Chapters:

1. First Year

The door was already open. Carlos frowned, glancing down at the square of paper in his hand. Room 304, in Ladd Hall, AGU's only chemical-free dorm. This was his room... so why was the door open?

He pushed his way inside, dropping his duffel bag on the floor before he glanced around. The single lofted bed was covered with a comforter, but the two bunk beds on the opposite wall were bare. Carlos briefly weighed the pros and cons, and the privacy of the top bunk seemed to outweigh the inconvenience of its location.

"Hey, bro." Gabe's voice came from the doorway directly behind him. "Where do you want this stuff?"

Carlos shoved his duffel bag out of the way with his foot and took a step forward, allowing his brother to enter. "Anywhere," he said, taking a second look at the room. The desk under the loft bed was clearly taken, leaving one desk at either end of the bunk beds. Carlos mentally chose the one closest to the door, where his computer screen would be angled into the room rather than toward the open door.

"Going for the top bunk?" Gabe asked, setting his boxes down in front of the desk on the far wall. "Don't take this desk," he added, without waiting for an answer. He gave the top drawer a tug, but nothing happened. "Drawer's broken."

"This one's mine," Carlos informed him, swinging his laptop carrying case off his shoulder and setting it on the desk by the door. Suddenly wary, he started checking drawers, but they all slid smoothly enough.

"I'll go get the rest of the stuff," Gabe offered, pushing in the drawers on the bureau he'd been checking. "This one looks good."

Carlos glanced at the bureau his brother had pointed out, then at the one on the other side of the room between the loft and the closet. Whoever had taken the loft had a desk and a bureau underneath it already, but the other furniture was only loosely associated with the two bunk beds. Still, if he had taken the desk at the near end of the bunks, it seemed he ought to leave the desk and bureau at the far end for his other roommate. That meant that his bureau would be the one by the closet, across the room from his bed and desk.

"Did you find the room all right?" his mother was asking Gabe when he joined them out on the curb. "What does it look like?"

Carlos rolled his eyes. "Go in and look at it, Mom. I'll wait out here."

"No, that's all right," she insisted. "I'm sure Gabe can stay here with your stuff while we go inside."

He caught Gabe's eye and exchanged amused glances with his brother. His mother had a knack for sounding accommodating while actually getting exactly what she wanted. Grabbing his backpack and a couple of storage crates, Carlos left his mom to pick up bedding and posters as he led the way up two flights of stairs.

"Oh, this is nice," she said, on following him into the room. "A little small, maybe..."

"It's a forced triple," Carlos reminded her. "There were only supposed to be two people sharing the room."

"Will someone be moving out, then?" His mother lifted his pillows, sheets, and comforter up to the top bunk without even asking. "As they find more room?"

"I don't think they're going to 'find' more room until people start leaving at the end of the semester," Carlos said dryly. "We might get down to a double in the spring, but I think we're stuck with each other until then. How did you know I wanted the top bunk?"

"It's a mom thing," she replied, with a tinge of fond distraction in her voice. "That's your bureau, then, over by the closet?"

"It looks that way," Carlos agreed. "I'm going to go get some more stuff."

"I'm coming." His mom took one last look around the room. "Better to have you boys carrying things up all those stairs than to have me doing it one pillow at a time."

Gabe was standing on the curb with his arms crossed, looking twice as menacing as the security officers letting cars into the little residential road to unload. Five years of martial arts training had only enhanced the "don't mess with me" look that seemed to come naturally to his younger brother.

"Expecting someone to steal my clothes?" Carlos teased, following his brother's gaze. The line of cars had not become any shorter in the time they'd been inside, for each had to stop by the security officer and receive a temporary unloading permit before they were allowed to proceed. The procession in could only move as quickly as the trickle of cars heading out, and the wait while those in front emptied out their vehicles was a long one.

Before Gabe could answer, an old Volkswagon Rabbit caught Carlos' eye. Sitting about three cars back in the line for the quad was a little yellow car that looked too familiar to be real. He squinted at it, trying without success to make out the driver's face.

"I thought I saw Ashley's car," Gabe explained, echoing his own instinctive reaction. "Someone over there has a VW just like hers."

"Yeah," Carlos said slowly. "It does look like hers." It couldn't be, of course; she was offplanet... but the similarity was eerie.

"Let's get the rest of your things inside," his mother reminded him. "Other people will need this space to unload."

"Right." Carlos clapped his brother's shoulder and added, "Looks like it's you and me again, bro. Mom's taking over the easy job."

"I knew you wanted me to come for a reason," Gabe grumbled, hefting another set of storage crates.

"Well, it wasn't for your good looks and charming personality," Carlos informed him. He wrestled his stereo off of the ground and trailed his brother into the dorm.

"Why not?" Gabe asked over his shoulder as he started up the stairs. "It's not like you have any of your own. I thought you were feeling the lack."

"The only thing I'm feeling is the incredible amount of time it's taking you to climb these stairs," Carlos retorted. "I think you're getting slower in your old age."

"Look who's talking!" Gabe exclaimed, picking up his pace. "I just didn't want you to feel bad about being left behind!"

"I'm tripping over your heels, man. There's no way you could leave me behind."

"Yeah?" Gabe leaned into the corner and took the second flight of stairs two at a time. It was no mean feat with his arms full of crates, and Carlos' stereo was unwieldy enough to make keeping up almost impossible.

Nonetheless, he managed to arrive close enough behind that he was right there when Gabe looked over his shoulder, and that was all that counted. "Told you," he said, trying not to sound too breathless. "Nice try, though."

"Next time you get to carry the crates and we'll see how well you do," Gabe told him, but he too was panting.

"Like this was any easier," Carlos shot back, setting the stereo system up on top of his bureau. "You try running up the stairs with this thing!"

Gabe didn't even bother replying, just took off out the door and down the stairs again. Carlos rolled his eyes, but his adrenaline was up too and he supposed there were worse ways to burn it off than running up and down the stairs. If nothing else, they'd get his stuff moved in faster.

In the confusion and hurried chaos of shifting his things into the dorm, he forgot about the yellow car for the better part of half an hour. When he stepped out of his room thirty minutes later, though, he almost ran Jeff Hammond down on his way to the drinking fountain. Ashley's brother carried a laundry basket that was full of distinctly feminine clothes, and yellow-laced inline skates rode on top of the pile.

"Jeff!" For a moment, he drew a total blank. "What are you doing here?"

"Thieving," Jeff replied, straight-faced. "There's a lot of good stuff to be found on freshman move-in day. You should give it a try."

From somewhere behind Carlos, he could hear movement followed by his brother's voice. "I knew there was something in this for me. I'll be back in a few minutes, bro. Have the getaway car ready."

"Hello, Jeff." Their mother stepped out into the hallway as well, maneuvering around her sons and ignoring their sarcasm. "We've done as much as Carlos will let us do in his room--can we help you move things in?"

"I'm actually helping my sister right now," he said, switching from wry to polite in the blink of an eye. "Anything you feel like carrying upstairs would be great, but don't feel obligated. Even with the amount she packs, we'll get it all up here eventually."

"Of course we'll help," their mom assured Jeff. "Are all of Ashley's things unloaded?"

"Yeah," Jeff said, shifting the laundry basket to get a better grip on it. "Her stuff is right next to the walkway to the main door. You'll probably see her there; she was going down while I was coming up a minute ago."

Carlos was dying to ask what Ashley was doing at Angel Grove University two months after she'd left for KO-35 with Andros. Unfortunately, now didn't seem like the best time to interrogate her brother about it, so he just followed his mom and his brother out to the curb. They didn't pass Ashley on the stairs, and neither was she waiting out by the curb, but Jeff's directions made her things easy enough to locate.

They had forgotten to ask which room was hers, but Jeff was waiting down the hall for them when they emerged from the stairwell. He waved, and one at a time the three of them squeezed into room 314. "Ashley picked that side," he said, unnecessarily since only one side of the room had anything in it.

"She got a double," Carlos muttered, stepping out of the room to allow Gabe to enter. "Why don't they put girls into forced triples?"

"They do," Jeff assured him. "Sometimes." He helped Carlos' mom settle her load at the end of Ashley's bed, then added, "It's just that guys ignore each other when they don't get along. Girls get vicious. In terms of dorm injury rates, it's better to put three guys into a small space than three girls."

"Carlos!" A familiar voice greeted him from the other end of the hallway, and Carlos turned to see Ashley coming toward him with a duffel bag over her shoulder and a cardboard box in her arms. "I thought I was going to get here before you; you're never up this early!"

"I didn't think you were going to get here at all," Carlos told her, taking the box from her and letting her enter the room first. Gabe moved into the hallway to make room for them, and Carlos put his box down before turning back to stare at Ashley. "What are you doing in Angel Grove?"

"I transferred," she said easily, avoiding the question. "Why spend all that money on gas when I can get a perfectly good education right here?"

"I thought you had to actually attend a school before you could transfer out of it," Gabe remarked from the doorway.

"When you have a three-nine GPA, you can pretty much do whatever you want," Jeff told him.

"There must still be a few things out by the curb," Carlos' mom offered. "Why don't Gabe and I go pick those up while you three catch up a little?"

"Thanks, Mrs. Simione." Ashley gave her a bright smile. "I don't think there's much left, but if there's anything you can't get I'll be down in just a minute."

"Don't worry about it," his mom said firmly. "You stay right here. Give Carlos some decorating tips, if you have time. Goodness knows he could use them."

Carlos just sighed, and Ashley laughed as his family left the three of them alone for a few minutes. "She didn't think much of the Aquitian stuff, huh?"

"How did you hear about that?" Carlos wanted to know. "And where have you been?"

"Yeah," Jeff interjected. "I sent them outside after I passed you on the stairs, and they came back before you. How did you manage that?"

"It's called a bathroom break," Ashley informed him.

"That's not what I meant," Carlos interrupted. "The last I heard, you were planning to stay on KO-35 indefinitely. What brought you back to Earth?"

Ashley hesitated, her cheerful expression dimming just a little. "I'd rather not talk about it right now," she said at last. "It's not a big thing, it's just... I have a lot of unpacking to do."

"Sure," Carlos agreed, taken aback. Something Ashley didn't want to talk about? That had to be a first. He glanced over at Jeff, wondered where Andros was. "Can I help at all?"

"You can tell me where your room is so I can come visit you," she said with a smile. "Are you in this dorm?"

"No, he just hangs out here waiting for random friends to show up so he can put his family to work moving them in," Jeff told her.

Ashley stuck out her tongue at him, and Jeff made the "whatever" sign at her. It was clearly her gesture, especially when he did it, and Ashley rolled her eyes. "Why did I bring you?" she asked rhetorically.

"So that I can find out which room your friends are in without you having to ask," Jeff answered. "He's in 304, down the hall."

"With two other people I haven't met yet," Carlos agreed. "Don't be surprised if a stranger answers the door."

"Same here," Ashley said, a little apprehensively. "My roommate's someone named Missy, and I've only spoken to her twice."

"You spoke to her?" Carlos asked, surprised.

Ashley gave him an odd look. "Didn't you get a letter with your roommate's address and phone number in it?"

"Yeah. So? What was I going to say to them? 'Hi, I'll be your roommate. I hope you don't have anything against aliens, because you're probably going to be seeing a lot of them this semester.'"

Ashley looked amused. "Are you dating more than one, now?"

"She has friends," Carlos told her. "Did you call *your* roommate?"

"Of course," she said, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I called once and she called once. Mostly just to talk about what we were bringing; we figured we'd talk about our schedules and our policy on visiting friends once we got here."

"Your policy?" Carlos echoed. "You're going to have a policy on visiting friends?"

"This is another reason girls can't do forced triples," Jeff put in. "Everything has to be decided in committee."

"Delivery," Gabe's voice said from the hallway, and Carlos went over to take it from him so he wouldn't have to try and fit into the room. "This is a small double," his brother remarked, passing the box their mom had carried in as well.

"It'll seem larger once they've unpacked," Jeff offered.

"Well, we'll leave you to it," Carlos' mom said, peering into the room. "Unless we can do anything else to help, Ashley?"

"No," she said quickly. "Thanks for bringing this stuff in; that was a big help."

"You're welcome. Call us anytime if you need anything. Either of you," she added, looking from Ashley to Carlos. "And call us tonight to let us know how you're settling in, Carlos."

"I will," he promised, letting her hug him before stepping back out of the doorway. "Thanks for helping, Mom."

"Yeah, I don't count," Gabe commented. "Don't thank me; really, it was no problem."

"Don't you have some kids to be teaching at the dojo or something?" Carlos wanted to know. He relented when he saw his brother's expression. "Thanks for helping, Gabe."

"You heard Mom," Gabe answered, unable to resist a parting crack. "Let Ashley help you decorate."

His mom waved to the room at large, and Carlos just shook his head as they left. "Just wait until he moves out," he muttered under his breath.

"Speaking of which," Jeff said, glancing at his watch. "Neither of my roommates have apartment keys yet, so I need to get back there before they do. It was good seeing you again, Carlos."

"Yeah, you too," Carlos answered automatically.

Jeff chucked his sister under the chin, then wrapped her in a bear hug. "Good luck, girl. Call me if you need anything, all right?"

"I will," she promised, hugging him back. "Thanks, Jeff."

"Anytime," he told her with a smile. "See you."

She waved after him, then put her hands on her hips as she surveyed the room. "So it's just me and you now, room," she announced. "Let's see what we can do before Missy gets here."

Carlos raised an eyebrow. "Okay... I'll leave you two alone. But first I just want you to know that the fact that you're talking to your room means you should get out more, and since some of us are having dinner at Max's place tonight, you should come."

She looked surprised, though he wasn't sure why. "Some of us?" she repeated.

"Me and Aura, TJ, Tessa, and probably Karen," he elaborated. "Max won't tell us what he's making, but you know it'll be good. Come and hang out."

"You don't have to convince me," she said with a grin. "It sounds great. What time?"

"Tonight at six. I'll give you a ride, if you want."

"Sure," she agreed. "Thanks. I'll come by your room around 5:30?"

"Sounds good." He glanced around her room. "Good luck with this place. And remember, you can talk to it as much as you want, but when it starts talking back? Come find me."

Ashley rolled her eyes, but she laughed. "I will."

"Tortellini."

"He hasn't made tortellini since the time the stove exploded."

"How about lasagna?"

"He just made lasagna last weekend."

"I bet it's chicken teryaki."

"He might make teryaki. At least I can't think of any reason he wouldn't."

"Do you really have any idea what Max is serving for dinner?" Karen interrupted. "Or are you both just guessing?"

"We're just guessing," Tessa answered cheerfully. "I'm guessing, anyway. TJ's being a big help by telling me why I'm wrong."

They were standing on the sidewalk outside the university bookstore, waiting in a line that only seemed to grow longer as the afternoon wore on. The bookstore itself was so full that there was a staff member at the door, letting small groups of people in as others left. Everyone else waited outside, lining the street for more than half a block.

"I'm just trying to help Karen decide whether she wants to come," TJ protested. "Some of Max's dinners are better than others."

"TJ," Tessa scolded. "You know that's not true."

"You're the one who brought up the tortellini," he reminded her.

"It wasn't his fault the stove exploded," she protested. "These things happen."

"All right, all right," Karen interjected. "I'm coming. If only to hear the stove story," she added, giving them a bemused look. "You said Carlos and Aura are going to be there too?"

"Yeah," TJ said, squinting toward the front of the line. Another four people were being let in, and he could see them stop just inside the door of the bookstore. "We refused to go out with them for at least a month after the last reporter incident, so Max offered to cook in as a compromise."

"Oh..." Karen looked torn between laughter and sympathy. "I think I saw that in the paper. Was that the time the reporter went around to everyone else in the restaurant and asked them what they thought you guys had to do with Aquitar?"

Tessa sighed, but she looked more amused than annoyed. "Yes. We refused to talk to her, so she decided to ask everybody else what they thought to get her story."

"My favorite was the person who thought Tessa might be an undercover Aquitian spy," TJ put in. "Some of the people that reporter interviewed had a few problems with reality."

"Yeah, like they didn't know what it was," Tessa said dryly.

"I had a kid come up to me the next day and ask me why the Aquitians were spying on us," TJ added. "And let me tell you, it's not easy to get a bunch of ten-year-olds back to batting practice once they've been distracted by the idea of aliens."

"You think that's bad?" Tessa smirked. "Remember the guy in the restaurant who thought the Aquitian Rangers were recruiting, and that you might be the next in line to be an alien Power Ranger?"

