hall as soon as the troop was out of the way, and he realized with surprise that they were standing just outside the Bridge. He moved away from the wall himself to catch up with her, and was caught off guard when she simply strode through the doors, without announcement or hesitation.

He tried to follow with the same determination, but it was hard not to falter when Ecliptor's imposing figure looked up from one of the main nav consoles and fixed his gaze on them. "You," he ordered, pointing a finger in their direction. "Come with me."

He turned without another word and stalked toward the back of the control center, where Astronema's private tactical room had been located. Zhane saw her grimace at his tone, but she did as she was told without question and he forced himself to follow.

Walking into the room, Ecliptor motioned them behind the secondary screen that shielded it from the main control area. Turning toward Astrea, he put one hand on the hilt of his broadsword and inclined his head. "My princess," he said, keeping his voice low.

"Ecliptor," she returned. "I was unavoidably delayed."

He made no comment on Zhane's presence, in fact avoided even looking at her companion. "It was not unexpected," he said, taking what looked like nothing so much as a cubical paperweight from the middle of the room's strategy table.

He offered it to her, and she traced her finger along one edge. The "paperweight" split diagonally down the middle, revealing a data disc concealed inside. "Thank you," she said, snapping the pieces back together and raising her eyes to his.

He gestured over her shoulder, and Zhane spun. A quantron turned away from the doorway on its way back to its post, and a violet glitter sparkled momentarily across its visor.

Startled, Zhane turned his gaze first on Ecliptor, then Astrea. She raised her eyebrow at his expression. "You didn't think the bracelet I gave Ecliptor was just a decoration, did you?"

He couldn't think of anything to say. She must have known she would have little use for her "army" when she left the Dark Fortress--but it could protect Ecliptor where she could not.

Apparently giving up on his response, she looked back at Ecliptor. His attention had not wavered from hers, and when he caught her eye again, he said, "There is something else."

She frowned, absently stuffing the "paperweight" into her jacket pocket. Zhane blinked--she hadn't been wearing a jacket a moment ago, and the casualness with which she pocketed the information she was risking so much for surprised him.

Seeming to take her silence as question enough, Ecliptor continued, "I must tell you that the Phantom Ranger was killed shortly after his capture. The ship that took him considered him too much of a security risk, and though they have been severely reprimanded, the fact of their action remains unchanged."

Astrea tilted her head to one side. "The Phantom Ranger has been captured?"

Zhane tried not to roll his eyes. Saryn was on Aquitar, had been for weeks. There was no reason for him to have made an unscheduled trip to the edge of the Earth Rangers' galaxy when two other Ranger teams already had the evacuation under control.

"Last shift," Ecliptor told her. "His starfighter responded to a falsified distress call."

He reached out to the only solid wall in the room and punched some kind of code into a little control panel. A section of the bulkhead slid open, and he removed something from the space within. A glitter of red caught Zhane's eye as Ecliptor offered the object to her without a word.

Saryn's ruby rested in Ecliptor's outstretched hand.

"I don't understand how you can be so calm about this!" Zhane's voice continued to rail at her over the zords' intership comm frequency. "Is this just another part of the war to you?"

She glared at the comm panel. She knew he was feeling the effects of being closed inside his zord again, so, with an effort, she bit her tongue and stayed silent.

As hyperspace yawned open around them, though, their gateway out of Rysian space, his wrath did not abate. "How can you just ignore what this means? If you're so tactically minded that you can't even consider what it will do to the team, at least you must know that we've lost an incredible warrior!"

She clenched her teeth, punching the hyperrush controls with more vehemence than they required. Just because he was scared didn't mean he had to insult her.

There was a brief pause, and when Zhane's voice came back, he sounded much calmer. Frighteningly calm, even, and his words chilled her when he asked, "Do you even care?"

That was the last straw. "Of course I care!" she snapped, dropping one hand to the inner pocket of her denim jacket. She could feel the ruby's energy through the thin material, although there was no sign of it from the outside.

"Well, it certainly doesn't show," he muttered.

Her eyes narrowed. "*I* don't show it? How can *you* write him off so easily? Have you no faith in the person that he is?"

There was a startled silence from the comm link. "What do you mean?" he asked at last, the animosity now gone from his tone.

"Zhane, he's the Phantom Ranger," she said. He didn't seem to have much confidence in his teammate. "He doesn't give up, and he's impossible to kill. Everyone from Dark Spectre down knows that."

"He's a living being," Zhane protested.

"He's a *legend*," she said firmly, cutting him off before he could finish.

"He isn't invincible! He has weaknesses, just like everyone else--maybe he and Cassie fought and he took off to sulk!"

She tried to picture that, and found it utterly impossible. "Is it so easy to believe the worst of your teammates?" she countered, and to her surprise he had an immediate answer.

"Is it so easy to believe the best of heroes?"

She didn't know what to say to that. At last, she touched the place where the ruby rested and declared, "Cassie will know. We'll go to Aquitar and find out the truth from her."

"What makes you think she knows even as much as Ecliptor told us?" Zhane demanded.

"Cassie will know," she repeated. Of that she had no doubt.

"You were missed last night."

Cassie blinked, TJ on her heels as she stopped just inside the doors of auxiliary control. She was surprised by the lack of a greeting, and even more so by the subtle accusation in the White Ranger's cool voice.

"I tried to call," she said uncertainly. "Linnse wouldn't put me through."

Cetaci's eyes narrowed. "Linnse responded to your signal?"

"Yeah," Cassie said, exchanging glances with TJ. "Your comm system accepted it, and then Linnse asked me to identify myself."

"Linnse is authorized to use the comm system for Defense message traffic only," Cetaci declared. "She should not be intercepting signals coded for Ranger business."

Cassie couldn't tell if Cetaci didn't believe her, of if the other Ranger's anger had actually shifted. "I called maybe four hours ago to... explain. She said Phantom was unavailable, and that she'd tell him I called."

Cetaci studied her. "She said nothing else?"

Cassie shook her head.

"Then you do not know." Cetaci's accusatory expression had faded, and she actually looked sympathetic. "The Phantom Ranger responded to a distress signal from one of your Mega Voyager zords yesterday afternoon. He left for the Rysian system and hasn't been heard from since."

Cassie stared at her, feeling her heart clench. "But none of our zords has sent a distress signal."

"So we determined when we lost contact with both him and the original signal," Cetaci agreed. "I fear he has been captured by Dark Spectre. As displeased as I am with Linnse for overstepping her authority here, I cannot believe she said nothing to you."

Cassie swallowed, her mind desperately trying to sort events into some sort of order. "She and I--don't get along as well as we could."

"Your status as an active Ranger gives you priority on all Ranger-related Aquitian channels," Cetaci said sternly. "Do not let her intimidate you, Cassie. You outrank her."

Before she could reply to that, Cetaci had turned away. "Delphinius," she said, motioning to the Ranger nearest the comm console. "Contact Cestria for me. I want her to summon Linnse."

"The offworlder?" Delphinius tilted his head, no doubt reminding her that it wasn't polite for a telepath to simply "summon" someone without good reason. Especially someone unused to dealing with telepathy.

"Yes, the offworlder," Cetaci snapped. "I want her here."

Delphinius looked down at the comm console for only a moment before motioning to *her*. "Two of the Astro zords are requesting permission to enter the system."

She joined him, looking over his shoulder to catch a glimpse of the scanner display. "Clear them for system entry and dome access," she said. "Cassie will want to speak with her teammates."

Cassie nodded, but Cetaci didn't look for confirmation. "Confirmation sent," Delphinius reported. "I am paging Cestria."

"Have you been to your room yet?" Cetaci asked, shooting a glance in Cassie's direction.

Cassie frowned at the non sequiter, forcing her mind to stop worrying about Saryn long enough to process the question. "I--no, I haven't. I thought he would be here, so I came to control first. Why?"

Cetaci shook her head. "You should go," was all she said.

Two teleportation beams lit the auxiliary control room, one a violet shimmer and the other a shower of silver sparkles. Before Cassie could wonder what they were doing on Aquitar, Kerone had caught her eye, and the serious expression there made Cassie freeze. Somehow, the day was about to get worse.

"I need to speak to you, Cassie," Andros' sister said calmly. Her tone did nothing to alleviate the cold fear that had settled around Cassie's heart, and it was all she could do to nod and gesture toward the hallway.

Zhane caught TJ's arm when he made a move to follow, and Cassie took a deep breath. *Whatever it is,* she promised herself, *I will *not* fall apart. I won't.*

The corridor was deserted save for the two of them, and Cassie halted just far enough from the doors to auxiliary control that they couldn't be overheard. She turned to Kerone, searching the other's gaze but not able to bring herself to ask. It was as though, by asking, she would bring this news upon herself.

"Where's Saryn?" the blonde-haired girl asked, without preamble.

Cassie swallowed, barely having had time to take in the information herself. "In the Rysian system--he was captured by Dark Spectre last night."

The other girl looked at her intently. "You know he is there, then. You have heard from him since?"

Her nightmare replayed itself suddenly, taking over her mind for the space of several seconds, and she knew beyond a doubt that it had been more than a bad dream. "I know he's there," she said softly. She hesitated, then shook her head. "But I haven't heard from him."

"Not at all? Not even here?" Kerone asked, tapping her temple.

Cassie looked at her in surprise. The feeling of noise persisted, mostly buried by her other thoughts but ever-present nonetheless, and she wondered how Kerone could have known. Their bond was hardly a secret to the other Rangers, but no one else knew exactly how strong it was. "I--I can feel him, yes. How did you know?"

The girl actually sighed a little. "I did not know," she admitted. "But I am relieved to hear it. I hoped Ecliptor was wrong when he said..."

She trailed off, looking uncomfortable. "Cassie--" Reaching into her jacket pocket, she pulled out her closed fist and held it out. "Ecliptor gave me this."

Kerone uncurled her fingers slowly, and Cassie could only stare. The world darkened, narrowing to the single stone that glared accusingly up at her, silently reprimanding her for not being there. "No," she whispered, and she felt a hand on her arm.

"Cassie, it's all right," the other girl was saying soothingly. "He's all right; you told me so yourself. This has to be a trick--one good enough to fool Ecliptor, but still, a trick. If there is one thing evil excels at, it's deception."

Cassie reached for her hand, her own fingers trembling, and Kerone let her take the ruby without a word. The moment she touched it, her hand clenched into a fist around it and she closed her eyes.

"No." Energy flared the instant her skin touched the stone, and she could feel Saryn's raw Power flicker through her. "It's real--it's his ruby."

She reminded herself to breathe; she would do him no good if she suffocated herself. Hopelessness was not an option--Kerone was right, he was alive. He *had* to be. She would have known, otherwise.

And she had his ruby. That was something; it could still have been in enemy hands. "Thank you," she managed, opening her eyes. "Without this..."

She made her fingers relax, and forced herself to stare down at the ruby in her hand. She could find him. She had brought him back before, and she would do it again.

Looking up, she realized finally that Kerone had not answered. The other stood stiff, staring over Cassie's shoulder, and Cassie whirled.

"Traitor," Linnse hissed, her icy blue glare trained on Cassie from only a few feet away. "I warned him that you would betray him, but he was too blinded by emotion to listen."

Her heart stood still, given pause by the viciousness in Linnse's expression. She could not tear her gaze away, held riveted by the other's conviction. Her fingers tightened on Saryn's ruby, as though it could give her strength, and Linnse saw the movement.

"You had it planned from the beginning, didn't you? You and your pet princess of evil," she said disgustedly, her eyes flicking to Kerone.

"Don't think I don't recognize you," she added, when the other girl glared at her. "You may have been able to fool the Aquitians, but I'd know you no matter how you choose to appear."

"I am not *fooling* anyone!" the former princess of evil shot back. "I am who I am. And I do not aid others in the betrayal of our teammates!"

"*Your* teammates?" Linnse sneered. "I don't care what name the princess of evil goes by now, but Phantom is *not* one of you."

"Kerone, stop," Cassie said quietly. "Linnse, neither of us betrayed Phantom. He was captured last night when he responded to a false distress signal and has been reported dead within Dark Spectre's monarchy. His ruby came to us through one of Kerone's spies."

She didn't know where the calm words came from, but they were on her tongue and she said them before she could analyze them. Saryn's ruby dug into her palm as Linnse gave her a malevolent glare.

"The distress signal came from one of your zords," the other woman snapped. "Who do you claim *sent* it?"

The ruby felt like it was burning against her skin, but she did not look down. "I'm a Power Ranger, Linnse," she told the Eltaran coldly. "Maybe that means nothing to you, but the Power doesn't choose traitors. I don't need *your* opinion, and I certainly don't have time to stand around listening to your ridiculous accusations."

She spun, about to walk away, until she remembered Cetaci's odd words in control. "Have you been to your room? ...You should go."

With a sigh, she caught Kerone's eye. "There's something I have to do. Delphinius is in auxiliary control--would you ask if I can borrow his starfighter?"

To her mild surprise, Kerone nodded. "I will. But--"

Cassie waited.

"May I give you something?" the other girl asked.

She hesitated, struck by the odd note in Kerone's voice. "Yes," she said at last. She had never doubted that Andros' sister could be trusted, not since the other had helped Saryn reverse the evilyzer spell.

Kerone held out her hand, palm up, and Cassie took it without hesitation. A violet glow enveloped their clasped hands, and she closed her eyes involuntarily as knowledge of what she was being given flooded into her mind.

"Two spells," Kerone murmured. "One for you, one for the starfighter. Don't forget."

"I won't." She opened her eyes, and found Kerone staring back. "Thank you."

"What are you doing?" Linnse demanded suspiciously, finally finding her voice again.

"None of your business," Kerone snapped, rounding on the woman. "If I had wanted you to know, I would have told her out loud!"

"I'm going to find Phantom," Cassie remarked simply. She caught sight of Linnse's speechless expression as she turned to head for the lift, and she couldn't help a tiny glimmer of satisfaction.

The lift was waiting for her when she reached it, and she stepped inside. "Level two," she told it, fidgeting impatiently as it hummed to life. She couldn't imagine what Cetaci thought was so important, but she knew better than to ignore the White Ranger's "advice" by now.

The lift let her out in the almost-operational control room, and she walked quickly over to one of the side exits. Touching the keypad by the closed door, it slid open for her, and she tapped Saryn's code into a panel at the other end of the hallway.

The door opened onto darkness, and, unwilling to wait for it to register her presence, she waved her hand in front of the motion sensor. As the lights came up, she looked around warily, not sure what to expect. The room looked perfectly normal--except for a glitter from the workstation.

Curiously, she went over to the small computer terminal. Her breath caught in her throat as she stared down at the little shieldsphere, so like the one Ashley had given Andros not so long ago. She remembered admiring the little device, remembered Saryn's hand on her shoulder as she watched Andros play with it...

She swallowed. A delicate coral heart shape floated within the sphere, deep pink and crimson merging into patterned swirls along its entire length. She reached out to touch it, saw the etching along the edge of the sphere's base, and realized the sphere itself was as elegant as the fragile object it protected.

With trembling hands, she laid Saryn's ruby down on the desktop and picked up the shieldsphere. The heart tumbled end over end as she tilted the invisible globe back and forth, and light glinted off the etched lines of the base.

Not just a pretty pattern, she thought, looking closer. It looked like--words. She held the base at an angle, and she realized it wasn't the writing that was hard to read. She rubbed her tearing eyes impatiently, blinking to clear them.

The words sprang into sharp relief when she looked again. "Forever loved," the sphere's base said simply, and underneath was the inscription, "one year".

"One year?" she whispered, rolling the sphere into her other palm and trying to puzzle that out. A year ago... she cast back. Junior year, her first time trying to be a normal student with the Power always there in the background. And then, only a few weeks in, things had gotten even more complicated when--

"Oh," she murmured miserably, sinking into the chair beside the workstation. She stared without seeing at the complicated gift, knowing with a sudden certainty why he had been so eager to see her the night before.

The two of them had never officially dated, and so had nothing that the average person would consider an "anniversary". But one year ago yesterday, on the nineteenth of September, she and Saryn had spoken for the first time.

Meeting him had thrown her life into turmoil, wreaking havoc on her heart--in more ways than one--and bringing her more sorrow and greater joy than she had ever thought she could feel. It was a day she had thought she could never, ever forget.

"Saryn," she whispered, feeling a tear slide down her cheek. "Why didn't you just tell me?"

He must have been planning something, something the Aquitian Rangers had known about. That would explain Cetaci's coldness when she arrived this morning. After all her complaints about them not being "normal", he had gone out of his way to do something both ordinary and wonderful for her, and she had brushed it off.

"Why didn't you *tell* me?" she asked again, lifting her tearful gaze and appealing to the empty room.

*Cassie.*

Cestria's whisper-soft voice broke into her reverie, and she tried to force her thoughts into something coherent enough for the telepath to pick up on. *Yes?*

*Cetaci has asked Darian to let you take your starfighter, and he has agreed. It's ready for launch anytime.*

For a moment, she couldn't answer. Though she had sometimes thought of the starfighter she flew as "hers", she knew it belonged to the wing. She had never considered that they would let her take it for her own personal use--and out of the system, at that, where she couldn't be called on in the event of an attack.

*Thank you,* she managed at last, pulling herself to her feet. She didn't have time for self-pity. She had been wrong, and she would never be able to make up for it if she didn't get a move on *now*. *I'll be at the launch bay in minute.*

She put the shieldsphere down and reached for his ruby. Gold links trailed behind it as she picked it up, and she shook her head. She would never understand how that worked.

Sliding the chain over her head, she tucked his ruby under her t-shirt and headed for the door.

"Could someone please tell me what's going on?" TJ demanded, just as Kerone walked back into the control room with Linnse right behind her.

"Cassie needs a starfighter," Kerone said, ignoring him. "And your friend arrived while we were in the hallway." She gave Linnse a scornful look. "In the future, perhaps she could consider her accusations more carefully before she makes them."

"Get Darian to release Aq-24," Cetaci told Delphinius.

"What does Cassie need a starfighter for?" TJ was one breath from dragging Kerone back into the hallway and not letting her go until he had some answers. Something more than "Ecliptor had Saryn's Power ruby", which was all Zhane had told him.

"She's going after Phantom," Kerone said.

It was probably better for him that she had answered without him putting his plan into effect, TJ decided, seeing the way she looked at him. Kerone was mad about something, and making her turn her displeasure on him suddenly seemed less wise.

"But what does she need a starfighter for?" Zhane asked, obviously more willing than TJ to risk life and limb by getting her attention. "She has a zord."

Kerone just stared at him. "As I recall, *you* were the one complaining--loudly--about taking a single zord into the middle of Dark Spectre's fleet."

"Linnse." Cetaci's sharp tone cut through the conversation, but Zhane didn't seem fazed.

"And a starfighter has a better chance?" he demanded.

Between their argument, and Cetaci's just-starting tirade against the field commander of the Defense, TJ knew he wasn't going to get any answers. He did briefly wonder what would happen if Kerone and Cetaci ever got into a fight, since they seemed to have similar stubbornness and decibel levels, but that was the extent of his participation.

There was nothing to do now but wait it out.

The noise pounded into his skull, overwhelming every effort he made to shut it out. Anger, fear, and hatred pressed into his mind, threatening to make him insane with the sheer weight of their malicious intent.

The only thing that seemed to help was thinking of her, and he concentrated on her sweet face to the exclusion of all else, struggling against the tide of emotions to hang onto the one thing that gave him purpose. If there was anything worth living for, anything worth keeping his sanity for, it was the hope of her.

He had long since ceased to be aware of the cell into which he had been thrust, and he knew the absence of his ruby was slowly draining his life force away to nothing. He knew too that without it he was entirely too recognizable, despite the years since he had been a public figure, and that whoever was holding him probably wanted their own personal hostage.

They must not know that without his ruby he would not be of use as a live hostage for long. Or perhaps they didn't care--a dead Eltaran was still worth something, to those that knew the planet, and giving his ruby up to their supervisors would assure that belief in his death went unquestioned.

His empathy, though, they could not possibly have reckoned with. No one but his teammates had known of it, and it was the empathy, which he could no longer control without the energy to even keep his eyes open, that would be the end of him in this wretched prison.

His mind cried out for peace, hammering against the walls of sound that seemed to be closing in from all directions, and it made no difference. There was no escape and no refuge, no help for it but to suffer through the agonizing din of other beings' most negative emotions.

*Cassie,* he thought desperately, counting himself lucky to even be able to remember her name at this point. Her calm and somewhat understated mental presence, despite her flamboyant façade, had always been a welcome counterpoint to those around her.

He needed that quiet but unyielding strength now, needed it more than anything. He knew he could not survive this much longer, but something in him refused to buckle. Somehow, he endured, long past the point when he thought the unending noise would drive him beyond any hope of return.

Or was he already beyond that? He was hallucinating, of that he had no doubt, but it was the most welcome hallucination he had ever had. Cassie was near, her free and loving spirit reaching for his and drowning out the loudest of the voices as she came closer.

For that simple dulling of the static that raged in his mind, he would be forever grateful. It couldn't be her--it was his mind, slowly losing touch with everything that mattered--he knew it, and he didn't care. It should have frightened him that nothing seemed to matter anymore, but fear took energy, and energy he did not have.

All he wanted was the quiet. It was slowly sneaking into the edges of his consciousness, a blissful relief as the mental weight began, almost imperceptibly, to lighten.

Then he could feel someone beside him, someone come to take him away, and he made no effort to move. He could hear Cassie, and that was the only thing that meant anything now.

"Saryn," an odd voice whispered, shaking him gently.

He moaned involuntarily, not wanting to leave the dream. But the voice would not be put off, and the shaking grew more insistent. He forced his eyes to open, knowing the distorted voice should mean something to him but unable to recognize anything more.

He tried to squint at the dim figure beside him, and as its outlines resolved themselves more sharply he sighed and let his eyes slide closed again. Another hallucination, this time of himself--the Phantom Ranger was kneeling at his side, trying to shake him awake.

"Damn it, Saryn," she hissed, seeing him drift back into unconsciousness. "You are the most stubborn person I've ever met. In everything."

She tugged his arm around her shoulder and pulled him to his feet, keeping her other arm firmly around him as she staggered toward the door. The trek back to her hangar bay was looking a lot longer all of a sudden, but the Power coursing through her started to compensate by the time she'd taken a few steps. It was dangerous to be morphed in the middle of such an overpowering enemy force, for she would be that much easier to track, but she had no choice--Saryn was clearly not capable of walking.

There were fewer quantrons on these lower levels, but there were enough to give her serious pause. Each time she heard footsteps, she glanced down automatically. Sometimes her right palm would glow, and she would continue on, holding it out to the quantron when the being stopped to regard her and displaying Astronema's infamous diamond symbol.

More often, though, the violet glow was absent and she would be forced to take cover as best she could until the danger had passed. One quantron proved to be a little too suspicious for its own good, and she was forced to leave Saryn while she ambushed the mechanical being and disabled it. Another quantron happened along while she was hiding the first, and for one sinking moment she thought she was going to have to fight her way off the ship.

But the second quantron responded to the shimmering diamond outline on her palm, and it sounded no alarm. It continued down the hallway and disappeared, and she stowed the disabled quantron in a storage locker.

With their nerve-rackingly slow pace, it seemed forever before they made it back to the bay where her "velocifighter II" was stowed. It could have been hours after the time she arrived or it could have been days, but they were there, and the prisoner transfer bay was still thankfully empty. She made her way over to her disguised starfighter, resting tandem with Saryn's captured ship.

If her fighter had actually been one of the second generation velocifighters, equipped for minimal cargo and passenger transport--in other words, the transfer of stolen goods and prisoners--she would have put Saryn inside without another thought. But the illusion that Kerone had woven for her before she left was nothing more than a shift in wavelengths and ID codes, and there was no room in the starfighter for a second person.

She was depending on his ship. If it had been too badly damaged, she was going to have to improvise, which meant stealing another ship. A velocifighter, no doubt, which she wasn't sure she could slave to her starfighter. Back on Aquitar, that hadn't seemed important--she had figured he would be conscious and able to pilot himself, rather than having to link the computer system of whatever ship he was on to her own.

But luck was with her, and his ship powered up on command. She started the preflight and reached for the comm, intending to complete the slaving process while the preflight was in progress.

She hit the wrong button, and a small flash of pink light took her by surprise. His comm didn't have a holomatrix unit, and yet that was exactly what she seemed to have activated. Her eyes widened as a tiny image of herself twirled on the console, arms over her head and a peaceful smile on her upturned face.

The preflight chimed, and she blinked, realizing she'd been staring for several seconds. She linked the comm system to her own starfighter and slaved the computer system as Billy had taught her, trying not to be too distracted by the image on the console. She had no idea how to shut it off.

Finally, she left the cockpit and returned for Saryn. There was no way she would be able to lift him into that space, even with her morph--another factor she had not considered.

With a sigh, she closed her eyes and teleported. It might set off half the alarms on the ship, but there was nothing else to be done. She settled Saryn as quickly as she could, fastening restraints around his limp body and praying his unconsciousness wasn't a symptom of something worse.

She noted distractedly that the image of her was gone now, and she stroked Saryn's cheek as she leaned over him to seal the cockpit. There was no point in not teleporting now, so as the cockpit seals flashed green, she checked the ship slave once more and then sent herself directly into her own starfighter.

It was on standby, flashing a confirmation of the starfighter slave from this end, and she powered the engines up. Her ship slid forward across the deck, the bay doors recognizing her fake ID codes and opening in front of her.

To her immense gratification, Saryn's ship mimicked her forward thrust, engines firing even as hers did as her starfighter slipped out into the welcome blackness of space. A warning flared on her console, and she grimaced. It had taken them this long--she had been luckier than she had any right to, when it came right down to it. Now it was a race between her navcomp and their targeting scanners.

Laser fire burned past even as her computer flickered confirmation of her hyperspace vector, and she threw their ships into hyperrush as fast as the engines would comply.

"I don't understand," Carlos was saying. "When was he captured, again?"

"Late evening, by your time," Aura murmured. She was leaning against a console next to him, listening as Cestria tried to explain the sequence of events to the Astro team.

"Why weren't we told then?" Andros wanted to know.

"At the time, there was nothing to say that the signal wasn't real," Cestria said. "Clearly, we should have confirmed with your team first, but we did not."

Carlos frowned. There was more to that than she was saying--it wasn't like Phantom to just rush off without knowing what he was rushing *into*. Information might not stop him, but he always had it.

"Incoming starfighters," Billy interrupted, and Carlos swung around. He wasn't the only one--Billy had the attention of everyone in the room.

"ID..." Billy hesitated, then a grin broke over his face. "One of them is Phantom's."

Ashley's clap was audible over everyone else's muted exclamations of relief, and he saw Andros reach out to hug her. Carlos caught the grateful gaze of the Aquitian next to him, and he returned Aura's smile.

Then an oddly distorted voice came over the comm as Billy let the lead starfighter link in with the control computers, and Carlos frowned. It was Cassie's voice... but it wasn't. Familiar, but only when he was listening for it--he didn't know what to make of the sound.

"I have Phantom," she told them, and from where Carlos stood he could see the tactical display tracing her path to one of the orbiting stations high above Aquitar. "He's unconscious--can you lock onto him and teleport him to the Medical bay for me?"

"Done," Billy responded, doing something to the panel in front of him.

"I'll be there as soon as the fighters are secured," she said. "Thanks, Billy."

"Congratulations, Cassie," he answered. "You did it again."

Carlos didn't understand, but Cassie must have. "As long as I don't make a career out of it," she said lightly. "I'm still planning to sing, you know."

Billy laughed. "We'll meet you in the Medical bay."

"Right."

The comm link cut off, and Carlos turned to find most of the team already out the door. He caught Aura's eye and she straightened, moving to lead the way out of auxiliary control. Cestria reached the door before they did, and Billy was right behind them. Carlos had a moment to wonder if it was wise for control to be completely abandoned, before he decided that since *he* wasn't going to stay behind he'd better not say anything.