Karen laughed, but TJ just groaned. "Max *still* teases me about that."

"But at least Max didn't ask if you could get him considered for the position," Tessa reminded him.

Karen gave her an incredulous look. "Someone actually asked you that?"

"One of the lab techs came up to me the next day," Tessa confirmed. "He mentioned very casually that he'd always thought he'd make a good Ranger, and that if Aura ever asked me to recommend someone then he could provide excellent character references."

Karen shot a look in his direction, as if to ask whether Tessa was pulling her leg, and TJ just shrugged. "What can I say? Not everyone likes their job."

Suddenly, Tessa glanced down and pulled her pager out of her pocket. "Ned probably wants me in the lab," she said, studying the number on the screen. She looked up, considered the line that still stretched out in front of them, and shook her head. "Can you guys save my place while I go call him?"

"Sure. Tell him that if he wants you, he can come get your books for you," TJ added, as she started toward the payphone down the street.

Tessa waved to indicate that she'd heard, and Karen grinned. "It won't be worth it," she predicted. "He'd have to be really desperate to offer to stand in this line for her."

"Really desperate, or a freshman," TJ said, eyeing the line suspiciously. "Do you get the feeling that there are more freshmen than all the other years combined in this line?"

"Maybe upperclassmen don't bother to get books," Karen offered.

"Or maybe they get them late." TJ frowned. "Except Tessa. She's here, isn't she."

"Tessa's always an exception," Karen countered. "Maybe upperclassmen have secret hours at the bookstore. If you can prove you've been at the university for at least a year, you get to come in at midnight or something."

"Then they'd have to staff it that late," TJ pointed out. "Maybe there are classes that don't use textbooks, and they just don't tell freshmen about them. We'll have to ask Tess."

"No, don't," Karen said quickly. "She'll just remind me that we could have gotten our books days ago, before everyone else arrived. I didn't think it would be that big a deal, and she laughed at me. Now I know why."

"Did you guys fit all your stuff into your dad's truck?" TJ asked, remembering the two of them trying to pack the day before. Tessa had suggested they take a break to get their books, but Karen, who had had far more to do, had vetoed the idea.

"We did, but there wasn't room for much else," Karen admitted. "My parents came in my mom's car to help us move things in."

"Yeah, sorry I couldn't help with that." Since he was living off-campus with Max he didn't have to go through the hassle of moving himself, but the Athletics director had scheduled a meeting with him for this morning. "My supervisor wanted to talk to me about what I'll be doing this fall."

"You're going to keep working for the Athletics department?"

"Same department, different job," TJ agreed. "I'll be on the Events Staff instead of teaching the sporting camps. The hours are more flexible, and there aren't going to be that many more camps this season anyway."

"Events Staff, huh?" Karen seemed to consider that. "Are they the people that get paid to go to football games?"

TJ grinned. "That's one way to look at it." They were inching along the street, and he glanced over his shoulder to see if Tessa was on her way back yet. "They work most of the games, including homecoming, plus the concerts and alumni events. The Events Staff helps with anything that happens on the athletic fields or in the Rec Center."

"That doesn't sound like a bad job," Karen remarked. He couldn't tell if she was joking or not when she added, "Do they need anyone else?"

"What, you don't want to serve ice cream for another three months?" He kept his face as straight as he could. While Karen claimed to enjoy working at the "dairy bar" over the summer, her unconcealed glee on her last day of work had told another story.

She only shrugged. "Let's just say I'm ready to do something else for a while, and if I'm going to be at the games anyway..."

He chuckled. "I'll pick up an application for you tomorrow."

"Thanks." She peered over his shoulder. "What's taking Tess so long? Is Ned reading her the latin dictionary, or what?"

"She hasn't been gone that long." But TJ had been wondering about her absence too. "Maybe she ran into someone."

"Like Carlos?" Karen suggested. "He promised he was going to stop by and see where we live this morning, since we're all in the same dorm, but he never showed up."

TJ shrugged. "You know Carlos. He probably slept in and didn't get to campus till after lunch."

Karen gave him an odd look. "He's been getting up pretty early these last few weeks, hasn't he?"

TJ frowned back at her. "What do you mean?"

"The time difference with Aquitar is a lot bigger than it used to be," she reminded him. "It's almost half a day off now, isn't it? When he gets up in the morning now, he can go there and catch Aura the night before."

TJ stared at her. "What?"

She sighed. "Never mind. I used to think US time zones were bad," she added, almost as an afterthought. "Then Tess tried to explain to me what happens when different planets have different rotational speeds."

"She tried that one on me, too," TJ said dryly. "I got as far as 'some planets spin faster than Earth, so their days are shorter' and then she started talking about galactic time and leap decades and I gave up."

Karen shook her head. "It amazes me to think that some people study that kind of thing for a living."

"And some people take it for granted," TJ added. "Andros doesn't even think about it."

"Surprise!" Tessa slipped back into line beside them, a cup of vanilla ice cream in one hand and three spoons in the other. "I got us a treat!"

"Augh!" Karen pretended to cringe. "Summer flashback! Get it away!"

"Oh, come on," Tessa coaxed. "It doesn't count if someone else is serving it."

Karen made a token face, but she accepted her spoon without further complaint. "What did Ned want?" she asked, waiting while Tessa took the first spoonful.

"A life," Tessa replied, putting the spoon into her mouth upside down. "What else?"

Amused, TJ wanted to know, "Did you tell him to get lost again?"

Spoon still in her mouth, Tessa nodded vigorously.

Karen buried her spoon in the ice cream and scooped some out with a melodramatic sigh. "Why can't I work for someone like that? I can't even remember how many times I wanted to tell my boss to get lost this summer."

"People who dissect fish together don't worry about things like that as much," Tessa told her. "He wanted me to come stain the 36-hour cells now, before they turned into 37-hour cells, and I told him that if he could tell the difference between 36 hours and 37, I'd do it."

"You also told him he'd have to pay you overtime," TJ guessed, sticking his spoon into the ice cream. It was plain vanilla with no toppings, but somehow, standing out on the sidewalk with his girlfriend and her roommate on a warm summer afternoon, it was perfect.

Tessa shrugged as though that had been a given. "Of course!"

Max's house was very much the way she remembered it: wide open and welcoming, uncluttered without being too neat, and full of good smells. Tessa's bike had been propped up by the garage door when Carlos' car pulled into the driveway, so Ashley wasn't surprised to see her on the other side of the screen door when they climbed the steps.

"Ashley!" Tessa's exclamation was delighted as she opened the door and ushered them inside. "Carlos didn't tell us you were coming! How are you?"

"I didn't know until this afternoon," Carlos put in, following Karen through the door and stepping out of the way so Tessa could close it. "She's living down the hall from me and I just found out today!"

"Ashley?" TJ came out from behind the counter in the kitchen and grabbed her by the shoulders. "What's been going on? You're as bad as Andros at keeping in touch!" He pulled her into a hug before she could answer, and she had to laugh.

"We were busy," she said, hugging him back. "I wanted to call, but you wouldn't believe what it's like on KO-35 these days. There's not much time for personal lives there right now."

"So why'd you come back?" Carlos asked over his shoulder. He was making a show of inspecting the food on the counter, but she knew he'd been wanting to ask that question all afternoon.

She shrugged uncomfortably. There was so much more to the answer than she could put into words. "There's not much time for personal lives there now," she repeated, trying to keep her tone light.

"Well, we're glad you're here now," Tessa asserted, before anyone could feel awkward. TJ's girlfriend put a companionable arm around her shoulder and gave her a quick hug. "And you're just in time for dinner!"

"Max made broccoli quiche," TJ added. "He'll be back in just a minute. He went to take out some laundry just as you guys pulled in."

"Is he still doing your laundry for you?" Karen teased, hitching one leg over a stool by the counter and reaching across it to steal a carrot from the salad bowl. "Honestly, TJ, when are you going to grow up?"

"We take turns!" TJ exclaimed defensively. "This was his week to do the laundry, all right?"

"Yeah, whatever," Karen said, rolling her eyes. "Careful of him, Tess. He doesn't cook, he doesn't do laundry..."

"Actually, he and Max have been doing my laundry," Tessa admitted. "It's cheaper than going to the laundromat twice a month."

"See!" TJ gave Karen a triumphant look. "I don't need to hear any more of your male stereotypes."

"Are we discussing stereotypes?" a new voice inquired. Max appeared in the doorway to the garage, a laundry basket in his arms and a curious look on his face. "Hello, all. How did you manage to arrive during the only three seconds I've been out of the kitchen all evening?"

"Carlos has a knack for it," Karen remarked. "He's never where people think he's going to be at the right time. This afternoon, for instance," she said, raising her eyebrows in his direction. "You said you were going to come see us!"

Carlos grimaced. "Man," he said with a sigh, giving every indication of remorse. "I totally forgot about that. Sorry."

"Where do you live?" Ashley asked Karen, just as a high-pitched trill sounded in the room. Carlos pulled a cell phone out of his pocket and made an "excuse me" gesture as he moved toward the other side of the living room.

"Ladd Hall," Karen answered. "Same dorm as Carlos. Me and Tessa are in room 227."

"The chem-free dorm!" Ashley agreed with a smile. "So am I! I'm above you in 314."

Karen didn't reply immediately, and she realized the other was eavesdropping on Carlos' conversation. Indeed, they two were the only ones who had spoken since his phone rang, and she wondered if everyone else was listening too. Only Max appeared to be minding his own business, taking an extra plate out of the cupboard and adding some more silverware to the stacks at the beginning of an improvised buffet line.

"We were wondering where you were," Carlos was telling the person on the other end of the line. "Is everything all right?"

Whomever he was talking to said something that made him chuckle. "Don't hurt them until after they okay the new specs, all right? If a few of them turn up missing once we have the go ahead, I won't wonder where you are."

"Yeah, okay," he said a minute later. "We're at Max's now. Do you want us to wait?"

There was another pause, and he smiled. "I love you too. See you."

He waited a moment before closing the phone and turning around again. "That was Aura," he said, not seeming at all disconcerted to find them all watching him. "She's going to change and then join us in a few minutes. She says to go ahead and start without her."

Ashley's eyes widened, and she glanced covertly at the others. None of them looked startled to hear that Carlos' alien girlfriend had just called him up on a cell phone from another galaxy. "That was Aura?" she repeated, just as Max clapped his hands.

"All right," he announced, to no one in particular. "Normally I'd wait, but this salad has been sitting out long enough and the quiche is getting cold. Everyone help themselves!"

"I notice we're not sitting at the table," TJ commented. "That wouldn't have anything to do with the monster project you've got spread out in there, would it, Max?"

"Of course not," Max said loftily. "This sort of meal simply lends itself to the buffet style of serving. As an artist, it's important to match medium and subject matter."

"He could have cleared the table," Tessa stage-whispered to TJ. "He just chose not to."

Max pointed at her. "Exactly!"

TJ picked up a plate and silverware, but he gestured to Max to precede him in line. "Send the salad down here while you cut the quiche," he told his uncle. "I wouldn't take a knife to your artwork if my life depended on it."

Max shook his head, muttering about the acculturation of today's youth as he accepted TJ's knife. He cut the quiche into seven more or less even pieces before handing the knife back, then pointed sternly toward the spatula when TJ went to scoop his piece up with a fork. "Don't be lazy," he chided. "It's there for a reason."

While she waited, Ashley found herself standing beside Carlos and she gave him an odd look. "Since when does Aura call you on a cell phone?"

He frowned. "She... oh," he said, a grin lighting his face. "She doesn't. I have one of their communicators." Carlos held up his right hand, and in place of the morpher he used to wear was a thin gold band that she had mistaken for a watch. "Billy hooked it up to my phone so we could talk without being so obvious."

"It's probably going to creep your roommates out anyway," Tessa said, obviously overhearing. She took a roll from the basket and stepped out of the way. "It's not every day you move in with someone wired to another galaxy."

"I would have to actually meet them for them to be creeped out," Carlos answered, handing Ashley a plate and then taking one for himself. "Go ahead," he added, motioning her to go in front of him.

"You haven't met them yet?" Karen asked, scooping some ice into a glass and setting it by the sink. "Does anyone else want water?"

Carlos shook his head. "One of them had already been and gone when I got there this morning, and the other one moved in while Ashley and I were getting our books. I haven't seen either of them yet."

"You might be lucky," Ashley said, putting her fingers on either side of the quiche to keep it from falling off the spatula as she transferred it to her plate. She caught Karen's eye as the other girl filled three more glasses and added, "Me too?"

"Yeah, what's yours like?" Carlos wanted to know. He had set his plate down to carry water glasses to Max and Tessa, and she accepted her own glass from Karen and followed him into the living room.

"She's..." Ashley hesitated, trying to find a comfortable place on the couch and the right words to express her uncertainty. "I don't know," she said at last, as she settled down. "She's interesting, at least."

"What's her name?" Karen asked, delivering TJ's water and setting her own down at the other end of the couch before going back for food.

"Missy Johnson." Ashley took one bite of the quiche and felt an appreciative smile curve her lips. "Max, this is really good!"

"Yes," he agreed immodestly. "It is, isn't it."

"'Missy'?" TJ repeated, paying no attention to his uncle. "Is that short for something, or is that really her name?"

"TJ?" Tessa echoed pointedly. "Does that stand for something, or is that really your name?"

He held up his hands to ward off her sarcasm. "I'm just asking!"

"I think that's really her name." Ashley moved over a little as Karen joined her on the couch, and Carlos took a seat in the big armchair by the television. "It's kind of... appropriate, too."

Carlos raised an eyebrow just as she looked over at him, and she shrugged. "She's a little different, that's all."

There was a knock at the back door, and Carlos jumped to his feet again. "That'll be Aura, sneaking in the back," he remarked, heading for the screened in porch at the other end of the room. The sliding door had been left open, and he stepped out onto it to open the outside door.

It was indeed Aura who stepped through, taking his hand and tilting her head for a quick kiss as she joined him inside. Ashley heard Carlos whisper something too quiet to make out, and Aura smiled. She let him lead her into the living room, and Max got to his feet politely.

"Welcome," TJ's uncle greeted her. "So glad you could make it. There's quiche and accessories over on the counter, with plates and silverware if you'd like to help yourself."

"I'll get you something to drink," Carlos added, seeming reluctant to let go of her hand as he followed her into the kitchen. "You look nice."

She did look nice. The times Ashley had seen any of the Aquitian Rangers out of uniform were few and far between, but their civilian clothes had a simple elegance that the designer in her admired. She wondered fleetingly what sort of fabric they were made of.

"How are you doing with your room?" Ashley asked, glancing over at Karen. "I didn't know you and Tessa were living together, but it must be nice to move in with someone you already know."

Karen and Tessa looked at each other, and shared amusement was plain on their faces. "Well," Karen said after a long moment. "We know what to expect from each other, so that's a help. It's easier... but I'm not sure it's any nicer."

"Hey!" Tessa interrupted. "I'm not the one who had to move the furniture five times before deciding it was better the way it was before!"

"No," Karen agreed with a grin. "But you did try to put the rug down after everything was finally all set up. That was a pain."

"That's because you were moving things until then," Tessa reminded her. "It's easier to slide stuff on a bare floor than on a rug."

"And what of your roommates?" Aura was asking, just loud enough to make her the center of attention as she and Carlos rejoined the others. "Will I be hearing you complain like this about them for the foreseeable future?" She gave Tessa and Karen a brief smile to take the sting out of her question.

"I'd have to actually meet them first," Carlos told her, pulling the footstool away from the armchair and taking her glass and plate from her as she sat down. He perched next to her on one of the counter stools, setting her dishes on the end table between them.

"You have not met them even now?" she asked, looking surprised.

"Neither of them have been in the room while I'm there," he explained, picking up his own nearly empty plate again.

"Ah." Aura seemed to consider that. "Then I assume that if you take the amount of time you yourself spend in any given location and multiply that by three, you may find that you can go the entire semester without ever once interacting with the people you live with."

"Be quiet and eat your food," he told her.

"You have a more objective perspective," Aura said, ignoring his suggestion as she turned toward Ashley. "Does he seem more or less polite than he did when you last saw him? I am trying to discover a trend."

Startled, Ashley needed a moment to remember to play along. She gave Carlos a look of frank appraisal before admitting, "More. He got the door, carried your dishes, and gave up his seat for you. For Carlos, that's pretty impressive."