A healer was just entering the infirmary from the other side as the Rangers crowded inside, and Andros and Cestria were already at Saryn's side. Carlos barely got a glimpse of his unconscious form lying on a patient bed before a dark glow momentarily brightened the area by the doorway.

His eyes widened as the Phantom Ranger teleported into the Medical bay.

He looked from Saryn to Phantom in utter noncomprehension before seeking out Aura with his eyes. She was right next to him, and he felt a little better when she looked almost as startled as he felt.

Then Phantom did something he had never done before--he reached up and twisted the helmet that concealed his features, breaking the seal and pulling the helmet up off over his head.

Their Asian teammate shook her long dark hair free, letting it fall over the Phantom Ranger's armor with complete unconcern. "How is he?" she asked worriedly, stepping in front of Billy to join Andros and Cestria at Saryn's bedside.

Carlos could only gape at her. "Cassie?"

8. Listen

Carlos' startled exclamation echoed the only word TJ was capable of uttering, so he said nothing as "the Phantom Ranger" reached for Saryn's ruby. In a flicker of light the armor dissolved, and Cassie stood before them in jeans shorts and a pink t-shirt.

She ignored their confusion, taking Saryn's hand in hers and wrapping his fingers around the ruby. "Come on, Saryn..." Her whisper was audible to the entire room, but her concerned gaze was only for him.

TJ swallowed his own questions and watched intently as a faint crimson glow seemed to flare through Saryn's fingers. The dark-haired Ranger didn't stir, but his eyes opened slowly--not squinting, but not focusing on anything yet either--until Cassie lifted their joined hands and hugged them close to her chest.

Saryn turned his head in her direction, and TJ thought he sighed a little. "Cassie," he murmured, and she smiled.

"Stop doing this to me," she scolded gently. "What is it with the dying every other week?"

Saryn actually smiled faintly. As he struggled to sit up, Cassie rolled her eyes but went to help him anyway. "I will endeavor not to cause you so much trouble in the future," he told her, as she put a supporting arm around him and sat down beside him.

"You do that," she replied. "I can't keep rescuing you, you know. It's bad for the Phantom Ranger's image."

He gave her an odd look at that, and seemed to hesitate before answering. Just as TJ was about to jump in, Saryn said at last, "I think not. Unless I am gravely mistaken, you have taken care of that."

Cassie flushed, shooting a guilty look around the room. TJ took that as his cue. "You're not mistaken--want to tell us how long you've been the Phantom Ranger, Cassie?"

"Just since this morning," she muttered. "Honest. Kerone brought the ruby back from Ecliptor, and... it seemed like the best way to protect Saryn's identity."

"The cameras in the holding cells," Kerone said, her tone one of satisfaction and approval. "They showed the Phantom Ranger coming to rescue Saryn of Elisia--no one will know what to make of that."

Cassie shrugged, looking a little embarrassed. "I'm hoping they *will* know what to make of it--that Saryn isn't the Phantom Ranger, and Phantom's identity is still a mystery."

"But they saw me demorph," Saryn protested.

"*Quantrons* saw you demorph," Kerone corrected. "Quantrons are easily fooled. No one will be able to dispute the evidence provided by the battleship's security cameras."

TJ hoped this wasn't going to sound as offensive as he thought it might. "I hate to say this, but--was it really that big of a deal?"

As soon as the words were out, he winced. It sounded just as bad out loud as it had in his head. "I mean," he hurried to add, "I know you don't want anyone to know who you are, Saryn. I swore I wouldn't tell, and I won't--but why is it so important?"

Saryn looked away. Cassie grimaced in TJ's direction, and he tried not to sigh. *Excuse me for not being able to read his mind,* he thought, in the privacy of his own mind. *Unlike other people I could mention.*

It was Billy who broke the silence. "Eltarans are... valuable hostages," he said, giving Saryn a quick look. "Eltare was the center of the League for hundreds of years, and its people wielded a tremendous amount of influence. And more than any other planet, it needed the appearance of strength and invincibility as a counter to the forces of evil.

"It's like on Earth," the Blue Aquitian Ranger explained, seeing their bewildered expressions. "If a US citizen is taken prisoner by another country, the United States will take extreme measures to get them back--because it can't afford to be seen as too weak to protect its own.

"Eltare was the same way, only more so. To have an Eltaran prisoner was to show that, in some way, you were stronger than the strongest force in the League. I think there were only two Eltarans ever *taken* prisoner by evil, and both were rescued by massive retaliatory strikes."

Saryn shifted on the patient bed, still staring toward the windows that lined one side of the Medical bay. "We were strong together," he muttered. "Alone, any of us is as vulnerable as any other League member."

Billy nodded. "Eltare's reputation didn't fade with its fall. Saryn fights alone often enough to make him an easy target, if anyone knew who the Phantom Ranger really was."

TJ glanced around at the others, wondering if he was the only one who had missed a vital part of this explanation. He felt like he was standing here, taking in every word of a story about someone else entirely. "But Saryn *isn't* Eltaran," he said finally.

The statement was greeted by nothing but silence, and he raised an eyebrow in Saryn's direction. "Are you?"

Saryn swallowed, but didn't answer. Cassie kept her eyes downcast, and none of the Aquitians seemed inclined to answer for him. TJ tried not to roll his eyes. *A simple "yes" or "no" would be enough,* he thought, but managed not to say it aloud.

"Elisia was *of* Eltare," Saryn said at last, his voice even. "It was the first colony ever established by Eltaran... empaths."

TJ caught Ashley's eye, and she shrugged minutely. He couldn't help feeling relieved that he wasn't the only one not understanding. *In other words, "yes",* he told himself. *That's all I was asking.*

He wasn't sure if the beep of the Astro Rangers' communicators made the situation more or less tense, but he was grateful for the distraction. Andros didn't even bother to separate himself from the Aquitians before touching his communicator. "What is it, DECA?"

"Two Barox are on an intercept course with Earth," the computer replied, her calm inflection at odds with the news she presented.

"We'll be right there," Andros said, dropping his wrist and gathering up his teammates with a glance.

"The Barox again," Aura commented, as they caught each other's eye. "Their increasing numbers trouble me."

"Join the club," Carlos told her wryly, as TJ reached for his morpher. "These two are the second pair we've seen this week."

"You're not coming," Cassie said firmly, her voice making the entire team hesitate.

Saryn was getting to his feet at her side, clearly intending to follow them to the Megaship. "I will come," he said, as though he hadn't heard her.

"You won't," she repeated. "You just got your ruby back after twelve hours without it--you're not up to combat."

"I have been without it for longer periods," he said calmly. "I'm coming."

"We don't have time for this," Andros broke in. "Saryn, you're coming--let's go."

A smart move on Andros' part, TJ thought with amusement, since Saryn was obviously determined to join them no matter what anyone said. But Cassie paused again, glancing at Cestria. "Tell Linnse," she said quickly. "She should know he's all right."

"She'll be notified," Cestria agreed, and Andros motioned impatiently.

Cassie reached for her morpher as he did, and the rest of the team followed suit. Sapphire swirled around TJ, dropping him onto the Megaship's Bridge and leaving him feeling more alert for the Power's brief manifestation.

The return journey to Earth was a tense one, for DECA informed them that the Barox would arrive at their planet almost a full minute ahead of the Astro team. *We can't keep counting on the Megaship to get us back in time,* TJ thought, knowing it was on everyone's mind. With Dark Spectre's forces in their galaxy, they had to start being more careful.

"The Barox have reached Earth," DECA announced finally, and the seconds until the Megaship dropped out of hyperspace ticked by agonizingly slowly.

Finally the ethereal patterns of hyperrush faded from the main screen, and the stars flickered into view as the Megaship dove towards Earth. "DECA, locate the Barox," Andros snapped.

"The Barox have teleported offship already," Ashley said, before DECA could reply. "They're in Angel Grove."

"Surprise, surprise," TJ heard Carlos mutter.

Andros was already on his feet. "Where?"

"The lake," Ashley answered, doing something to her console.

TJ almost swore. The lake. They had planned to meet at the lake later that morning, just before lunch. Tessa and Karen were supposed to be there too--and it would be just like Tessa to arrive early.

Then Ashley stood too, and TJ wasted no time in going for his morpher. They wouldn't be gliding, not with Kerone and Saryn with them, so he punched in the morphing code without hesitation. He saw holographic gold flashing across the Bridge before blue light flared around him, and his morpher, preprogrammed with the lake coordinates, took him immediately to the lakeshore.

"Andros! Get down!"

TJ would never understand how the Kerovan Rangers seemed to get everywhere faster than the others, but he saw Andros diving out of the way of a Barox fireball even as the world reformed around him. Zhane already had his Super Silverizer out, and was bombarding the Barox with a hail of energy blasts.

*Tessa...* TJ spun, trying to find the other Barox or his girlfriend, whichever appeared first.

"Star Slinger!"

He drew his Astro blaster, hearing Ashley yell for her weapon and turning automatically in that direction. There was the second Barox, squaring off against Ashley and Cassie, and for a split-second TJ felt relief that Tessa hadn't come early after all.

Then he saw her, sunlight on her flyaway blond hair as she stared at the battle in stunned amazement from the water's edge--not six meters from where the second Barox stood.

"Galaxy Glider--hang ten!" His Glider was there in less time than it took to call it, and TJ leapt onto it and swept toward Tessa without a thought. She saw him coming and her eyes, if it was possible, got even wider as he reached down and wrapped an arm around her waist.

"You shouldn't be here," he told her, holding her tightly as the Glider swerved away from the fight and zipped a little ways down the shore.

"It's a free beach!" she answered--indignant, if a little breathless, and he would have smiled if he wasn't so worried.

"Stay here," he said, setting her down gently on the sand.

Shaking her hair out of her face, she nodded quickly. He was already turning away when he heard, "Thanks, T--Blue Ranger."

His head whipped around, and he stared at her. "What did you say?"

She gave him her most innocent look. "Nothing..." Then her green eyes widened again, and she yelped, "Behind you!"

He threw himself out of the way without question, hitting the sand and hearing a detonation far too close behind him. One of the Barox had somehow gotten across the beach in seconds, without him even noticing, and a fireball had exploded on the ground where TJ's Glider had been a moment before.

He looked for Tessa first, found her safe as he scrambled to his feet. "Astro Axe!" The roar of Zhane's Silver Cycle almost drowned out TJ's cry, but the Power didn't care. His weapon appeared on his hand, and Zhane's Cycle sprayed sand in all directions as it slid to a halt behind the Barox.

TJ almost laughed as *Astronema* climbed off the bike behind Zhane. Kerone had very nicely solved a problem he hadn't even thought of--how to hide her identity without a Ranger uniform to disappear behind. Although how they were going to explain why the former villainess was now working with the Rangers, he had no idea.

There was no time to wonder, however--he could keep the Barox from firing again, for a time. But his Axe was meant for delivering the final blows, not taking out an enemy all by itself, and when Zhane yelled for him to move, he *moved*.

Conveniently, he moved in Tessa's direction. He didn't want to draw the Barox's attention to her, but he also didn't want to leave her undefended, and she seemed perfectly willing to remain still and inconspicuous at his side.

Astronema, wrath staff in hand, was anything but--both her staff and Zhane's Silverizer worked over long distances, and they had gone in different directions while TJ distracted the Barox. They were at an angle to each other now, catching the Barox in a deadly crossfire with every shot they let loose.

The Barox wouldn't go without a fight, of course, and TJ stared as a fireball meant for Zhane simply disappeared before it could reach him. No more than a foot away from the Silver Ranger, the fire exploded into an apparently harmless flash of purple energy, dissipating before it even touched Zhane's uniform.

The Barox stumbled, and Astronema's wrath staff crackled with energy as Zhane's Silverizer shifted to blade mode. Leaping forward, the Silver Ranger slashed the Barox across its chest. The air seemed to ripple and distort as the alien bounty hunter fell to its knees, and Zhane spun away as the Barox exploded behind him.

Another luminescent flare caught TJ's eye from farther down the beach, where the other Barox was still on its feet. Andros, Ashley, and Carlos had it surrounded, but the brilliant light wasn't coming from any of them. Instead, the glow burst away from Cassie and Saryn, enveloping the second Barox in a massive flash of heat and flame.

There was nothing left of the hunter when the air cleared, and TJ saw Zhane and Astronema exchange glances. "What was *that*?" he could hear Zhane mutter, but there was no answer.

"Are you all right?" TJ asked, suddenly remembering the girl at his side.

"Yeah," she assured him, tearing her eyes away from the scene she had been watching with as much interest as he. "I'm fine. You'd better get going--your teammates are waiting."

Actually, Zhane and Astronema didn't seem concerned with him at all, but it gave him the perfect way out. "Sorry," he said, though as the Blue Ranger he knew he had nothing to apologize for.

It was her stammer earlier that was bothering him. As TJ, he would have a *lot* of explaining to do if her hesitation had been what he thought it was. He barely kept from promising to "see you soon"--she only nodded to him, and lifted her hand a little as he left to join the others.

"What *was* that?" Carlos demanded, even as the afterimage of the explosion faded from Cassie's vision.

"Are you okay?" Andros added immediately.

She turned a concerned look on Saryn, who had not moved since the explosion. He still clasped her hand, but there was no way she could see his expression behind his visor. "*Are* you okay?" she asked, worried. As Cestria had pointed out, using their combined Power could only be expected to drain him.

But he tilted his head toward her at the sound of her voice, and asked calmly, "Are *you*?"

They stared at each other for a long moment, until Ashley threw up her hands in disgust. "Well, someone answer the question!"

The hum of Zhane's Cycle overrode any possible answer, and TJ's Glider drew even with the group at exactly the same time. "Can we get out of here?" he asked, without preamble. "I need to talk to Tessa."

"She's right there," Zhane said, gesturing over his shoulder.

TJ threw an irritated look in his direction, taking the attempt at humor more seriously than it had been intended. "Unmorphed. And I'm not demorphing here."

"Let's go," Andros agreed, reaching for his morpher.

As the other Rangers vanished into a rain of sparkles, and Astronema into her shimmering violet silhouette, Cassie shot another uneasy look at Saryn. "You didn't answer the question," she said quietly.

"Neither did you," he said, amusement in his tone. "We should go; they'll wonder what happened to us."

She squeezed his fingers, trying to keep her worry--and her temper--under control. "I'm all right. Are you?"

He just looked at her for a moment, then nodded. "I am."

She tried not to sigh. He was hiding something, but he was also right--the others would wonder, and they couldn't just stand here at the lake morphed for the rest of the morning. "Let's go," she said, resigned to his silence for now, but vowing to figure it out later.

The world went crimson before she could touch her morpher, and her eyes widened as the Megaship's Bridge appeared around them. *Crimson...* His teleportation was subtly more red every time she saw it. What if *that* was part of the problem--

"There you are," Andros said, oblivious to her musing. "What happened down there?"

TJ was already gone, she noted distractedly. The others remained, though--Astronema was once more an innocent looking blonde teenager, and the Rangers had demorphed. Cassie let go of Saryn's hand to fling her arms out to the side, following their example. "Power down!"

Saryn, to her surprise, did not. It only worried her further, but when he volunteered an answer to Andros' question, she couldn't interrupt.

"Cassie and I have the ability to share Power," he said, as though it was nothing out of the ordinary. "We seem to have been able to combine it in this instance into a force greater than either of our weapons alone."

" 'Seem to'?" Carlos repeated. "You didn't know that was going to happen?"

Saryn turned his head, and Cassie glanced back at him. It was disconcerting to be staring at his visor, and she had to fight not to snatch his ruby away from him impatiently. It was childish, but she couldn't help feeling that he was once again hiding from her.

"No," she said at last, when he didn't answer. "I still don't know *what* happened. Your guess is as good as ours."

"But you did *something*," Andros insisted, and she tried not to sigh.

"We did what we had to. We didn't plan it, it just... happened." *Like saving him after the detonator exploded on Aquitar,* she thought, shooting another glance in his direction. It scared her sometimes that these things just seemed to *happen* around him, unpredictable and uncontrollable.

"Well, it's a good thing it did," Ashley put in. "We were having a hard enough time just containing that Barox, let alone destroying it."

"Who got the other one?" Cassie asked, hoping to change the subject.

"Zhane and Kerone," Carlos told her, and Ashley nodded.

"The power of magic," Zhane informed them lightly, and Cassie studied him more closely. He and Kerone weren't standing *too* close, but there was something about the way he leaned on the console beside her--leaning toward her, rather than away. And she smiled faintly at his words... an inside joke?

"The power of hunger," Ashley corrected, when Cassie didn't reply. "Are we ever going to have our picnic, or should I just give in and go to the Synthetron myself?"

Cassie smiled, and Zhane laughed at Ashley's mock-indignation. "I say we have the picnic," he declared.

"I'll second that," Andros put in, and Zhane reached out to cross wrists with his best friend. Andros grinned and returned the gesture, but Cassie turned her attention back to Saryn.

"You're going to the Medical bay," she said softly.

Not softly enough. "What's wrong?" Carlos asked.

Trying not to glare, she replied, "He won't *tell* me."

"There is nothing wrong," Saryn put in. "But if it will make you feel better to have DECA's opinion, I will go to the Medical bay."

That in and of itself worried her. Under normal circumstances, he never would have agreed to visit the Medical bay. But she pressed her opportunity. "Right--we'll meet you guys at the lake in a few minutes, then."

Ashley gave her one of those "you'd better tell me what's going on later" looks, but she led the others off to raid the Synthetron. Kerone, to Cassie's surprise, gave her a sympathetic look as she passed. Carlos clapped her shoulder on his way out, and Cassie saw Saryn shift.

*Good,* she thought. *They know exactly how stubborn you are, and yes, we're "taking care of you".* She didn't care if he knew it at this point.

He stepped into the lift of his own accord, and she followed, but neither of them said anything until they reached the Medical bay. She because she was trying to out-stubborn him, and he... she didn't know why he said nothing, but she rather thought he was sulking.

"Demorph," she told him, as soon as they were inside the Medical bay. He just looked at her.

"Saryn, I mean it. You always demorph around us--I know something's wrong, so stop trying to hide it!"

"Am I nothing more to you than someone to be taken care of?" he asked quietly. There was an odd note in his voice.

She stared at him. Saryn was pulling away from her. The one person she had known beyond a doubt she could still trust--spending so much time on Aquitar was putting distance between her and her teammates, and seeing Zhane and Kerone together this morning made her realize exactly how much she was missing.

She had no idea what things were like between Andros' sister and the Silver Ranger, or how things were going for Ashley and Andros... she couldn't even remember the last time she'd heard Carlos mention Karen. And what about TJ's sudden insistence that he had to talk to Tessa? What was that about?

And now Saryn? Was he upset about last night? What if her mother was right--was she nothing more than a child to him, one he was growing tired of at last?

She swallowed hard, turning away so he wouldn't see the tears in her eyes. "Cassie?" she heard him ask, and his hand was on her shoulder. Still morphed...

At his touch, she squeezed her eyes shut and felt a single tear leak through. "I don't know who anyone is anymore!" she burst out, ashamed to cry in front of him again but unable to help it.

Suddenly both his hands were on her shoulders, and she could feel the warmth of his skin through her t-shirt as he turned her around. He had demorphed, and she let him pull her close against him, wanting nothing more than to hide in his arms forever.

"It's all right," she heard him whisper. "Everything will be all right, Cassie."

She tried to take a deep breath--she choked on it, and she felt him rub her back soothingly. She gave up any pretense of not crying and buried her face in his chest, grateful just to feel him holding her again.

He said nothing more, letting her cry until the tears stopped coming, and then holding her still. She stood there, listening to him breathe, slower than her, and calmer, and tried to feel what he was feeling.

The noise was blissfully absent now, but in place of it she felt nothing. She drew in a deep breath at last, feeling her hopelessness abate further, and it was only then that she realized what she *was* feeling from him. It wasn't nothing--it was peace, a quiet calm that was so subtle she had almost missed it.

But it wasn't what he was *feeling*... she turned her head up to search his expression. His bright eyes stared back at her, and she could feel that peace seeping into her. He wasn't feeling the calmness, he was only *projecting* it--onto her.

Behind the intensity of his gaze, she could see the concern and turmoil of his own feelings; feelings he was blocking, for her sake. She hadn't known he could do that.

"Thank you," she whispered, and the ghost of a smile flickered across his face.

"You must forgive me," he murmured. "Please understand that I have not done this in almost four years... it is a hard skill to relearn, and Cestria tells me I am too strong for my own good."

"Just strong enough for *my* good," she said, meaning it, and he smiled again.

"Will you--tell me what is wrong?" he asked hesitantly, and she drew back enough to give him a sharp look.

"Are you going to tell me what's wrong with *you*?"

He sighed, but he did not look away. "Truly, I do not know."

"So something *is* wrong," she pressed.

"Possibly," he admitted. "I--am more tired than I can account for, of late. Unable to focus, sometimes, except when you are near."

"Except when I'm around," she repeated. "A problem with your Power, then." The idea triggered by his teleportation was back, and she wondered what Andros would say if she snuck into his room without permission.

"So I assumed," he agreed. "But--until today--I have done nothing to put strain on my crystal. There should *be* no problem."

His hands were still on her shoulders, and she thought he might not be supporting *her* so much as letting her support *him*. "Saryn," she said slowly. "On Elisia, did you ever have--Zhane calls it 'color withdrawal'..."

She didn't know how else to explain, but he cocked his head at her without puzzlement. "Power withdrawal, yes. The withdrawal your body goes through when the Power leaves it. You minimize the effects by wearing the color that chose you, thus giving the Power a conduit to you even when unmorphed."

"That's what I mean," she agreed. She waited for him to see what she was suggesting, but he didn't seem to understand. Finally, she pointed out the obvious herself. "You're wearing black."

His expression went stony. "Black is my color now."

She bit her lip, worried by how quickly he had closed off. "But red is the color that chose you," she said softly. "You can't just pick a new color, Saryn; it doesn't work that way."

"I did not choose it." He wasn't stepping away, and that was the only thing that reassured her now. "I did not deserve the color that chose me, thus I accept the absence of color as my only rank as a Ranger."

"There was no Black Ranger on you team," she guessed. Somehow, she didn't think Carlos would take kindly to hearing his color described that way.

Saryn shook his head. "I mean no disrespect to Carlos," he added, more quietly. "But I wear black because I am not worthy of red."

"That," Cassie said calmly, "is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard."

He stared at her in surprise.

"You were *chosen* red," she insisted, putting her hands on his arms. "Nothing changes that, and the Power doesn't pick people who aren't 'worthy'. You may have been able to change your uniform, but you can't change the Power--your crystal's still red."

"Maybe the Power doesn't know everything," he murmured, but his gaze was locked with hers and the pleading look in his blue eyes said that he *wanted* to believe.

"The Power knows," she told him firmly. "It knows better than us. Linnse tried to call me a traitor this morning, but even she couldn't deny that the Power doesn't *pick* traitors. It chooses people who *deserve* it, and will do good with it."

"Linnse *what*?" His eyes narrowed, and his fingers tightened on her shoulders. "What did you just say?"

She sighed, but didn't answer. She shouldn't have told him that. "It's not important. What matters--"

"It *is* important," he countered. "I have told you what is wrong with me..." He must have realized how tightly he was holding onto her, for his grip relaxed a little and he reached up to stroke her cheek gently. "Please do no less in return."

She hesitated, not wanting to bother him with it.

"It bothers me not to know," he retorted, and she blinked.

"Did you..." She paused. *Just read my mind?*

He stared back at her, an unreadable expression on his face. But she couldn't quite tell if he was actually hiding something, or if he was just waiting for her to speak.

She sighed, looking away. If she was going crazy, now was as good a time as any to do it. "It *is* Linnse," she said finally. "And it's my mom. And you. It's just--everything's happening at once, and I feel like I have no control over anything anymore..."

"You have control," he said softly. "More than you know. You need only *say* something."

She sighed again, inadvertently. "I can't control my mother. Or Linnse. Or you, for that matter." She knew that sounded strange, but it wasn't *him* she wanted control of, so much as some aspect of their relationship that she wasn't even sure she recognized herself.

He actually chuckled. "You have control of me, Cassie. In everything you say and do, you control me. I don't understand how you can not see this... I only wish it was as easy for me to reach *your* heart as it is for you to reach mine."

"You wish..." she stared at him, unable to finish repeating what he had said. "You *are* my heart," she said, suddenly finding her own words. "Why do you think I keep coming after you when you pull this 'make everyone think I'm dead' routine? I can't live without you--how can you not know that?"

"And yet you so rarely tell me what you feel," he told her quietly. "How am I to know?"

*What else is empathy good for?* she wondered wryly, but didn't say so aloud.

He smiled anyway, and she gave him a suspicious look. Deliberately, she thought, *You *are* reading my mind.*

"I'm not," he replied immediately.

Cassie smirked. *You are.*

His eyes widened as he realized what she was doing.

*How long have you been doing that?* she demanded. *And why didn't you tell me?*

He shook his head ruefully. "Too fast," he admitted. "I do not know what you said."

"I didn't *say* anything," she reminded him pointedly. "I wondered how long you've been reading my mind, and why you didn't tell me."

"Not long," he muttered. "I am not entirely sure when it started."

"But you have *some* idea," she persisted. "Today? Yesterday, last week?"

"Today, maybe," he conceded. "Or the day before yesterday, when you were last on Aquitar. I remember... knowing things before you said them, even then. It is hard to differentiate--to know when it went from feelings to actual words."

Somewhat mollified to know that he hadn't been keeping this secret for more than a day or two, she couldn't keep from asking, "When were you going to tell me?"

"When I understood it," he said quietly. "When I realized it was happening again--I told you, it is not so easy to notice the shift from just emotion to thoughts as well. And your thoughts are so clear..."

He sounded almost wistful. "You might as well have been speaking aloud," he whispered, touching her face gently.

She swallowed, trying not to let his attention distract her. "Happening again?" she repeated. "What do you mean?"

He paused for a moment, and when he answered, it wasn't at all what she expected. "You have done it again," he said, and his tone sounded almost accusatory.

She blinked. "What are you talking about?"

"You distracted me." He gave her a stern look. "We were talking about you. We never talk about you, because you always change the subject before you say anything. I do not wish you to continue diverting me like this."

She folded her arms, closing her mouth and staring at him. *I'm not saying anything,* she thought slowly, *until you tell me how you're reading my mind.*

His hands were still on her shoulders, though he lifted one hand to brush his hair carelessly away from his face. *Then--* He gazed down at her, his expression no less determined than her own. *We will be here for a very long time.*

She gasped, startled beyond words to hear his resonant voice, complete with alien inflection and unyielding tone, speaking inside her head. It was nothing like hearing Cestria, or even Aura, who always sounded as though they were speaking from somewhere far away, sending the words to her from a distant place. Saryn sounded like he was... inside her mind.

"How did you--" She completely forgot her promise not to speak, watching his stern expression breathlessly for any change. "You talked to me! You're not supposed to be able to do that!"

His expression didn't so much as flicker. *You are changing the subject again.*

Her eyes widened. His mental "voice" was both frightening in its strength and addictive in its very presence--she wasn't sure if she wanted to clap her hands over her ears or beg him to keep talking... Was this what Ashley felt when Andros "spoke" to her? No wonder she always went dreamy-eyed on them!

"Cassie?" Saryn asked softly, his real voice suddenly quiet and distant after the reverberation in her mind. "Is it--troubling?"

"No!" she assured him hastily. "It's..." She didn't know what words to use. "I don't even know; it's--strange, but in a good way."

He smiled a little, but there was no putting him off this time. "Then tell me what *does* trouble you," he told her. "I am not leaving this room until I know."

She turned away, sitting down gingerly on the edge of the patient bed. "But your Power..." she gestured helplessly. "It must be affecting you more now, because you're demorphed all the time. Maybe you should--"

"I will be fine, as long as I am with you," he said firmly. "I will consider what you said about my Power later. Right now I wish you to tell me what led you to cry just now--so that I may do everything I can to fix it."

She sighed. "It isn't that easy..."

"Tell me," he repeated, sitting down beside her.

"Tess!"

She was sitting down by the water, some distance from where the fight with the Barox had taken place only a few minutes before. She looked over her shoulder at his shout, and she smiled back at him.

TJ jogged over to her, sitting down in the sand beside her without hesitation. "Hey," he said, with as bright a smile as he could manage. "I heard there was some excitement here earlier."

"Yeah," she agreed, turning her gaze back to the water. "Some bad guys showed up; the Power Rangers came and blew them away. The story of Angel Grove."

"I guess it is," he agreed, following her gaze nervously. She didn't sound upset, but he had a sinking feeling that the worst was yet to come. "I'm glad you're all right."

"Thanks," she said simply.

They sat there in silence for a few minutes, listening to the breeze stir the leaves of the trees lining the lakeshore. The breeze gradually increased, until he realized he was hearing the chatter of picnic enthusiasts over the wind. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw most of the team headed in his and Tessa's direction.

With a jerk of his head and a quick wave to the side, he managed to redirect them. As if it had been their intent all along, the group turned and walked along the water's edge, finally throwing themselves down in the sun-dappled shade beneath the trees.

"Tessa," TJ began, turning back to her. Not quite sure what he was going to say, he was almost relieved when she interrupted--until her words sank in.

"Your color-coded friends are here," she said with a smile. "Shall we go join them?"

"Color-coded?" he repeated, knowing how stupid it sounded but unable to come up with something else.

She glanced pointedly at his outfit. "Nice blue shirt, TJ. Do you own any other colors?"

He sighed. "You know." It was not a question.

"Of *course* we know," Tessa replied. She sounded, if anything, amused. "I thought *you* knew we knew, until today."

" 'We'?"

"Stop repeating everything I say," she said, leaning forward to kiss him on the cheek. "Me and Karen. We've known who you are for two or three weeks now."

"But how?" He had to ask, though he knew he wasn't racking up any points for elegance with his one and two word sentences.

"Your 'watches'," she said, holding up two fingers of either hand to make little quotation symbols. "You're not very careful about when they go off, or who's around when you talk to them, you know. And the fact that they don't actually tell time? That was sort of a tipoff."

He couldn't help cracking a smile at that, relieved that she still didn't seem upset. "Plus the 'color-coded friends'?" he teased tentatively.

"Plus the color-coded friends," she agreed, returning his smile. "And--you might want to tell Zhane to stop yelling his friend's name in the middle of battles. 'Andros' isn't really that common."

TJ rolled his eyes. "I'll mention it to him, but it probably won't do any good. He's notoriously 'forgetful'." He mimicked her finger quotation marks, and she grinned.

"I'm sorry I couldn't tell you," he offered, studying her expression. "I would have, you know... but there was this silly rule we had--"

"I know," she said, her grin widening. "Carlos told Karen last night."

She laughed outright at his chagrinned expression. "It wasn't on purpose. He goofed when he was trying to explain how everyone knew Cassie was all right, even though you didn't know where she was."

"I thought Carlos was quicker on his feet than that," TJ muttered.

Tessa cleared her throat. "I'm sure he is--normally." She shot him a suggestive glance, which he tried to take only in the spirit it was intended.

"I see," he said, forcing a wide smile.

"Of course, the fact that Karen was already convinced of who he was didn't help his case," Tessa admitted.

This time, his grin came naturally. "I'm sure it didn't. Too bad we didn't know you were smarter than us all along--it would have saved us a lot of grief."

"Oh, but TJ," she said, smirking mischievously at him. "You should have remembered rule number one in the Relationship Book of Rules."

He raised an eyebrow at her, perfectly aware he was being set up. "Which is?"

"Girls are born smarter than guys, and the difference only increases the older you get."

She shrieked with laughter as he lunged forward and wrapped his arms around her, tickling her mercilessly.

9. Learning to Live

A sparkle of violet energy crackled in the air, and Zhane yanked his hand back. "Ow!"

Astrea tossed her head, giving him a defiant look. "I *said* I can do it."

"I was just trying to help," he exclaimed indignantly, grabbing a different corner of the blanket and moving away from her. "You didn't have to shock me!"

Ashley gave him an affectionate shove as he laid his edge of the blanket down next to her. "Maybe you should have listened to her when she said she'd get it."

"Nineties women are all the same," Carlos complained, tugging at the blanket from the other side to get it to lie flat. "You offer to help them, and they hurt you."

Karen slapped his shoulder, and he clutched it dramatically. "Ow! See what I mean?"

Karen laughed. "I wouldn't have to hit you if you didn't say stupid things!"

"Zhane," Ashley whispered, before he could straighten up. She gestured him closer.

He crouched down next to the cooler she was rummaging through and cocked his head. "What's up?"

"Tell Kerone not to do that, okay?" she murmured, glancing in Karen's direction. "There aren't many sorceresses on Earth."

"Like she'll listen to me," he muttered, rolling his eyes. At Ashley's look, he added hastily, "But I'll try."

"Hey, TJ," Andros' voice greeted their teammate, and Zhane looked up to see TJ and Tessa strolling in their direction.

"Hi Tessa," Ashley chimed in cheerfully, giving Andros a pointed look. Zhane grinned as his friend pretended not to notice.

"You guys," TJ said, not bothering to say "hello" in return. The serious note in his voice got Zhane's attention, and the rest of the team looked up. The Blue Ranger said simply, "They know."

Zhane raised an eyebrow. Glancing around, he wondered if that was some sort of cryptic message he was *supposed* to understand, for the glances everyone else was exchanging looked more apprehensive than confused.

"Both of you?" Ashley was staring at Karen as though she'd never seen her before, and Zhane followed her gaze.

Karen caught Carlos' eye and nodded. "We've been pretty sure for a couple weeks now."

"And I screwed up last night," Carlos admitted. "Andros called me about Cassie…"

"And not only did he get up and leave the theater when his 'watch' beeped," Karen added, "but the first thing he said when he came back was, 'Cassie's all right.'"

"Sorry," Andros said, looking a little sheepish. "I should have checked where you were before I called you."

"Yeah, well, just remember that next time I walk in on you and Ashley in the observatory," Carlos muttered. Andros blushed, and Zhane heard Ashley trying to stifle a giggle.

"And no offense, but Zhane doesn't help either," Tessa added.

"No kidding!" Karen exclaimed. "You're not very good at the secret identity thing, are you."

Startled, Zhane held his hands out to the side. He had assumed the conversation would eventually become clear to him, but it hadn't happened yet. "What did I do? I don't even know what you're talking about!"

"Tessa and Karen know we're Power Rangers," Carlos said, taking pity on him. "They seem to think you're the worst at keeping it a secret."

Karen shoved him. "At least he didn't talk to his 'watch' right outside my open window two weeks ago!"

Carlos grabbed the hand that had shoved him and pulled her close, leaning in to give her a kiss. She relaxed visibly, clearly willing to forgive the slip, and TJ cleared his throat.

"So anyway, Zhane, Tessa's right--do you think you could possibly remember not to use names when we're fighting?"

"I don't," he protested, trying not to let his exasperation with the need for secrecy show.

"You used Andros' this morning," Tessa put in. "You yelled to him to get out of the way."

He shrugged helplessly. "So what was I *supposed* to call him?"

"Red Ranger," Ashley supplied. "We should all get in the habit of doing that--calling each other by our colors when we're morphed. At least on Earth."

"So people… not on Earth… know who you are?" Karen asked curiously.

Ashley nodded. "Andros says most planets know who their Rangers are. Earth's just too primitive to deal with it."

"I didn't say that," Andros objected immediately. "I didn't call it primitive, just… isolated."

"You're right, though," Karen admitted. "If I was a Ranger, I wouldn't want anyone to know who I was either. Can you imagine the media attention? You'd never have a normal life…" She trailed off, then added quickly, "Well, not that you do anyway, I guess."

"At least this way we can go to school, though," Carlos said. "And play sports, and hang out at the Surf Spot without having people following us around every minute. It's more normal than it *would* be, if people knew."

Karen nodded, but Tessa was regarding Andros quizzically. "Where are *you* from, then?"

He looked up in surprise, then glanced over at Zhane for support. Zhane just shrugged. *She did ask,* he told his friend silently.

"You said Earth was isolated," Tessa persisted. "That's not a very… human statement."

This time, Ashley did giggle, and Andros looked indignant. "We're as human as you are. We're just from a different planet."

"'We'?" Karen repeated, deadpan.

Andros caught Zhane's eye again, and Tessa and Karen followed his gaze.

"Oh, come on," TJ said, into the ensuing silence. "With a name like 'Zhane', where did you expect him to be from?"

"Hey!" Zhane complained good-naturedly. "Your name's just letters, so leave mine alone."

"We're from KO-35," Andros added. "Me and Zhane and Kerone."

"Kerone?" Karen repeated, shooting Carlos an amused glance. "Carlos, when I asked if she was an alien I was *kidding*."

Before Zhane could correct her, Tessa asked thoughtfully, "Astronema?"

Astrea looked up, her expression perfectly calm. "Yes?"

"What?!" Karen yelped.

Andros put a hand on her shoulder and stared back at Carlos' girlfriend. "She's my sister."

"And she's not evil," Zhane added.

"Anymore," Ashley amended. "She's on our side now."

"How did you know?" TJ demanded, studying Tessa. "They don't look *that* much alike."

Tessa gave him a fondly exasperated look. "Process of elimination. If you all wear your respective colors, then counting Cassie, that's six. That means Kerone can't be a Ranger, and Astronema was with Zhane this morning during the fight."

"So…" Karen didn't look at all intimidated by Andros' gaze. "You're still Astronema, but you're fighting *with* the Rangers?"

"I was born Kerone," Andros' sister replied. "That's the name I use now. But yes, I'm the same person I was when I was Astronema."

"Then what made you switch sides?" Karen asked, frowning.

Zhane, watching her, blinked when her gaze swung in his direction. Startled to be caught staring, he couldn't look away, and her hazel eyes locked with his. "Zhane," she said quietly.

He roused himself from the trance her eyes had put him into, trying to focus. "Hmm?"

Her lips curved gently, and she elaborated, "Zhane made me switch sides."

"You're kidding," Tessa said, then clapped her hand over her mouth when Zhane looked over at her. "Um… I didn't mean that the way it sounded."

Beside him, Ashley laughed. "I hope not. Don't mess with someone who has a sorceress for a girlfriend."

Startled into looking at her, Zhane was just in time to catch the wink she threw in Astrea's direction. To his infinite surprise, Astrea returned it even as Karen squeaked, "Sorceress?"

Carlos poked her. "You didn't think Astronema's staff was supertechnology, did you?"

She poked him right back. "I didn't know it was *magic*!"

A muted purple flash caught their attention, and a sparkling violet sphere appeared over Astrea's upturned palm. "Magic is magic," she said, and the glow shrank a little. "And mine won't go away just because I'm good again."

Catching him off guard, she tossed the tiny globe in his direction and his telekinesis reached for it instinctively. The light responded to his mental push and skidded to a halt just in front of his upraised hands.

He lowered his hands a little, so the sphere appeared to float over them the same way it had when Astrea "held" it. "What am I supposed to do with this?" he demanded, and she actually smirked at him.

Karen's eyes were wide. "You have it too?"

He frowned, keeping one eye on the sphere as he glanced over at her. "What, magic? No."

"Telekinesis," Andros put in.

"Just as useful, and a lot more subtle," Zhane cracked--and the violet light burst into a miniature explosion in front of him. He let his hands fall and blinked rapidly in a futile attempt to clear his vision. "Okay, not *quite* as useful," he admitted.

"More subtle though," Andros said with a grin.

"Definitely more subtle," Zhane agreed, rubbing his eyes. "I think you blinded me!"

"Ashley told you to be careful," Carlos reminded him, obviously amused.

"She told Tessa to be careful!" Zhane protested, giving Astrea his best wounded look. "I thought I was safe!"

"No, before," Carlos said, laughing. "When she shocked you. I'm telling you, you have to walk the line around women these days--"

"Or before you know it they're running the universe," Karen interrupted, grinning at Astrea.

Astrea smiled back, a little uncertainly, and Zhane tried to change the subject. "Hey, are we just going to talk all afternoon or do we actually get to eat at some point?"

"Maybe you should ask Kerone's permission," Ashley teased, and he tried not to wince.

*Ashley, I'm trying to get the attention *off* of her.*

She looked a little startled, but one glance in Astrea's direction must have convinced her. "Andros," she scolded suddenly, "stop standing on the blanket. You're getting it sandy. And Kerone, TJ, Tessa, sit down. Unless you *want* to eat standing up…"

TJ just laughed. "Yes, ma'am!" he said good-naturedly.

Tessa took his hand and pulled him down onto a corner of the blanket, and Andros wandered around the edge to join Ashley. "Any more orders for me?" Zhane heard him whisper, and she favored him with a bright smile.

Astrea still looked a little uncomfortable, even if, from Ashley's reaction, it wasn't obvious to everyone else. He motioned to her, cocking his head at the empty space next to him. She lifted her chin, staring back at him, and he sighed inwardly.

*I'm not trying to "help" you,* he thought, this time counting on her to be listening for him. He could project to Ashley now, barely and only most of the time, but he still relied on Astrea's claim that she could "link" with anyone to get things across to her. *But if you sit across from me I'll stare at you all afternoon and be totally distracted.*

He knew she had heard him when her lips quirked a little, and without a word she walked around the blanket as Andros had done. She stopped next to Ashley, and the Yellow Ranger grinned up at her. "First choice?"

"An apple?" Astrea said tentatively, and Ashley handed her one.

"Done. No sandwich?"

"I'm not hungry," she answered automatically, and Ashley wrinkled her nose.

"How could I forget? How 'bout you, Andros?"

"Favoritism," TJ complained. "You're supposed to serve the people farthest away from you first!"

"Oh, right, the lazy people," Ashley agreed. "Feel free to come over here and help me!"

"I'll help," Andros said quickly.

Watching Astrea carefully seat herself next to him, Zhane missed the reply. He smiled as she bit into her apple, and she looked up, seeming to sense his regard.

Then someone tapped his shoulder, and he twisted to see Andros holding a sandwich out to him. "Thanks," he told his friend, and Andros grinned at him.

"No problem." Silently, he added, *Remember to eat it.*

*Oh, like you should talk,* Zhane retorted. *I've seen you stare at Ashley!*

Andros' irritatingly smug look didn't fade as he turned away, and Zhane rolled his eyes. Andros seemed to get no end of amusement out of his best friend's attraction to his sister, and Zhane had no idea why.

*He's probably getting even with you for all the times you've teased *him*,* Astrea said, calmly taking another bite of her apple.

*Don't do that!* he exclaimed, glaring at her.

She only shrugged. *How am I supposed to know what you do and don't want me to pick up?*

"Thanks, Andros," Karen said, cutting into his train of thought as she reached in front of him.

"Wasn't Cassie going to come?" Tessa was asking, as Zhane became aware of the spoken conversation again.

"She got held up," Ashley said over her shoulder.

"She's still on the Megaship," TJ added, and Ashley shook her head.

"Yeah. Sorry, Tessa. I'm so in the habit of watching what I say."

"It's all right," Tessa said quickly. "The Megaship is--your ship?" she guessed, looking over at Andros.

"It was," he agreed, sitting down on the blanket with his own sandwich. "It used to be mine and Zhane's. It belongs to all of us, now."

Zhane looked up automatically, though the trees overhead made it impossible to see even the sky, let alone anything beyond it. Things were different now, Andros was right about that… but at last "now" was starting to feel like the present and not the future. The Megaship was beginning to feel more like home than Rayven, and the Astro team once more seemed like *his* team.

There was movement beside him, and he felt Astrea's hand brush against his. He glanced over at her, but she was scrutinizing her apple as though the next bite was the most important thing on her mind.

He smiled, once more losing the thread of the conversation as he looked at her. *Thanks for being here when I woke up.*

She didn't look up, but he heard her words echo in his mind nonetheless. *You too...*

The room was almost completely silent, save for the hum of the air recyclers and the steady whisper of their breathing. With her leaning against him, her head on his chest as they perched on one of the patient beds, he didn't dare move. And after her story, he found himself, for once, at a loss for words.

"I hadn't seen either of them for more than a year," Cassie murmured at last, breaking into the quiet. "And then to have *her* turn up at our front door… something inside me just turned off. It--it was the only way I could deal with it."

He lifted his fingers to stroke her hair, keeping his arm wrapped around her as he tried to decide what to say. "I'm sorry," he said at last, knowing it wasn't enough but not knowing how else to start. "I… you never spoke of your family."

"I never *think* of my family," she said, with a bitterness that shouldn't have surprised him. "I used to call them, almost every week. I don't think they noticed when I stopped."

"Cassie," he whispered, not knowing how to comfort her. He was so used to having words for every situation, to always knowing what and how much--or how little--to say. But he didn't know what to say to help the one person who meant the most to him.

She sighed, shifting a little as she leaned on him. "I'm sorry I was so short with you last night," she said. "I didn't mean it--"

"Do not apologize," he said quickly. "*I* am sorry; I should have asked, I should have *known* something was wrong. I'm sorry," he repeated. "I was only thinking of myself."

"You weren't," she protested, tilting her head a little as though she was going to look up at him. "I saw your present, Saryn; it's beautiful. I didn't even think of yesterday as…"

She trailed off, and he managed to smile a little. "It was a somewhat--unconventional choice, even by your traditions. But I knew you were not content, and I wished to cheer you up somehow."

"It was a wonderful thing to do," she murmured, and he sighed.

"The intent was there. But you must admit it backfired in spectacular fashion."

She actually giggled, and he smiled again, somewhat relieved. "The intent was there," she repeated. "That's all that matters."

"It is *not* all that matters," he contradicted her, trying not to be sharp. He was angry with himself for not seeing this, for not realizing how Linnse's suspicions were grating on her, how the constant time away from her friends was making her lonely, and for reacting as he had the night before, in a way so completely opposite to what she had needed.

He was trying very hard not to let her feel his distress, but he couldn't help saying, "I have failed you, Cassie, as both your friend and your love."

"No," she objected, trying to pull away from him. "You never have--"

He let her sit up, but he put two fingers over her mouth and did not let her pull his hand away. "I have," he said firmly. "Do not try to take the blame, because it is not yours and it will only make me feel worse."

Her lips curved a little under his fingers, and he tried his hardest to concentrate on what he had to say. "Please, Cassie," he said quietly. "Tell me when you hurt. I will know--I *will* learn to know--but I do not wish for anything like this to happen to us again in the meantime."

Her smile faded a little, and he let his hand fall. "I love you," she whispered after a moment.

He could only stare at her, finally giving in to the tug of her emotions as they engulfed his senses. "I love you, too," he murmured, feeling the words even as they were spoken, and trying to deny the disturbance he felt growing with his simple statement.

She bit her lip and stared back at him, until he could no longer ignore that discontent. "What?" he pleaded at last. "What have I done?"

He could feel her bracing herself, feel her longing to throw herself into his arms and fighting it. "I know you love me," she said quietly. "But do you believe me?"

She should never have to ask something like that--the question latched onto his heart and he knew, somehow, that he would hear those sad words in his mind for days to come. "Above all others," he answered seriously, willing her not to look away.

She swallowed, and he tried not to clench his fingers on her shoulder when she looked away. She glanced back at him after a moment that was far too long for his peace of mind, and the distress in her eyes caught him off guard. "Then *why* don't you trust me?"

The question once more rendered him speechless--he couldn't believe he had been at such a loss twice in only the past hour. "I--I *do* trust you," he managed to insist at last. "Without question, and without fail. How can you doubt that?"

"How can you doubt *me*?" she cried. "Last night, how could you have thought I was with someone else? Why can't I even *talk* to a guy without you glaring at me from across the room?"

He stared at her, knowing he had no defense against her accusation. "How--how did you know about last night?" he asked, trying not to flinch as he realized how that sounded. But he could think of nothing else to say…

"Aura had to block you again," she muttered. "The third time in as many weeks, Saryn; I *wish* you would think about having Cestria help you."

He closed his eyes. Her tone was that of someone repeating advice given often in the past, but she had never mentioned it before. He had long suspected that she hid her true thoughts behind that beautiful smile and somewhat flamboyant exterior, and he had yearned to know them.

He had thought, with the return of his empathy, that perhaps he had been wrong. That maybe he *did* truly know the girl behind the mask, and that his doubt was just what she confronted him with now--the all-consuming fear that he would somehow lose her to things he didn't understand.

But as she had pointed out, his empathy was long out of practice, and he had never been properly trained to deal with it. He suspected now that it had been Lyris' constant presence that had allowed him to control it as well as he had after he joined the Elisian Rangers. And Cassie had had years of recent experience in concealing her feelings…

"You are right," he whispered. "I will ask Cestria for assistance."

He expected her to protest, expected to have to reword his declaration to make her believe he was not doing it merely for her. But instead she asked only, "And you'll stop being so jealous?"

He opened his eyes in surprise. It was the first time she had demanded anything of him, without apology or reassurance, but that was one thing he could not do. "I can't control what I feel," he pleaded, reaching for her hand. "If I am--jealous, of some people you spend time with, it is only because I love you too much to bear the thought, however unreasonable, of one day losing you."

"You *won't*," she said fiercely. "Saryn, I've never loved anyone like this, and I don't think I ever can again. You're stuck with me--forever."

He caught his breath, suddenly struggling to get the words out. "Do you… mean that?"

"No, I'm lying!" she exclaimed. "Of *course* I mean it! I'm tired of you not believing in us, Saryn!"

Her anger hurt him in a way he could never have defined, and his soul ached as it hadn't since he had awoken alone in a medical ward on Eltare three and a half years ago. But… something in him was perversely--glad, to hear her shout at him. He knew at last that he was hearing exactly what she thought, with nothing held back.

"And yet," he said quietly, clinging to the hope her declaration had given him, "you said 'forever'."

"Because I *mean* forever," she answered, wilting a little as her temper seemed to drain away. "Every time I say I love you, I mean I'll always love you. I can't change it, and I don't think you can, either."

"I would not wish to," he said fervently. "Your love is what I treasure most in the universe, and it is the one thing I could not live without."

She sighed, looking away. "Not when I'm like this. I'm sorry; it's been a really long week--"

"*Especially* when you're like this," he corrected firmly. "I love who you truly are, Cassie, not just the person you want me to see. In all truth, I… have sometimes wished for you to lose your temper with me more often."

"You're kidding." Her expression was startled when she caught his eye, and he smiled involuntarily, starting to relax.

"I'm not. It is a side of you that you restrain too often, and I wish you wouldn't. Not around me."

"Are you saying you can take it?" she teased gently, edging closer to him.

"That is exactly what I'm saying," he agreed, drawing her into his embrace as she leaned against him again. "And--" He took a deep breath. "I will endeavor to… control my jealousy, as you say."

"You don't *have* any reason to be jealous," she insisted. "Not if you trust me. I *love* you."

"I know," he whispered. He would tell himself that next time, over and over--it had never worked before, but he would try it again, for her. At the very least, if it came to that, he would do his best to keep her from sensing his feelings.

She seemed content to let him hold her, and they stayed that way, silently, for several minutes. He didn't know exactly how much time passed, but he knew it wasn't long enough when she pulled away with a reluctant sigh. "I suppose the others are wondering what happened to us."

"No one has called looking for us," he pointed out hopefully.

She smiled a little at his tone. "I'm sure it won't be long… they tend to have the worst timing."

She slid off the edge of the patient bed before he could protest further, taking her energy with her. It was the first time he had been without her touch since he had demorphed, and he was shocked by how quickly exhaustion overtook him. This wasn't the mild fatigue he'd been pushing aside for the last few days--he was *tired*, and all of a sudden nothing but sleep sounded even remotely appealing.

"Saryn?" She turned back to him, surprise in her dark eyes. "*I* can feel that--are you all right?"

He nodded quickly, then changed his mind. "No… I do not think I am." He barely heard his own words, his focus somewhere just past the edge of his consciousness. He thought he heard her communicator beep… He knew that should be funny, but couldn't remember why.

Then her hand was on his arm, her own awareness crashing home and bringing his concentration back to something like its normal clarity. She tilted her morpher to snap it shut one-handed, and to his surprise a red glow lit the Medical bay as Andros teleported in.

"Come on," he said without preamble. "Saryn," he added, heading for the door, "you could have said something before this, you know."

Cassie sighed, tugging him to his feet to follow Andros. "Believe me, I've told him. He doesn't think he's 'worthy' of red."

"No," he tried to protest, realizing their intent. "I do not--"

Neither paid any attention. "If it doesn't work, I promise to stop bothering you about it," Cassie said, as the lift doors closed on them. Then she seemed to consider. "Well, I might. But you could at least *try* it first, and see."

He couldn't organize his thoughts quickly enough to come up with a counterargument, and within moments she was hesitating outside Andros' door. "I was going to change, too--should I wait?"

"No," Andros said, when he didn't answer. "We'll be okay; go ahead."

She hesitated, and he tried again to protest. But then she was gone, and the world blurred into something he almost couldn't recognize, let alone care about. He managed to wonder if he looked as bad as he felt, but he wasn't aware of Andros' reaction until the other pressed something into his hands a moment later.

He blinked, suddenly noticing they were in Andros' room. He didn't even remember entering it--but when he glanced down, he found his fingers wrapped around a bright red t-shirt, with a single black stripe across the chest.

"Andros," he said with a sigh.

Andros shrugged. "TJ used to wear it, but it's a little big for me. And it's not really my style."

The Red Ranger tilted his head to the side then, an exasperated look crossing his face. "I can't believe I just said that," he muttered, talking at least half to himself. "Ashley's a bad influence on me."

He stared down at the shirt in his hands, trying not to see it, not to think about it. There was no denying that Cassie had been right--he was still tired, but not overwhelmingly so, and things around him made sense again. He didn't understand why this "withdrawal" had chosen now to affect him so strongly, but logic told him to accept their gesture.

"Andros," he repeated, lifting his gaze to regard the Astro team leader. "I do not wish to infringe in any way--"

"We're not going to throw you off the team because you're a leader, Saryn," Andros said, sounding amused. "Just put it on."

He hesitated, but it seemed to be that or depend on Cassie for the rest of the day. He didn't want to put that kind of burden on her, so he shrugged out of his overshirt and pulled the black tunic off as well. He drew in an inadvertent breath as Andros' red t-shirt settled over his shoulders.

He felt Andros' gaze on him, and he closed his eyes. He wasn't sure if he would smile or cry, and for a moment, as his emotions warred within him, he honestly didn't know which would win. Finally, he managed a tentative smile, opening his eyes to find Andros still waiting.

"Thank you," he said quietly. "It feels--" He stopped. He couldn't quite bring himself to say it felt *right*, because he wasn't sure it did anymore. But it did feel *better*, and he swallowed. "Cassie was right."

Andros smiled a little in return. "She'll be glad to hear it. Are you up to joining us, then?"

He nodded slowly, glancing down at his abandoned tunic. Then his gaze shifted to his overshirt, and he picked it up and put it on over his t-shirt. Andros watched with a wry look on his face. "That's convenient," he remarked.

The red, while still unmistakable, was now mostly hidden by the long-sleeved black shirt he so rarely went without. He folded his tunic without a word and nodded to Andros. "Thank you--I will leave this in my room."

He froze when he realized what he had said, but Andros just smiled again. "Right," he agreed, making no comment on the "my room" statement.

He tried not to sigh as he stepped out into the hallway. He *was* a part of the team--they had told him so often enough, and he knew he was always welcome on the Megaship. Why was it so hard to break his old habits, his old reactions?