"That's pretty impressive for most males," Karen put in, setting her glass down and winking at Tessa.

"Excuse me," Carlos interrupted, with as much dignity as he could muster. "We're outnumbered here, so I think the four of you need to mind your own business."

"Weren't you going to say something about stereotypes earlier, Max?" TJ wondered, getting up and carrying his plate to the counter for seconds.

"I was," his uncle replied blandly. "But it's not really topical now."

"I think it is," Carlos insisted. "What were you going to say?"

"Oh, it's nothing." Max's studied indifference had gotten everyone's attention by now. "I just saw a bumper sticker the other day that I thought Aura might not appreciate. Since we seem intent on making sweeping generalizations this evening, though, I might have been wrong."

"What did it say?" Tessa prompted, when he paused.

"It said 'Fasten your seatbelt,'" he answered, twirling the ice around in his glass. "Because 'it makes it harder for the aliens to suck you out of your car.'"

Ashley put her hand over her mouth, trying not to giggle. She saw Karen shoot an uncertain look in Aura's direction, but she couldn't believe the Aquitian would take offense. Not after teasing Carlos about his newfound politeness.

"That's true," Aura said. She wore an expression of sincere agreement that was almost enough to fool Ashley. Then she added, "I believe that also explains Carlos' recent reluctance to wear his when driving. I have assured him that I am extremely persistent, but..."

At this point she trailed off, but Ashley was giggling to hard to ask for the rest of the sentence. She wasn't the only one, either. Carlos took it good-naturedly enough, but when they quieted down he remarked, "What she's not telling you is that it isn't her persistence so much as her patience that's the problem."

That only set them off again. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Tessa poke TJ as he sat down again, and the two of them exchanged whispered remarks. When the room was once again quiet enough to support further conversation, TJ reached out and lifted his water glass toward the middle of the room.

"Tessa suggested a toast," he announced.

"To persistent aliens?" Carlos suggested with a smirk.

TJ rolled his eyes, but he was grinning. "To reunited friends," he corrected, his gaze sliding toward Ashley. "And to the start of a new year."

"Here here," Karen agreed, holding up her water glass.

The others followed suit, and Max added¸"Don't forget seconds! There's another quiche in the oven, if anyone's still hungry."

"I'll take you up on that," Carlos agreed, getting to his feet.

"I wondered where you were hiding it," TJ muttered, reaching for Tessa's plate as well before he followed Max and Carlos around the counter into the kitchen area.

"So can I ask you a question?" Karen asked quietly, glancing over at her from the other end of the couch while the living room degenerated into milling and fragmented conversations.

"Sure," Ashley said, though mentally she braced herself.

"Why did you leave KO-35?" Karen asked, with frank curiosity. "If there's so much work to do there..."

She didn't seem to know how to finish, and Ashley sighed. Staring down at her empty glass, she shrugged once. "Would you believe it was Kerone that told me to go?"

"What?" Karen looked torn between laughter and surprise. "Why would Kerone want you to leave?"

"Oh, she didn't." She'd been gone only a few days, and already she missed the other girl. Andros' sister had become one of her best friends over the last few months, and it had been almost as hard to leave her as it had been to leave Andros. "She just thought..."

Ashley lifted her gaze, and wasn't surprised to find the rest of the room hanging on her every word. So much for a private conversation. "We both thought maybe it was for the best," she finished at last.

2. Access Denied

Kerone woke up tired. She never considered that a good sign. She also woke up mad, which was second on her list of bad ways to start the day. Of course, since the former almost always led to the latter--this instance being no exception--she supposed she should just be grateful that she hadn't woken up hungry, too.

She rolled over on her side to complain to Ashley, and only then remembered that the other girl had left for Earth several days before. That only made her madder, and she sat up with a scowl on her face. "Andros," she said to the air. "I swear, if you find any more ways to ruin this day before it even begins, I'm leaving too."

The air didn't answer, but her eye fell on the single pair of skates left by the door. She swung her legs over the side of the bed with a renewed determination. She was getting out of Keyota for the day, and heaven help anyone who stood in her way.

She was emerging from the room's tiny bathroom when she heard a knock on the door. She frowned at it, putting her hands on her hips as though whoever was on the other side could see her. "That better not be Andros with another list of things to accomplish," she told the door.

The person on the other side took that as an invitation, and Andros poked his head inside. "Me, yes," he agreed. "List, no. But there's a council meeting this morning, and Kinwon asked if we could all attend."

Kerone stared at him incredulously. "I hope you told him no! This is our first real day off in weeks."

"Of course I didn't tell him no." Andros looked taken aback at the thought, but behind his surprise there was a weariness that had lingered in his eyes for days. "Kerovan Rangers should be at the council meetings, day off or not."

"No, they shouldn't," she said firmly. "That's what a day off means, Andros. It means you take a day for yourself and remember how to be human instead of some sort of super-powered legend."

Andros sighed. He looked like he'd had this argument already--probably with more than one person. "It's not about being a legend. I'm just trying to do my job."

He looked more tired than she felt, and she felt a flare of anger. He was doing this to himself, and he pretended not to even realize it. If she and Zhane didn't fight him every step of the way, dragging him away from work and forcing him to slow down, he would just keep going until he burned out.

"If it were a job, you'd take a day off every now and then," she informed him. "If you didn't let it eat up every part of your life, you would have remembered to say good morning when you came in just now. This is more than a job; it's an obsession. None of us signed up for this, Andros."

His expression closed up, and she frowned irritably. Ashley was good at this. She wasn't. Ashley would have been able to make him see reason. But then, Ashley had left because making Andros see reason had become a full-time job. Trying to fight what he wanted all the time could burn a person out as surely as letting him go would burn Andros out.

"This is what being a Ranger is about, Kerone," he said coldly. "We can't just blow up our problems. We have to try to fix them."

Shocked past her anger for a moment, she could only stare at him. The more rational side of her said that he must be far more worn out than he was letting on to make a comment like that. The other side complained bitterly about the allusion to her past and was sorely tempted to throw him out of her room.

"Go to your council meeting," she said at last, trying to keep her voice even. "I'm not Ashley, Andros, and if you want to work until you collapse then that's your decision. But I'm taking my day off."

"Fine." Without another word, Andros turned and left.

She was half tempted to yell "Fine!" after him, but she contented herself with slamming the door. What was *wrong* with him? Couldn't he see what was happening? He was trying to rebuild a planet all by himself, and as long as he did anything people asked they would just keep asking.

"Delegate," she muttered. It was the first rule of authority: use it and pass it on.

After another moment of fuming, she forced herself to draw in a deep breath. She wasn't going to change Andros; that much was clear. But she needed this day to herself, to get away from the constant demands of an undergoverned planet, and that she could do.

The former princess of evil gave a casual wave of her hand and her pajamas vanished, replaced by clothes suitable more for morning. They were inconspicuous only in the fact that they didn't sport the Astro Ranger logo, but she didn't intend to be around many people today anyway. Kerone grabbed her skates and her hover license and headed for the door.

Andros heard the door slam behind him, but he didn't pause. He knew his sister blamed him for Ashley's departure, and she had been short with him ever since her friend left. No matter how much he tried to make her see where their true responsibilities lay, Kerone had been on her own for too long to start putting the greater good ahead of her own wishes now.

He scowled as he pulled the door of his room open and found Zhane still in bed. Kerone wasn't the only one who didn't see the necessity of keeping up with KO-35's rapidly shifting government. Zhane's more laid-back attitude led him to support whatever decisions Andros made without really considering the consequences. It was nice to have that sort of ally in council meetings, but sometimes he got the feeling the Silver Ranger just didn't care.

"Zhane," he said aloud. "It's the middle of the morning, you know."

There was no answer save for the flick of a brown tail from underneath the edge of the comforter. One of the kittens must have relocated when Andros got up, seeking out a new warm body to cuddle up against. He was tempted to go over and yank the covers off of both of them.

"Zhane," he repeated more sternly. He knew the other was awake.

Zhane's mental voice was slow when he finally deigned to reply. *Sunrise is *not* the middle of the morning.* There was still no movement from the lump on the bed.

"Morning began at midnight," Andros retorted, pleased to find a use for Ashley's favorite explanation. His smile faded a little then and he added, "Come on, Zhane. We're going to be late to the council meeting."

Without waiting for an answer, he went over to the blank screen set into the wall. He intended to let Kinwon know that Kerone wouldn't be joining them, but the comm didn't activate when he spoke to it. Frowning, he tried again. When it still refused to respond, he tried manually keying in his authorization code and was greeted with the message, "Access denied."

"What's wrong with the comm?" he inquired irritably.

*Nothing,* Zhane mumbled in his mind.

"Well, it's not working." Andros glared at the screen, then turned back toward the door to find whoever was slated for hostel maintenance this morning. He almost bumped into the door when it didn't open at his approach.

"Did we lose power again?" Andros demanded, glancing back at the screen. It still read "Access denied," proving that the generators hadn't failed completely. "What's going on?"

*Andros, go back to bed,* Zhane told him. *It's too early for this.*

"If there's a problem, we need to find it," Andros insisted, punching his override into the door's locking mechanism. If there was any power at all in the system it would open for his code, but the door didn't budge.

*There's no problem.* The comforter on the bed finally moved, and Zhane's blue eyes peered sleepily out at him. Silver-grey fur by his right shoulder proved that both kittens were actually under the blankets with him. *I locked you out of the computer.*

Andros stared at him, his brain refusing to comprehend the words. "You... what?"

*I used our Ranger codes to lock you out of the computer,* Zhane repeated. *It's your day off and you shouldn't even be up this early, let alone running around trying to organize council attendance.*

Torn between hurt and the anger born of helplessness, Andros sputtered, "It's none of your business how I spend my day off! You have no right to tell me what to do!"

Zhane gave him a one-shouldered shrug and rolled over, his back to Andros as he pulled the comforter up over his head again. *I'm sorry you feel that way.*

Stunned, Andros sank onto the other bed and stared at the lump that was his friend. Zhane had effectively trapped him here in this room with no access to the outside world, and the implications of that were only just beginning to sink in. Was everyone conspiring against him now?

"Zhane," he whispered, hearing the betrayal in his voice.

Zhane heard it too, and the Silver Ranger threw back the covers once more. He pushed himself up on his elbows but said nothing, gazing over at Andros and ignoring the mewing protests of dislodged kittens. Your move, his expression said.

Andros looked away, not sure he could account for himself in the face of such intensity. Zhane had never questioned, never protested except in the most innocuous of ways, and he had taken for granted that his friend would always be there to back him up. Losing Ashley had hurt, but in the back of his mind he had always known she might leave. Zhane's actions took him completely by surprise.

"We're not deserting you, Andros," Zhane said quietly. "It just feels like you're deserting us, sometimes."

His head jerked up, and he knew Zhane saw the question in his eyes without him having to voice it.

The other boy climbed out of bed, sunlight catching in tousled hair that had more white highlights than it used to. His pajamas were rumpled but his expression was solemn as he made his way over to Andros' bed. "Stand up," he said, taking Andros' arm as he obeyed.

Zhane led him over to the mirror on the back of the door and they gazed at their reflection for a moment: Zhane barefoot in the same silver clothes he had slept in and Andros wearing his Astro flightsuit and boots. For just a moment Zhane looked far older than he did, but then Andros blinked and the illusion vanished.

"Who are you?" Zhane asked at last.

Surprised, Andros answered without thinking. "The Red Ranger."

Zhane put a hand over his heart, covering up the Astro logo on Andros' flightsuit. "Who are you?" he repeated more quietly.

Andros studied his reflection, ignoring the impeccable uniform and neat ponytail. Instead he saw shadowed eyes and a worried expression, and a face that belonged to a person he thought he had left behind. It was the face of someone who had lost his entire world and was afraid it could still happen again.

He let his gaze slide toward Zhane's. "I'm your best friend," he said softly, well aware that the words had come out as a question.

Zhane smiled at that. "Anyone can be the Red Ranger, Andros. But I only have one best friend, and you're it." There was a pause, and he added, "Trust me, all right?

"Here," he said, pulling Andros toward the window. "Look out there."

There was a little girl in the hostel gardens, playing with the sap set out for the flutterbies. She was the first one Andros noticed, sticky stuff running down her fingers and catching in her hair as she tried to shake it off her hands. But there were others: an older woman who might have been her mother seated by the garden path with her eyes closed, two people leaving through the gates with backpacks and a foreign lilt to the way they walked, a boy about their own age twirling a hover pass on his finger as he sauntered down the road in the opposite direction. It was early, but the city of Keyota was already stirring.

"Look at that," Zhane repeated. "There they go, off into their lives... without any help from you."

Andros gave him a sharp look. "Why should they need help from me?"

Zhane turned innocent blue eyes on him. "You tell me. What were you planning to do today, again?"

Andros sighed. "Zhane, the council meeting is important."

"No," Zhane insisted. "What were you planning to do before that came up?"

"I--" Andros hesitated. "We weren't planning anything... I was just going to hang out with you and Kerone."

"The council meeting will happen whether you're there or not," Zhane reminded him. "But Kerone's already gone, isn't she."

Andros folded his arms, not wanting to admit the truth of that. He suspected she had left as soon as he was gone and would not be seen again for the rest of the day.

"Red Ranger or best friend, Andros," Zhane said quietly. "Which one is more important?"

He sighed. "Best friend, of course. But--"

"But?" Zhane repeated.

Andros hesitated. "Nothing," he said at last, glancing at the comm screen. Its last words hadn't faded, and suddenly he saw them in a new light. So he couldn't reach Kinwon. His life wasn't over. But what if he couldn't reach Zhane? What if there came a day when Ashley didn't answer, or Kerone?

He raised his gaze to Zhane's again. "Do you really feel like I've deserted you?" he asked at last, searching his friend's expression. "I'm just trying to make things better..."

"And you are," Zhane said firmly. "Those people out there in the garden wouldn't even be there if it hadn't been for the Astro Rangers. KO-35 would be just another deserted colony world, and its people would be scattered across the galaxy doing their best to lay low until Dark Spectre got bored with looking for them. But anything you owe to them, you owe to yourself too.

"You have your home back, Andros." Zhane looked wistful for just a moment, but he corrected himself before Andros could say anything. "We have our home back. If we don't enjoy that, then what was the point?

"Sure," he said without waiting for an answer. "Things are better because of you. So don't kill yourself trying to do things that other people can do just as well, because if you do then you won't be around to do what only you can do when it's needed."

Andros just looked at him for a moment. The remark that had made Zhane's face cloud over hadn't been lost on him, but now he was the same irreverent yet strangely insightful friend Andros had always known. His expression was expectant, not distressed.

"I don't think there will be too many more Dark Spectres for us to get rid of," Andros said at last. "So if I'm supposed to sit around waiting to do that again--"

Zhane narrowed his eyes, and Andros bit his lip in an effort to keep from smiling. His friend hadn't taken the bait, and he finally conceded defeat. "All right, all right. Point taken."

"No council meeting?"

"No council meeting," Andros agreed.

*Astrea!* Zhane's mental shout was deafening, and Andros winced in protest. *Stop sulking and get back here!*

Andros was tempted to ask whether the volume had been strictly necessary, but instead he waited to see if she would answer. When there was only silence, he exchanged glances with Zhane. The Silver Ranger shrugged as though it didn't matter one way or the other.

"She must be really mad," he said cheerfully, scooping up one of the kittens from his bed and handing it to Andros. "Here, hold this."

"What are you doing?" Andros watched him set the other ball of fluff on the floor before yanking all the covers off of his bed and pulling the mattress away from the wall.

"Looking for my shirt," Zhane replied, his voice muffled as he stuck his head down behind the bed.

Andros patted the brown kitten in his arms absently. Katana had always preferred Ashley, but she hadn't been able to take pets back to school with her. "The shirt you wore yesterday? Don't you think it'll be a little wrinkled by now?"

"I'm not going to *wear* it." Zhane searched under his pillow before getting down on his knees to look under the bed. "I'm looking for the schedule Cestria gave me."

"What schedule?" Andros asked, bemused.

Zhane pulled a silver vest out from under the bed triumphantly. "Aha!" Extracting a small data chip from the pocket, he tossed it to Andros who just barely managed to stop it with his mind before it would have clipped Katana's ear.

Giving the chip a telekinetic shove, he watched it fly across the room and settle in the disc reader by the comm screen. A list of times appeared on the screen, and he frowned. "What's that for?"