He left his tunic and reemerged into the corridor just in time to witness Cassie's entrance. She was still wearing her jean shorts, but her t-shirt had been replaced with a skintight pink top that made him catch his breath and stare.

She grinned at his reaction and lifted her hands over her head, twirling around once in the hallway. "You like it?"

"Cassie…" He tried not to stammer over the words and failed miserably. "Wh--what are you *wearing*?"

"Swimsuit," she replied, waving at Andros as he came down the hall. "Actually--" She regarded him curiously. "Have you ever been swimming? It never occurred to me to ask."

"Swimming," he said uncertainly, trying to stop staring at her long enough to answer the question. Kris could swim, he remembered. But she had never worn special clothes for the activity…

From somewhere next to him, Andros cleared his throat, and he blinked. "I--we used to…" He tried to sort his thoughts out into some sort of coherent sentence. Cassie was grinning, and Andros' obvious amusement only made him more flustered.

"There was a river, near where I lived," he said quickly, fixing his gaze on Cassie's eyes. "But I never--swam, as such."

"Well, we'll have to teach you," Cassie decided. "Do you have some shorts?"

He wasn't sure this was a good idea, but reluctantly he admitted, "Yes. Carlos insisted--"

"Good," she interrupted. "Go put them on; we'll wait."

He tried to come up with a reason to argue, and found he couldn't. Not with her smiling at him and wearing… almost nothing. He tore his gaze away and retreated back into his room, wondering if he wouldn't have been better off to have DECA keep him in the Medical bay.

As the door slid shut, he was sure he heard Andros' chuckle from the hallway.

"Cheating!" Zhane exclaimed, as the beach ball bounced to the ground centimeters from the line drawn in the sand. "That was on your side until half a second ago!"

"Oh, it was not," Karen shot back. "What, you think it moved on its own?"

Stilling the ball's roll with a glance, Zhane extended his hand and summoned it toward him. The inflated toy rose into the air and came to rest gently on his palm, and he gave Karen a pointed look. "No. I think it moved without someone *touching* it."

She smirked. "Well, if it was you or Kerone, I think you've forgotten which side you're on."

"It wasn't us," he said firmly, and he turned his stare on Ashley.

"You can't blame Andros," TJ said, amused. "He's not even here. So they get another point--there's no way we're going to win this anyway, Zhane."

"What are you looking at me for?" Ashley demanded, ignoring TJ. "*I* didn't do anything."

"She's not telekinetic," TJ reminded him with a grin. "Nice try."

"That's what she wants you to think!" Zhane exclaimed. "Andros has been teaching her for months!"

Tessa looked interested. "You can do that?"

"No," Ashley interjected. "I can move a telekinesis ball, and that's *it*. Really!"

"A beach ball isn't that much heavier," Zhane said suspiciously. "And *someone* moved it."

"Zhane, beach volleyball isn't a competitive sport," Carlos put in, looking smug. "Chill."

"You would say that," Astrea observed, speaking up for the first time. "The point went to your team."

Zhane tried not to grin as she came in on his side. "I move we suspend Ashley until Andros gets back," he said, pretending to be serious. "He can tell us if she's telling the truth."

Karen burst out laughing. "Oh, whatever! That leaves our team *two* short!"

The flare of red sparkles nearby put an end to the debate, and they all turned to see Andros arrive, Cassie and Saryn behind him. Zhane's eyes widened as he saw a flash of red through Saryn's unbuttoned overshirt, and he looked to Andros for an explanation.

His friend had stepped out of the volleyball game almost half an hour ago to check on Cassie, and had left for the Megaship without comment moments later. Zhane said nothing, trusting Andros to tell him if something was wrong. He had half-expected his friend to return with Cassie and Saryn, but he certainly hadn't thought to see the latter wearing *red*--and shorts, no less.

*Color withdrawal,* Andros said, using their old phrase. *I'll tell you later.*

"Hey Saryn, Cassie!" TJ greeted them cheerfully. "About time you showed up."

"He knows too?" Karen demanded, and Zhane tried not to roll his eyes.

"What?" Cassie asked, looking uncertainly from one to the other.

"He's a Ranger too," Carlos told Karen.

"Tessa and Karen know we're Power Rangers," TJ told Cassie, and her eyes widened. "Don't ask how they found out," he added, and she closed her mouth.

Ashley laughed. "They're girls, of course they found out."

"So you're saying a guy wouldn't have?" Carlos challenged, and she made a face at him.

Zhane was sure her answer was going to be "yes", but Karen interrupted before she could say it. "How long have you been dating guys, Carlos?"

TJ snickered, and Carlos sighed in defeat.

"That makes seven of you," Tessa said, glancing at TJ. "There's only six Rangers."

He shook his head. "There are seven--the Phantom Ranger's from another planet, but he's been helping us ever since we were Turbo Rangers."

"He's never on the news." Tessa looked puzzled, and Ashley laughed.

"There was a reason we called him 'Phantom'," she reminded them.

"Because Cassie liked it?" TJ suggested, and Zhane saw Carlos grin.

"So are *you* an alien?" Karen wanted to know, and her boyfriend gave her a playful push.

"You're really fixated on this alien thing, aren't you," he teased.

"I just want to know!" she protested, and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders affectionately.

"I am… not human," Saryn said slowly, and Zhane almost felt sorry for him. The other looked as though he would rather be anywhere but here right now. "By your standards, yes, I am an alien."

"You *look* human," Tessa added helpfully, and he cocked his head at her.

"The physiological differences are minimal," he answered, obviously uncomfortable with the questioning.

Saryn's attention shifted to Cassie as she was suddenly overtaken by a coughing fit, and Zhane found himself hard-pressed not to laugh. Not so far away, Ashley dissolved into giggles, and he was sure he heard TJ laugh once before catching himself.

"I see," Karen deadpanned. "Glad to hear it."

At her side, Carlos choked, and she elbowed him hard. "Beach volleyball?" she offered innocently.

"Yeah, you guys can take my place," Ashley said quickly, getting herself under control. "I've been banned," she added, shooting a mock-glare in Zhane's direction.

"Not--" Very faintly, he heard her voice whisper in his mind. *Go along with it, Zhane?* "Suspicion of cheating," he amended. "You're not allowed to play until we know who moved the ball."

"What?" Andros asked, and Ashley rolled her eyes.

"You can't play either," she informed him. "New rules. Cassie," she said, grabbing her friend's arm and drawing her forward. "You have to teach Saryn how to play this game--it's just Carlos and Karen now, and to tell the truth, they need all the help they can get."

"Hey!" Carlos protested.

"Were we winning?" Karen demanded. "I think yes!"

Ashley grinned unrepentantly at them. "That's just because Andros turned out to be so good. Now Saryn, come over here and I'll show you where to stand."

"I would rather not," Saryn said, surprising Zhane.

Ashley blinked, then shrugged amiably. "All right. Me and Andros will keep you company; hang on."

Cassie stepped away from them as Ashley proceeded to give Carlos and Karen a mock lecture on the "proper" way to keep up "their" team's reputation. Cassie's words were still perfectly clear to Zhane, despite Ashley's monologue. "Tired?" she asked.

"No," he said calmly. "I simply do not wish to play."

Zhane suddenly wished there were some graceful way *he* could get out of the game--he recognized the look on Saryn's face. He didn't know what exactly had happened on the Megaship, but the other had the look of someone who had been pushed too far. Now he was done, and the expression on his face said clearly, "No further."

Although it was obvious to Zhane, Cassie didn't seem to see it. Instead, she turned away with a hurt look on her face. "Fine," she said softly, returning to her place on the arbitrarily designated "volleyball court". Saryn took a single step forward, as though he might stop her, but after a brief moment he said nothing.

Coincidentally, Ashley's "lesson" stopped at exactly the same time and she joined Andros and Saryn on the sidelines with a bounce that was not lost on Zhane. She was determined to cover for Saryn, keeping the mood as cheerful as she could until she could get him away from the rest of them.

He wanted to talk to her, but it was easier to reach for Andros, and he did so without hesitation. *Andros, he *is* tired,* Zhane said, knowing he didn't have to specify whom he was talking about. *He's tired of being pushed around--just back off and give him some space. He looks like you, when you're trying to take in too much.*

Andros caught his eye with a quick smile, and Zhane knew his best friend understood. Turning back to the game, he tossed the ball in Astrea's direction, underhanded and just hard enough that she didn't have to reach for it.

With a cocky grin, he told her, "Your serve."

10. Jealous Love

"Zhane said that?" Ashley murmured, letting Andros draw her away from the volleyball game. She did her best not to glance over her shoulder.

"Surprised?" Andros asked, sounding amused by her reaction.

"No, of course not." His hand slid down her arm to take her hand, and she smiled. "Well, maybe a little," she admitted. "I didn't expect him to be concerned for Saryn."

"I think he's trying not to be overwhelmed himself," Andros confided, and he *did* glance over his shoulder. "That's why he recognized it in Saryn. But Zhane's always been good at adapting to situations."

"And he's more social than either of you," Ashley teased, squeezing his hand. "Zhane makes friends instantly, no matter where he is."

"Like you," Andros said fondly, leaning over to kiss her on the cheek.

She shrugged. "Character trait," she informed him. "Some people are just like that."

"And the rest of us are just attracted to people like that." He smiled when she looked at him in surprise, and she couldn't help giggling.

"Lucky for us," she agreed, swinging their clasped hands happily. "Hey--" She broke off, frowning as they approached the picnic blanket. "Did we, or did we not, tell everyone to pick up their stuff?"

"You did," Andros said. "I think I was too busy making fun of Zhane to pay attention."

She laughed, shaking her head. "You shouldn't be so mean to him; you'll scare him away from her."

"I don't think there's much chance of that," Andros said wryly. "And believe me, he deserves it. You have no idea how much grief he gave me over you those first weeks."

She dropped down onto the edge of the blanket and glanced casually back toward the volleyball game. Zhane was trying, for maybe the third time, to explain what were and were not considered appropriate serving and hitting techniques to Kerone.

Somehow, Ashley didn't think Andros' sister was having half as much trouble with the concept as she pretended. But every time she complained, Zhane would call a halt to the game and demonstrate serving, setting, or bumping for her again. It was funny how he was always the first one to volunteer, especially considering how many of those demonstrations seemed to require him to put his arms around her.

"I think you're right," she said, as Carlos complained about the delay and Zhane completely ignored him. "It doesn't seem to be stopping him."

Andros sat down beside her, just as Carlos accused Zhane of postponing their inevitable victory. "Nothing does," he said, his gaze turning in their direction as well.

"Part of his charm?" Ashley suggested with a smile, and Andros nodded.

"Although I wouldn't have said 'charm'," he added a moment later.

Ashley giggled. "I knew what you meant."

They watched in silence for a few minutes, as Zhane's team proceeded to score two more points before being defeated by Cassie's "spike"--an interesting feat, in a game without a net. There seemed to be some indecision about whether to play again, until Ashley realized that they were just trying to switch teams in some way that would keep things even.

She frowned a little as TJ once more invited Saryn to join them, and the other politely declined. Saryn was sitting closer to the game than they were, alone beneath a tree whose branches reached almost to the water's edge. "Are you sure we should just leave him there?" she whispered.

Andros followed her gaze. "Yeah," he said quietly. "He knows he can come join us if he wants to, and if he was really upset, I think he'd try to leave. Zhane's probably right; he *does* just want to be alone for a while."

"Alone, with all the rest of us?"

He smiled a little. "There's a difference between being by yourself and being alone," he observed. "He just got thrown into the middle of Earth culture for only the third or fourth time, and believe me, it can be overwhelming. I think he needs time to figure out how to react."

She paused, looking sideways at him. "Is it strange to suddenly be the adjusted one?" she asked, only half joking.

His expression was surprised. "What?"

"For the longest time, it was us helping you get used to things here," she said idly, watching the breeze stir his loose hair. "Now you're trying to help them--Saryn, and Zhane, and Kerone."

His eyes darted back toward the volleyball game. "Was I as bad as Saryn?"

She tried not to smile at the barely restrained dismay in his tone. "Yes," she said honestly. "But we didn't care. You were worth it."

He turned to her with a smile, and she reached out to pull him close enough to kiss. He leaned into her willingly, sliding an arm around her shoulders and opening his mouth to hers. She forgot the rest of the sheltered beach for a moment, melting into the kiss.

She didn't forget what he had said about control the night before, though, and she pulled away just before she thought he would have. "You're a good kisser," she murmured breathlessly, and he smiled.

"Lots of practice," he whispered.

"All with me?" she teased gently.

His hazel eyes stared into hers, and his innocent question made her smile in return. "Why would I want anyone else?"

"In!"

"Oh, it was not," Karen shot back good-naturedly. "See this line here? It has to be on *this* side to be in."

"It *was* on that side!" Carlos exclaimed. "You're experiencing selective blindness!"

"You must be near-sighted--how could you possibly tell from way over there?"

"It was out," Zhane broke in, turning to Cassie for support. "It's our serve!"

"It wasn't out!" TJ protested, but Cassie interrupted before he could continue.

"TJ, they're called rules! This side is in, and that one's out--Tessa, which side was the ball on?"

"It looked like it was out, to me," she admitted, and TJ laughed at her.

"Tessa, you're not supposed to be *honest*. You hit it, so it was in. Got it?"

"It's four against two," Cassie declared. "That was out!"

"Your serve," Karen said with a grin, tossing the ball to her.

"It's Zhane's," Carlos corrected, from the other side of their "court", but Zhane shook his head and waved his turn off to Cassie.

"Don't be silly," she said, laughing at his gesture. "You serve better than me; get over here."

"Nope," he insisted cheerfully. "I'll enjoy watching you serve more than I would doing it myself."

"Oh!" Karen exclaimed. "No sexual harassment on the court!"

"This isn't law school!" TJ reminded them. "Serve the ball!"

"Here, I'll help you," Zhane said, with a devilish grin. He went over and grabbed the ball from her, stepping around behind her and putting his right arm under hers.

Some distance away, Saryn closed his eyes and let his head rest against the tree he sat beneath. He didn't want to watch, but he had to. She was right when she said his jealousy was unfounded, and these were her *friends*--of course they would be... comfortable with each other.

And Zhane was that way more than the rest of them, he thought, trying desperately to suppress a flash of irritation. The fact that Kerone didn't seem to mind only added weight to Cassie's assertion that he *shouldn't* feel like this. Was it possible that he really didn't trust her, and he just couldn't admit it to himself?

The music of Cassie's laughter found its way across the beach to him. It was a sound he had delighted in many times, and only now did he realize that he hadn't heard it in several days. Unwillingly, he opened his eyes and followed her giggles to their source.

She was doubled over, leaning on Zhane, who ostensibly was making attempts to help her up. His eyes narrowed, watching the Silver Ranger's hands slide across Cassie's waist as she clutched at his arms and tried to straighten up.

"How was I supposed to know you're ticklish?" Zhane demanded good-naturedly, which only set her off into another round of giggles.

"Hey, some of us are trying to play a volleyball game here," TJ told them, and Cassie stuck her tongue out in his direction.

"The rest of us are trying to have fun!" Zhane shot back, and Karen laughed.

"It's supposed to be the same thing, Zhane," she reminded him.

"I think they want us to serve," Zhane told Cassie, and she grinned.

"We'd better, because I've almost reached my maximum sun tolerance." She pushed her long hair back over her shoulders again and shifted to resume her "serving" stance. "If this game goes much longer, I'm going to get burned."

"We can't have that!" Zhane exclaimed in mock-horror. "We'll have to win quickly!"

"Shut up and serve!" was Carlos' retort.

Cassie giggled again, and Saryn's heart ached. He was trying, but he still couldn't remember when he had last heard her laugh. Not since last weekend, surely.

"You hold the ball," Zhane was telling her. She took it, and his left hand settled on her hip as he wrapped his arm around her and stepped closer. "On three?"

Saryn wanted to close his eyes again, wanted not to see this. They were pressed against each other, and Cassie's obvious delight was a bittersweet thing to watch. He was blocking her awareness out of his mind as best he could, and could only hope it was working to keep her from sensing his emotions as well.

His whole body was stiff with tension, and he had long since stopped trying to make himself relax. He couldn't control this. There was simply no way to do it. But he *would* deal with it; he had to. He forced himself to watch as Zhane took Cassie's right hand and started to count.

When he reached three, Cassie let go of the ball and they swung their joined hands at it. The ball's wobbling trajectory sent it across the sandy line--barely--and Cassie looked over her shoulder to catch Zhane's eye. He grinned at her, holding her hand above her head and letting her spin out from under his arm.

"That never would have gone over if we had a net!" Carlos complained, lunging after the ball.

Peripherally, Saryn saw Karen leap forward to intercept the beach ball's return course. But all he could focus on was that image of Zhane and Cassie together, her turning to him with a smile and seeing it mirrored on his face.

Something in him was dangerously close to snapping, and he didn't dare push it any further. He couldn't watch this anymore. No matter what Cassie said, he couldn't watch her with someone else and be happy. A failing on his part, obviously, but if he didn't leave now there would be nothing left of his heart.

Leaning forward, he was about to get to his feet when movement behind him got his attention. "Drink?" Andros' sister offered, dropping to the ground beside him and passing him a water bottle.

Startled, he could only stare at her. He hadn't even noticed when she left the game. "No--thank you," he managed at last. "I was just--"

"Leaving?" she suggested. "Don't; I won't have anyone to talk to."

He blinked, uncertain what to make of that. Her statement was half-command, half-plea, and he could not understand why she had picked him, of all people, to talk to.

"I will stay if you wish," he said reluctantly. She tilted the water bottle in reminder and he reached up to take it, embarrassed to realize his fingers were clenched into tight fists.

"I do," she said. "I feel like I don't know you at all. We've seen so little of each other, on the Megaship."

He twisted the cap off the water bottle and looked at it for a moment, studiously avoiding the scene in front of him. "I have not been on the Megaship very much, of late."

"No," she agreed. "The Phantom Ranger's life is a busy one, it seems."

He lifted the water bottle, but as soon as he tilted his head he saw Cassie crash into Zhane in what turned out to be a futile attempt to return Tessa's set. His arm went around her automatically, steadying her before she stepped away, and suddenly it was all Saryn could do to swallow.

"Yes," he said shortly, replacing the cap and setting the water bottle on the sand next to him. "If you will excuse me--"

"I won't." The sudden authority in her voice made him pause, and she turned to give him a level stare. "We're teammates, now, whether you like it or not. If you won't tell me about yourself, then I will tell you something about me."

Her tone reminded him of who she used to be, and he felt a flare of curiosity. He didn't appreciate being ordered around--did *everyone* feel the need to order him into things today?--but he couldn't deny that the princess of evil had insight he might, at almost any other time, have found interesting.

"I was kidnapped before I was old enough to remember properly," she said, not waiting for his reply. "I was told I had no family anymore, that Power Rangers had killed them all and that my home had been destroyed. Needless to say, I didn't respond very well."

He stared at her, shocked into listening.

"It fell to Ecliptor to raise me," she continued. "He came to care for me, and he worried about the safety of a small human girl in the middle of Dark Spectre's monarchy. He called in a favor from a friend he had made longer ago than he would tell me, and suddenly I found myself with something to occupy me. The beginning of my sorcery," she elaborated, as though she did not expect him to make the connection.

He hadn't, and he wondered at her use of the words "care" and "friend" in reference to Ecliptor. He had never thought of the dark being as anything more than a villain to be outwitted--a dangerously intelligent villain, and one unfailingly loyal to Astronema, but a villain nonetheless. Villains, in his experience, did not care for anyone.

He didn't even notice when she picked up his water bottle and unscrewed the cap, and she continued talking as though she had rehearsed a speech for him. "I turned myself into a sorceress who could do more than just protect herself, as I'm sure you noticed. I used my magic, and the power I began to accumulate, to hunt down Power Rangers. They had destroyed my family, and I wanted to destroy them in return.

"Of course it didn't happen that way," she added, raising the water bottle to her lips and taking a casual swallow. "Dark Spectre doesn't allow personal vendettas to interfere with the running of his forces, and before long, I was being promoted higher and higher--mostly to keep me out of trouble."

She shrugged then, as though the story didn't really affect her one way or another. "I assume you can guess the rest. From the Dark Fortress, I met Zhane, and I learned the truth about what had happened to me. I broke away from evil and rejoined the family I had thought was gone."

It was a moment before he realized that she would say nothing more. "It is certainly not so easy as you make it sound," he said, trying to comprehend what she had told him. "You do not simply 'break away' from evil."

She smiled a little, a friendly smile that took him by surprise on a face that he still associated with Astronema. "We do what we have to. Do you believe in fate?"

He frowned, not sure how to answer that. An exclamation from the others' game diverted his attention momentarily, and he glanced over in time to see Tessa helping TJ to his feet. "Gravity always wins," she was telling him. "Remember that."

On the other side of the imaginary net, Cassie was laughing at her friend's predicament. A breeze off the water tugged at her hair, making it ripple behind her, and he sighed. "Yes," he admitted. "In some things, I do."

"So do I," she told him, holding out her hand. She turned it palm up and studied it for a moment, and he found his gaze drawn back to her by the strange gesture. "Andros tells me our parents always used to look at our hands and tell us stories about the people we were going to be," she said. "The funny thing is, everything he remembers them saying has come true."

"Like what?" he felt compelled to ask.

"That we were both strong, and that we would be able to overcome anything that happened to us," she said with a smile. "That we were both leaders, and that we would never be able to love anyone we didn't respect. And that we were meant to bring people together."

He looked down at her hand inadvertently, and she actually laughed. "Here, give me your hand. I'll show you how to do it."

"You know?" he asked, surprised. "I thought your parents--"

"Andros knows more than me," she said, reaching for his hand. "But it's funny what you remember from childhood. I barely remember Zhane from back then, even though he says we knew each other for years, but I remember what the lines on my hand mean."

She turned his hand over, and he tried to relax his fingers. He was a little surprised that she had managed to distract him so thoroughly. He couldn't quite forget the game taking place nearby, but he managed to some extent to ignore it.

"See this?" she said, tracing a line that started between his thumb and first finger and extended down to his wrist. "That's your life line. See how it's sort of frayed, here and here, and it's not very deep? You're looking for a purpose, not sure of what you really want. Here, mine hasn't changed much since I was Astronema--look."

She held out her own hand, and pointed to the corresponding line on her palm. "I knew--or thought I knew--exactly what I was fighting for, and where I was going. All my energy was focused into one thing, and it shows. My life line is really strong, and it only splits a little here at the end."

"It... changes?" he asked, puzzled by her reference to her time as Astronema. "It will be different, now that you are different?"

She shrugged. "Some. Major changes in your life, or the person you are, really don't happen that often. But when they do, yeah, the lines change."

She titled her head to look at his hand again and smiled suddenly. "You have an inner life line, too. Not everyone does." She reached out and ran a finger over a line almost parallel to his "life line".

He heard Cassie's voice ring out, announcing the score for their game, and he tried not to listen. "What does it mean?"

"It means you're not exactly what you seem," she said, and he thought suddenly that she was trying not to laugh at him. "I suppose that's to be expected. The Phantom Ranger doesn't even have a face, let alone a past, or a personality."

He raised an eyebrow, wondering if that was an insult or simply a statement of fact. "As it was intended."

She nodded once, but her smile didn't fade. "I assumed so. It's easier to fight like that. But it's almost impossible to live that way.

"Is this the hand you usually use?" she asked, and he blinked at the non sequitur.

"No." He held out his right hand, and she glanced at it.

"See, that's another way to tell. Your hands are different."

He frowned. "What do you mean?"

"The lines on your right hand are different from the lines on your left," she elaborated. "The hand you use shows what you let other people see, and the hand you don't use is who you really are. Your life line is much stronger on your right hand," she added.

He looked down, surprised. His palms did look different. He had never thought about it before.

"Mine are different too," she said, holding both her hands out for him to look at. "And so are Zhane's, I bet. But you and I have both had to show a certain face to the universe, and a lot of times that makes people develop two sides to their personality."

"And Zhane?" he asked, lifting his head to look at her.

"Zhane's just really bad at expressing his feelings," she said, with the hint of a smile.

"Funny," she added, glancing back at his hands before he could react to that. "Your heart line is much fainter on your right hand."

"My... heart line?" he repeated, not sure he wanted to know.

"Right here," she said, tracing a line on his left palm. "See how it goes almost all the way across your hand? But over here--" she reached out and took his right hand, pointing to a short slash above his life line. "It starts later, and it barely reaches the middle of your hand."

He stared down at his hand, refusing to ask what it meant. Not when he already knew, and just didn't want to hear her say it.

She laughed softly. "It's all right," she said, turning her favored hand over again for him to see. "I don't even have one on my left hand, and *everyone* has a heart line."

He didn't realize he had sighed until she reached out to touch his shoulder. "It doesn't mean you *can't* show your feelings," she said quietly. "It just means you don't, so much."

He winced as he heard Zhane shout Cassie's name from further down the beach, and his gaze shifted unwillingly in their direction. "Sometimes, I wish I did not *feel* so much," he muttered.

She followed his gaze. "You wish you didn't love her?"

"No," he said, startled and a little uncomfortable to be telling her. "I wish... I trusted her more."

She looked at him oddly. "You don't trust her?"

He almost didn't answer, but she had told him so much of her own life, with no prompting from him. And what little of his empathy was not caught up in the struggle to block Cassie told him that she was only curious, that there was no malicious intent behind the question.

"I thought I trusted her," he admitted quietly. "But I am not--content to watch her, when she is with others."

She asked frankly, "Jealous?"

He sighed. He was beginning to hate that word.

"It doesn't mean you don't trust her," she said, frowning slightly. She was silent for a moment, and he found himself watching her as she considered his words.

Finally, she told him, "Andros says jealousy is part of loving. When you care for someone, it's natural to be afraid of losing them. I guess it's kind of a compliment, even, to say that you love a person so much that you're scared to be without them."

"It is selfish," he said uncertainly.

"Maybe," she answered, tucking her hair behind her ear. "So what? Emotions aren't good or evil, you know. I should be proof of that. They're just whatever you make of them."

"Cassie does not see it that way," he said, trying not to sigh again.

She looked at him intently. "Does she know how it feels?"

Surprised, he looked up and caught her eye. "Of course. She must."

"Why? No one even knows who you are except our teammates, and there's no threat there, at least to her. What makes you think Cassie understands how you feel?"

"I can't be her first--"

"Kerone." Cassie's voice startled him, for he had been distracted enough that he didn't even notice her approach. "Saryn. Hi."

"Hi," Andros' sister said with a smile, but before she could say anything else, Cassie interrupted again.

"What are you talking about?"

"Relationships," Kerone said honestly. She made no move to stand up. "So who won?"

"Your team," Cassie told her. When Kerone did not reply, she added, "I think Zhane wants to talk to you."

Kerone's lips curved, and she murmured, "I'm sure he does." She gave Saryn an encouraging pat on the shoulder before getting to her feet. Stretching slowly, she glanced around for Zhane.

Spotting him over by the blanket with Carlos, she wandered in that direction. She was no more than three steps away when Cassie put her hands on her hips and stared down at him. "What was *that* about?"

He looked up, puzzled by her reaction. "Kerone was explaining--"

"Kerone?" Cassie repeated. "You never call her Kerone!"

"It is her name," he said simply. It was true he had tried to avoid using it in the past, for he had difficulty accepting that her time as Astronema was over. But if their conversation was any indication, she had most certainly put that life behind her. "Kerone was explaining some of her people's beliefs to me."

"She was *flirting* with you!" Cassie burst out.

"She was not," he said, startled. He could feel the jealousy inside him flare again, and he pushed harder against the block. To his shock, reestablishing the block between them helped, and his eyes widened as he realized that he was feeling *her* jealousy, not his.

"Oh, she definitely was." Cassie's expression was distinctly upset now. "You were holding hands! She shared her drink with you, and she kept touching your arm, and with the way you were staring at each other..." She trailed off, glaring down at him and clearly waiting for an explanation.

He glanced over his shoulder, toward the picnic blanket, and saw Kerone watching them. When he caught her eye, she winked at him and turned away.

"I did not realize you were watching so closely," he said slowly, not sure what to think. It had not even occurred to him that Kerone was "flirting", and he had had even less idea of her doing it for just this purpose.

He heard her words again--"Does she know how it feels?"--and he frowned up at Cassie. "Are you--jealous of her?"

She blinked, and her expression smoothed over a little. "Of course not. I just want to know why you two are suddenly so friendly. You've barely even talked to Kerone for the last two weeks. Why now?"

"Because she is an interesting person," he replied, watching her reaction closely. "I suspect I was wrong about her. She is certainly not evil."

Cassie frowned, and he hesitated. What Kerone had done was wrong--there was nothing between the two of them, and to imply that there was to Cassie was not appropriate. But...

"She seems very friendly," he added, before he could stop himself. "I would like to know her better than I do."

Her expression darkened, and her feelings surged against his block, completely overwhelming it. He winced at the onslaught, pressing his fingers against his temples in a futile effort to separate their emotions.

"I'm sure she'd be happy to tell you more," Cassie muttered, and he could no longer tell which of them was more upset.

"Stop it," he growled, glaring up at her. "You are doing exactly what you accused me of!"

"I am not," she snapped. "She obviously can't keep her hands off you, and you didn't seem to mind much!"

"That is ridiculous! I wish us to be *friends*, nothing more!" Provoked, he added, "You and Zhane were far closer than that while you were playing 'volleyball'."

"Zhane's *like* that," she insisted. "Kerone isn't. I don't want to see her around you like that!"

His eyes narrowed, and he got to his feet deliberately. Now he was looking down at *her*, and he ground out, "I may be, to a large extent, ignorant of your world and your traditions. But you will *not* tell me what I may and may not do!"

"If she'd stay away from you, I wouldn't have to!"

"Don't you trust me?" He threw her own words back in her face, getting a perverse satisfaction from seeing her flinch. "If you did, you would have no reason to worry!"

Her eyes flashed, and she opened her mouth to reply--

Then she spun away, her hair swinging free across her back as she walked away. The angry set of her slim shoulders made his fists clench--what right did *she* have to be angry?

He reached for his ruby without conscious thought, and the world washed away in fiery crimson.

Andros stared after Cassie's retreating figure, then glanced over at Ashley. Her eyes were wide as she gazed back at him, and the group gathered around the picnic blanket was uncharacteristically silent.

Cassie and Saryn had been far enough away that they had had some privacy, but as their voices got louder it became obvious that they were arguing. Andros had tried to ignore them, but when they started to shout at each other it became next to impossible.

The strained conversation by the blanket finally halted altogether as the rest of the team exchanged glances. Cassie and Saryn had never fought, to his knowledge, and it was more than a little unsettling.

When the two took off in opposite directions, no one said anything for a long moment. Finally, TJ cut into the quiet. "I'll go after her."

"No," Ashley said, shaking her head at him. "I... don't think that's a good idea. Maybe we should give them some time to calm down."

"Fine by me," Carlos agreed quickly. "I've never seen them fight like that."

"I've never seen them *fight*," TJ said, echoing Andros' thought. "What was that about?"

Kerone shifted uncomfortably. "I'm afraid it may be my fault," she admitted quietly.

To Andros' surprise, Zhane spoke up, and his tone was thoughtful in a way it usually wasn't around the rest of the team. "That wasn't about you," he said slowly. "I think that's come up before, just... never so strongly."

"You didn't help," Ashley said with a small smile. " 'I'll help you serve'? What was that?"

Kerone gave him a pointed look, and Zhane almost looked embarrassed. "Don't you know a joke when you see one?"

Quiet fell again, and no one seemed inclined to break it this time. Finally, Andros caught Ashley's eye again and asked silently, *Should we stay, or go?*

She frowned a little. *I guess there's not really anything we can do...*

"Why don't we stay here for a while, and see if Cassie comes back," Ashley offered aloud. "If she's not back in half an hour, I'll go after her and see if she wants to talk."

Kerone sighed. "I shouldn't have tried to interfere," she said quietly. "I didn't know enough about the situation to get involved."

"No--" Ashley put an arm around her shoulders and gave her a quick hug. "You meant well, and you didn't do anything wrong. It was nice of you to want to help."

Andros felt a smile tug at his lips as he watched, and he saw Kerone catch his eye over Ashley's shoulder. She smiled tentatively in return, and in his mind he heard, *You have a nice girlfriend, Andros.*

*I know. I have a nice sister, too.*

Her smile was more sure of itself then, and it probably helped when TJ added, "They weren't fighting over you, they were fighting over each other. It wasn't your fault, Kerone."

"It wasn't anyone's fault," Ashley said firmly. "We'll just have to let them work it out."

She glanced around then and frowned. "Where's the sunscreen?"

Andros tried not to smile at her abrupt annoyance, but he couldn't help it. Carlos laughed, although whether at her question or Andros' reaction, it was impossible to tell.

"Next to the cooler, where you left it?" he suggested.

Ashley rolled her eyes. "Do you *see* it next to the cooler?"

Karen reached down and flipped the cooler top over, revealing the sunscreen underneath.

"Oh," Ashley said brightly. "Thanks!"

"Saw you put it there," Karen said with a grin.

"Can I borrow some of that?" Tessa asked.

"What, are you planning to give it back afterwards?" TJ teased, and she made a face at him.

"Is anyone going swimming?" Carlos wanted to know, and Karen glanced over at him.

"Why am I putting on sunscreen, if not to go swimming?"

He pretended to think about it. "Oh, I don't know--so you won't get sunburned?"

Kerone sat down on the blanket, and Andros' eye was immediately drawn to her. "Do you want to swim?" he asked, sitting down beside her.

She shook her head a little, and he glanced over at Ashley. She looked up as he did, and he tried not to be distracted by her activity. Watching someone put sunscreen on, he decided, was not conducive to serious thought, especially when that someone was your girlfriend.

"I think I'll stay--" he began, but Kerone gave him a gentle shove.

"Oh, don't be silly, Andros," she said. "Zhane isn't going either; I'll have plenty of company."

Andros looked up at his friend in surprise, and Zhane shook his head. "Nope," he said cheerfully. "I figure after sneaking onto the Dark Fortress last night, which probably took about ten years off my life, I deserve a break."

"As though you had the hard part," Kerone remarked. "You just had to crash. I had to rescue you and then put up with you following me around."

TJ snickered, obviously overhearing. "That's enough to wear anyone out," he agreed.

Zhane sighed dramatically. "I get no respect!"

"You crashed?" Tessa asked.

"Here," Andros offered, getting to his feet as Ashley reached across her bare shoulders. "Let me help." She held out her hand willingly and he scooped some of the sunscreen up, rubbing it into her back carefully.

*You're hopeless,* Zhane informed him, taking his place beside Kerone.

"Long story," he added, turning his head in Tessa's direction.

"I'll tell you," TJ offered. "Do you want to go for a walk?"

"Sure," she said, tilting her head up to cover her neck with sunscreen up to the line of her t-shirt. "I burn so quickly--I put sunscreen on before I came and I'm probably sunburned already anyway..."

"Nope," TJ said, interrupting her complaint with a quick kiss. "You look fine."

"Just fine?" she asked, and even Andros heard the mischief in her voice.

"Beautiful," he amended.

"All right, we can go then," she told him with a smile.

*I'm sure that's good enough, Andros,* Ashley said, startling him, and he tried not to blush.

*Sorry,* he apologized, letting his hands fall at last.

She just giggled and turned around to look at him. *Don't apologize; I think it's cute.*

"Have fun," Carlos said wryly, taking Karen's hand as they headed for the water. "Remember you were planning to go swimming."

Ashley wrinkled her nose at his back, and Andros smiled. *You're cute when you do that, you know.*

*You're cute when you smile,* she replied immediately, and his smile widened.

*You're cute all the time.*

She sighed in mock-exasperation. *It's always a competition with you, isn't it?*

*You're just mad you can't beat "all the time",* he told her, leaning forward to kiss her gently. *And it's the truth.*

She sighed again as he pulled away, but this time it was a happy sound. He glanced over her shoulder, suddenly remembering his sister and Zhane, but they were both staring out at the lake--probably absorbed in their own silent conversation, he thought, with some amusement.

*Andros?* Ashley asked, a curious look on her face. *This is going to sound strange, but... do you trust me?*

He recognized the reference to the fight they had overheard, and his lips quirked a little. *With my life--and my heart,* he said simply.

She laid her head against his shoulder, and he hugged her tightly. Her mental voice was content as she answered, *I trust you with mine, too.*

11. Strategy Session

She tried not to laugh as Zhane's blue-eyed gaze stared accusingly up at her. "You said you couldn't swim!"

Putting her hands on her hips, she tossed her head smugly, wet hair clinging to her face. "I said I didn't *want* to swim. I never said I couldn't."

"Women," he muttered under his breath. Hooking one arm over the edge of the rock on which she stood, he stretched the other one in her direction. "Give me a hand?"

She should have suspected something, just by the sheer innocence of his expression. But she reached for his hand instinctively, preparing to haul him up, and was caught completely off guard when he yanked hard on her hand.

She shrieked as she lost her balance and tumbled forward, the cool water closing over her head with a violent splash. The world went silent save for the pounding of her heart, and she opened her eyes automatically as she struggled back up to the surface.

Zhane looked down at her from the rock she had just left, a smirk on his face as she broke through into the air. "I win," he declared.

"Oh!" she gasped, trying to rub the water out of her eyes and push her hair back at the same time. "You do not! The bet was the first person *to* the rock, not the last one standing on it!"

"Last time I checked, *I* was on the rock," he reminded her. "That means I make the rules."

Placing both hands on the flat surface of the rock, she pulled herself out of the water. Zhane pretended to back away from her dripping form, despite the fact that his long jean shorts were far soggier than her swimsuit. "Don't get me wet again!"

She lunged for him, shoving him hard enough to push him toward the other side of the rock. On the edge, he refused to let go of her arms, and for a minute it looked like he would be able to keep his balance.

Hand-to-hand combat was almost unavoidable in Dark Spectre's service, however, and over the years she had developed strength to rival the Rangers'. With a final push, she managed to send him over the side--but she couldn't quite disentangle herself in time, and she fell into the water on top of him.

She found herself choking as water splashed into her eyes and mouth and churned around her as Zhane twisted out from underneath her. He bobbed to the surface beside her, shaking his head to toss water out of his short hair and regarding her with concern.

She reached for the rock, bracing one arm against its rough surface and coughing harder. Then she felt Zhane's hands under her arms, lifting her out of the water and setting her up on the shallow ledge. He had to be standing on something, she thought distantly, realizing how lucky they'd been not to hit some underwater projection in their roughhousing.

Then Zhane was beside her, patting her back awkwardly as she struggled with the water in her lungs. She felt laughter bubbling up in her again, and as the coughing subsided, giggles took its place. "Zhane," she managed, "that doesn't help. You'd have to hit me harder than that to be any use."

"I didn't want to hurt you," he said sheepishly, his gaze still worried as he watched her brush her hair out of her face and draw in a deep, experimental breath. "Are you all right?"

She nodded, letting her breath out slowly and taking another. His hand still rested gently on her back, and she pretended not to notice. If she made him self-conscious, he would certainly pull away, and she found she liked him touching her.

"I'm okay," she said at last, lifting her head to smile at him. "It's been a while since I was in the water."

"That's what you get for pushing me," he teased, and her smile widened.

"I still won," she pointed out.

He sighed in mock-resignation. "Yeah, I guess you did."

"You *guess*?" she exclaimed. "This was your idea! I can swim faster than you; admit it!"

He sighed again, but he didn't take his eyes off of her. "You can swim faster," he agreed. "I was wrong."

She gave him a suspicious look, and he laughed. "You're never happy! If I argue with you, you argue back, and if I don't argue, you think I'm humoring you and you argue anyway!"

She looked down, trying not to blush. She had had to fight for every inch of ground she gained under Dark Spectre, and the truth was that she simply wasn't used to getting agreement easily. Maybe it *did* make her suspicious.

"Hey," he said quietly, reaching out to tap her chin. She looked up involuntarily, and he smiled. "I'm just kidding."

She felt a smile creep onto her face in return, and she nodded. The silver chain around his neck glittered with water droplets and reflected sunlight as he moved, and she focused on it in an effort to change the subject. "Nice," she said, touching the only silver thing he currently wore.

He shrugged, lifting the medallion with one hand and tilting it so it caught the light. "It used to be Andros'," he said. "He gave it to me years ago, but I only found it last night. Thought it might help with some of the color problems I've been having."

"Color problems?" she repeated, frowning a little as she looked up at him.

"You know Rangers have to wear their color, even when they're not morphed?"

Her frown deepened. "No. I didn't know that. Why?"

"Withdrawal," he said simply. "We control our Power through our morphers, but it's always with us. It's just a matter of degree. It's with us most strongly when we're morphed, and wearing our color keeps it from fading all the way when we demorph.

"Your body gets used to having that kind of energy, you know--it's addictive, in a way. When it's gone, you have to readjust to a lower energy level, and that takes time. It makes you really tired," he added, an expression of distaste on his face. "And it usually gives you a headache for a few days."

She tried not to smile at his annoyance. He had obviously had experience with the phenomenon. "So you have to go through that every time you demorph?"

He shook his head. "That's why we all wear our colors. The Power's drawn to the color that chose you--more so when you're morphed, obviously, but to some extent even when you're not. It keeps us from taking days to recover after every fight."

She couldn't help remembering Saryn's attire, and she said thoughtfully, "*That's* why he was wearing red, then."

"Saryn?" Zhane asked. "That surprised me, too."

Then *he* frowned. "Wait--how did you know he was a Red Ranger?"

She shook her head, amused. They continually forgot who she was. Or at least, who she had been. "Saryn's Power crystal was the only one that wasn't officially found by Eltarans after the attack on Elisia. Dark Spectre's forces spent weeks searching for it--undercover, of course."

He stared at her. "You've known who he was all this time?"

She shrugged. "I recognized the name the first time you said it, on the Megaship a few weeks ago. When he didn't deny what I said about Elisia, I thought it had to be him."

"And I was worried about telling you!" he exclaimed indignantly. "You could have said something!"

"You didn't ask," she reminded him.

He rolled his eyes. "Right. Next time I'll ask if you know what I'm not telling you before I tell you."

"If it will make you feel better," she agreed. Before he could protest, she touched his medallion again. "So this helps with your... withdrawal?"

"I don't know yet," he admitted, apparently willing to let the topic of Saryn slide. "I mean, I don't know if it will work for very long. But yeah, it does help."

She looked a little closer, trying to decipher the etching in the smooth metal. "What kind of bird is that?"

"A phoenix," he muttered, looking a little uncomfortable. Before she could ask what that was, he nodded to her own necklace. "Your locket can stand the water too, then?"

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Can Andros'?"

He grinned. "Usually. But he has this annoying habit of putting things in it, and they don't tend to respond well to water."

Without a word, she unclasped the chain and tugged at the metal pendant, tilting the open locket for him to see. He laughed aloud. "Well, you're definitely related. You didn't destroy it by swimming, did you?"

She shook her head. "One of the advantages of being a sorceress," she told him, gazing at the data disc sandwiched between the two pictures in her locket. "I can waterproof anything."

"That must be useful," he said, his grin lingering in his voice. "So what is it?"

She looked up suddenly, and he blinked at her serious expression. "You don't have to tell me," he said quickly, but she overrode him.

"It's the disc Ecliptor gave me."

He stared at her.

Her lips quirked, and she closed the locket carefully. She had fastened the chain around her neck again before he found his voice. "It's--you're carrying it *around* with you?"

She shrugged, pulling her legs up in front of her and resting her arms on her knees. "It's safer with me than it would be on the Megaship."

"What *is* it?" he repeated curiously.

She smiled, knowing he didn't expect her to have accessed it yet. But she had had some free time while the others were changing, and despite what she had said, she had not only looked at the data but she had downloaded backup copies into the Megaship's computer.

"It's a two week battle plan for Dark Spectre's fleet," she answered, staring down at the water. "Along with tactical data and the layout for his ship."

There was absolute silence, and she tried to suppress her smile. The sunlight danced across the lake, darting streamers of the stuff over the miniature wave tops that lapped against the side of their rock. For a few more seconds, things were calm, and she was just a teenager at the beach.

"It's *what*?" Zhane demanded finally, shattering the peace and yanking her from summer afternoon to intergalactic war in the blink of an eye. "And you didn't *tell* us? Didn't that seem kind of important?"

"I'll take care of it," she said, still staring determinedly down at the water. She knew she had irrevocably involved the others just by telling Zhane about the disc, but somehow shocking him, even for just a few seconds, had seemed worth it.

Now, of course, it was too late.

"What do you mean, you'll take care of it?" She could feel his stare on her. "We're all in this together!"

"I mean," she insisted, "that I'm best qualified to act on the information. I've been sneaking in and out of Dark Spectre's fleet for years; I can do it again."

"And then what?" he demanded.

"Destroy his ship," she said calmly. "Dark Spectre holds the forces of Evil together. They've never been able to agree on anything long enough to cooperate before, and without his power keeping them in line, they'll never be able to again. Destroy Dark Spectre, and his forces fall apart."

"And you're just going to sneak onto his ship, by *yourself*, blow it up, and get off alive?" Zhane was a little more upset than she had expected, but still she did not look up.

"That's the plan," she agreed.

"You're insane!"

She raised an eyebrow at the water. "I didn't just command Dark Spectre's flagship, Zhane. I was his second in command. I know this can be done."

"Not alone!" he retorted immediately. "Look, the Rangers are about teamwork. We can help you, if you let us."

"I won't. I won't risk your team for something I can do myself."

"*Your* team,* he corrected. "And your team will risk itself for *you*--that's the way it works. None of us will let you go into something as ridiculously dangerous as this without backup."

"No one else has to know," she said, looking up at him at last. "Zhane--"

"Too late," he informed her.

She winced as Andros' voice intruded on the conversation. *Kerone, if you think I'm letting my sister walk into the middle of Dark Spectre's fleet without reinforcements, you're out of your mind.*

"Zhane," she hissed.

"All for one," he replied, not looking at all repentant. "That's what a team is, Astrea."

"This is Cassie."

Ashley winced at the expressionless tone of her friend's voice. "Cass, we have trouble. Can you meet us back on the Megaship?"

"I'm on my way."

The transmission cut off without any further comment, not even a question on what the trouble *was*, and Ashley would have worried if she had had time for it. "Andros?"

Andros sighed. "Nothing. DECA says he isn't on the Megaship, and she can't pick up his Power signature anywhere on Earth."

"He couldn't have teleported back to Aquitar from here," she objected. "The Aquitians' system is the only one that can reach that far without burning out."

"And he couldn't have contacted them without being on the Megaship," Andros said, obviously frustrated. "I know. He may have told DECA not to tell us he was there--it would be just like her to suddenly side with him instead of me."

A crackle of electricity made them look up, and Kerone and Zhane stepped out of a double violet silhouette. Carlos and Karen were coming up the beach right behind them, and only then did Ashley remember that TJ wasn't with them.

"TJ," she said, touching her communicator.

His voice came back a moment later, even as she scanned what little she could see of the beach for him and Tessa. "This is TJ. What's up, Ash?"

"Can you meet us on the Megaship? It's sort of an emergency."

"Trouble?" he asked immediately.

She shook her head, though she knew he couldn't see it. "Strategy session," she answered.

"Now?"

"It's an emergency," she repeated.

She heard him sigh. "I'll be there."

Lowering her wrist, she looked up as Carlos objected. "Guys, it's almost one. Is this going to take long? The game starts in an hour..."

Ashley exchanged glances with Andros. She had given up cheering at games this semester, although she remained a "reserve" member of the cheerleading team. But Carlos stubbornly refused to quit soccer, and she, TJ, and Cassie had backed him up when Andros protested. After all, TJ had played baseball in the spring--it was possible, if difficult, to get to most of the practices.

"You'd better go," she said at last. "We'll tell you what happens."

"At least tell me what this is about first," he insisted.

She caught Kerone's eye, and the blond-haired girl lifted her chin. "I have tactical data for Dark Spectre's fleet."

"And plans for his ship," Zhane interjected. "She wants to sneak on board herself and destroy it."

"What?" Carlos exclaimed, staring at Kerone as though she had changed back into Astronema before his eyes. "That's crazy!"

Zhane threw his hands up in the air. "Thank you!" Turning to Kerone, he added, "See?"

She narrowed her eyes at him, and Ashley put a hand over her mouth so neither of them would see her grin. She thought they deliberately antagonized each other, almost as though each was circling a dangerous animal. They teased, they prodded, but the moment they got too close--if they ever got too close--they jumped back to gauge the other's reaction.

*It's really kind of cute,* she thought, amused.

"That's what Zhane said," Andros said dryly, and she blinked. He was talking to Carlos, completely oblivious to her musing. "We're going to try and talk her into something less... suicidal."

Carlos shot a dubious look in Kerone's direction. "Good luck," he said under his breath.

"I heard that," she said sharply, her gaze flickering away from Zhane.

"You were supposed to," Carlos shot back. "We're strong together, Kerone; that's why the Rangers are a team. You're part of the team, and we don't let our teammates risk their lives alone."

"Yeah, when we risk our lives, we all do it together," Ashley said, rolling her eyes. "Thanks, Carlos. I feel so much better. Go play soccer."

He looked about to protest, until she gave him a fond shove. "I'm kidding! We won't do anything stupid while you're gone; don't worry. None of us," she added, glancing over her shoulder at Kerone.

"Come on," Karen said, putting a hand on his arm. "They promised."

"They've promised before," he said darkly, giving Ashley a pointed look. But she just gave him her most innocent smile, and finally he let Karen lead him away.

"Are we ready?" she asked, turning around.

"No thanks to you," Zhane said with a grin, standing up. He was wearing his shirt again, the odd medallion she had seen before underneath it. The cooler was in his right hand, and Andros had her shirt in one hand and the beach blanket in the other.

"Thanks," she said, trying not to blush as she pulled her shirt on over her shoulders. "I would have helped--"

"Sure you would have," Zhane teased, putting an arm around her shoulders. "You and Carlos probably staged that so you wouldn't have to do any work."

She grinned, unable to resist the challenge in his voice. "And you fell for it! Isn't it nice to have slaves, Kerone?"

She heard Andros cough, and saw him trying to suppress a snicker. Kerone looked puzzled, and Zhane looked indignant. She tried not to smirk. Reaching for her morpher, Ashley said quickly, "See you on the Megaship."

Golden haze filled her vision before Zhane could come up with a reply.

"We can't involve the Alliance without telling them where the information came from," Andros argued.

"We can," Cetaci insisted. "The Alliance does not need to know any of the details. There are plenty of ships not involved in any active defense--they can fight on the front lines like everyone else."

"Just because they're not actively involved doesn't mean they're available." Zhane managed to catch the White Ranger's attention for a few seconds. "And they're not going to drop everything without at least a *reason*."

"Is League defense not reason enough?" Cetaci demanded.

"If that were true," Cestria interjected quietly, "the Frontier Defense and the Inner Alliance would not have the problems they do. Both have the same goal, yet they disagree on how to accomplish it."

Kerone frowned irritably in Saryn's direction. He had been usually silent through the entire argument, and she suspected it was his testimony that would tip the balance in favor of Andros and Zhane. The Aquitians knew and respected him, and if *he* told the White Aquitian Ranger that she was wrong, she might listen.

*It would be the least he could do,* she thought, *when this is his fault in the first place.* If he hadn't felt the need to come all the way to Aquitar just to sulk, there would have been no need for the Aquitian Rangers to be involved in this "strategy session" at all.

"Look," Andros broke in. "Let's just assume that somehow we *can* get a second strike force, Alliance or no. Maybe we can split the Rangers up. But that still leaves Kerone on Dark Spectre's ship alone."

"That isn't a problem," she interrupted. "I prefer it that way."

"It is an unacceptable risk," Cetaci answered, tilting her head to one side. Kerone bristled, but the other Ranger continued, "If you are in some way injured or captured, you will have no way to even notify us that the mission has failed."

"The probability of your success is greatly decreased if you go alone," Billy agreed.

She shot a suspicious look in his direction before she could stop herself. Ashley had assured her that Billy was human, but sometimes he sounded just as Aquitian as his teammates.

"What if you just take one person?" Andros asked mildly. "A partner, not a strike team."

Folding her arms across her chest, she shook her head. "I won't be responsible for someone else's safety in a place like that."

"We all know the risks," Zhane told her. "And all of us are willing to take them."

"Do you think it's going to be any safer in the zords?" TJ put in. "Do you think sneaking into Divatox's fleet was easier than this?"

"They are right," Saryn said, turning away from the window to catch her eye. It was probably the first time he had spoken since they arrived. "We all do what we have to."

She stared back at him thoughtfully, surprised to hear her own words repeated back to her. She felt her fingers twitch, but she managed to keep herself from looking down. "We do what we have to." Zhane was right. They knew the risks; they took them everyday, the same as her.

"On one condition," she said at last. "I choose my partner."

Andros shrugged, exchanging glances first with Zhane and then Cetaci. "Fair enough," he agreed. She thought he was relieved she had agreed at all. "It's your decision."

She knew he expected her to pick either him or Zhane. But frankly, either of them would be a liability--not because of their skills, but because of her feelings for them. She knew perfectly well that they would be able to distract her at the worst moments, making both her and her partner vulnerable to attack.

She knew too that neither Andros nor Zhane would be able to leave her and finish the mission themselves if the situation warranted it. If she were injured, or worse, she would become their first priority, and they would lose their chance to destroy Dark Spectre.

Her gaze swung across the room, fixing on the one Ranger whom she could count on to put the mission first. Coincidentally, he was also the one most used to working alone, without a team to back him up. "Saryn," she said aloud. "I want Saryn."

Andros did look startled. But turning toward the Phantom Ranger, he asked only, "Is that all right with you?"

She ignored the dark glare Cassie sent in her direction. On the opposite side of the room from Saryn, the other had also been strangely quiet. The two were obviously avoiding each other's gazes, and Kerone knew how her choice probably looked after her conversation with Saryn earlier.

But there was no way she was passing up his help just because of some ridiculous fight. He was best suited, therefore he went. It was as simple as that, and if it bothered the Pink Ranger...

*So much the better,* she thought, annoyed. She couldn't believe he had just let Cassie yell at him like that. She knew she shouldn't care, that it was none of her business, but people had tried to intimidate her all her life. The only way to get any respect was to show them that you wouldn't stand for it, and she had cheered silently when Saryn finally stood up and shouted right back at Cassie.

"It is acceptable to me," Saryn agreed, avoiding Cassie's gaze as studiously as he had all afternoon.

"All right. Then we're back to the external teams," Andros said decisively. "I'm still not convinced we can get the Alliance in on this without telling them what's going on, but they *will* protect Aquitar."

TJ snapped his fingers. "Which leaves the Aquitian zords free!"

Andros nodded. "That gives us two sets of zords--"

"What about Earth?" Ashley interrupted. "We can't just leave Earth undefended."

There was an odd look in Andros' eye. "I think we can get around that. Just for now, let's assume that we have two fully mobile teams."

Ashley folded her arms. "Right," she said slowly. Kerone could almost see her trying to puzzle out what Andros had in mind.

"One team is a diversion to draw Dark Spectre's forces away," Aura said, looking up. "But what about the other?"

"Also a diversion," Zhane guessed, looking to Andros for confirmation. "The second team goes up against Dark Spectre the old-fashioned way?"

Andros gave him a half-smile. "Yeah. The second team is courier and cover for Kerone and Saryn. The bad news is that once the second team is in position, they're going to be hard to miss. Which means you--" He caught Kerone's eye, and she knew what he was going to say before he said it.