"The Aquitian asteroid hop," Zhane answered, pulling another shirt that might or might not have been clean out from underneath his bed. "Kerone and I were going to surprise you with the registration, but since you managed to tick her off already--not hard these days, I might add--I figure we might as well keep our slot."

Andros squirmed guiltily. "I should go after her," he muttered.

"No," Zhane disagreed. "You know how hard she is to find when she decides to disappear. She'll be back tonight and she'll either yell at you some more or ignore you until tomorrow. Either way, there's nothing we can do about it now."

*Kerone?* Andros couldn't help trying anyway. She wouldn't have taken her communicator with her; he knew that from past experience. She had stormed out on Zhane often enough that they knew what to expect when she vanished now.

There was no answer, not that he had really expected one. Neither of them had dared to ask whether she truly blocked them during times like these, or if she still heard them but chose to pretend otherwise. *I'm sorry,* he thought, just in case. *Zhane talked some sense into me. We're going to Aquitar, if you want to come with.*

An Ashley-ism, he realized even as he thought it. Want to come with? had become standard slang between her and Kerone over the last few months, but he hadn't had enough contact with Earth to know whether it was original or not.

"Well, you gave it a try," Zhane said, breaking the silence as he changed. "We can leave a message on her comm, too, in case she comes back early."

Her old room was dark and silent save for the nearly inaudible whistle of relay static coming over the comm. It took a few seconds for the setup to connect, but she hadn't realized how irritating the delay was before she'd gotten used to the instantaneous Kerovan equipment. She wrapped her arms around herself and leaned forward, willing Andros' face to appear on the little screen.

The Astro Ranger symbol flashed across the screen at last, and she held her breath. It lingered too long, but she told herself that was just the comm--until Andros' recorded message answered instead of a live image. She sighed, watching him tell her to leave her link number so he could get in touch when he got back.

She glanced down at the watch Kerone had given her. It was almost noon on KO-35, and this was to have been their day off. She had to admit that she was a little surprised he had taken it without her there to force him into it, but she supposed Zhane and Kerone could be counted on to keep him sane in her absence.

"Hi," she said quietly, when the "recording" message flashed on the screen. "It's Ashley. I just wanted to make sure you weren't working through your day off. Call me when you get a chance. Bye."

She wanted to say more. She wanted to say, "It's two a.m. and I can't sleep. Stay up with me and make me laugh." She wanted to say, "I just had the worst dream in the history of the world, and I need someone to tell me it wasn't real." She wanted to say, "Why are you off having fun without me when I'm stuck here being miserable and all I want is to know that you're miserable too!"

She couldn't say that, though, and she had had no reason to expect him to be around when she called at such an odd hour. He had a watch ticking off the minutes in California the same as she had one running on Keyota time, and if there were any time when he would assume hearing from her was impossible, it would be now.

With a sigh, she turned off her parents' comm set and stared around the room. It hadn't changed much while she'd been gone, except that her mom had piled a couple of storage crates in one corner and there was a basket of hangers by the door. She supposed she could forgive those minor intrusions, considering the way she had left at the beginning of the summer. She had thought then that she might not come back at all, and she had told her parents as much. A few boxes weren't such a surprise, really.

Had they known? She wondered about that as she got to her feet. She walked quietly down the hall toward the kitchen, ghosting through the old familiar house and marveling at how easily it had let her back in. KO-35 seemed far away right now, and she couldn't help feeling--trapped. By the past, by her surroundings... she didn't know by what, exactly. The feeling faded a little as she let herself out the front door, but when she looked up at the sky she didn't feel any closer to where she wanted to be.

"Why did you come back if you didn't want to?" Jeff had asked.

Staring out at the street in front of her, she remembered her cryptic answer. "I didn't want to stay just because I didn't want to leave."

She sighed, starting down the sidewalk to the place where she'd parked her car. Had her parents expected her back this fall? It seemed almost foolish in hindsight, leaving for a planet she'd never stayed more than a few nights on with someone she knew cared more about his home than he did about her...

Or was that unfair? She didn't really believe that, after all. She knew Andros loved her, and if forced to choose she believed in her heart that he would choose her over KO-35. But he didn't have to choose, and that was what made it difficult. As selfish as it seemed, she knew it was competing with KO-35 for Andros' attentions that had exhausted her while she was there.

She fished her keys out of her pocket and unlocked the driver's side door, pausing before she climbed in to glance up at the sky once more. She didn't like this feeling of being confined to a single planet. She missed the shuttle lights crisscrossing the sky, and the hum of the skyport down the road. She missed looking up at KO-35's sister planet in the sky and knowing that someone on that planet was probably looking back at her.

She missed the hover Kerone had taught her to drive, if it came to that. She missed the food. She missed the antigravs Zhane had installed in their skates, and the way the gates at the hostel swung silently on their false hinges.

"I miss you," she whispered to the sky. She wasn't sure if she meant Andros or his planet.

Finally, she settled into the driver's seat and closed the door. Flipping her headlights on, she started the engine and pulled out into the road. She hadn't wanted to wake her parents, but the nightmare of a world gone horribly wrong had driven her out of bed to seek solace in Andros' voice. She wasn't sure if seeing the recorded image of him had eased or encouraged her loneliness.

The two-seater slammed into the rock outcropping and lifted off in the same breath--or it would have been the same breath, if Zhane had had any left to spare. All Andros ever needed was an excuse to throw caution to the wind and he tossed it away like so much recycled air. There was only one asteroid between them and the finish line, and the Red Astro Ranger was intent on catching up to the sole winged pod in front of them.

"We're not going to make it," Zhane advised over the headset. "They're worse than you are."

"Or better," Andros shot back, and though they sat back to back Zhane could almost see the look of intense concentration on his friend's face. "But we can still catch them."

Zhane watched the tactical display with half his attention and filtered Andros' nav corrections with the other half. Andros' flying was instinctive; he could have gone without a copilot but the rules of the competition said it was a full two-seater or nothing. So Zhane rode backup and tried to keep from flinching when his friend flung their little ship too close to a hurtling piece of rock for comfort.

The ship ahead of them bounced off the last asteroid and headed for the finish line, its victory unofficial but indisputable at this point. As soon as the two-seater's sensors registered that last impact their ID number would have been logged by the judges; there would be no catching them now.

The bottom of the craft scraped hard against the rock below, but not hard enough. Zhane braced himself as Andros slammed the ship down once more, and the confirmation code flashed across tactical. "Man," he heard Andros mutter. "We were that close!"

Zhane grinned to himself. Andros' obsessive nature might be hard to break through, but once his attention was diverted it was fully diverted. He had completely forgotten about KO-35, and if Zhane knew his friend Andros was right now fuming over the identity of the pilot who had beaten him.

"Who *are* those guys?" Andros demanded right on cue as their ship shot out of the asteroid belt and trailed the winners to the finish line. "Did you get a copy of the contestant list?"

Zhane rolled his eyes. "Yeah, hang on, I have that in my pocket. We'll find out at the finish line, like everyone else!"

Andros muttered something that the headset didn't pick up, and Zhane suppressed a snicker. For all that a Ranger leader was supposed to be about teamwork and fair play, Andros was as competitive as anyone else when challenged. More competitive, most of the time.

The "finish line" was actually the same place they had started from: an old mining dome in synchronous orbit with the debris field that separated the Aquitian system's fourth and fifth planets. The domed facility was long outdated now, and it had been converted into a tour base and recreation center years ago. Its old survey pods had been retrofitted for asteroid hopping, and it was the old unloading dock that offered returning racers a haven from the void of space.

The pod that had sailed through the atmospheric containment ahead of them was already hunkered down in its berth, but the pilot and copilot who had brought it in were invisible from above. Andros set their pod down in its designated space sedately, proving that he was capable of saner flying than he had just demonstrated, and Zhane craned his neck in an effort to see who might be standing just outside the landing area.

As Andros hit the canopy release, Zhane sprung his harness and pulled himself out of the copilot's chair. He saw a third pod settling down nearby and a fourth coming in hard on their heels, but at that moment a group of local media leaving the landing area distracted him. Leaving?

Then he caught a glimpse of the winning pod's pilot, and he began to understand. They weren't leaving; they were simply looking for the "real" winner. Rangers were welcome in all Aquitian-sponsored events, but in contests that involved reflex, strength, or reaction time, they were automatically disqualified from the top five spots.

"Congratulations," Andros was saying as Zhane came around the pod to greet Aquitar's Black Ranger. "That was some nice flying out there."

"Yeah, he can say that now that he knows it was another Ranger," Zhane put in, coming to stand by Andros' shoulder. "You should have heard him before we knew who it was!"

"I confess that I'm somewhat mollified as well," Delphinius said, though there was no visible trace of relief on his face. "You were a serious threat to our victory. I feared I might be out of practice."

"Who was your copilot?" Zhane asked curiously.

"Copilot?" Delphinius repeated, deadpan. He said it so seriously that for a moment Zhane wondered if he had found some way around that rule.

"Another Ranger," Andros surmised aloud. "Or those reporters wouldn't have left so quickly."

Delphinius pretended to consider the remark. "The problem I am having is only one of semantics, I think. 'Copilot' implies some degree of assistance on the part of the person you are flying with."

"The same way 'pilot' implies a degree of skill," a voice replied acerbically. "You work on your job and I'll work on mine."

Every time Zhane came to Aquitar, he told himself he wouldn't let the relationship between the White and Black Aquitian Rangers surprise him. And every time he came, the mere fact that Cetaci and Delphinius were still together would make him break his word. So he wasn't overly startled to look up and see Cetaci leaning over the edge of the pod's cockpit, watching the conversation with an unreadable expression on her face.

"Although 'copilot' may not be exactly the right word," Dephinius said, as though she hadn't interrupted, "I believe you do have an equivalent in your language. I am only trying to remember it."

It was one of the few times Zhane had seen an Aquitian Ranger at a loss for words, and he couldn't help but think Delphinius was exaggerating his difficulty. He was sure of it when the Black Ranger said suddenly, "Handicap... Yes, that's it. I had a handicap, not a copilot."

"It hasn't impaired his ability to rationalize," Cetaci said, to no one in particular. "If only making excuses were a more respected profession."

"There is no need to rationalize victory." Delphinius' tone was mild. He was still looking at Zhane, but he was clearly addressing his teammate. "As anyone acquainted with the feeling of being victorious knows."

"Strange that you're so good at it, then," Cetaci retorted.

Zhane might not have noticed the abrupt change in Andros' expression if he hadn't picked that moment to exchange glances with his friend. Andros went from detached amusement to wide-eyed confusion in the blink of an eye, and Zhane frowned in concern. "Andros? Are you all right?"

Andros actually started at the sound of his voice, and Zhane's frown deepened. Cetaci had fallen silent and Delphinius was watching the Red Ranger with careful curiosity. Zhane couldn't tell whether they had actually noticed something amiss or were just reacting to his question, but he appreciated the moral support.

"I'm--fine." Andros waved a hand at them, but the brief hesitation in his reply hadn't escaped Zhane.

"Are you sure?" he pressed. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

Andros glanced around, and the mere fact that he didn't reply immediately set off warning bells inside Zhane's head. Finally he began, "I thought..."

"You thought what?" Zhane prompted, when Andros didn't seem inclined to finish.

Andros frowned, looking around once more. He looked a little sheepish when he admitted, "I thought I saw Ashley."

"Here?" Zhane knew it was a ridiculous question as soon as he said it, but he couldn't help taking a quick look around himself. What would she be doing at the asteroid hop? She didn't know about the tickets; he and Kerone had gotten them after she left.

"Right--right where you're standing, actually." Andros looked almost as disconcerted as Zhane felt at that remark. "For a moment... I thought she was the one who flew with me."

"She wasn't," Zhane said with a frown.

Andros gave his head an impatient shake. "I know!" Out of the corner of his eye Zhane saw Delphinius glance up at Cetaci. "It was just this feeling I had," his friend continued. "I don't know where it came from. But just for a second I could have sworn it was her standing there instead of you."

"Is it possible this is a natural mental aberration?" Delphinius inquired, when the silence lengthened.

"You mean am I stressed out to the point of imagining things?" There was a hint of irritation that Andros was clearly trying to hide in his tone. "I don't know. Maybe."

"I am only asking whether you think this is likely," Delphinius said, tilting his head. "If you believe there may be another explanation, we should investigate."

"Like what?" Andros demanded, and this time his frustration was clear. "Telepathic intrusion? Cross-dimensional vortexes? The Psycho Rangers? What other explanation could there be?"

"Any of those are valid suggestions," Cetaci remarked. Still perched above them on the edge of the pod, she looked perfectly serious. "While Rangers are not immune to hallucinations, they certainly cannot afford to overlook alternative explanations when such a thing occurs."

Andros frowned up at her, and for a moment Zhane thought he was about to contradict her. Instead all he said was, "I thought you were wearing blue."

Cetaci blinked. "Excuse me?"

The same look of confusion flitted across Andros' face, and he shook his head. "Never mind."

Cetaci gave Delphinius a decidedly odd look, which he returned in kind. "Andros," she said slowly. "Perhaps you should tell us exactly what you just saw."

"I didn't see anything," he insisted. "I just--had this weird feeling for a second. I thought I saw Ashley, but obviously I didn't. It's not a big deal."

"Still." Cetaci seemed unwilling to let the subject drop. "I will return to the Ranger dome and conduct some scans, just to be certain. Will you consent to accompany me?"

Andros shot Zhane a look that was as good as a sigh, but Zhane just shrugged. *You know how much I like Aquitar, but now I'm curious. It won't take long, anyway.*

"All right," Andros agreed at last. "At least maybe I'll listen next time you tell me to get some sleep," he added more quietly, the remark directed at Zhane as Delphinius reached up to help Cetaci out of the two-seater pod.

"If that was true," Zhane informed him, "Ashley really would be here today."

Andros flinched, and Zhane felt instantly guilty. "Sorry," he murmured. "That was low."

Andros shook his head, not meeting his gaze. "That was true," he corrected softly.

There were no more words while they waited for Delphinius and Cetaci to join them.

The ceiling seemed farther away than usual. Perhaps the grey metal generated some sort of optical illusion to which she was no longer accustomed. Perhaps the hostel rooms had low ceilings and she'd never noticed until now. Or maybe she'd just been staring up at it for too long.

"DECA," Kerone said aloud. "What time is it?"

"ETA is 34 minutes," DECA replied, answering the question she'd meant to ask rather than the one that had actually come out of her mouth.

With a sigh, she swung one hand over the edge of her bunk and fumbled for Andros' telekinesis ball. Clearly, she wasn't going to fall asleep, so she might as well entertain herself. She'd swiped the toy from Andros' quarters several weeks ago, but it was a testament to how wrapped up he'd been in their work that he had yet to notice.

She tossed the multicolored sphere into the air and watched it expand. It hovered between her and the too-high ceiling, and she stared at it with as much concentration as she could muster. She imagined it floating away from her, bobbing gently toward the far wall the way it did when Ashley looked at it.

Nothing happened, of course, but she couldn't resist trying. She had tried almost every day since stealing the forgotten but fateful leftover from her childhood on KO-35, and each time the results had been the same. The harder she willed the ball to move, the more firmly it remained in place.

It hadn't always been that way. Kerone could remember moving the ball with her mind; she could even imagine it drifting away from her in her mind's eye. But she couldn't make it happen. Andros could do it. Zhane could do it. Even Ashley could do it... but not her.

She lifted one hand and pushed the ball away. Sitting up, she glanced up at DECA's camera. "DECA?" she asked the computer impulsively. "Who am I?"

The camera's red light blinked on, and she thought she could feel a hint of DECA's exasperation in that familiar gaze. "You are Kerone of KO-35," the computer answered. "Sorceress, Power Ranger, and Kerovan Council member."

It wasn't the first time she had asked that question aloud. She had asked it of herself, of Andros and Zhane, and of DECA several times. Last week she had even asked Ashley, and once upon a time she had asked Saryn. The Phantom Ranger was the only one who hadn't had an answer, but she'd had the feeling that he'd given it more thought than the rest of them combined.

She had an answer. It just wasn't an answer she was particularly satisfied with. She supposed she didn't want to know who she was as much as who she should be. But then, Ashley liked to tell her, "You don't choose what to be. You become what you are," and that had always seemed like good advice.

Kerone got to her feet and reached for the telekinesis ball. "DECA?" she asked again, letting the toy collapse in on itself. "Do you have access to the Keyota security logs?"