"We'll have a time limit," she finished. "I was expecting that." She glanced Saryn's way, and he only nodded.

Cetaci tilted her head to one side and addressed Andros. "When do we start?"

Andros didn't look at all surprised to be the one giving orders, but Kerone suddenly saw her own words coming back to her again. "That we were both leaders... that we were meant to bring people together."

"You're right that we should at least try to get the Alliance involved," he was telling Cetaci. "Have Delphinius see what he can do. But if they demand more information than where and when, we're going to have to do this ourselves. We can't risk knowledge of Kerone's source getting out."

Cetaci nodded to Cestria. Something must have passed between them, for a moment later the Yellow Aquitian Ranger turned and slipped out of the rebuilt control room. Presumably, she was on her way to Delphinius in auxiliary control, but there must be more to it--Aquitians were telepaths; Kerone had expected her to simply relay the information from here.

"If that doesn't work," Andros continued, apparently unfazed by the departure, "we're going to need a little time to get our Earth defense organized. It can't be ready earlier than tomorrow."

"Can you have the new zord interfaces online by tomorrow?" Cetaci asked, turning to Aura.

Aura actually hesitated. "By myself, I intended to have them reinitialized in three days. But if I progress any farther on them now, they will be inoperable until the upgrade is complete."

"And if you have help?" Cetaci asked impatiently.

"Billy and Carlos are the only ones qualified to work on the new system," Aura told her. "With all three of us working on it, we could probably have the interfaces running by tonight."

"Billy?"

Billy nodded, stepping away from the wall to join Aura. "I'm up for it if you are."

She inclined her head slightly. "I am also--up for it."

"Carlos isn't," Ashley said, sounding almost apologetic. "He's busy; he won't be free for another few hours."

Aura cocked her head further, and Kerone watched carefully. The Aquitians *did* show emotion, it was just more subtle in them than it was in humans. And if she were to guess, she would say Aura looked--upset.

"Will he assist us then?" the Red Aquitian Ranger asked.

Ashley shrugged, exchanging glances with TJ. "I can't speak for him, but I'm sure he will."

TJ nodded in support, and Aura looked over at Billy. "With Carlos' help, we can complete the upgrade."

Billy straightened, apparently dragging his focus back to the conversation from somewhere far away. "Then let's get to work," he said firmly. "Keep us updated, all right?"

Cetaci nodded once, and Billy turned to leave the control room. Aura was right behind him, and Andros caught Cetaci's eye. "We need to get back to Earth," he said, indicating his teammates. "We need to get our defense together, in case Delphinius can't convince the Alliance."

"You must protect your planet," Cetaci agreed. "We will notify you when the zord work is complete."

"And we'll send Carlos to you as soon as he's free," Andros said, pressing his fingers together and nodding to the Aquitian Ranger team leader.

As she returned the gesture, Saryn's voice interrupted their leave-taking. "I will remain here," he declared to no one in particular. "I have work to do."

Kerone raised an eyebrow in his direction. "We need to go over the plans for Dark Spectre's ship. We can't just teleport on, you know--we need to know where we're going in advance."

"Of course," he replied. "That is my priority."

She considered fighting him for it--after all, Aquitar wasn't *her* home--but one command center was pretty much like another. They might as well plan here as on the Megaship. With a slight shrug, she stepped away from Zhane and TJ and joined him on the other side of the room.

"Saryn," Cassie said quietly. Her voice was audible to the entire room, but she wouldn't meet anyone's eye. "Can I--talk to you for a minute?"

It was all Kerone could do not to glance Saryn's way. Cassie's tone was appropriately humble, and it did take courage to make so obvious a plea in front of her teammates. She would not think less of him for granting such a request.

"I have work to do," Saryn repeated, and this time he turned around and walked out of the control room.

Cassie stared after him, shock obvious on her face for several seconds. Then Kerone saw her swallow hard and toss her hair over her shoulder, a gesture of defiance that she knew well. The Pink Ranger wasn't going to chase him--and Kerone couldn't help thinking that her reluctance to do so was part of the problem.

Andros looked over at Cassie when she said nothing more. "You're welcome to stay," he offered gently. "We can handle this."

"There's nothing for me to do here," she told him, her expression stony. "I'm going back to Earth."

He nodded wordlessly and reached for his morpher. Cetaci nodded again when he did, and Kerone saw Andros' best friend lift a hand in her direction. She smiled a little and waved back as they disappeared into a shower of colored sparkles.

The zord bay was oddly quiet when it materialized around Carlos, the cavernous bay enveloping him with its stillness. It was probably one of the largest maintained atmospheres on Aquitar, aside from the agricultural domes, but usually one person could make it echo with noise very easily.

Insulated by thick coral on all sides, there was little background noise, and the hum of the generator could be drowned out by a single murmured conversation. Exterior repairs to the zords were far louder, and often enough the zord bay must have been filled with the hiss of welders and the distinctive smell of sealant.

This afternoon, though--or morning, by Aquitian time--it was silent in a way that was probably the norm only when the bay was empty. Aura and Billy must be inside one of the zords, with the solid hulls muffling any noise they made.

But he and Aura had spent several evenings inside the zord cockpits. It wasn't the lack of noise that bothered him, he realized suddenly. It was the lack of any greeting as he entered the bay. He was used to her knowing as soon as he walked in.

"Hello?" he called, peering around curiously. "Anybody home?"

There was a brief delay, and then Billy popped out of the Sirethian zord. "Carlos!" The Blue Ranger waved, and Carlos grinned. The other could make any mechanical situation look complex, simply by running a hand through his already tousled hair and waving some obscure tool around.

Carlos happened to know that the upgrade to the Aquitian zord interface system required little more than a hydrospanner, concentration, and an incredible amount of patience. Yet Billy had a degausser in his hand--an electronic one, no less--and he stuffed it into the pocket of his Aquitian uniform with enviable nonchalance as he climbed out of the cockpit.

"Hey," Carlos greeted him. "Where's Aura?"

"She went to get something to eat some time ago," Billy said, climbing down the side of his zord and jumping to the ground. "She'll probably be--oh, here she is."

Carlos turned in time to see the Red Aquitian Ranger stride into the zord bay, and she lifted her hand in acknowledgement when she saw him. He waved back, reminding himself not to smile. To his knowledge, waving wasn't an Aquitian gesture--she must have picked it up from Billy.

"Kerone told us you were playing soccer," Billy was saying. "You didn't have to come here right after your game."

"Well, I did shower first," Carlos said with a grin. "And changed." He was wearing his Astro uniform. "I think taking Dark Spectre down is worth some sacrifice on my part."

Karen was still caught up in the novelty of being "in" on the Power Rangers' secret, and she hadn't objected in the slightest when he told her he had to go. He had hoped to take her with the team when they went out to celebrate their victory, but somehow the Aquitian zords seemed just a little more important. And Tessa had found her friend during the game, so he hadn't felt so bad about leaving them afterwards.

"It's hard to have a life without telling anyone, isn't it?" Billy said, his smile sympathetic.

Carlos chuckled. "It's hard to have a life, period. My girlfriend actually knows, but it doesn't make leaving her much easier."

"Your girlfriend?" Aura repeated.

At the same moment, Billy asked, "She knows?"

"She found me out," Carlos admitted. "I couldn't not tell her. You know," he added to Aura, "someone you're going out with."

She blinked. "I know. I have just never heard you mention her."

"So much for the secret identity rule, huh?" Billy asked ruefully.

Carlos shook his head. "It's impossible to keep up when you're going into space every other day. Our parents had to know, and a couple other people found out by accident. And most of the old Rangers know, of course."

"Your people do not normally know who their Rangers are?" Aura asked, looking puzzled.

"No," Carlos said fervently. "If they did, none of us would *ever* have a life. We'd just be 'the Power Rangers', and cameras would probably follow us everywhere."

Aura didn't look anymore enlightened.

"It's different on Earth," Billy told her. "They're a little more--"

He glanced Carlos' way, and Carlos grinned. "Primitive?"

"Isolated," Billy suggested diplomatically, echoing Andros' choice of words without knowing it. "Their technology is considerably less advanced than ours, so you have to realize that zords seem like magic to them. And they have no contact with the rest of the League, so they don't have any perspective on how common Ranger teams really are."

"Common?" Carlos echoed.

Right on top of him, Aura added, "I would not say 'common'."

"Sorry," Billy said, with the hint of a smile. "But as far as Earth is concerned, their Astro Rangers are the only ones. Some hero worship is inevitable, especially considering Earth's history. The Rangers do quite literally save the planet on a regular basis."

Aura seemed to consider that for a moment. "Earth is an interesting world," she said at last.

Billy nodded when Carlos did, but Carlos hadn't missed the fact that the Blue Ranger referred to the people of Earth as "they". It was the Aquitians that he included himself as a part of, despite his planet of origin.

Then Aura derailed that train of thought by adding, "I would like to see it sometime."

"Earth?" Carlos repeated, startled. He realized it was a ridiculous question even as he asked, but she merely nodded.

"You could," he said, after a brief pause. A truly amusing thought took hold in his mind. "You could," he repeated, trying to repress a grin. "I'll take you sometime, if you want."

"I do," she said surprising him again. "I think I would like that."

"The seaship doesn't give you a very good view," Billy agreed. "You could talk to Cestria, too--she's been to Earth several times."

Aura looked at him. "Has she?"

"Did you take her?" Carlos added.

"Yeah," Billy said with a fond smile. "I get homesick sometimes, and it's nice to go back and see the rest of the team. The old team," he amended, glancing at Carlos.

"The Zeo team?" Carlos guessed, trying to remember what little he had learned of Ranger history.

"Among others," Billy answered, a faraway look in his eyes. "They seem to like Cestria--although my dad did kind of freak out when he first found out I was dating an alien."

There was a pause, during which Carlos was dying to ask for the rest of the story. But Aura gave her head a quick shake and reminded them, "The zords."

"Right," Billy said quickly, glancing over his shoulder at the Sirethian zord as though he expected it to reprove him for the lapse.

Carlos followed his gaze. "It's too bad standing around talking doesn't get anything done," he said ruefully. "I was looking forward to hearing some stories."

"Next time," Billy promised with a grin.

Carlos nodded, seeing Aura shift at his side. She was clearly impatient to get back to work, so he turned to her. "So, what's already finished?"

"Canthris is online," she said, trading glances with Billy.

He smiled. Of course her zord would be first; he would have started with his if their positions were reversed. "And Sirethian?" he asked.

"Almost done," Billy assured them. "Another hour, at the most."

"I will begin work on Mireth," Aura decided. "Zaal's self-repair systems only shut down this morning, so I would prefer to give its energy reserves time to recharge before doing more work on it."

"Which leaves me Lissan." Carlos scanned the zord bay and located Cestria's zord, next to Delphinius' and on the far side of Billy's. "I can do that."

"Remember to change your communicator frequency," Billy said, as he turned away.

"Thanks," Carlos called after him, reaching for his communicator. In truth, he had gotten so used to hearing Aura in his mind that he might have forgotten to switch to the Aquitians' comm frequency altogether.

He looked up and caught Aura watching him make the adjustment. *Are you still listening for me?* he thought experimentally.

*Of course,* she replied immediately, and he smiled.

Her lips quirked in return, and he tossed off a jaunty salute in her direction. She lifted her hand hesitantly, and his smile widened as he turned away, heading across the bay toward the yellow-tinted Aquitian zord.

12. Distracted

"Let her retrieve the information herself. There is no need for my participation."

"She can not." Cetaci's words made Saryn pause and turn his head to the side, clearly waiting for an explanation.

Cetaci seemed to brace herself, but when she spoke her tone was firm. "She has been banned from the Ranger dome. Her misuse of Ranger equipment is unacceptable, and I will not allow her back until she learns respect for the chain of command."

There was silence for a moment, and Kerone waited impatiently by the door. Her brief encounter with the woman had convinced her that she was dangerous--the kind of person she would have had under guard on the Dark Fortress--so she couldn't say that the news bothered her.

Saryn did not seem upset either, though Cetaci seemed to expect him to be. "Good," he said, turning away again. "She can send someone else for the data, then. I have nothing to say to Linnse."

He strode through the door without another word, and only long practice allowed Kerone to fall into step beside and slightly in front of him. She fully intended to return to the control room, and wasn't going to change direction unless he said something.

He didn't, and when they reached the control room he simply folded his arms and waited for her to speak. Reaching for her locket, she raised her eyebrow at him. "Are you planning to stay morphed?"

He just tilted his head, giving the impression that he was looking at her. But he still did not speak, and she wondered if he had any idea how irritating that was.

With a deliberately casual shrug, she swept her arm upward, from waist to shoulder. Her magic wrapped itself around her, transforming her jean shorts and purple blouse into the attire she had last worn as Astronema. The weight of long hair wasn't as familiar as it used to be, and she twisted her head briefly, trying to get used to it again.

He did not react.

Reaching for her locket once more, she tugged it free and removed the data disc. Slipping it into one of the Aquitian readers, she felt the movement of air that meant he had stepped up beside her. He was quiet, too--she couldn't imagine how he did it in that armor.

The data flashed by too quickly for her to read on the main screen, and she frowned. "How do I make it display one frame at a time?"

He did something to the console, turning his head toward the screen. She followed his gaze and nodded in approval. The first frame had been enlarged to cover the whole screen, and the data had paused so that the layout it revealed was readable.

"That--" Saryn's voice made her look over her shoulder in his direction, and she saw him nod at her. "That is somewhat distracting."

Taking him to mean her Astronema guise, she retorted, "So is yours!"

"The Phantom Ranger is who I am," he said, his tone cold.

"And Astronema is who I am," she answered calmly.

"It is not. You have changed from the person you were."

She stared back at him. "So have you. Demorph, or deal with it."

For a moment, she thought he wouldn't answer. Then he sighed, a sound she found odd coming from the Phantom Ranger, and reached up to touch the ruby on his chest. There was a brief flash, a sparkle of light that was more red than black, and his armor melted away.

She watched as his uniform disappeared--she had never seen him demorph before, and it was a strange transition to watch. One moment, he represented one of the strongest forces for good on this side of the universe, an "enemy" she had tried to defeat many times over. The next, he was nothing more than a boy, one maybe her own age, whose too-long hair hid the saddest eyes she'd ever seen.

Without the flamboyance of her earlier gesture, the magic shimmered around her again. She didn't have to look down to know that her appearance had returned to normal. He nodded mutely, and she gave him a half-smile.

He turned back to the console without returning the expression.

"That's the heaviest shielding on the ship," Kerone was telling him, pointing to one link of their already established network. "A detonator there would be lucky to get *noticed*, let alone cause damage."

"You did not raise that objection before," he replied, staring up at the grid displayed on the screen.

"Because I thought the detonators had a limited range," she retorted. "I didn't know the network would stretch any thinner than that."

"If it will still respond to the signal from, say, here--" Kerone gestured at the screen, and a violet point of light glowed briefly next to an exterior section of the hull. "That's a much more vulnerable point."

The violet glow faded, and he stared without seeing at the map in front of them. They all had vulnerable points, didn't they. The Rangers, Dark Spectre... him. No one existed without weakness.

"Saryn?"

He looked over at her. "Yes?"

"The detonator network can handle that, right?"

"Of course," he answered, turning back toward the main screen. "If these schematics are correct, the ship is not large enough to test the limits of simultaneous detonation."

"They're correct," Kerone informed him, her icy tone barely registering. "Ecliptor would not betray us."

"He wouldn't betray *you*," he corrected, gazing straight ahead.

"As long as I'm with the Rangers, it's the same thing." She followed his gaze. "If you have doubts, say something now."

He had more than his share of doubts, and this mission was far from the least of them. Not only were they going into it without Alliance backing and with the barest minimum of planning, the very information they were basing it on was suspect. No matter what Kerone said, Ecliptor was a marginal ally at best.

"Saryn, talk to me," she demanded.

His control snapped. *Shut up!* he shouted furiously, trying to silence the memory. *Just let me be!*

For the briefest moment, the memory that seemed to be on continuous replay within his mind quieted, and he became aware of the echoing silence of the control room. Glancing over at Kerone, he found her staring back at him, her eyes wide.

He tried to remember what she had said last, but she spoke before he could recall the thread of their conversation. "Did I do something wrong?"

He frowned. "No. Of course not."

He gritted his teeth and tried to ignore the ceaseless reminder of that horrible exchange. "You have done nothing. What did you ask me?"

"I asked... if you have doubts about the information Ecliptor gave us," she said carefully, still watching him.

"No," he said with a sigh. "I have gone into battle with less reliable information. We do the best we can with what is available."

She didn't reply right away, and he hated the quiet. It only let him hear Cassie's voice all the more clearly, her tone apologetic even as he turned away from her. She had not followed. He had been given one chance to forgive her, and he had not taken it.

Was that all he was to be afforded? Once chance to dismiss an anger that had flared fast and hot on the heels of his jealousy, overwhelming him with its suddenness? After years of feeling little but the cold desire for revenge, his heart was waking up, and he wasn't sure he liked everything he found in it.

Kerone's words wrenched his attention back to the control room. "Saryn--I shouldn't be able to hear you in my head like that."

He focused on her again, dread flooding through him. "What?"

"You told me to shut up," she told him. She didn't seem particularly upset, but her expression was unavoidably curious.

He struggled not to let his dismay show on his face, but he suspected it was a losing battle. There was no way things could get any worse. Aura had been covering for him more lately, blocking his empathic projections without complaint or question, but his mental control seemed to be getting worse rather than better.

"I did not," he said, not knowing whether she would believe him or not. "I am--sorry; I did not mean for you to overhear that."

"But you can't *do* that," she said, clearly puzzled. "I thought you were an empath. Empaths don't project words."

He sighed, turning to the console and bracing his arms against its edge as he stared down at it. "So I'm told. I am sorry. That thought was not directed at you."

"Cassie?" she asked, and his head jerked up. "Do you fight often?" Kerone continued mildly. "Because neither of you is much use to anyone like this. How long does it usually take you to make up? And do you think you could you speed the process up some?"

He glanced over at her. Her expression was completely serious, and he felt a reluctant smile tug at the corners of his mouth. "We are that obvious."

"More," she agreed. "Does this happen a lot?"

He tried not to sigh, clenching his fists against the console before pushing away from it. "No. I have never fought with her like this, and this time I am afraid there may be no way to reconcile."

To his surprise, Kerone laughed. It was his greatest fear, and she waved it away like it was inconsequential. "Saryn, Zhane and I fight every day. What makes you think this is any different?"

He looked away. "Zhane does not want you to be someone other than who you are."

"You think that's what Cassie wants for you?"

*How could she not?* he wondered. *If she had been given a choice in whom she loved, I never would have had a chance.*

"I heard that," Kerone warned him.

He squeezed his eyes shut. "Thank you," he muttered, pouring as much concentration as he dared into the shield around his mind. It should not require this much effort--he could almost hear Lyris chastising him for working too hard--but it was the best he could do so quickly. Cassie had been right when she said he should speak to Cestria. He couldn't keep this up.

"Why do you think Cassie wants you to be different?" she asked, doing him the courtesy of ignoring the thought he had unintentionally projected.

He folded his arms, irritated to realize he was cold. He had not planned to demorph again, and his jeans and t-shirt were not adequate protection from Aquitar's chill. "She asked something of me today," he said with a sigh. "The first serious request she has made in weeks, and I could not honor it."

"For you to stop being jealous," Kerone surmised, and he couldn't help giving her a startled look.

"Yes. How did you know?"

" 'Stop it'," she said calmly. " 'You are doing exactly what you accused me of.' "

The statement confused him until he recognized his own words coming from her mouth. "You have a photographic memory."

She shook her head. "Sometimes. Saryn, you can't turn feelings off. Believe me, I've tried. What she asked was impossible."

"I tried, too," he said quietly. "She asks so little--it is a rare occasion when I can get her to tell me what she wants, of late."

There was silence for a moment, and he did his best to strengthen the shielding he had been able to establish. Kerone's curiosity finally vanished from his mind, unnoticed until it was gone, and he felt some measure of relief at that. Perhaps he would at least be able to control his empathy until all of this was over, and there was time to deal with it again.

"Do you always try to do what Cassie wants?" Kerone asked at last.

He shifted a little, wondering how she could stand the temperature of the control room. "I would do anything she asked, were it within my power."

Kerone tilted her head to one side. "Maybe she doesn't want that kind of responsibility," she said slowly.

He frowned, struck by the considering tone in her voice as much as by her words. "What do you mean?"

She didn't answer right away. Then, at last, she said, "Leadership. I asked Andros about it--why his team is so different from Cetaci's. He said they treat their teammates differently. Cetaci expects loyalty, and Andros expects cooperation."

"The Astro team is loyal," he said, trying not to take offense.

Her lips quirked upward. "That's not what I meant. And you're missing the point. Cetaci tells her teammates what to do. Andros asks us what we think. He *expects* us to question him, where Cetaci doesn't."

Obviously, she was trying to tell him something, but he had no idea what it could be. "I do not understand," he admitted.

"By doing whatever Cassie says, you're making her a leader," Kerone said carefully. "By not questioning her, you're giving her... responsibility for you. Cetaci takes that kind of responsibility naturally. Andros can--I've seen him do it--but I don't think he likes it."

She paused, staring thoughtfully at the console for a moment. When she looked up, she added, "Maybe Cassie doesn't like it either. Maybe she doesn't want to live your life on top of hers."

Stung, he drew back. "My life is my own. I do not ask anyone to live it for me."

She sighed. "Maybe I'm wrong. I don't know either of you that well." Then she proved she was more observant than he had given her credit for by adding, "Would you go put something warmer on? You've been trying not to shiver for the last five minutes."

"Elisia is a desert planet," he muttered, wondering how many hours they had been holed up in the empty control room. "Aquitar is too cold for me."

He surprised himself by complaining, but she did not seem to think it odd. "It's humid, too," she agreed mildly. "I never expect that, when spaceships are so dry. If you want to change, I'll rearrange the network and make sure we have the right passcodes for the new route."

He hesitated, but the offer appeared to be genuine. And he did not doubt her ability to handle the task. "Thank you," he said at last.

She only nodded.

He almost groaned. He did not want to relive that particular memory even one more time, but it seemed determined to haunt his thoughts forever. He made his way to the door leading to the Ranger quarters, touching the keypad and escaping into the safety of the deserted hallway before Kerone could see his distress.

What if she was right? What if he had put too much pressure on Cassie, however unintentionally? What if Cassie felt responsible for anything he did at her wish? Could she possibly think he would blame her for something he chose to do of his own accord? What if she flirted with Zhane to *escape* that "responsibility"?

What if he never got the chance to find out? What if he never had the chance to make amends?

He swallowed, resisting the temptation to lean back against the wall and let the world collapse around him. She had given him his chance. Now it was up to him to make another one. He didn't know precisely what time it was, but it couldn't be that late--he would finish his work with Kerone and find her, tonight.

He strode forward resolutely, inputting his code into the touchpad by his door. He didn't bother to turn the lights up; the dim light that already pervaded the room was enough to see by. Cassie didn't like the dark when she was alone--the newfound phobia seemed to be an unexpected result of her experience with the evilyzer ray--and he had gotten in the habit of leaving the lights on at some minimal level in their room even when they were both absent.

He was shrugging into a black wraparound tunic when the sound of movement made him freeze. He let the block he had struggled so hard to establish in his mind fade just a little, almost holding his breath as he cast about for a second presence in the room.

He turned slowly, not knowing whether to cry out in frustration or sigh in relief. Cassie lay curled up on their bed, pressed against the far wall and almost invisible under the blankets. Her breathing was slow and quiet, indistinguishable from the hum of the generator until he listened for it, and her expression was peaceful as she slept.

He didn't know how long he stood there, just staring at her. She couldn't be truly angry with him if she was here, could she? She could far more easily have slept on the Megaship--what *time* was it, that she was sleeping at all? Aquitar's time difference was not helping his already overloaded mind come up with any kind of answers.

Would she forgive him if he woke her? He would never be able to sleep for wondering why she had come, and he couldn't go back to work knowing that she was here...

But he had to. Some things had to be done, and this mission plan was one of them. It would distract him, for a time, and with luck, *something* would have changed by the time he had to decide again whether to wake her or not.

Tearing his gaze away from her, he finished tying his tunic and headed for the door. He couldn't talk to her like this anyway; he couldn't even keep his *own* emotions straight, let alone sort through someone else's. And if they fought again--

"Saryn?"

Her whisper, sleepy and vulnerable as the bed creaked underneath her, proved his undoing. He paused in the doorway, looking over his shoulder despite the promise he had made to himself to leave without looking back.

Her loose nightshirt slid off one shoulder as she struggled to sit up, and she swung her bare legs over the edge of the bed. His throat closed up and he couldn't speak, sudden desire for her making his skin tingle--this was all he needed; to think of her like that on top of everything else.

He turned around and fled.

"Saryn..."

For a brief moment, he was silhouetted in the doorway. The lost and lonely look she had seen that afternoon in the Medical bay was gone, and only a stern shadow remained. It regarded her, and she tried desperately to clear the fog from her mind. But even as she tried to sit up, his imposing figure turned and disappeared into the light of the hallway.

She pushed herself to her feet, stumbling across the warm floor toward the still-open door. "Saryn, wait!" she cried, catching the doorframe to steady herself.

Aura was in the corridor too, but she only had eyes for Saryn. He brushed past the Red Ranger, bumping her shoulder with no apology or even a backward glance. Her words had no effect on him, and the control room doors closed behind him before she could catch up.

"Cassie?" Aura's concerned query finally got her attention.

She glanced down, realizing how odd she must look, standing in the corridor in nothing but an oversize nightshirt. Why had she ever worried that Saryn took her too seriously? He had been a Ranger for six years with powers she was only beginning to understand, and he was known all over the universe. She was just a teenager from some backwater planet that barely even had spaceflight.

"What am I doing?" she asked the floor softly. "What was I *thinking*?"

"Cassie," Aura repeated. The other girl was suddenly at her side, a tentative hand on her shoulder. "Are you all right?"

"What have I ever done to deserve him?" Cassie whispered, lifting her head to meet Aura's gaze. "How could I have been so awful to him, when he puts up with so much and never even complains?"

Aura seemed to have no response for that, and Cassie looked away again. Saryn was strong--he had been alone in the universe since she was in junior high, and he had never needed anyone to tell him how to live. If he was devoted to her, it was only because he chose to be, not because he wanted someone to tell him what to do.

"He loves you," Aura said quietly.

Cassie looked at her in surprise. She had expected the Red Ranger to slip away without another word, her lack of criticism a kind of moral support in and of itself. But Aura was still there, studying her and reminding her of what Saryn had told her never to doubt.

"Yeah," Cassie murmured, looking toward the control room again.

"He does," Aura insisted. "He has told you so, has he not?"

She nodded wordlessly. He had told her so over and over, and she had thought it was the one thing she would always be sure of.

"Words like that do not fade because of a few angry moments," Aura told her gently. "Whatever argument you have had, it can not possibly be enough to make you question something like that."

Cassie sighed. "You don't know what I said."

"And he doesn't care," Aura replied quietly, an odd note in her voice.

She looked over at the other girl, startled by the look of envy that flashed across the Red Ranger's face. "I shouldn't tell you this," Aura whispered, her rain-grey eyes locked with Cassie's. "But he runs from you because he is afraid that you are angry with him, not because he is upset with you."

She stared at Aura, remembering Billy's words from a time that seemed so long ago now. "They're not really allowed into our heads unless it directly relates to Ranger business." With the close familiarity of the current Aquitian team, that rule had obviously fallen by the wayside some time ago. But there was a difference between touching someone's mind to say hello and searching through it for something they didn't want to reveal.

"I did not violate his privacy, if that is what you are wondering," Aura murmured, lowering her gaze. "Except by telling you what he projected--but you are both my friends, and I do not like to see you unhappy for no reason."