DECA seemed to hesitate, but it was such a brief pause that Kerone wondered if she'd imagined it. "KOSN's files are routinely uploaded to my mainframe as a matter of system fleet procedure," the computer told her.

Surprised, Kerone set Andros' telekinesis ball aside and made her way over to the computer terminal. "Can you show me the files from the day Darkonda kidnapped me?" she wanted to know.

This time, the hesitation was obvious. "No," DECA said, with every indication of regret. "I can not display those files on this terminal. They have been buried by Ranger request, and I am not authorized to override the encryption code."

She frowned, but she hadn't missed the precise wording of DECA's remark. "You can't display them on this terminal? What about Andros' terminal? Is he the one who asked you to encrypt them?"

"That information is classified," DECA answered. She sounded downright apologetic. "I am unable to answer your questions."

Kerone didn't waste another moment in heading for the door. "That's all right. I know my brother's guilt complex as well as you do."

DECA's cameras lit up like sequential Christmas lights as they followed her down the corridor toward Andros' room. "That," the computer responded with a touch of humor, "I doubt very much."

Andros' door opened at her approach, and she frowned a little. It was strange that he'd left the privacy lock off after their last trip to Eltare, but maybe they'd all been a little bit... disconcerted, after that meeting. She settled down in front of his terminal and put in the code she'd memorized over his shoulder, fully expecting to be given the files without further difficulty.

She wasn't disappointed. The logs were there in their entirety, but she was distracted by a second encryption below the first. "DECA?" she asked curiously. "Did Andros do this, too?"

DECA did not answer immediately. When she did, it was clear that she did not relish withholding information. "Andros is not the only Ranger who might wish to forget something in his past," she said at last. "Or to have others forget."

"Saryn," Kerone murmured, staring at the screen thoughtfully. "Or Zhane." There wouldn't be much on the others in the computer anyway, even if they did have the technical expertise to encode data this thoroughly.

"ETA is 12 minutes," DECA reminded her.

Whether it was a diversion or not, the announcement was welcome news. Kerone sent the encryption key to her own terminal before shutting Andros' down and getting to her feet. She made her way back to her own room, verified receipt of the key, and set about locating the kittens.

It was truly amazing how easily they could hide in a room so small, she reflected several minutes later. She had brought them along because she knew Ashley would want to see them, but after hauling one out from under her bed and the other from behind the bottom drawer of her desk she wondered if they were worth the trouble. They seemed to sense the most convenient option in any given situation and then instinctively do the opposite.

They settled into their cat backpack with surprisingly little fuss, though, and she wondered if they knew where she was taking them. "What time is it in Angel Grove, DECA?" Kerone asked, tightening the shoulder straps a little. Ashley was the one who usually wore the kittens' pack.

"Angel Grove time is 6:07 am," the computer answered. "Do you require new coordinates?"

"Yes," Kerone admitted, "but I'll get them from the surface. I think Ashley has a roommate, and I don't want to startle her."

She had never seen the place where Ashley was now living, but luckily she did know someone who could direct her. They had visited Ashley's brother twice over the summer, and there was a secluded spot behind his building that she had filed away for future reference. It was to that space that she teleported now, noting absently that the sun was up but there didn't seem to be much activity on the streets yet.

She knocked on the door, but there was no answer. Kerone waited, wondering if everyone could already be up and gone. She knocked again, glancing around at the vehicles parked outside the combined housing units. There were an awful lot of them for a place that seemed deserted, but Ashley had said that a lot of people at the university didn't drive. Maybe they had all walked to their destinations.

She knocked once more and was just about to turn away when she heard something click on the other side of the door. Finally the door swung open, and an extremely disheveled looking girl squinted out at her. "Yeah?" she asked groggily.

"Hello," Kerone said politely. "I'm looking for Jeff Hammond."

The girl just stared at her for a moment. Kerone looked back, taking in the tousled hair, pajama-like clothes, and non-comprehending expression. Finally, the other girl muttered, "He's still in bed."

When she didn't seem inclined to add anything else, Kerone prompted, "Could you get him for me?"

The girl frowned, her gaze focusing on something over Kerone's shoulder. "It's six o'clock in the morning," she mumbled, as though Kerone might not have known that. "He's asleep."

Kerone raised an eyebrow. "Then wake him up. Tell him that Kerone wants to talk to him, and if he doesn't get down here right now I'll use my magic powers to turn him into a frog."

The girl just sighed, mumbling to herself as she turned away and shuffled off into the darkness. She left the door ajar behind her, though, and Kerone assumed that she was actually doing as she was told instead of demonstrating an incredible bout of laziness. Was it possible that everyone in this complex was actually sleeping instead of being off on daily errands?

It was a few minutes before Jeff pulled the door open for her, and she contemplated his appearance in light of this new thought. He did indeed look as though he had been roused unexpectedly from sleep, though his disposition was considerably friendlier than the girl's had been.

"Morning," he greeted her amiably. "I hear you're threatening to turn me into a frog."

She shrugged. "It always works on Zhane."

"Could you really do that?" he asked, genuine curiosity on his face. "Turn someone into a frog, I mean?"

"Probably not," she admitted. "I never tried it."

"Well, let me know," he said, a smile warring with a yawn. "I have a few people I'd like taken care off, if you want some test subjects."

The corners of her mouth quirked in response. "I'll remember that. Does everyone around here sleep through sunrise?"

He eyed her. "This coming from Andros' sister? The boy who can't drag himself out of bed before ten in the morning?"

"He's used to Kerovan time," she said defensively. "KO-35's days are shorter than yours."

"Doesn't seem to bother you," Jeff observed, leaning against the doorframe and stifling another yawn.

"I didn't grow up on KO-35," she reminded him. "I'm sorry to wake you up, but I'm looking for Ashley. I need directions so I don't teleport into the middle of... civilians."

"You're going to turn me into a frog, but you don't want to freak out Ashley's friends by appearing out of thin air?" he teased. "Thanks; I know where I stand in the pecking order."

"Rather close to the bottom," she told him frankly.

His smile widened, and he gave her a devilish grin that reminded her of Zhane. "You mean there's someone below me now? I'm flattered!"

"DECA likes you," she said matter-of-factly. "That moves you up."

He blinked, but his grin didn't waver. "DECA likes me, huh? Well, now I know I'm getting somewhere in the world. That puts me, what--second from the bottom?"

"Fourteenth from the top," Kerone corrected, trying to hide a smirk. "Are you going to tell me how to find Ashley, or should I start randomly kidnapping people until I find someone else who can do it?"

Jeff's smile faded a little at that, and he gave her a look of wary amusement. "I'm never sure when you're serious," he said at last. "So to spare the early morning pedestrians, let me draw you a map."

His map was as comprehensive as she could have asked for, even to someone unfamiliar with the city. Ladd Hall was locked, which Jeff had both warned her about and suggested would pose no problem for her sorcery. She let herself in and made her way up to the third floor, reminding the kittens to be silent as she moved soundlessly through the deserted hallway.

Room 314 was at the far end of the hall, and it was already brightly covered with two names and an assortment of suns and rainbows. Kerone smiled to herself, studying the second name carefully. It seemed that whoever she was, at least this "Missy" shared Ashley's taste in absurdedly cheerful decorations.

She knocked quietly, remembering the number of sleeping inhabitants in Jeff's apartment. To her surprise, though, an answer came almost immediately. A voice that didn't sound quite like Ashley's called, "Come in," and she twisted the doorknob hesitantly before pushing the door open.

A girl with long blonde hair puddled around her head perched upside down against the far wall. "Namaste," she said, as though she greeted visitors this way all the time. "My roommate's asleep."

Kerone glanced over at the other bed. Ashley was stirring at the sound of the voice, low though it was, and Kerone walked over to stand beside her. "I brought some friends to see you," she said quietly, reaching over one shoulder to pat the top of the kitty pack. The brown kitten climbed out onto her shoulder obediently, and she picked him up and set him on Ashley's stomach.

Ashley's eyes opened at that, her hands searching instinctively for the bundle of fur that was climbing over her and trying to investigate the space below the covers. "Hi, Katana," she mumbled, pulling the kitten clumsily toward her face. "Hi Kerone."

"Hello," Kerone answered, smiling down at her. "We missed you, so we came to see how you're doing."

"I missed you, too," Ashley murmured, struggling to sit up. She seemed to remember where she was as she glanced around the room, and her eyes lit upon her roommate as she snuggled Katana up to her cheek.

The other girl was still standing on her head, braced against the wall under the windows, watching the scene with a sort of detached interest. "Morning, Missy," Ashley said, giving her a sleepy smile through a faceful of kitten. "Kerone, this is my roommate Missy. Missy, this is Kerone, a friend of mine."

Prompted by the reaction from Jeff's roommate, Kerone added, "I'm a sorceress from another planet, but I can't turn people into frogs."

"That's too bad," Missy said, without batting an eye. "Frogs take up less space. It's nice to meet you, Kerone."

"Nice to meet you too," Kerone agreed. "Do you mind if I kidnap your roommate for a while?"

"Did the cats tell you to do that?" Missy asked, not moving from her position against the wall.

Kerone blinked. "The cats?"

Missy gave a credible impression of a shrug. "I've heard that cats are messengers from the spirit world, and Ashley looks like she's been waiting for a message."

"No," Kerone said, glancing at Ashley. "The cats didn't tell me to kidnap her."

"Ah." Missy continued to watch them, but she said nothing else.

Ashley was already pulling some clothes out of a bureau by the end of her bed, her movements slow but deliberate. "Give me just a minute," she said over her shoulder, tossing a brush on top of the clothes she'd accumulated and pulling her hair away from her face. "I'll be right there."

"Do you have classes this morning?" Kerone asked, trying to remember the schedule Ashley had described so hastily days before.

"Not till tomorrow." Ashley deftly removed her t-shirt from Katana's inquisitive grasp and pulled it on over her head. "Did you guys actually take your day off today?"

"I did," Kerone said with a frown. "Andros wasn't planning to, but I think Zhane convinced him. He's more patient than I am."

Ashley finished buttoning her shorts and sat down to pull on her sneakers. "Patience probably didn't have anything to do with it. Zhane's more audacious than we are; I bet he locked Andros in their room and went back to sleep."

"Are you saying that I'm not audacious?" Kerone demanded. "I think Dark Spectre might have disagreed with you."

Ashley shot a look in her roommate's direction as she stood up and grabbed Katana off the bed. "Let's go for a walk," she suggested, heading toward the door. "I'll see you later, Missy."

"See you," the other girl agreed, from her upside-down position. "Don't forget to tell me what the cats say."

3. Ranger Status

The light flooding into the bathroom was suddenly reduced as a familiar shadow darkened the bedroom doorway. Cassie held up her hand and wiggled her fingers over her shoulder as she bent down to spit out the rinse that cleaned her teeth. Saryn was watching her in the mirror when she straightened up, and she smiled back at him.

"Good morning," he mumbled, and the sleep that clouded his voice was so unusual that her smile faded a little.

"Morning," she answered, tilting her head for a kiss as though she had noticed nothing amiss.

He obliged, but the silent calm that teased the edges of her awareness told her he was blocking. That he could successfully shield his emotions this early in the morning was testament to his steadily increasing control, but it didn't give her any clue as to what might be troubling him.

Saryn ran a thumb across her cheek tenderly before slipping past her to take her place at the sink, and she smiled involuntarily. As she watched him ignore his reflection, though, not to mention hers, she wondered, "Did you sleep all right?"

He stilled at the question, and she tried not to frown. He hadn't had nightmares for some time now, and she'd finally grown used to sleeping through the night without them. If the old ghosts were haunting him again, she wasn't sure whether that or the fact that she hadn't woken disturbed her more.

"My dreams..." He trailed off, but he lifted his head to catch her eye in the mirror at last. There was tired confusion in his voice, but his expression was at least as thoughtful as it was disturbed. "My dreams were not entirely pleasant."

"I'm sorry," Cassie murmured, remembering how those dreams used to hurt. She cast back over the last few days, wondering what could have made them return.

He shook his head, turning away from the sink to smile reassuringly at her. "These weren't dreams of the past; you would have known. These were different."

She couldn't help but feel relieved. "What did you dream about, then?" she wanted to know. "And more than once?"

"More than once," he agreed, a frown settling on his face. "I saw... our children. They were in trouble--"

The sound of a muffled crash reached them through the closed door, and Jetson's bark followed almost immediately. She shot an apologetic glance in Saryn's direction as she caught the door and tugged it open, and she pretended not to see him roll his eyes. She didn't mean to interrupt, but with the amount of hard copy in the living area they couldn't afford to ignore the disturbance.

Leaning around the doorframe, the scene outside made her smile. For once it wasn't Jetson creating the havoc, though he had a familiar accomplice. Waif-thin and as innocent looking as they came, little Shei sat amid a pile of coats and blankets with a bewildered expression on her face. She looked as though she was trying to decide whether to cry or giggle, and crying was rapidly winning out.

"Shei!" It was part greeting and part distraction, and she hurried out to scoop the little girl up in her arms. "I'm sure we've told you not to climb on the coat rack. Are you okay? Thanks, Jetson," she added over her shoulder, as the yellow lab came wagging up behind her.

"Cassie, have you seen--" Raine's voice was distracted, but she broke off abruptly as Cassie turned to face the open courtyard doorway. Shei squirmed in her arms, and the Green Ranger relaxed visibly at the sight of her errant daughter.

"Zela. Shei," she said sternly. It was one name, but the girl's mother managed to make it sound like two. "What kind of mayhem are you causing this time?"

"The same sort of mayhem that's usually caused by our dog," Saryn offered, from where he was lounging in the bathroom doorway. "We almost didn't notice she was here."

Cassie gave him a dirty look, and, more awake now, he smirked at her.

"I'm sorry if she woke you," Raine apologized, taking in Saryn's appearance for the first time. Shirtless and still a bit tired looking, he didn't look like someone who'd gotten quite enough sleep the night before. "The door was open, and she likes to wander..."

"I opened it when I got up," Cassie said quickly. "It's fine; you know we like seeing her."

The Green Elisian Ranger sighed, shaking her head fondly at her daughter as Cassie handed her over. "She'll be better company once she grows out of this destructive phase," she promised. "At least," she added, catching Cassie's eye, "I hope she will."

Cassie laughed. "She's good company now," she assured the other Ranger. "Are you coming to breakfast?"

Raine bounced her daughter a little higher in her arms with a smile. "We'll be there. Azmuth just got back from Calijyt, so it'll be the whole family this morning."

"Good," Cassie said with an answering smile. "We'll see you there, then."

Shei, who had quieted as soon as she found herself in her mother's arms, started to squirm again. Raine nuzzled her cheek and nodded toward Cassie. "Wave to Aunt Cassie, Shei... go ahead, wave goodbye!"

Cassie grinned and waved to the little girl, who tentatively lifted her hand before reaching around to grab her mother's fingers and wave them energetically. Raine laughed, waving to both Cassie and Saryn on her way out. "Thanks for watching her," she called over her shoulder.

"Thanks for disturbing our peace," Saryn answered, quietly enough that it wouldn't carry to Raine's ears. "We appreciate the intrusion, truly."

Cassie rolled her eyes. "Grouch," she accused. "You must have an allergic reaction to nightmares. Now I know why it used to be so hard to be around you."

"Possibly because there were quantrons kidnapping us, beating us, or shooting at us every time we turned around," Saryn suggested.

"That might have been part of it," she admitted, trying not to smile as she advanced on him. He hadn't moved from his position in the doorway, but he was watching her through half-closed eyes. "But I think it was the insomnia. I never seemed to get any sleep around you."

"With good reason," he retorted, a lazy smile playing over his lips.

"Oh, we never got over *that*," she said with a giggle, letting him pull her into his arms. "I meant the nightmares. What's all this about children and bad things happening to them?"

His smug expression faltered, and for a moment he looked worried. Then he shook his head and that too started to fade. "I'm... I'm not sure," he said at last. "I don't remember. We had children, I think, and they were--something was threatening them, but that's all I remember."

"All good nightmares fade," Cassie murmured, hugging him reassuringly. "Children, though... more than one, huh? If you remember anything else about them, let me know," she teased, turning her face toward his for a kiss.

He smiled, and this time she could feel some of what he felt when their mouths met. He was content in her presence, amused in spite of his words by Shei's visit, hungry, and a little irritable because of it. She knew the sharing wasn't an accident; he had intentionally let his shields slip and she was glad.

He was kissing her again when the comm chimed, and for an instant she considered ignoring it. She knew from past experience that he would if she did; sometimes she wondered how people got in touch with him at all when she wasn't around. But of course, he would remind her, that was what voice recorders were for.

"I'll get that," she murmured, stepping out of his embrace.

"No," he protested immediately, though he hadn't given any indication he cared a moment ago. "I don't mind."

She trailed her fingers across his bare chest as she moved past him into the living area. "Find a shirt first," she suggested with a small smile.

The seal of the Frontier Defense flashed across the comm screen the moment she activated it, and Cassie did her best not to roll her eyes. They hadn't even had breakfast and Tobin already wanted something. Someday, the man was going to get a life and she was going to find a way to interrupt it. Early. Late, too. And as often as possible.

"Good morning, Tobin," she said aloud, as the expected image appeared on the screen. Behind her, she felt more than heard Saryn disappearing into the bathroom again.

"Cassie," he replied. His tone was even, but there was a friendliness in his eyes that made her flash a smile in return for his brief greeting. "How's life on Elisia?"

"Couldn't get much better," she answered promptly. She noticed with satisfaction that he had almost smiled back. Neither of the former Eltaran Rangers that shared governing power of the Frontier Defense with Saryn had liked her on sight, but they were finally learning to work together. Tobin was far more tolerant of her than Linnse was, history or no. "How about you?"

His eyes sobered at the question, though little else in his expression changed. It was funny how much he communicated without seeming to... funny how alike he and Saryn were in that respect. "I'm afraid there is--room for improvement," he said at last. "You may agree, when you hear what I have to tell Saryn."

They were both maddeningly cryptic, too, she thought. That was one quality she could have lived without. "He's on his way," she promised. "He's just--"

"I'm here," Saryn interrupted, and she turned in time to see him emerging from the bathroom. He was pulling a short-sleeve tunic over his shoulders as he came, and she watched fondly as he flipped his hair over the collar before tugging the shirt closed.

He caught her eye as he lifted his head, and Cassie made little snipping motions with her fingers. Saryn gave her a dark look and she tried not to grin. She'd been threatening to cut his hair for weeks now, but she hadn't gotten around to it yet. She couldn't tell if it was the actual threat or the anticipation that made him glare whenever she mentioned it.

"Saryn." Tobin's greeting for his friend of five years was almost as noncommittal as the one he'd given her. "The Defense will have to convene," he informed the other. Then again, Cassie reflected, the Eltaran wasn't one for small talk.

There was a sharp rap on the door behind her, and she turned to see Mirine swing inside without invitation. "Have you seen my helmet?" she demanded. "I know it's--"

Cassie put a finger to her lips and Mirine clapped a hand over her mouth as she caught a glimpse of the lit comm screen. Saryn was, to all outward appearances, ignoring them, but Cassie had caught a mental flare of chagrin at the mention of his sister's jetcycle helmet. She hid a grin and gestured Mirine toward the back door.

"I am not available until later today," Saryn was telling Tobin as they slipped out onto the shaded promenade that surrounded the compound. Cassie closed the door behind them, cutting off the conversation with some amount of disappointment. Tobin wasn't an alarmist and she wondered at something that he felt the need to warn her about, however indirectly.

"Thanks," Mirine said dryly, breaking into her musing. "You'd think if someone were going to snatch my helmet they could at least put it back where they found it."

Saryn's sister gave her a pointed look, and Cassie had to wince. "Sorry," she apologized, picking up the two helmets from the bench beside the back door. She handed the Pink Ranger's helmet back to her and keyed open the entrance to the recessed garage between their apartments. "We were in kind of a hurry last night. I meant to come back out and get them later, but..."

She trailed off at Mirine's knowing look, trying not to blush. "Well, I did mean to," she murmured. She was trying not to smile as she braced her weight behind the jetcycle and flipped the stabilizer off.

"Sure you did," Mirine grumbled good-naturedly. She went around to the other side to help push, and together the two of them wheeled Saryn's jetcycle back into the garage. "What happened to your helmet?" she wanted to know.

"I wish I knew," Cassie admitted, turning the stabilizer back on before letting go. She settled Saryn's helmet on top of the cycle and glanced around, as though hers would magically appear when she looked for it. "I haven't been able to find it for a few days now."

Mirine just rolled her eyes. "Saryn probably hid it so he'd have another excuse to swipe mine. You'd think he'd have outgrown that by now."

"Yeah, speaking of that," Cassie remarked, her lips twitching. "He's missing his blue jacket again. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"

The Pink Ranger grinned, unrepentant. "It's not his color anyway," she said. If it was an excuse, she conveniently overlooked the fact that it wasn't hers either. "Breakfast?"

Cassie hesitated, but Saryn would no doubt relate Tobin's message to the entire community center when he arrived. "Sounds good," she agreed, following Mirine toward the courtyard door.

Tossing her helmet in the direction of her own jetcycle, Mirine didn't even watch to see where it landed before tugging the door open. They stepped out into the bright sunlight of a desert dawn, the courtyard filled with sharp shadows as the nearly horizontal rays touched the compound for the first time since nightfall. Zelashei was still playing, though Raine was giving her the "come here or else" speech from the door of the community center and Azmuth was nowhere to be seen.

"Want some help?" Mirine called to Raine, and when the other grimaced in resigned acceptance she swooped down on the little girl and swept her off her feet. Ignoring the child's shrieks, she carried her across the courtyard to her mother.

Cassie followed more slowly, glancing back toward the still-open door of the place she shared with Saryn. He might have left it open when he went to breakfast, but more likely he was still inside setting up the conference with Tobin. She had almost convinced herself to go back and check when Nen ducked out of a doorway across the compound and called her name.

"Morning, Cassie!" he shouted cheerfully, and his good humor was so infectious that she found herself smiling again. "I like that color on you; you should wear it more often!"

She had to laugh. "I wear it every day, Nen," she reminded him as he caught up to her.

"That shade in particular," he insisted, bending over to sift sand through his fingers. "Here," he added, straightening and holding out a handful to her. "Feel how cold the sand is this morning!"

She giggled, but she accepted the handful of sand. "It is cool. Funny how that happens at night."

"Isn't it?" He gave her a look of delight and she wondered, not for the first time, what it was like to be inside his mind. He was as intelligent as any of them--more, she sometimes suspected--yet he let himself be amused by the smallest things. Was he ever bored? Or angry, or sarcastic?

*Would we know if he was?* she wondered.

"Good morning, Mirine," Nen said lightly, putting a hand on her shoulder and slipping around her before she could get out of the doorway. "You look well-rested.

"It's Zelashei!" he exclaimed, before she could answer. "My favorite almost-daughter!" He picked the little girl up and swung her around, finally tossing her over his shoulder and heading over to the table. "Well," he announced to no one in particular, "I've got my breakfast. What's everyone else having?"

"Nen," Raine scolded, and Mirine grinned at Cassie.

"I'd forgotten how much I missed having him around," Mirine confessed under her breath. "There's just no one else who'd threaten to eat Shei."

"And you think this is a good thing," Cassie teased, taking her arm and moving toward the kitchen side of the room. "Jealous?"

Mirine let out a breath of exasperation, a mannerism that reminded Cassie of her brother. "Can you imagine me with a kid? I'd either lock it up or throw it out the window--and that would just be the first day. Definitely no envy here."

"I won't be serving you breakfast simply because you're restraining our wayward daughter," Azmuth was informing Nen. "I hope you're aware of that."

"My darling Azmuth!" Nen's eyes were wide. "I would never presume upon your convenience in such a manner! Besides," he added, letting his imitation of her accent drop, "your 'wayward daughter' is unrestrainable, and we wouldn't have her any other way."

Cassie didn't question the sense that made her look over her shoulder just in time to see Saryn appear in the doorway. He said nothing to call attention to himself, not even bothering to step inside, but somehow he made his presence known. Mirine was the first to follow Cassie's gaze, and Shei, having wriggled free from Nen's arms, failed to distract either Nen or his brother Kyril from the shadow by the door.

Azmuth had probably noticed the moment Saryn arrived, her warrior instinct never failing to note the presence of another in close proximity, but Raine took a little longer. By the time she had gotten hold of Shei again and turned her attention toward the door, Cassie wondered what Tobin could possibly have said to warrant this kind of silence.

They waited expectantly until Saryn sighed and stepped out of the doorway, allowing the sun to spill into the common room again. "May I assume that I was in charge of breakfast this morning and someone forgot to tell me?"

"You can assume that if you don't tell us what's going on you're going to wish you'd only forgotten breakfast," Cassie informed him.

"You're projecting all over the place," Mirine agreed, staring at him. "What happened?"

Saryn didn't answer right away, though whether he was trying to shield his thoughts or find the words, it was impossible to tell. "It's the Kerovan Council," he said at last. His gaze met Cassie's, and she found herself holding her breath. "They want to disband the Astro Rangers."

"What!" Andros stared at the comm in disbelief. "He can't be serious!"

He felt Zhane shift uneasily behind him. "He's just talking about making it official, Andros. Calm down."

Andros spun, ignoring the rest of the recorded message to pin Zhane with his stare. "Did you know this was going to happen? Is this why you didn't want me at the council meeting this morning?"

"No!" Zhane's eyes were wide with surprise. "I swear I had no idea! I thought it was going to be another dull policy discussion."

Andros turned back to the comm with a muttered curse. "I'm calling Kinwon. I don't know how he could even think of going along with this."

"Andros..." Zhane's hand on his wrist kept him from activating the screen. "The Council just wants what's best for Kerova."

"And they're going to get it by breaking up the team that defends them?" Andros demanded. "What kind of warped logic is that?"

"The Astro Rangers aren't a team anymore," Zhane said, not letting go of his arm. His statement was outrageous, but he said it in such a matter-of-fact way that the import of the words was dulled. "And the team that we were never defended KO-35, let alone our sister planet."

Andros just stared at him, too shocked to formulate a reply.

Zhane let his hand fall, but his gaze didn't waver. "You know this was coming, Andros. You just didn't want to see it."

"How can you say that?" Andros sputtered. He jerked away, taking a few steps toward the other side of the room before turning to face Zhane again. He was too angry at this second betrayal to muster more than a token argument. "How can you say they're right?"

Zhane gave a half-shrug, but the tension in his stance belied his casual attitude. "I'm not saying they're right. I'm just saying that we haven't been a real team since before the Psychos, and you know it. The Council knows it too. It's not surprising they'd want to do something about it."

"Disbanding the Astro Rangers isn't going to fix their problem!"

"You know that's not what they really want," Zhane said quietly. His blue eyes wandered a little, and Andros was aware of his own clenched fists and hunched shoulders. He probably looked furious, but he couldn't bring himself to care.

"Then tell me what they really want," he suggested, struggling to keep his tone even. His voice was as quiet as Zhane's, but it was a dangerous kind of quiet and Zhane's expression said he knew it.

"They want a new team."

"They have a team already!" Andros exploded. "They have seven people who'd give their lives for this planet and its people! What more do they want!"

"People who could get here in time to do some good if we were attacked," Zhane told him. "Let's face it, Andros, the Astro Rangers don't even have a base of operations anymore. We have nowhere to assemble, nowhere to coordinate, and half of us can't even get in touch with the other half if there's an emergency!"

Andros glared at him. "We've never had an ops base! The Megaship goes wherever it's needed; that's always been good enough!"

"We were living on a battleship, Andros! The entire team, all of the Astro Rangers and then some!" Zhane stopped abruptly, as if realizing he was shouting. He took a calming breath and went on, "The only reason it worked was because it had to. We had nowhere else to go, and most of the known universe was at war. But we haven't done that since the fighting stopped, and barring another Dark Spectre we'll never have to do it again."

Caught without words for the second time in as many minutes, Andros just looked at him. At last he said wonderingly, "You make it sound like it was the worst thing you ever did."

Zhane ran a hand through his hair, his gaze sliding away. "Of course it wasn't," he muttered, and the weariness in his voice caught Andros by surprise. "It was great, but it's over now. The universe has changed, and we can't go back to the way it was. We have to change with it."

Something in the way Zhane had looked away made Andros hesitate. "You think we should let them break the team up, then."

Zhane's eyes snapped back to his and Andros flinched at the unconcealed anger in that sharp gaze. "There is no team! There's you and there's me and there's Astrea! Maybe someone forgot to tell you, but Dark Spectre's gone. KO-35 is free. The war is over, Andros! When are you going to stop fighting it?"

"I'm not fighting," Andros said with a frown. He fought the urge to take a step back at the bitterness that flashed across Zhane's face.

"All you do is fight! For Kerone, for the colony, for Earth, and now for... for--" Zhane gestured wildly, turning as if to leave and then aborting the motion. "I don't even know what you're fighting for now! When is it enough?"

Unsettled, Andros fell back on the first remark that sprang to mind. "'If we all settled for good enough, would anything ever be good enough?'"

"'If we can't find happiness in ourselves, how can we expect to find it in anyone else?'" Zhane shot back. "Don't quote philosophy to me, Andros! This is about you and me and everyone else you've ignored for the sake of your own private war!"

Andros gaped at him. "*My* war? Since when did this become my war?"

"Since the rest of the universe got over it! Since Dark Spectre died and Eltare came back and the Border declared an end to martial law! Do you know what the last Ranger conference was like?

"No," Zhane answered his own question, "of course you don't, because you were too busy holding the Council's hand to go. It was like a nursery! There wasn't a quiet moment; every time you turned around there was another baby crying or chirping or photosynthesizing or something! No one else is at war anymore, Andros--no one but you!"

"I'm not at war with anyone!" Andros exclaimed. "Just because I don't want the Council to take morphers away from people I swore would have access to them for as long as they wanted doesn't mean I'm stuck in the past!"

With unusual venom, Zhane reminded him, "They don't belong to you."

"No," Andros agreed numbly. When was the last time Zhane had consciously tried to hurt him, even with words? "They belong to TJ and Ashley and Cassie and Carlos. You weren't there; you don't know... the Power chose them, Zhane. Those morphers belong to them."

"No, I wasn't there." Zhane folded his arms across his chest. "And for all you care, I might as well not be here now. I didn't mean the morphers, you know, I meant the Rangers. Does TJ even want his morpher anymore? Does Cassie? Would you know if they did?

"Even if they do," Zhane added, when Andros didn't answer. "Who are you to deny the Kerovan system a team--a *resident* team--so that people in another galaxy can have Power to play with?"

Andros glared at him. "They're not 'people'; they're our friends!"

"So why don't you ask them!" Zhane shouted. "Why don't you ask them what they think about it before you call up the Council and yell at them for daring to question your perfect wisdom!"

They just stared at each other for a moment, eyes narrowed, defenses at the ready. When Andros realized what they were doing, he dropped his gaze and shifted uncomfortably. "What did you mean," he muttered at last, his mind latching on to one of Zhane's comments and refusing to let go. "About me not caring that you're here. You know that's not true."

Zhane was silent, not moving as he considered the almost-apology. Slowly, his fighting stance started to relax and he lifted one hand to his already tousled hair. "Nothing," he said with a sigh. "I didn't mean anything by it."

"No," Andros insisted, catching his friend's eye again. "You did." Uncertain, he looked a little closer at Zhane, trying to see past the façade. "You said something this morning, too. You--you called KO-35 my home, not yours."

"My home is with you," Zhane said steadily. "I told you that when I woke up. I never lost that, Andros."

"Until now?" He felt like they weren't really his words; he was just giving form to the thoughts hanging in the air between them. "Is that why you're so upset?" he asked, more quietly. "Because I'm ignoring everyone that matters?"

Zhane just shrugged, but the answer was there on his face. "It's up to you to decide who matters," he said at last, and the declaration sent chills up Andros' spine.

"You," he said fiercely. "You matter. Zhane..." He swallowed, but he owed his friend the truth. "I lost you once. I don't think I could do it again."

"Hell, Andros, you can't lose me." Zhane gave him a rueful grin, though whether for the choice of words or the sentiment it was hard to tell. "You know I'd follow you anywhere."

With that, Andros made up his mind. "We'd better get to Earth, then." Reaching for his communicator, he felt a weight slide off of his heart as he saw Zhane do the same. "We have some friends to see."

"Flitter Amaron 3547 has been removed from the planetary traffic grid pending investigation," the terminal informed her. There was no video feed, only a still image of the Coralside Transport Authority logo and a text version of the message to which she found herself listening. "The registered pilot may report for re-education or be summoned for license inspection."