"He... projected that?" Cassie asked, torn between relief and dismay. "Why is his empathy so out of control all of a sudden?"

"It is not sudden," Aura admitted, glancing up at her. "I have been blocking for him more often than he knows, I think. It has been growing steadily worse."

"But why? He never used to have this problem."

"He did," Aura corrected. "It used to happen less, but anything he feels strongly he can not seem to contain."

Cassie sighed. "Cestria offered to help. She taught me; there's no reason she couldn't teach him."

When she paused, Aura agreed, "She would not mind..."

"But it isn't her," Cassie said finally, when the other trailed off. "It's him. He--blames his empathy, for something that happened a long time ago."

The sympathy in Aura's expression said she understood. "I am sorry for what he has suffered," she said quietly. "But I fear the longer he ignores this problem, the worse it will get."

Cassie nodded wordlessly. *What he has suffered...* The words rang in her ears, reminding her of how selfish she had been. Her friends were not his friends, and she couldn't just pretend he had always been one of them.

He had had his own friends, his own life--something that was now gone. She couldn't expect him to instantly adjust to hers, had no right to even ask him to be a part of it if he didn't want to be. That he loved her did not change the person he was.

"I have to talk to him," Cassie murmured.

She turned, meaning to return to their room, but Aura's words stopped her. "He is lucky," she said, "to have someone who cares so much for him."

"So am I," Cassie said softly, hoping it wasn't too late to tell him that. "Thanks, Aura."

"We *can't* teleport on," Kerone was reminding him impatiently. "You know as well as I that the entire ship is shielded against teleportation."

"But your teleportation is not dependent on the Power."

"It doesn't matter." She tossed a violet sparkle at the main screen, pointing out a line of data he had already seen. "The shield is magically generated; you can see that for yourself."

He knew she had almost reached the limit of her tolerance with his distraction, but no matter how he tried he couldn't get that image of Cassie in her nightshirt out of his mind. And every time Kerone spoke, he heard Cassie calling after him to wait. Had that been his second chance?

"Saryn." Kerone's hand on his shoulder yanked him out of his reverie, and he lifted his gaze to her inadvertently. "You need to--"

Doors slid open on the other side of the room, and she broke off.

"Kerone?" Cassie's voice asked softly.

Saryn stiffened, pulling away from Andros' sister and turning reluctantly to face Cassie. She was standing in the doorway, pink Astro sweatsuit over top of her nightshirt and a ribbon that had long since come unwound in her hair. He stared back at her, not sure he wanted to know what she would read into the situation after what had happened this afternoon.

She didn't look upset. Her tone didn't change as she asked, "Could you give us a few minutes?"

It wasn't lost on Saryn that Kerone looked to him before answering. He saw the gesture, but he couldn't look away from Cassie. Finally, Kerone nodded once. "I'll be in auxiliary control," she said, turning toward the lift.

Cassie watched her go, and Saryn watched her, frozen, waiting on her words. He couldn't seem to make himself speak, afraid that anything he said would be the wrong thing, that it would somehow make things worse between them.

As the lift doors closed, she turned back to him. Instead of coming over to him, though, she put her hands behind her on the monitor console and hopped up on it. He was tempted to smile, but couldn't afford to relax enough to allow that simple expression. Cetaci had objected loudly the first time she had done that.

"Saryn?" she asked, her voice more tentative than it had been a moment ago. "I'm sorry..."

It was the last thing he had expected her to say, and he could think of no way to reply. His silence only seemed to make her more nervous, and she looked down at the floor. "I was way out of line to say anything to you about Kerone," she continued, fidgeting where she sat. "I was wrong to assume anything, and I shouldn't have reacted like that."

He wanted to tell her that he respected Kerone, that he was finally beginning to think it was possible for them to be friends, and that that was as far as it went. How could she ever think he was interested in someone else when he had lost his heart to her so long ago?

Instead what came out of his mouth was, "Perhaps now you know better how I feel."

Her head jerked up at that, and he saw her flush. Hands braced on the console to either side of her, her gaze locked with his across the empty room. "I'm so sorry," she whispered at last. "You don't know how well you hide things, even now. I didn't--"

She took a deep breath, slowing the flood of words and starting again. "I thought if you knew I loved you, seeing me with Zhane or someone wouldn't matter. We're just friends...

"But when I saw Kerone take your hand this afternoon, I just wanted to run over and--" She gestured helplessly. "I don't know! She hasn't looked at anyone but Zhane since she came to Earth, and somehow I still thought..."

"I have never wanted anyone but you," he said quietly.

"I know," she said, looking away.

"But it doesn't help," he finished. "The fear comes anyway, isolating you and making you--"

"Angry," she said, lifting her head. "That's exactly it. I saw you with her, and I tried not to care, but I just couldn't, especially after you were mad at me for the volleyball thing--"

"Volleyball thing?" he interrupted, watching her reach up to flip her long black hair over her shoulder.

She blushed again, and he felt his lips quirk involuntarily. Did she have any idea how pretty she was when she did that? "When you wouldn't play," she explained, "I thought you were upset with me for something."

"I simply did not want to participate," he told her gently. "I am still uncomfortable with so many people, and I had not fully recovered from--the morning's fight." He knew it sounded like an excuse, but he had the right to make a simple choice without having to justify it.

She gazed at him, and he couldn't help adding, "You must not take it personally when I do not react as one of your friends might."

For some reason, that made her flinch, and he straightened. If he had known it would distress her, he would not have said it.

She tugged at one of her sleeves, twisting it around her fingers uncomfortably, and just as he was about to speak she said, "You're right. I'm sorry if I've ever made you do something that you didn't--"

"You have not," he interrupted, and she started a little. He tried to soften his tone, knowing he had been too vehement. "I make my own decisions, Cassie. You have never forced me into anything."

She looked up, and the look in her eyes made his heart melt. It was all he could do not to cross the room and wrap her in his arms. "If I sometimes do your bidding," he murmured, feeling her gaze draw him in, "it is only because I wish to please you. Not because you have made me act against my will."

She swallowed, but she did not look away. "Then... you weren't mad at me."

He smiled a little. "I was not."

"Even when--I yelled at you, about Kerone?" she asked tentatively.

"I was angry then," he said slowly. "But I understand what you were feeling all too well. And you must know that I could never stay upset with you for long," he added quietly.

"I'm sorry," she said, shifting her weight on the console and looking at him uncertainly. "I should never have said what I did--"

"I understand," he repeated, cutting her off. "Believe me when I say it."

She hesitated, and there was something in her expression that he didn't recognize. He felt the frustration she had so often complained of, that of not knowing her well enough to judge her reactions, and he tried to put it aside.

"I do believe you," she said at last, smiling a little. "You know I do. Can you--forgive me?"

"If you can do the same for me," he answered, daring to hope that this could all end now.

She actually giggled, and he felt the hope growing inside him. "I don't have anything to forgive you for. But I will, if you want."

"I do," he murmured, seeing her smile widen.

She slid off the console and practically skipped over to him, turning her face up toward him expectantly. "Yours is more important--you go first."

He couldn't help smiling back at her, his gaze flickering across her face as he said softly, "I forgive you."

She leaned into him when he kissed her, clutching his arms and reminding him suddenly, vividly, that she was still in her pajamas. He clenched his fingers, resisting the temptation to put his arms around her, knowing he would never be able to let go if he did.

With an effort, he turned his head away from her and said breathlessly, "Your turn."

"I forgive you," she whispered, laying her hand alongside his face to turn it back toward her. "I like making up," she added in a murmur, kissing him again.

He chuckled at that, tilting his head toward the ceiling as he put his arms around her. *Thank you,* he said fervently, addressing some spirit that might or might not be listening. *Thank you for this.*

Then he felt her lips brush against his neck, and he caught his breath sharply as she pressed closer to him. "Do not do this to me," he said softly, hoping she would not listen.

With a sigh, she drew back. "You're too busy," she murmured. "Sorry--I just... I missed you," she admitted, searching his expression.

It had only been that morning that they argued, but the empty place in his heart had made it seem so much longer. Delighted to hear her confess his own feelings, he leaned forward and pressed his mouth to hers, pulling her against him again.

"Not very convincing," he heard her murmur, but she could not have truly spoken. He kissed her harder, letting her thoughts swirl around him and hoping desperately that she could drown out all the other voices for a little while.

She relaxed into his embrace, but a moment later he heard clearly, *You're not blocking anymore.*

"No," he whispered, letting his forehead rest against hers as he tried to catch his breath. "I don't have to, around you."

She smiled, not understanding, and he didn't try to explain. He was so glad to be able to hold her again that nothing else seemed to matter. Her love was the one thing that the universe still had to take away from him, and without it he would be nothing.

"I'll let you and Kerone get back to work," she murmured, letting her fingers trail across his face.

He sighed, not meaning to, and found he couldn't take his eyes off of her. "Must you?" He didn't even realize he'd spoken aloud until she giggled.

The shriek of the intruder alert cut off any more conversation, and he hugged her closer instinctively before he recognized the sound. He grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the lift, responding without thinking to the piercing noise--

Until Cassie resisted, tugging on his hand and shouting his name above the sound of the alarm. He turned to her in question, and saw her pointing up at the flashing intruder alert... and the conspicuously silent Ranger alarm system below it.

"Another drill!" Cassie said loudly, leaning closer to be heard above the wailing of the alert. "I wish Cetaci would pick better times to mess with our heads!"

He shook his head, irritated by the timing. This was the second such drill since the Barox had overrun the command center dome, and Cetaci had not been pleased with the response time on the last one. "Why does she insist on creating crisis when there is none?"

"What?" Cassie tilted her head toward him, leaning even closer in an attempt to hear.

"We have to get to auxiliary control," he said instead, speaking almost directly into her ear.

She turned her head, and the look in her eyes caught him by surprise. "Don't we?" he said uncertainly. He didn't think he had spoken loudly enough for her to hear above the alarm, but she shook her head at him.

She pulled him toward the door leading to the living quarters, where they would at least be able to talk over the sound of the intruder alert, and he let her lead him. As the doors slid shut behind him, the noise was muffled enough that he could hear himself think, and he shot her a questioning look.

"I was sleeping when the alarm went off," she told him, wrapping her arms around him and resting her head against his chest. "You had just come in to change--pretty bad timing, huh?"

"Cassie," he warned. He knew where she was going with this already, and he knew, too, how tempted he would be if he let her finish.

"So we *heard* the alarm," she continued, oblivious. "But the containment protocols must have malfunctioned, because the doors wouldn't--"

"Cassie," he repeated, pushing her away and placing two fingers over her mouth. "We are Rangers. It is our duty--"

She kissed his fingers, wrapping her hand around his and stepping closer. "Duty isn't everything," she said quietly. "You know no one's in danger, Saryn."

"That is not the issue..." He trailed off as she wound her fingers through his hair, pulling him close for a kiss. He let her do it, his heart pounding as her lips teased his, making him long to remind her of the proper way to kiss one's lover.

"Kerone will be busy with everyone else until the drill's over," she whispered, brushing his hair away from his face and giving him another gentle, lingering kiss. "And you can't work with the central computer locked down anyway..."

He tried to remember why he was protesting. "Cetaci will ask--"

"I don't care," she replied, kissing him again. As before, it was only the fact that her mouth was pressed to his that let him know she was thinking rather than speaking. *I'm trying to seduce you, Saryn. If you want me to stop, all you have to do is say so.*

He closed his eyes, delighted by her frankness. But there had only ever been one answer that he could give, and he suspected she knew it.

*Do not stop,* he begged, kissing her hungrily as he gave in to her touch. He felt her freeze momentarily as the words echoed in her mind, and he ran his hands across her back in an attempt to soothe her. He had to remember not to talk like that...

"No," she insisted, burying her fingers in his hair and forcing him to look at her. "I like hearing you that way."

He stared back at her, and with her wide eyes only inches from his he could not doubt the truth of her words. *I am glad,* he said tentatively. She caught her breath, but she smiled at the same time and leaned forward to kiss him.

Then she squeaked as he caught her up easily in his arms, cradling her close as she threw her arms around his neck. Her gaze lifted to meet his as he carried her down the hallway, ignoring the wail of the intruder alert in favor of her warm embrace and the promise of her touch.

"You are a terrible influence on me," he murmured, kissing her forehead.

13. Guarded Affection

*Carlos?*

"Come in," he called automatically. He didn't look up from the interface, but he smiled when he heard Aura's soft boots on the ladder behind him. He couldn't help thinking the way she always asked permission to enter an area he was working in was sort of… cute.

Cute. He shook his head and tried to keep his amusement to himself. She was probably several years his senior, and was better with these systems than he would ever be. He doubted she would appreciate the appellation.

"Can I be of assistance?" Aura asked, dropping to the deck behind him.

"I'm almost done," he assured her. "You can keep me company if you want, but I don't think there's anything I'm going to need help with."

"Very well."

He felt his concentration waver, and he resisted the urge to turn around and look at her--but it was too late. The thread of the interface he had been rerouting slipped away from his focus and settled back into its former position, and he grimaced.

"Trouble?" she asked, and now there was no reason not to glance over his shoulder. Aura was leaning against one of the simple, contoured control panels, giving the impression of watching what he was doing without actually being close enough to see. "I can suppress the nav controls if it would help."

"That's okay; I can do it," he said quickly, embarrassed to have made such a basic mistake. Concentration was everything when it came to the mental interfaces the Aquitians used to control their zords, and he *knew* that--but he still wasn't completely used to it.

He brought his focus back to the main motor functions of the zord, guiding the major pathways into place to connect with the console in front of him. This time Aura was silent, and his hydrospanner hissed quietly as the last connection reached its contact point and stuck there.

"There," he said, tempted to pat the control panel as though it was a car. "The interface should at least be useable, now."

He heard a chime as Aura laid her hand against the panel in front of her, and new shadows fell across the interior of the cockpit. He turned around to see the soft glow of Cestria's Lissan symbol emanating from the rear wall.

"Well done," Aura told him, twisting to regard the lit symbol as well.

"Thanks." He turned back to the main control panel and tossed the hydrospanner up in the air, catching it by the barrel as it spun around. "Now I just have to fine-tune it enough that Cestria can actually fly it in the middle of a battle."

"I am sure she will appreciate your effort," Aura offered.

He grinned sheepishly at her sarcasm. "I'm working on it. How's Billy doing?" he added, as he gave the thruster controls a nudge. These adjustments didn't require nearly as much concentration, and he would just as soon get her focus off of him while he worked.

"The upgrade to the Zaal zord is almost complete as well," she answered. "Its energy reserves were not as depleted as I expected; Delphinius must have set the limits of self-repair lower than normal."

"Is that why it's taken so long to come back online?" Carlos asked, shifting the nav controls a little.

"Most likely. His zord suffered heavy damage during the Barox attack."

"What happened to it?" he asked curiously. "I don't think I ever found out what he did to crush the forward hull like that."

"One of the Barox set a collision course with the Ranger dome. Delphinius intercepted it."

Carlos froze at her matter-of-fact reply. "What?"

"Delphinius intercepted a--"

"I heard you," he interrupted quickly. "I was just--surprised. I never thought of the Barox as suicidal."

"Nothing I had heard of them made me think they would exhibit such a tendency," Aura agreed. "Recent events have led me to believe differently."

Carlos was quiet for a moment, tracing the path of the scanner controls to make sure they all lined up with their appropriate detectors. "But the dome is underwater," he said at last, satisfied that each scanner would supply the correct information. "Would the Barox's ship even be able to reach it?"

He winced even as he said it, for she had already given him the answer. "Not functionally," he realized aloud. "But if it was a suicide run, that wouldn't matter."

He sensed more than saw her shake her head. "Delphinius chased it into the atmosphere, and pressed it hard enough that it could not maintain its original course. It struck the ocean some distance from the city, with Delphinius still following."

"He crashed into the water?" Carlos asked in disbelief.

"I was monitoring his descent," Aura said. "I think he attempted to pull up. His zord must have been too badly damaged to respond, and his velocity was too great for the hull to withstand the impact."

"But he was fine when he teleported into auxiliary control," Carlos protested.

"The inertial dampers saved his life," Aura told him. "If they had been damaged he would not have survived, let alone walked away."

"No wonder Cetaci was so upset," Carlos said, remembering the White Ranger's anger when Delphinius appeared.

There was a brief hesitation, and he pressed one of the thruster circuits closed before turning to look at her. She lowered her eyes in the face of his questioning gaze and admitted, "Cetaci does not know."

He stared at her. "What?"

"At the time, I did not wish to trouble her," Aura said quietly. "We had no way to contact the rest of the team, and there was nothing she could do. I told her only that his zord had been damaged in the fighting."

"And afterwards?" Carlos demanded. "Didn't she want to know what happened?"

Aura didn't answer, and he realized he had inadvertently stepped over a line that would have been better left uncrossed. Team loyalty was stronger than the bond of friendship, and Ranger teams were bound more closely to each other than they could be to anyone else--even if that someone was a Ranger themselves.

"Sorry," he said, hoping she hadn't taken offense. "It's none of my business--I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

She looked up, and her silvery eyes held something he didn't quite recognize when they met his. *You may not tell anyone else this. But I will tell you, if you wish to know. For our friendship.*

He shook his head, though he was tempted. He knew there was something strange between Cetaci and Delphinius, and he would dearly love to know what it was--but not if Aura didn't want to tell him. *I don't want you to tell me anything you don't want to,* he thought carefully. *Your team is more important.*

*It is not our *team* that is the problem,* she answered, and he could almost hear the irritation in her thoughts. *Cetaci and Delphinius used to be lovers, before the Rangers came between them. They still care for each other very deeply, I think, but they cannot seem to keep their feelings and their duties from clashing.*

Carlos just stared at her, not sure what to say to that. He had assumed the two Aquitian Rangers had some sort of past, but no one ever mentioned it in his presence until now. Even Cassie, whom he suspected knew something about them, had been strangely close-mouthed. He wondered if she had been sworn to the same silence Aura had just asked of him.

"Cestria ordered Delphinius to break off, during the Barox attack," Aura continued quietly, when he said nothing. "The hunter's ship was put under enormous stress by his pursuit, and in all likelihood would not have held together long enough to reach the ocean floor had Delphinius pulled up while he still had time.

"So Cestria ordered him out. He would not go, and finally it was too late." She paused, regarding him solemnly. "Cestria did not report him, nor will the rest of the team tell Cetaci what he did."

He wouldn't take the chance, Carlos realized. Delphinius wouldn't allow even the slim possibility that the ship might survive long enough to damage the dome where Cetaci was, even if it meant his own life. "But… if she knew," he began.

"She must not know," Aura cut him off. "I would like to think, as you do, that she would be touched by such a gesture. But I have seen her react often enough to know that she will only be angry with him for such a foolish risk. So we keep it from her."

The way she said it made Carlos wonder what else they kept from their team leader. But it wasn't his place to ask, and before he could promise not to say anything to anyone else, there was a loud rap on the metal hull above.

"How's it going down there?" Billy called, peering into the cockpit.

"Almost done," Carlos answered. "If you think you can fit, come on in."

For answer, the other Ranger disappeared. A moment later, he was climbing down the ladder to join the two of them in the small cockpit. The Aquitian zords felt roomier than the Astro Rangers' zords, probably because the cockpits had fewer control panels, but the space was undeniably cramped with the three of them in there at once.

"The upgrade to the Zaal zord is finished," Billy informed them, leaning against the back of the pilot's chair. "I think we'd all better get some sleep as soon as Lissan is done."

"Don't wait for me," Carlos said quickly. "It's going to take me another few minutes to finish this; you guys go ahead."

"We will wait," Aura told him.

"We're the repair team," Billy added with a grin. "We ought to stick together."

Carlos chuckled. "In that case, you have to tell us that story about Cestria meeting your family. I want to hear this."

"Oh, it probably wasn't as strange as you think," Billy said, shifting a little as Carlos forced his hydrospanner back inside the forward control panel. "My dad had actually been to Aquitar once before Cestria came home with me, so he had some idea of what to expect."

"He came to Aquitar?" Carlos repeated, surprised.

"Yeah..." Billy sighed. "Not the smartest thing I ever did, but it worked out. And Cestria was sweet enough to try and soften the blow the first time they met--she wore Earth clothes that night, and she even shook his hand when I introduced them."

Aquitians weren't big on tactile contact, Carlos knew. And he doubted Billy would ever ask her to "act human" just for the sake of his friends or family, which made her effort doubly kind.

"Did you ask her to do that?" Aura asked suddenly.

Carlos would have loved to turn around, to see Billy's expression, but he couldn't spare the concentration. Instead, he heard only the indignation in Billy's tone when he replied, "Of course not! She could have worn her Eternal Falls clothes if she wanted to, and she knew it. She was just trying to make it easier for him."

"Earth is a little... paranoid about aliens," Carlos offered, finishing the junction and turning around. "We don't have a very good history, when you come right down to it."

"Angel Grove liked the Aquitian Rangers, though," Billy said quickly. "That probably helped."

"Bet you're glad you decided to live on Aquitar, though," Carlos said with a grin. "Can you imagine trying to live on Earth with an alien girlfriend?"

Billy hesitated, and Carlos blinked as Aura straightened up. "I must go," she said. "Good night to you both."

"Good night," Carlos said, giving her a smile that she did not return.

Billy said good night more quietly, and she nodded to him before she turned to leave. Carlos frowned a little as she disappeared up the ladder, leaving the cockpit oddly subdued in her wake.

When he was sure she had gone, he caught Billy's eye. "Is it just me, or has Aura been acting a little… strange today?"

Billy gave him a measured look. "Today?"

He shook his head, sorry he had said anything. "Never mind."

Billy's reply surprised him. "Carlos, she's been acting 'strange' for weeks now. Don't tell me you just noticed now."

His frown deepened. "What do you mean? Is something wrong with her?"

Billy didn't answer right away. Finally, he sighed and shook his head. "No. Nothing's wrong with her. Are you all done here?"

Carlos cast a glance over his shoulder, but he already knew the answer. "Yeah, Cestria's zord is ready to fly. Billy--" He turned around, seeing the Blue Ranger stop at the bottom of the cockpit ladder. "What am I missing about Aura?"

Billy put one hand on the ladder and tilted his head to one side in a strangely Aquitian gesture. "Do you really not know?"

Carlos held his hands out to the sides helplessly. "I really don't! She hasn't told me anything."

"She wouldn't," Billy agreed. "I thought it was obvious. She's… having some relationship difficulties."

Carlos frowned again. "I didn't know she was involved with anyone."

"She isn't."

"Then what are you talking about?" Carlos demanded.

"She..." Billy shook his head. "She has feelings for an offworlder."

"Damn." Carlos could have kicked himself. "That conversation was probably the last thing she wanted get into then--sorry; I didn't know. No wonder she ran off like that."

"Yeah," Billy said quietly.

Neither of them moved for a moment, then Carlos said, "Aquitar isn't like Earth, though. There's a lot of non-Aquitians here. It can't be *that* bad, can it?"

"He isn't a League member," Billy said, twisting around to regard Carlos. "He's from Earth."

Carlos winced, suddenly understanding. "Can you imagine trying to live on Earth with an alien girlfriend?" "Man! I wish I'd kept my mouth shut… How did she meet him?"

Billy sighed, a look of amusement on his face. "Carlos--a friend of mine used to say this to me, and I hope you'll forgive me for saying it to you. Are you this dense on purpose?"

Carlos could only stare at him. There was only one thing Billy could mean by that. "No way," he said. "Not... me?"

Billy nodded wordlessly, watching him for a reaction.

He struggled to remember anything she had said or done that might have tipped him off, but even in hindsight there were no definitive signs he could call to mind. "No way!" he repeated, shaking his head. "That's crazy--Aura's never been anything but friendly to me. Nice, sure, but no *more* than nice."

"Aquitians aren't as obvious about things like that," Billy told him. "They're a little more restrained in showing their feelings. I thought you knew that."

It sounded almost like an accusation, and Carlos blinked. "I did, I guess. But--she's Aquitian!"

It was the wrong thing to say. Billy turned away and put his other hand on the ladder. "So is Cestria, Carlos, and I love her with all my heart and soul. Would you love someone of Earth less just because they came from a different country?"

Carlos stared after him. Only when the Blue Ranger had vanished from sight did he realize that Billy was actually leaving. "Wait!" he called. He scrambled up the ladder and caught Billy as he stood on top of the zord, preparing to teleport down.

"Billy," he said quickly. "It isn't that she's from another planet, it's just--I *have* a girlfriend. I thought Aura and I were just friends."

Billy studied him for a long moment. "You can't change what you feel," he said at last. "Either of you. Just--try to be a little more sensitive to her feelings."

Something in the way Billy said it made Carlos ask, "Does everyone know about this but me?"

"Pretty much," Billy said, in a matter-of-fact tone of voice. "The rest of the Aquitian team, at least." A hint of a smile touched his lips. "Why do you think Cetaci is so rude to you?"

Carlos shrugged. "I thought she was rude to everyone," he said honestly, and Billy did smile at that.

"Just don't say that to her," he warned.

"Duh," Carlos muttered.

Billy clapped him on the shoulder. "Get some sleep," he advised. "And Carlos--she doesn't expect anything of you. She just… cares for you. She wouldn't want it to hurt your friendship."

He wanted to say something to that, although he wasn't exactly sure what, but the wail of an alert burst into the zord bay before he got the chance. The noise echoed off the walls and penetrated every corner, filling the bay with the sound of urgency.

"What *is* that?" he demanded, loudly enough to make himself heard over the sound.

"That's the intruder alert," Billy answered, cocking his head as though listening for something.

Carlos waited, though he couldn't imagine what the other Ranger expected to hear in this cacophony. Finally Billy shook his head. "It's a drill," he said loudly. "If it was real, the Ranger alarm would have sounded too."

"You have drills?" Carlos asked incredulously.

Billy shrugged. "Cetaci's idea. She'll expect us in auxiliary control. You have the coordinates?"

Carlos nodded, reaching for his morpher. He saw Billy touch the gold band on his wrist just before the world disappeared from around him.

Auxiliary control shimmered into view as the shadowy darkness fell away once more, and he found Cetaci and Cestria already there. To his surprise, Kerone was there as well, her jeans and t-shirt looking out of place when surrounded by Aquitian uniforms.

"Aura?" Cetaci asked of Billy as soon as he arrived. The alert seemed muted, although no less urgent, in this part of the dome, and Carlos found he could hear himself think again.

"She went to sleep," Billy replied, joining Cestria at the internal scanner array. "Should we wake her?"

"No," Cetaci said quickly. "She's been working all day. What of Delphinius?"

"Also asleep," Cestria told her. She pointed to something on the readout in front of them. "The 'intruder' has been isolated on level one, above the living quarters."

"Have Delphinius go," Cetaci said, and Carlos raised an eyebrow.

"He's asleep," Billy reminded her.

"It is his duty shift," Cetaci insisted. "He will participate in the drill."

Carlos tried to figure out what time that would make it, if the duty shifts were on their second rotation. Cetaci and Delphinius had had the night watch for the last few weeks, which meant it had to be after two back on Earth. It didn't feel that late, but then, it never did until he had to get up in the morning. At least this time he would still be on Aquitian time when he woke up.

"You had Delphinius cover for Aura this afternoon," Billy said, turning away from the scanners. "He's been up since your shift ended this morning."

Carlos suppressed the urge to whistle. No wonder the Black Ranger was sleeping.

"Then you may go in his place," Cetaci said calmly. "Locate and contain our 'intruder', and report as soon as you are done."

Billy only nodded, grabbing a stunner from the weapons locker by the door on his way out. Carlos glanced in Kerone's direction, and found her watching the scene with interest. Not Cetaci and Cestria, but Billy and the weapons locker. He didn't know whether to smile or shake his head--*once a tactician, always a tactician,* he thought.