A timestamp hovered in the bottom corner of the screen even after the transmission concluded, and she frowned at it thoughtfully. She ought to have downloaded her flitter data earlier, but it hadn't occurred to her that there could be anything time-sensitive in the little vehicle's computer. Someone at the CTA didn't like her, it seemed... or perhaps it was a new and unusually obtuse employee that had forgotten to filter the latest reprimands.

"Moving violation?" Carlos drawled, not moving from his place on her bed. Lying on his back, he held a datapad over his head and a forgotten stylus in the other hand. He was staring at the pad with a single-minded determination that she had thought might preclude his eavesdropping.

"So it would seem," she agreed, allowing the amusement to creep into her voice. "I wonder what the reaction would be if I chose to attend re-education."

"Someone forget to run the tickets past their Ranger scanner?" Carlos suggested. He lifted the stylus and did something to the display, but she couldn't tell if he was actually correcting something or just doodling. "Since when do you guys get busted for bad driving, anyway?"

Aura turned to regard him. "My flitting skills are not at issue here," she reminded him. "I am an excellent pilot."

He didn't look at her, but she could hear the smirk in his voice when he remarked, "Yeah, that's why the cops are leaving you voice mail. In California, you have to be pretty delinquent before the police actually call your house."

"This message was attached to my flit, not to me." He knew that perfectly well; she didn't know why she was letting him bait her like this. "If they had known the pilot was a Ranger--"

"Yeah, like they don't have every flit registration in the history of the world on record," Carlos interrupted. "They knew it was you. They're probably just tired of seeing your numbers come up every other week.

"You know," he added, rolling over onto his stomach to catch her eye. "Back home we call what you do 'driving to endanger'."

She bristled. She couldn't help it. "There was no one at risk!"

"I'm not talking about the rest of the city," he said with a grin. "I'm talking about me. You're going to give me a heart attack one of these days."

Her lips twitched involuntarily. "There is nothing substandard about my ability," she insisted. "If my adherence to law leaves something to be desired, it is certainly no reflection on my skill."

Carlos rolled his eyes. "Tell that to the CTA, then," he advised, glancing down at the datapad again. "They can make that their new motto. 'Who needs laws when you have pride?'"

She watched him play with the stylus for a moment before turning back to the messages she'd retrieved. "It is not the spirit of the law so much as the specifics that I take issue with," she murmured, calling up the next transmission.

She saw Carlos lift his head out of the corner of her eye and felt his dark gaze studying her as she watched the symbol of the Falls flow across her screen. She spared another glance in his direction, wondering what indiscretion he would remind her of now. But he looked down again even as she glanced at him, a small smile on his face as he returned to the fuel conversion ratios.

Cestria's voice distracted her enough that she didn't ask, but it didn't keep her from wondering as she looked back at the screen. Her teammate was dressed in teal and gold, her Keeper clothes accented by only the faintest trace of yellow. What was he smiling about?

"Greetings, Aura." Cestria's countenance was serene, yet familiar in a way that the Keeper-turned-Ranger reserved for her closest friends. "I must tell you that I will not see you in Control this afternoon. A parasite has infested one of the pools, and it must be taken care of before the infection spreads."

Aura saw Carlos look up again, but he didn't say anything until Cestria wished her a good day and signed off. "Does she need help?" he asked then, real concern in his voice. "With the flow between those pools, it wouldn't take long for something like that to get out of control."

She contemplated the screen as though the Keeper of the Falls might reappear and answer herself, but finally she shook her head. A human mannerism, a part of her mind noted distantly. "She would have asked for assistance if she needed it," she said at last. "She must have enough visitors that it's unnecessary." Anyone already at the Eternal Falls would help without complaint, she knew.

She could feel his eyes on her, and she looked over at him questioningly.

"You're sure," he said, searching her expression.

Touched by his concern, she smiled a little. "Cestria is not one to ignore the truth, as you know. If she needs us, she will say so."

He nodded, gaze flicking to the screen before he went back to the conversions on the pad in front of him. This time, she allowed herself to watch him for more than just a moment. His dark hair had been cut short--he said it dried faster--and he was, if possible, a fraction taller than he'd been when they first met. His demeanor had changed, too... he was as intense as ever, but it was a focus that that had been tempered by perspective.

He wasn't the heedless, humanocentric Earther who had once been shocked by the idea that an alien could fall for him. She doubted if he even thought of her as alien anymore. He certainly wasn't to her. "Earther" didn't even apply to him now, not really. The semi-derogatory term for their nearest and most oblivious League neighbors was something she could no longer hear without wincing, though she knew he was aware of the term and had mockingly applied it to himself on more than one occasion.

Carlos looked up, catching her eye and raising an eyebrow. "What?" he asked, that lurking smile back in his expression. "Reading my mind again?"

"Should I have been?" she countered, and his smile widened into a grin.

"Probably." He held the datapad out to her and added, "Here, check my calculations. I think I've got it."

She took one look at the pad and frowned. "It's in English."

He crossed his arms on the bed and rested his chin on them. "So? You can read numbers as well as the next person."

"Numbers, yes," she agreed, handing it back to him. "Your handwriting, no. Translate."

With an exaggerated sigh, he sat up and took the pad from her hand. "Be that way," he muttered, but there was a fondness in his tone that gave the lie to his words.

She let the last message on her terminal run, and the Ranger logo flashed onto the screen. "Aura," Cetaci's voice said, not bothering with pleasantries. "Where's Carlos? The Border's about to make trouble. The Defense's newest member has demands; there's a message from Saryn on the Control log."

The screen winked out, leaving only the logo and a timestamp before they too faded into nothingness. Her terminal log replaced the blank screen, indicating that all waiting transmissions had been viewed, but she could only gaze at it in surprise. Cetaci rarely inquired after Carlos, and incident's uniqueness was second only to the idea of the Border "making trouble". For whom? And over what?

"What was that about?" Carlos asked, sounding as puzzled as she felt. "The Defense's newest member?"

"I can only assume she refers to the Kerovan system." The idea that the twin colony worlds of Kerova would be responsible for political dissent, especially in an organization as decentralized as the Frontier Defense, was almost laughable. KO-35 and RS-42 were introverted to the point of isolationism, and she couldn't imagine them making any "demands" that their new allies were not fully prepared to meet.

"Why'd she ask about me?" Carlos wanted to know. "This isn't a new habit of hers, is it?"

Aura had to smile a little at the wariness in his tone. "Not to my knowledge."

"Good," he said, with obvious relief. "She must think I have something to do with this, then. Too bad she's not right," he added, as an afterthought. "Then I might have some idea what's going on."

Reaching a decision, Aura stood. "We can find out," she reminded him. "Let us review Saryn's message before we begin second-guessing Cetaci."

"But it's so easy," he said with a grin. At her look, though, he tossed the datapad and stylus down on the bed and clambered to his feet. "Right; Control, check. Let's go."

"They're not really supposed to be in the dorm at all," Ashley remarked, leading the way up the stairs toward the third floor. "Even visiting. But since the RA on our floor has a ferret, she can't really say anything."

"A ferret?" Kerone repeated. She sounded as though she was trying the word out. "I don't think I know what a ferret is."

"It's a cute furry thing," Ashley said over her shoulder, stopping at the water fountain on the second floor before continuing. "Kind of like a cross between a really short cat and a long mouse. I'll ask Kihrti if you can see her."

"We could bring the kittens with us and introduce them." Kerone's voice had that mild neutrality about it that was impossible to read. She could have been joking or deadly serious and it would have sounded exactly the same.

Ashley giggled, trying to picture such an encounter. "That's probably not a good idea. Kihrti thinks anything bigger than a ferret is a wild animal. I don't think she'd buy the whole mind control thing."

"It's not mind control," Kerone objected indignantly. "I just ask them to do something, and sometimes they do it. It's communication, that's all."

"Like when you told them to go to sleep, earlier?" Ashley looked back to catch her friend's expression as they stepped onto the third floor landing. The kittens had returned to DECA's supervision after an early morning playtime in the out of doors, but they had come up again in conversation when Kerone and Ashley came back to the dorm hours later.

"They were tired," the sorceress said defensively. "Besides, they had to calm down or DECA would have locked them up."

Ashley paused outside her door, staring at the laminated wrapping paper that served as her and Missy's message board. It had been blank when she left, but now it looked like someone had used it as scratch paper for the Great American Novel. Several someones.

Ashley, the message in the center of the board read. We need to talk. Weird things are happening at home, and I want to know what you think about them. Zhane and I are downstairs whenever you get back.

As if she wouldn't recognize Andros' handwriting with her eyes closed, he had signed the note with large, unmistakable letters and a little sun beside an X. She smiled to herself, reaching out to touch the "XO" with her fingers. She had taught him the shorthand for "kiss and hug" last spring, but he had always made the hug into a sun and it was as endearing as it was inexplicable.

"It's like a convention," Kerone observed, breaking into her reverie. She was scanning the rest of the board, and Ashley followed her gaze. There was an almost illegible message in the upper left, and it took a moment to decipher Carlos' words.

There was a scribble beneath that had to be his signature, and a darker squiggle beside it that made Ashley squint her eyes until she realized it wasn't the same language. Aura had signed her name next to his, and Ashley's smile widened as she saw Tessa's precise lettering directly beneath their names. Was there anyone who hadn't been by today?

Hi, Tessa's message read. What's going on? Can I help? TJ's on campus till five, but I'll tell him to stay after work if you want.

That was all; no excuse for stopping by and no instruction to return the visit. The other note on the door was for Missy, and Ashley wondered briefly what her roommate had thought of the flurry of messages. If she'd even seen them... It was entirely possible Missy had gone out for the day; she'd forgotten to ask when she left that morning.

Kerone was staring at her, and after a few seconds she realized that she was staring back. In that gaze they managed to communicate amusement, worry, and mutual lack of information about whatever situation had come up while they were gone. Ashley reached for the doorknob and punched her combination into the lock, pushing the door open without another word.

The first thing she did was pick up the phone, and sure enough, the dial tone was stuttering. "Voice mail," she said for Kerone's benefit as she dialed the system number. "I'll see who it's from and then we can go find them."

"Message received 12:37," the synthesized voice informed her when she logged in. "Twenty seconds. Return path unknown."

Off campus, she thought, and a moment later her father's voice confirmed it. "Hi, Ash," she said aloud, repeating the words as she heard them. "It's Dad. You got a message from Cassie this morning, and it sounds important. She says--well, I'm not exactly sure what she says, but you'd better give it a listen when you have the chance."

Letting the phone drop, she added, "I hope you're having a good day, see you soon, bye." Setting it back in the cradle she complained half-heartedly, "My *dad* knows something's going on before I do. This is bad."

"Then why didn't he tell you?" Kerone demanded, her tone full of exasperation. "Why didn't he relay Cassie's message?"

Ashley made a face. "We don't have private voice mail. Missy and I log into the same account, so we both hear each other's messages."

Kerone gave her an impatient look, the word "so?" clear in her eyes.

"Secret identities?" Ashley reminded her. "Trying not to spread the whole Ranger thing around?"

"Still?" Kerone gave every impression of rolling her eyes without actually doing it. "I truly don't understand how you've managed to do it this long." Then she frowned. "And Aura?"

"Friend of Carlos'," Ashley said with a shrug. "Met while the Aquitians were defending Earth last fall, fell in love, stopped hiding from the cameras. Alien girlfriend, yes, but Power Ranger? No more than any of the rest of us."

"No more than the rest of you, indeed," Kerone muttered, glancing toward the door. "That explains why the notes on the door are so cryptic, then."

"Yeah." Ashley frowned, wishing she had the slightest clue what could have happened. Wishing the thought of seeing Andros didn't completely overshadow her curiosity. "We'd better go find them."

The main doors opened onto the first floor lounge, and Ashley assumed that was what Andros meant by "downstairs". As good as he was, even Andros probably couldn't hang around a narrow hallway indefinitely without looking conspicuous. And he certainly couldn't do it with Zhane in tow. They must have seen the common area when they came in--never having been there before, they wouldn't have known to use the side doors for faster access to the stairs--and correctly pegged it as a good lurking spot.

Despite the logic, though, the lounge was deserted when she and Kerone arrived. They exchanged bemused glances, and Ashley was about to go in just to convince herself that it was really empty when Kerone cocked her head meaningfully. Ashley paused, listening more closely... and then she heard it. The click and bang of plastic on wood across the hall was punctuated by the more familiar sound of Andros' voice.

"--being a Ranger, I mean," he was saying. There was a moment where the only noise was the clicking and something that sounded like a couple of punches being thrown at a hollow wall. "Did you really think it was great?"

Ashley froze, and when she dared to look at Kerone again she found the other girl's eyes wide. The voices were coming from the dorm's makeshift kitchen. Ashley had inspected it the day before and found it to contain only a sink, toaster, and microwave. It was used more as a place to store the foosball table than for cooking, but it did give the illusion of privacy for those who wanted to be out of the mainstream.

"I thought being with you was great," Zhane's voice answered at last. "But you know I was never really Ranger material."

She hadn't really thought about moving toward the kitchenette, but she found herself just outside the door with no desire to announce her presence just yet. Kerone was right beside her, just as silent, and somehow that made it seem less wrong. It did occur to her that there might be a fundamental problem with using the former princess of evil as her moral compass, but she decided not to dwell on it.

"My point," Zhane was saying, in the sudden absence of clicks and bangs.

"You can't believe that, Zhane." Andros sounded troubled. "Of course you're meant to be a Ranger. The Power chose you."

There was another hollow sound, and the clicking started again. "It chose me because I'm loyal," Zhane said, a distracted note in his voice. "Because I needed it, not because I'm a warrior. You know that."

"Stop telling me what I know," Andros retorted. There was the sound of spinning metal and another bang, and he added, "Rangers aren't just chosen for their fighting skills. Loyalty, courage, intelligence--"

"You don't have to boost my ego." There was a familiar smirk in Zhane's voice, and the spun metal sound came again. "There are parts of being a Ranger that I'm good at, and I know it."

There was another bang, and he sounded even more smug as he repeated, "My point."

The noise had paused again, and Zhane continued, "I'm a Ranger, and I know I earned it. But I didn't earn it because I wanted it, or because it was my destiny. I earned it because of you."

"Boo." The whisper in Ashley's ear made her jump, and she saw Kerone whirl. One of them must have made a sound, because the door to the kitchenette swung open the rest of the way and Andros peered out at them in confusion.

"Hi," Ashley said sheepishly. She heard TJ chuckle, but she couldn't take her eyes away from Andros'. As comprehension settled over his features, she was relieved that he looked more amused than angry.

"I heard there was a party," TJ drawled, ignoring the uncomfortable looks she and Kerone gave each other when Zhane joined his best friend in the doorway. "I assumed I was invited."

Ashley fidgeted a little, wondering how long he'd been watching them eavesdrop. "I thought you didn't get out of work till five!"

"I left early," he said with a shrug. "Tessa called me and said something was up. I was on my way to find her when I saw you two huddled over here."

"We were, um--" She couldn't help glancing at Kerone, and she was sure she looked exactly as guilty as she felt. "We were watching Andros and Zhane play foosball," she managed at last. It wasn't totally a lie.

TJ raised an eyebrow, but his reply wasn't quite what she'd expected. "Who taught you to play foosball?" he asked, directing the question at the Kerovan Rangers.

Andros gave him the Look, a patented Andros expression of exasperation tinged with disgust and resignation. "It's not like it's hard," he pointed out. "Two goals, four sticks. We didn't need an instruction manual to figure it out."

"Excuse me," Kerone interjected. "Could someone at least give me a situation synopsis before the dissertation on cultural simplicity instead of after? It's just a matter of personal priorities."

That stopped them, and Andros looked around, gathering them up with his eyes as he had a thousand times before. He was their leader, and all it took was a familiar, wordless gesture to know that truth remained. Whether they were across the hall or in different galaxies, some things didn't change.

"We'd better go upstairs," he said simply.

4. Rally T

Aura stared down at the datapad with something akin to consternation on her face. The dappled sunlight playing across her skin hid her frown, but the impatient sigh that escaped her lips gave her away. "How did you do this?" she demanded, still perusing the translated equations.