"Wake Delphinius," Cetaci told Cestria, and Carlos' gaze snapped back to her. "Apprise him of the situation and have him join Billy."

Cestria continued to enter commands into the scanner array, coordinating the datafeed with Billy's movements as he reported them to her. "You said Billy would take his place."

"One Ranger is not an acceptable counter force," Cetaci retorted. "You know that. Have Delphinius back him up."

Cestria still did not look up. "Why do you allow Aura to sleep while Delphinius may not?"

"It's his duty shift," Cetaci repeated stubbornly.

"It is favoritism," Cestria countered.

Cetaci frowned, and Carlos tried to stay as unobtrusive as possible. "It is not too much to ask that members of this team follow procedure," the White Ranger informed her second in command.

Cestria stepped in front of her to add the visual from Billy's current location to the display. "This is only a drill," she said quietly. "The well-being of this team should come before training sims."

Cetaci positively glared at her. "Contact Delphinius," she said icily.

Cestria pushed something on the control panel and straightened up, turning to face her teammate. "No."

Carlos glanced sideways, seeking out Kerone with his eyes. She was watching the confrontation with undisguised curiosity--the same appraising look she had given Billy when he stopped by the weapons' locker.

"Then I will," Cetaci snapped, reaching for the comm console.

To Carlos' infinite surprise, Cestria caught her hand. "You are behaving unreasonably," she told her leader.

"Let me go," Cetaci insisted, twisting away from the Yellow Ranger. She sounded suddenly more like a plaintive child than a determined commander. "This team answers to my orders, not yours."

Cestria hesitated, and the glance she gave Carlos and Kerone said she was very much aware of their presence. "I would not say this now," she said quietly, "if I thought you would listen at any other time. But this--" She made a small gesture toward the comm system, leaving no doubt about what she meant. "This is not about the team. It is about you and your relationship with our Black Ranger."

Cetaci's eyes were wide as they darted from Cestria, to Carlos and Kerone, and back again.

"Delphinius has been miserable since you joined the team," Cestria continued, ignoring Cetaci's obvious distress. "Yet he continues to act impartially, while you do not. Perhaps..." Her voice dropped a little, and she said quietly, "As much as it pains me to say this, perhaps you were not the best choice for leader."

Cetaci stared at her, but no reply was forthcoming.

Carlos knew the feeling. He had never heard the soft-spoken Aquitian question her leader's orders in anything but the most unobtrusive of ways, and Cestria had *never* questioned Cetaci's position. Now she had done both in as many minutes.

The alert ceased suddenly, and Carlos caught a glimpse of the panel in front of Cestria as the schematic of level one went from orange-red to a muted green. The words "Intruder Neutralized" flashed across the display, but no one seemed to notice.

The click of a metal clasp was loud in the ensuing silence, and Cetaci removed her wrist communicator without a word. She held out her hand and let the bracelet fall to the console, the gold band clattering against the panel as she turned and walked out of auxiliary control.

"Cestria," Delphinius said tiredly, entering the small room on Billy's heels, "I have been up since this time yesterday. Tell me this is important."

The Yellow Ranger said nothing, merely held up the abandoned communicator.

Delphinius glanced around the room, his eyes taking in the communicator on Cestria's wrist before seeking out Billy and Aura and finding the same gold band on their wrists. "No," he said, looking more exasperated than anything else. "Why?"

"I was kind of wondering that myself," Billy put in.

Carlos shifted, looking sideways at Aura. She had perched on one of the chairs by the weapons' console, and he saw her reach up to rub her eyes sleepily. She did not look at him, but neither did she seem to be avoiding his gaze. It was as though everything Billy had said related to someone else altogether.

"I questioned her authority," Cestria said uncomfortably, drawing Carlos' attention back to her.

Delphinius tilted his head, and when he spoke his tone was dismissive. "Not a day goes by that her authority is not questioned. It's never been enough to make her leave before."

"I told her she might not have been the best choice as our leader," Cestria admitted.

Far from looking shocked, Delphinius just leaned back against the comm console and muttered, "Good for you."

"Delphinius, please," Cestria said, a distressed expression on her face. "I should not have said it."

"What did she do?" Billy wanted to know. "More than--what she was doing before?"

"She insisted again, after you left," Cestria answered, catching his eye.

Delphinius looked sharply at her, then at Billy. "What did she do?" he demanded, echoing Billy's question.

Aura moved a little, and Carlos looked in her direction involuntarily. She had propped one elbow on the back of her chair and was resting her chin on her hand, frowning at Cestria. To all appearances, she was completely absorbed in the conversation.

He couldn't help looking for Kerone next. Andros' sister had an uncanny knack for making herself invisible when she didn't want to be noticed, and it actually took him a few minutes to figure out where she had gone.

Kerone was leaning casually against the doorframe, taking in the entire scene without being a part of it. Only then did it occur to him to wonder where Saryn was--hadn't he been working with Kerone earlier?

"What?" Delphinius exploded, and Carlos realized he had missed whatever explanation the others had given him.

"Where is she now?" the Black Aquitian Ranger demanded, taking the communicator from Cestria's hand. "Did you track her Power signature?"

Cestria looked uncertain. "What are you going to do?"

"I am going to explain to Cetaci what it means to be a Ranger," he replied firmly. "It is something one of us should have done long ago."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Billy asked. "No offense, but you may not be the person she wants to see right now."

Delphinius hesitated, and actually seemed to consider his teammate's words. "Perhaps not," he agreed at last. "But there is no one else, and *someone* must talk to her." A wry look touched his face as he added, "You must admit, there is little I can do that would make the situation worse."

Carlos saw Billy and Cestria exchange glances, and this time when he shot a covert look in Aura's direction he found her looking back. She shrugged a little at him, and he smiled uncertainly. She tilted her head, giving him a "what's wrong" look, and he shook his head.

"She's in the southern research dome," Cestria said. "Do you need the coordinates?"

"No," Delphinius answered, and his tone was uninterpretable. "I know where to find her."

"Good luck," Billy offered quietly.

The Black Aquitian Ranger disappeared into the teleportation stream, leaving only a dark water molecule shape to mark the place where he had been. The signature glow of his team's teleportation streaked upwards and melted through the ceiling to vanish from view.

Quiet reigned for only a moment before Aura murmured, "Cetaci can halt conversation without even being present."

Carlos forced a laugh, and saw Billy give him a strange look from across the room. He sobered quickly, deciding that silence might be the best course after all.

"I am sorry to have brought you into this while you should have been sleeping," Cestria said, a soft sigh escaping from her lips. "I know you have done too much work today."

"No more than Delphinius," Aura said with a slight shrug. "We will survive."

"Thank you for your support," Cestria said quietly.

Billy reached out to touch the back of her hand. "You were right in what you said," he told her. "Things will work out. Don't worry."

"He is right," Aura agreed. "The situation has been escalating--we could not continue to ignore it and still function as a team."

Cestria still looked uncomfortable, and she switched her gaze to Carlos. Her eyes flicked past him to include Kerone as she said, "I apologize also for drawing you into this dispute. It is not any of your responsibility."

Kerone surprised him by speaking up for the first time. "Don't apologize. Matters of authority don't wait on convenience. I hope you resolve yours."

Billy inclined his head in her direction.

"I will remain here," Cestria said, when no one seemed ready to add anything else. "I suggest that everyone else rest while we have the opportunity."

"I'm a little tired," Carlos admitted, stifling a yawn.

"You're not staying here alone," Billy informed her. "I'll help you cover for Cetaci and Delphinius. You won't," he added, turning to Aura.

Carlos glanced over in time to see her close her mouth. "Very well," she said at last. "I will sleep, on the assurance that you do not take the entire night watch yourselves."

"We will wake you if they do not return," Cestria promised, and Aura nodded once.

"I was working with Saryn," Kerone said idly, looking around as though she expected him to appear. "I'm surprised he isn't here."

Billy frowned. "The alert would have sounded throughout the dome, and he knows procedure as well as the rest of us. What could have kept him?"

"He probably went back to the Megaship," Carlos offered. "Andros signaled me when they arrived."

Cestria nodded absently, glancing at the scanners. "The Megaship arrived several hours ago. You are free to use our equipment to contact your teammates."

It was a token offer, and they all knew it. Their communicators would work over this kind of distance, and Kerone could talk to Andros as easily as the Aquitians spoke among themselves.

"Thanks," Carlos said. "But I'm going back to the Megaship for the night anyway--I'll just make sure someone knows where he is before I go to bed."

"Actually--" Kerone hesitated. "I would prefer to know where he is before I leave. We hadn't completed our plans for tomorrow's assault."

Carlos almost agreed, before what she had said registered. He frowned at her. "If you were still working, what are you doing here? No offense," he added hastily, as he realized how that sounded.

Kerone shrugged. "Cassie wanted to talk to him alone."

"Cassie's here?" Carlos repeated.

"Cassie teleported into the dome shortly after the Megaship arrived," Cestria put in.

Anticipating the next question, Kerone said, "She only came into the control room a few minutes before the alert went off. I would be surprised if they had both teleported back to the Megaship in that amount of time."

Carlos lifted his left wrist and reached for his communicator. "Cassie?" he asked. There was no sense in guessing when their teammates were only as far away as the touch of a button.

There was no answer. He looked up to frown at Kerone, and she just shrugged. "She was here before the alert went off," she maintained.

"This is Cassie," his communicator said, and he looked down in surprised. "Hi Carlos! How's it going?"

"Fine," he said warily, his frown deepening. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine!" The communicator staticked for a moment. "How are you?"

"Uh--" He glanced around the room to see Cestria leaning over one of the scanner consoles, apparently completely immersed in the readout. He was just in time to see Billy turn away too, hiding a grin.

"I'm fine," Carlos repeated. "You, uh, didn't respond to the intruder alert."

"No…" He heard her giggle, quickly stifled. "I was--asleep."

"I see." He looked helplessly at Kerone. "Saryn isn't with you, by any chance, is he?"

There was a brief pause. "He's asleep too," Cassie informed him, her tone suddenly breathless. "Can it wait?"

"You tell me," he said dryly. "Kerone says he was helping her with some plans."

The communicator staticked again, and Saryn's voice came back instead of hers. "Our plans were nearly complete."

"Saryn," Carlos greeted him, trying not to smirk. "Sorry to wake you up."

"He's right," Kerone said quietly, surprising him. "Leave them alone, Carlos. We were done."

Stung by the reprimand in her tone, Carlos said only, "Right," before cutting off the comm link. "Couldn't you have told me that before I called her?" he asked, frowning at Kerone.

"I didn't know they were together," she admitted. "I wouldn't have insisted if I had known."

"They have earned their rest as much as any of us," Aura offered, and Carlos couldn't help feeling a little defensive.

"I was only trying to--" he began, but Kerone cut him off.

"Thank you," she said, and her smile looked genuine. "That was nice of you, Carlos; I mean it. But I think I'll just go back to the Megaship too."

He nodded, but this time it was Aura who stopped him. "I would speak with you before you leave, Carlos."

He tried not to sigh. "Sure," he said, trying to sound cheerful. "I'll be there in a few minutes," he told Kerone.

She nodded. With a flick of her wrist, a violet outline shimmered around her and her form dissolved into the magic teleportation that would take her from surface to ship.

"I'll walk you back to your room," he offered, and Aura nodded once.

She spoke as soon as they were out in the hallway, heading for the lift. "I wanted to apologize for leaving so quickly this evening."

"That's all right," he said quickly, but she spoke again as though she hadn't heard him.

"I am--uncomfortable discussing alien relationships," she said, staring down at the ground as she walked.

*Because you want to have one?* his tired brain thought unbidden. He only had half a second to be glad he had not spoken aloud before he realized she had paled.

"Damn," he muttered. "You heard that."

She swallowed but did not look at him.

"Note to self," he said under his breath. "Don't make any more telepathic friends."

Her breath caught a little as she inhaled, but she managed a look of amusement as she lifted her gaze to regard him. "'Note to self'?" she repeated.

The corner of his mouth quirked. "Something my--" He stopped himself just before he said "girlfriend". "A friend of mine says that sometimes," he said, forcing himself to smile. "I guess I picked it up."

She looked down again and didn't answer.

"Look, I'm sorry," he said awkwardly, as they reached the lift. The doors opened automatically, but he ignored them. "I didn't meant that to sound so--"

"You do not need to apologize for your thoughts," she said quietly. "I assume Billy told you."

He sighed. "You knew I wouldn't be smart enough to figure it out on my own, huh?"

Her head came up, and she actually looked startled. "That is not what I meant--"

"But it's true," he interrupted ruefully. "Billy *had* to tell me, because I had no idea. Aura… I like you, really; it's just… not like that."

"I understand," she said softly. "I assumed that if you felt the same way, you would have spoken before now."

He felt terrible for the sadness in her grey eyes, and he wished there were something that he could say that would comfort her. "I'm sorry," he offered quietly, knowing it wasn't enough.

"Emotions are intransigent," she answered, her tone just as quiet. "Unchangeable, no matter what anyone would wish. And I would not even want you to try, for it would make you someone other than who you are." She searched his expression, and added, "Yet you are still uncomfortable."

"Because I don't like to see you unhappy," he said helplessly, reaching out to touch her shoulder before he thought. He remembered just in time that she was Aquitian, and he withdrew his hand.

"This has never been a problem before. I do not want it to come between us now." Her eyes were still on his, and she seemed perfectly sincere. "The only thing that would make me truly unhappy is if I were to lose your friendship over this."

"You won't," he said firmly. That, at least, he could do. "I promise you that."

She smiled at him, a real smile that curved her lips and touched her eyes. It was not an expression he saw often on her, or on any Aquitian, and it made him smile in return. "Then I am content," she murmured. "I will say good night here, and go the rest of the way alone."

The words sounded suddenly lonely, and he hoped fervently that they were not a prophecy. If anyone deserved someone who could love her in return, it was Aura.

"Good night," she said, putting a hand on the edge of the lift door and stepping inside. The lift chimed once, acknowledging an occupant, and Carlos took a step backward.

"'Night, Aura," he said softly, as the doors closed. The lift hummed to life, and she was gone.

(sacrifice)

The Keiran station had been abandoned for months. It whispered along in standby mode, its dormant field chambers drawing little power and less attention. The researchers who worked in the dome pretended the situation was temporary, as though the station's owner had merely gone on sabbatical and expected to return any day now.

He made his way past the darkened consoles to the far side of the field chambers, where the small student lab station looked out on the rest of the dome. A solitary figure was seated by the overlook, knees to chest and as still as the shadows in the lab.

His heart went out to her as he paused a discrete distance away, watching silently for a moment. She hadn't asked for this. None of them had, if it came to that, but she hadn't grown up with it the way he had. She alone, of all the Rangers, was the first in her family to hold the Power.

She wouldn't want his pity, but he couldn't help thinking that it was unfair. After so many years of peace on Aquitar, the League had picked now to go to war. Untested and largely uncounseled, she found herself in the midst of a situation that would have been unfathomable only a generation before.

"I suppose Cestria sent you." She didn't move, but she had obviously heard him approach.

"No," he answered, moving closer until her view was his. The dome was quiet this late, and the others labs were as dark as hers. "I came of my own accord."

She said nothing for a moment, her gaze fixed on something he couldn't see. Finally, she asked, "What do you want?"

His fingers clenched around her communicator, but he kept his voice level as he held it out to her. "This belongs to you."

"No," she said, glancing over at it dismissively before returning to her contemplation of the research dome. "I don't think it does."

"You're wrong," he told her. "Delphine's Power chose you; you can't change that."

"I can refuse it," she said calmly. "I refuse her choice. If the team doesn't want me to lead, then I won't."

"No one said we don't want you to lead." He tried to sound neutral rather than condescending, but she would probably hear it whether it was there or not. "Cestria was only questioning the way you are going about it. That's the Second's job; she's supposed to present an alternate viewpoint."

"If her view is representative, then I would be foolish to ignore her."

"You would be foolish to ignore her in any case," he said, more sharply than he had intended. "Cestria does not speak only to hear the sound of her voice."

She kept her gaze fixed on some distant point on the other side of the dome. "You think she's right."

"I think she didn't say what she said lightly," he corrected. He felt the sharp edges of her communicator dig into his palm as he tried to repress his instinctive reaction to her hurt tone. "I know she didn't mean for you to quit because of it."

She didn't answer.

"You don't make this easy," he muttered, not knowing what else to say to her. "What is it that you're waiting to hear?"

Her shoulders stiffened, and he knew he had offended her with his careless words. "I'm still waiting for you to tell me what you want," she replied coldly.

"I want you to put aside your pride!" The words were out before he could stop them. How much simpler would things be if she could be just a little less stubborn every once in a while? "For once, try to think of the team first."

"Put aside my pride," she mused, her voice unusually quiet.

Expecting a more abrasive response, he was caught off guard by the thoughtful echo of his remark. He frowned warily. "It's not so much to ask."

"Look around you, Delphinius," she said, her voice tinged with disbelief. "Do you even remember this station?"

His eyes flickered toward her. Though he often tried not to, he remembered. The memories came despite his best efforts, and he remembered the days when this lab could be lit at any hour of the day or night. He remembered her laughter echoing off the walls, and he remembered chasing her around the field chambers with no thought in his head but what he would do when he caught her.

He remembered how the doors could be locked from the inside, and how the windows could be darkened until they were opaque. "Of course I do," he muttered. She wasn't paying attention, and he let his gaze linger for a moment on her shadowy figure. "It wasn't that long ago."

"It was another lifetime," she answered emphatically. "I gave this up to be a Ranger. I gave up my friends, my work... you... everything that mattered. And still you ask more."

"Did you give me up?" he couldn't help asking. "Is that what happened?"

She didn't look up. "Still you ask more," she repeated softly, as though he hadn't spoken. "When does what I've already given become enough, Delphinius? When do I *stop* thinking of the team first?"

He sighed, staring down at the device in his hand. There was no answer he could give that would satisfy her. He wasn't sure he had one that he was satisfied with anymore. "Please," he said quietly, offering the communicator to her again. "Just take this back."

She finally turned her head and looked up at him. With the meager light behind her, he couldn't see her expression at all. "Why?" she asked, her tone as unreadable as her face.

"Because," he said, frustrated. He tried to push the feeling aside, aware that the one word wasn't enough. Kneeling down beside her, he sought an answer that would mean something. "Because," he repeated, "a thousand years ago, Ninjor gave five people the power to defend this world."

He hesitated only a moment, wishing he could see her eyes in the dimness. "Because that power still exists. And because it still takes five people to wield it. Like it or not, you're one of those five, and we need you."

"To make up the number," she murmured.

"No," he said fiercely. "We need *you*, because you're strong and passionate and you never give up. You were never just the fifth member; I thought you knew that!"

She didn't answer, didn't move, even, and he was embarrassed by his own vehemence. She had gotten to him. He'd been watching for it and she had still gotten to him. Of course she knew that; Cetaci wasn't one to be self-conscious. She had only said it to provoke him--and it had worked, if not in quite the way she must have anticipated.

To his surprise, she reached out to him hesitantly and he felt her fingers brush his free hand. He still couldn't see her expression in the darkened lab, but the touch was all he needed. "Thank you," she said softly.

He swallowed, turning his hand over to catch hers before she could pull away. Without a word, he placed her communicator in her hand. He felt her slowly curl her fingers around it, and he tried not to sigh as she took the communicator from him and slid it back onto her wrist.

He had once told a friend that he would do whatever it took to keep her. He wished he had known then how complicated that vow would become.

14. Starry Night

Moonlight?

He shifted a little, tugging the warm comfort of his sleeping bag closer over his shoulder. The light did not go away, and he turned his head until his eyes were in shadow again. The darkness welcomed him, and he sighed contentedly as sleep came creeping back.

Until the light chased it off again. It was following him, and he twisted restlessly. The glow did not abate, and he pulled the sleeping bag up over his head in irritation. *Stupid moonlight.*

The soft whisper of cloth continued even after he stopped moving, and he froze. He forced his eyes open, blinking the drowsiness of sleep away and suddenly remembering a remark Ashley had made a few days ago. Earth's moon was on the day side of the planet right now.

He threw the sleeping bag away from his face and turned his head toward the source of the noise.

A shimmering violet sphere hovered in the air beside him, casting an ethereal glow over Astrea's features as she watched him. She sat next to his sleeping bag, her knees pulled up to her chest and her arms wrapped around them, looking for all the world as though her presence was nothing out of the ordinary.

"What are you doing here?" he mumbled, putting his elbows behind him and struggling to sit up.

She shrugged a little. "I was wondering the same thing about you."

"I *was* sleeping," he informed her, rubbing his eyes and telekinetically pushing the glowing sphere to one side. "What are you doing up?"

"I just came back from Aquitar," she said, shifting her position a little.

She was wearing pajamas, he realized suddenly. In the dim light, it had been hard to tell until she moved. Though they hung loosely over her body and covered her from ankle to wrist, she looked very feminine... and maybe even a little--fragile.

"How come you're sleeping up here?" she asked, and he blinked. "Fragile" was not a word he often associated with her, and he hoped he hadn't been staring.

He shrugged uncomfortably. "Andros and I used to sleep up here. Maybe I like remembering."

She glanced upward. "So it isn't because of the stars?"

He watched her, wondering if that was a way of disguising the real question. "What do you mean?"

"Because you like being here better than being closed inside your room," she said frankly, looking back at him.

He fixed his gaze on the soft light emanating from the sphere that still hung beside her. It bobbed as he pushed it with his mind, but the light did not flicker. She didn't seem to have to concentrate on it at all to keep it glowing.

"Zhane?" Her tone was gentle, and he couldn't keep his eyes from sliding back toward her. "I could help you, you know."

"I don't need help," he said, trying not to sound defensive. "There's nothing wrong with me."

She was silent for a moment. Then she asked quietly, "How did it happen?"

"What?" he muttered, even though he knew what she was talking about.

"This," she said, gesturing around the room. "Why can't you stand being closed in?"

"It's late," he said shortly. He didn't want to snap at her, but he didn't want to talk about it even more. "Some of us need to sleep."

She didn't move, and he tried not to glare at her. "Are you going to leave?"

She shook her head.

"Fine." He lay down again and deliberately turned his back on her. Pulling the sleeping bag up under his arm, he closed his eyes and waited for her to go away.

Of course she didn't. The longer he waited, the more he realized what a futile effort it was to try and out-stubborn anyone related to Andros. She would probably still be there in the morning when he woke up--as if he could sleep with her sitting there.

"The first time KO-35 was attacked by Dark Spectre," he muttered at last, "I was inside the school when it collapsed. I was trapped there for hours until Andros found me. Happy?"

When she answered, it wasn't what he expected. "But Andros said he didn't know what happened," she said, sounding--to his surprise--a little forlorn.

He winced, remembering that Andros had indeed told her he "didn't know the details". With a sigh, he admitted quietly, "Andros knows I don't really want people to know."

"But..." she trailed off.

He frowned. He hadn't heard her uncertain for days, and he wondered what was wrong. He couldn't help rolling over, then, just to get a look at her face.

She was studying him with an expression he couldn't quite make out in the shadows. "Am I... 'people'? I mean--I know how close you and Andros are..."

"No, Astrea--" He pushed himself up again, bracing his arms behind him. "You're not--like everyone else; that's not what I meant."

"Is *that* why you can't tell me, then?" she insisted, when he couldn't find the words to continue. "Because I'm not like your other friends?"

"Astrea--" He looked down, poking the edge of his sleeping bag for lack of anything better to do. "The rest of the team doesn't know."

She didn't answer, and when he glanced up at her, he found her still watching him. "That you're claustrophobic?" she asked, her tone uncertain.

He shook his head slowly. "Only you and Andros know that." Then, remembering, he added, "And Saryn. He might have told them, I guess. But if he did, no one's ever said anything."

She only looked more bewildered, and he realized suddenly how strange it was to see her openly confused. Normally she covered up her puzzlement as though it was a weakness she was ashamed of. "Why did you tell him?"

"I didn't. He found out, like you did."

She hesitated. "Do you--wish I didn't know?"

He came very close to saying "sometimes". But... she was still pulling that "fragile" act, and she was waiting on his answer as though it was important to her. For the first time since he had known her, she looked--vulnerable. No... dependent?

He wasn't sure what made her seem different. But now was obviously not the time for brutal honesty. "No," he said softly. "I don't mind that you know."

She smiled a little, and he reached out to touch her fingers. "If there's anyone I trust as much as Andros," he added impulsively, "it's you."

She actually looked down at that, and he felt a smile spread across his face. Was she blushing? He couldn't tell in the violet light. "You look really pretty tonight," he murmured, before he could change his mind. "I like your, um, pajamas."

He didn't have time to consider how silly that sounded, for she immediately stretched her arms out in front of her and regarded them seriously. "Are they right?" she asked, sounding almost eager to get away from their prior topic of conversation. "They're not what Ashley wears to bed..."

In point of fact, they looked exactly like Andros' pajamas, when he bothered to wear them, but Zhane didn't tell her that. "Nothing looks like what Ashley wears," he said, with a faint grin. "She's--unique."

Astrea gave him an odd look. "What do you mean?" she asked, sounding a little defensive.

He shrugged a little, suddenly uncomfortable. "Well--you know. She dresses differently."

"You *all* dress differently," she said, playing with one of her loose sleeves. They seemed to be a little big for her, which must have been intentional--but it had the effect of making her look terribly young, and when he tried, he found he couldn't picture her as Astronema at all anymore.

"It's confusing," she added, and he tried to repress a smile at her petulant tone.

"If it's any help, you make it look really easy," he offered. "I know how hard it is to try and adjust, but you could have grown up like this for all it shows."

She didn't answer right away. At last, she said slowly, "Sometimes... I think I would have liked that."

"*I* would have liked it," he said without thinking.

She lifted her gaze to his and studied him. "Would you have?"

The light from the globe caught in her eyes and reflected there, making her eyes seem to glow violet. He had told her he liked seeing her use her magic, and it was true--but he wondered, suddenly, if that was what she was referring to. If she had grown up on KO-35, that magic wouldn't be a part of her now.

"You'd be different," he replied softly. "But so would I, because I knew you. I'd like to think those differences wouldn't matter."

"But you don't know that," she told him, still staring at him intently. "How much of--all this--is just coincidence? Coincidence that we met, coincidence that we're both here, on the Megaship, now..."

"How much of that matters?" he asked. "We *are* here, now, and it will never happen differently."

"But what if it *had*?" she insisted.

He shrugged helplessly. "What do you want me to say, Astrea? Are you looking for some kind of destiny? Maybe things did happen the way they were supposed to--maybe this *is* destiny."

She looked down, and he tried not to sigh. "I can't imagine feeling any differently about you," he said quietly. "If it had happened differently, I can't believe I'd care any less for you."

This time when she tilted her head up, he couldn't resist. He reached out tentatively to brush her hair away from her face, and she let him do it. She gazed back at him as he leaned closer, but she didn't respond when he kissed her gently.

He drew back uncertainly, and she gave him a measured look. "Was that supposed to make me feel better?"

He could feel himself blushing, and hoped she couldn't tell in this light. "It was supposed to make me feel better," he muttered, and he saw her lips quirk a little.

"Did it work?" she asked, her tone more forgiving this time.

He shook his head wordlessly.

"Why not?" She sounded genuinely curious, and he shrugged uncomfortably.

"You can't kiss someone if they don't want you to. Either you both enjoy it, or neither of you do."

"Who says I didn't enjoy it?" she murmured, and he felt her lips on his before he even realized what she was doing.

He closed his eyes, as surprised as he had been the first time to feel her so close of her own accord. She didn't touch people very often, though she didn't seem reluctant, exactly. It just didn't seem to occur to her.

When she drew away, she didn't go very far, and he watched her tilt her head to one side. "Now do you feel better?" she asked seriously.

He tried not to smile, but he couldn't help it. "Yeah," he admitted, and was relieve