Lounging on the blanket beside her, Carlos gazed out across the lake and just grinned. He knew a rhetorical question when he heard one, and it wouldn't take her long to realize that the only advantage he'd had was the fact that he hadn't been staring at the same numbers for three days on end. He'd managed to balance the fuel ratios she'd been struggling with at last, so he might as well enjoy her incredulity while it lasted.

"Billy will enjoy this," she muttered, tossing the pad down in disgust. "He advised me to let you do the conversions from the start."

"Only because they were mobile," Carlos pointed out. "If I could have been there for the test runs, you know he would have made me do that instead."

"And let you blow up another prototype?" Aura followed his gaze for a moment, watching the late afternoon sun sparkle off the water, but before long her eyes were drawn irresistibly back to the discarded datapad. "I doubt he's overly impressed with your record as a test pilot."

"Hey," he objected, shooting an amused look in her direction. "One, that wasn't my fault. And two--"

Carlos broke off as he caught sight of a girl approaching them, her gaze trained on Aura and an apprehensively hopeful look on her face. Swallowing his complaint that he wasn't much better at math than she seemed to think he was at flying, he nudged his girlfriend and nodded over her shoulder. "Heads up," he said, quietly enough that it wouldn't carry. "You have an adoring fan at ten o'clock."

"You and your clocks," she murmured, glaring down at the datapad. "The rest of the galaxies use bearings, you know."

"Um... excuse me--Ranger Aura?" The girl had hesitated, just within earshot and looking as though she might flee at any moment. Carlos raised an eyebrow at her politely formal address, though; someone had been paying attention during the Aquitian broadcasts last fall.

Aura looked up from the equations as though she hadn't realized anyone else was nearby. "Yes," she agreed, as though the girl had asked a question. Which, Carlos supposed, she had.

"Would you--uh... could I get your autograph?" the girl asked in a rush.

"What do you wish me to sign?" Aura countered patiently. She was much better with these kids than he would be, and when the girl nervously presented a notebook and pen, Aura signed and handed it back with a small smile.

"And you wonder why I like Aquitar so much," Carlos muttered, as the girl all but skipped away.

Aura gave him an arch look. "I always assumed it was because I'm there," she teased, her earlier sourness slipping away.

"That's the most important reason," he agreed immediately, touching her fingers with a grin. She turned her hand over and squeezed his, and he ran his thumb over the glittery nail polish Ashley had given her. "But it's nice to be someplace where Rangers are just ordinary people."

She smiled at that, a real smile that she only wore around people she was comfortable with. "Rangers are never just ordinary people, Carlos."

"Well, Aquitar treats us like we are," he said, smiling back. "And it's nice."

Her amused expression faded, replaced by a pensive look that set off alarm bells in his mind. "What are you thinking?" he wondered aloud, watching her face closely.

She squeezed his hand distractedly. "I am only trying to remember if we have ever been outside of Coralside together. I suspect not... you might feel differently if we had."

"Why do you say that?"

Her thoughtful eyes regarded him carefully, as though trying to judge his reaction before it came. "The Ranger Dome has been located in Coralside for generations," she told him. "The city populace has become accustomed to having Rangers in its midst. The rest of the planet is not necessarily so nonchalant in their dealings with us."

He considered that for a moment, and finally he shrugged. "I guess that's reassuring," he said with a smile. "Earth isn't quite as backward as it sometimes feels, huh?"

Aura's expression stayed perfectly neutral, but her eyes danced. "I did not say that," she pointed out.

"League brat," he teased.

A smile played across her lips. "Seasider."

"So is that why Tideus and Corcus stay in Coralside?" Carlos asked, picking up the conversation as though it hadn't been interrupted. "Because people are used to them?"

She hesitated a moment before nodding. "Many former Rangers live in the city for precisely that reason. Delphine and Cestro stay because their families are there, of course, and I am sure their teammates stay partly to be close to them. But it is no secret that Aurico had a difficult time resettling, even with his wife's connections, and I think the others are not anxious to try it themselves."

There was a brief silence, and when it began to stretch out he let his gaze wander back toward the lake. The ripples on its deep blue surface were lined with sun-gold and cloud-silver as fairweather puffs drifted across the sky above. The beach itself was peppered with people, lounging as they were or watching lazily over children playing in the shallow water.

He could remember a time when he wouldn't have dared to bring her here. To the lake, yes, but not to this beach. Not to this public place, where someone as alien as her would be anything but inconspicuous and anyone might see. Sometimes he wondered whether he had become less responsible or more so over the last two years.

"When I leave active Ranger duty, I suppose I will settle there too," Aura mused aloud.

He blinked, setting his mind to focus on the conversation again. "Coralside?" he asked reflexively, just to confirm that they were still talking about what he thought they were talking about. Then the rest of her sentence caught up with him. "Wait, when you leave active Ranger duty?"

She gave him an amused look. "Where were you?"

Sheepishly, he admitted, "Just thinking about how much things have changed. You're not planning to quit the team, are you?"

He was half-kidding, but he was still relieved when her lips curved upward at the idea. "No, of course not.

"I have only been a Ranger for two years," she added, surprising him with the same number he had just been contemplating. "The average tour of duty is four, and I have no intention of giving up the Power just yet."

"Four years?" he repeated, not sure whether the figure itself or the fact that it existed surprised him more.

He knew that Adam, the Ranger who had chosen Carlos to inherit his Power, had kept his morpher for almost that long before passing it on. He knew too that Andros had had his morpher all his life. But those were the only two examples he had, other than his own, and there didn't seem to be a lot of middle ground... he'd never considered an "average" length of time.

"For Aquitian Rangers, that is," she said, glancing sideways at him. "Billy says that most Earth Rangers do not hold the Power that long."

"No," Carlos agreed slowly. "I guess they wouldn't... Justin says he was the only Ranger not in high school when he was recruited, and we're the first to keep the Power after graduating." He thought about it for a moment, wondering why it had never occurred to him before. "I guess that makes us the oldest Rangers."

Aura was smiling again. "Not so old, on Aquitar," she told him. "Even in Aquitian years, our entire team is older than anyone on yours."

"Except your leader," he retorted, rolling his eyes at her deliberate omission.

"No," she murmured, an odd look floating across her face. "I suppose that's true."

He raised an eyebrow. "You suppose? Cestria told me that Cetaci's eighteen."

"Nineteen, now," Aura corrected absently. "She would have graduated next year, had she stayed in school."

Seeming to come back to herself, she focused on him again and added, "Nonetheless, it takes Aquitar longer to circle its sun than it does Earth. Even at nineteen, she is several of your years older than you."

"And you still only hold the Power for four years?" Carlos had once done the Aquitian-Earth conversion for Aura's age, and he found it was better for his peace of mind if he didn't think about it too much. "The first Turbo team only gave up their morphers because they had to get real jobs. If they could have been Rangers longer, I think they would have."

"Do you?" She studied him. "It is true that our worlds approach Rangering differently, but whether one becomes a Ranger before or after one finishes schooling, all teams have in common the fact that they are made up of young people."

"You just finished telling me how old everyone on your team is," Carlos reminded her, his tone teasing.

Her lips quirked. "Relatively speaking," she insisted, but there was a slightly petulant note in her voice that told him he'd made his point. "Being a Ranger requires three characteristics that youth has in abundance: physical conditioning, invincibility, and a willingness to be consumed by something else. None of those things last forever, least of all the last. Rangers that do not pass on the Power burn out. There are no exceptions."

"Well, damn," Carlos said, rolling over onto his back to stare up at the sky. "Here I thought being a Ranger required five close friends, an obsession with a single color, and amazing good looks. You've completely destroyed my belief system. I hope you're satisfied."

Beside him, she put her elbows on her knees and her chin in her hands and offered, "If it's any comfort, I have often wished a deadpan sense of humor had made the list."

He put his hands behind his head and grinned up at her. "Then you're in luck, because that's one thing that just gets better with age."

She smiled back at him, but her question surprised him. "What will you do when you relinquish the Power?"

He shrugged as best he could in his current position. "I'm doing it," he pointed out. "Like you said, we do Rangering differently here. No threat, no duties, so unless some new villain comes along to threaten Earth, we'll just keep on with our lives."

Her expression grew thoughtful, and he turned the question back on her before she could say anything. "What about you? What will you do in two years, or whenever you decide to leave?"

At that, she frowned. "You make it sound like abandonment," she murmured, though her tone wasn't particularly accusatory. "There comes a time when a Ranger is more of a liability than an asset, you know."

"Not really," he said frankly, keeping his gaze fixed on hers. "I don't know much about the other Earth Rangers, but Andros has been the Red Ranger all his life. He's not a liability to anyone."

"Except himself," Aura said softly. "He grew into the Power while his world was at war and there was nothing more heroic than immersing oneself in battle. Now that is changing, and Andros has driven away everyone close to him to keep doing what he does."

Carlos opened his mouth to protest, but then he remembered Ashley's bleak expression when asked why she had left KO-35. "It was for the best," she had said, only three months after she had sworn her undying love for the Ranger that had drawn her there.

"Being a Ranger takes everything you are." Aura was watching his face, and he tried hastily to smooth his expression over. "There is little room left over for family, or friends... or anything else, for that matter. Few Rangers have meaningful relationships outside of their team."

"What about neighboring teams?" He had to try and lighten the mood a little; she was so solemn. He couldn't help thinking that maybe the teams on Earth, while having their own problems with secrecy, might have been spared some of the more difficult aspects of Rangering on other planets.

She smiled when he tapped her knee, tickling her bare skin with his fingers. "Some manage to make inter-team relationships work," she allowed. "But you cannot deny that you have had difficulty making time for anything other than the Astro Rangers at times."

He chuckled ruefully. "There were weeks when I lived and breathed that uniform," he admitted. "And it's never stopped being my first priority."

"On some planets," Aura said quietly, "Rangers live and breathe their duty for as long as they wear a morpher. There comes a time in every person's life when that kind of commitment is no longer possible, when one can simply no longer give all that they have to others. Eventually, one has to get something back, something other than the rush of Power and the adrenaline of battle."

He frowned at her, concerned. "Are you..." He didn't know how to finish the sentence.

She smiled at him, a sincere smile that lit her eyes and warmed his heart. "I have you," she said simply. "And," she added, her smile taking on a fiercer cast, "I still thrive on it. The action, the responsibility and the risk--"

"The toys," he interjected, giving the datapad in front of her a significant glance.

She came that close to laughing as she followed his gaze. "The toys," she agreed. "As you well know, I put as much time off-duty time into Rangering as not. And as long as it means so much to me, I will continue to be an asset to the team."

He felt compelled to point out, "You can't really think you'll ever be a liability to your friends, no matter how much things change."

Her expression sobered a little. "There is a difference between the team and my friends, Carlos. The team is something that we do. Friends... that's something that we are."

He smiled. "Very poetic."

"But true," she countered. "With the exception of Cetaci and Delphinius, who are as likely to kill each other as marry, we will never stop being friends. But for each of us there will come a day when we realize someone else could give more to the team, and one by one, we will step aside."

He considered that, wondering what a similar philosophy would mean for his own team. "It's funny," he murmured, half to himself. "Andros doesn't seem to look at it that way."

Aura was silent, and for a moment he thought she wouldn't answer. At last, though, she asked, "And if Kerova presses the issue? What then?"

Now he found that he was the one without an answer.

There was no answer at Carlos' door, so she left him a message with a post-it and a pencil. Neither he nor his roommates had bothered to buy a message board yet, but she hoped the bright yellow would catch his eye. It told him to meet them in Tessa's room when he got back, and she added the numbers "227" in case he had forgotten.

As she turned away, Ashley saw a flash of red out of the corner of her eye. She spun, but there was no one there. With a sigh, she reminded herself that Andros was far too busy trying to explain Kerovan politics to the others to bother catching her alone right now. She should just go back down there and listen, and pretend she cared whether they wanted her morpher back or not.

He hadn't even called her back. She wrinkled her nose as she headed for the stairwell. Granted, she hadn't made her message sound particularly urgent, but there was a time when he would have come just because she had said "hi", not because his planet's government had tried to counter a decision he had made about the Rangers. She tried not to be upset about that.

He was here out of concern for them, after all. Even if it wasn't for her specifically, at least he was worrying about something other than KO-35. It wasn't like he had come just because his authority had been threatened--

She rounded the corner and came up short, her eyes widening in surprise. What had she just been thinking about him trying to get her alone?

"Andros," she managed. Her eyes traveled down his frame before she could stop herself, and she felt a frown trying to establish itself on her face. "Why are you..."

She trailed off uncertainly. He was wearing his Astro flightsuit here in the middle of the dorm, and he looked--off, somehow. It could be the fact that his hair was free of its ponytail for the first time in days, or that Zhane's phoenix necklace hung on the chain that usually held Kerone's locket. Or it could be the lack of recognition in his expression... she could have been anyone, anyone at all, and he would have given her the same look of bored indifference.

She took a step back in confusion, and he was gone. Just like that--no warning, no movement, no nothing--just gone in the time it took to blink, and she was left staring in shock at the empty stairwell.

By the time she reached Tessa's room, she was sure she'd looked over her shoulder a dozen times. She knocked tentatively, giving the hallway one last glance as Tessa called, "Come in!"

Ashley stuck her head into the room and looked them over carefully, locating Andros first--dressed in a short-sleeve Kerovan tunic and stonewashed California jeans, he paused at her intense scrutiny and gave her a questioning look. He stood by the windows, Zhane at his left shoulder with his white hair glowing in the slanted sunlight and the red-banded communicator still lurking on his wrist.

Kerone sat on Karen's bed, alone without being apart. The phoenix necklace hung over her t-shirt as it had for months, glinting in the suddenly silent room. Across from her, TJ and Tessa were side by side on the other bed, and Ashley was aware of everyone's eyes on her.

"What's wrong?" TJ asked, as she finally slid into the room and closed the door behind her. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

She opened her mouth to tell them what she had seen, but something stopped her. What could she say? That she was having hallucinations about the boyfriend she'd gone to live with at the beginning of the summer and then moved out on three months later? That she had been thinking about him and he appeared as though summoned in front of her? That would go over well.

"Nothing," she lied, trying to smile reassuringly. "I just... I wasn't sure I remembered Tessa's room number right, that's all."

"My name's on the door," Tessa pointed out, looking as confused as TJ.

"Yeah, well..." She shifted uncomfortably, not sure what other excuse to use.

To her infinite relief, Zhane came to her rescue. "So Carlos wasn't there, huh?"

She shot him a grateful look. "No, but I left a note on his door. When he gets back he'll know where to find us."

"Andros was just telling us that the Council doesn't have the final say in Ranger matters," TJ added, though the penetrating look he gave her said he might not drop it that easily. She sat down on the edge of the bed next to Kerone, trying to avoid his gaze. "Apparently, they can't force the team to split up if we don't want to."

"There's such a thing as Ranger law," Zhane put in.

Andros shot him an odd look, but all he said was, "I'd like to think we won't have to resort to that."

"What does that mean?" TJ wanted to know. "Ranger law?"

"It means that if the Power had wanted the Council to make decisions about the Rangers, it would have given them the morphers in the first place." Zhane leaned insolently back against one of the girls' bureaus, a smirk on his face. "They can't tell us what to do."

Andros sighed. "Zhane..."

"What?" Zhane didn't bother to straighten up. "Isn't that what you were saying this morning? That Rangers are above Council law?"

Ashley frowned, looking over at Kerone. Andros' sister caught her eye, and if the puzzled look she saw reflected back at her was any indication, Kerone had caught an undercurrent of hostility in that question too. Since when had Zhane been anything but open about his feelings?

"I didn't say that." Andros' gaze was locked with Zhane's now, and the rest of them might as well have ceased to exist. "I said that they earned those morphers, and I won't let the Council think otherwise."

"Guys?" TJ interrupted. "Hello? 'They' happen to be right here."

"I'll go." Ashley tried not to wince as every eye in the room turned toward her again. "That's what this is about, right? It's not whether we deserve to have the astromorphers or not, it's whether the morphers are doing any good when we're here on Earth.

"If they want a team that lives in the Kerova system, then I'll go. Live there again, I mean," she said, when comprehension seemed to evade everyone except Kerone. The sorceress looked as though she had expected nothing less. "If I'd thought someone wanted me there, I wouldn't have left in the first place."

The words escaped before she could think about how they would sound, and that statement made Kerone's eyes widen where the others had not. But that was nothing compared to the look of hurt on Andros' face. He stared at her as though she had just announced he was the lowest scum in the universe.

Tessa cleared her throat, speaking for the first time since Ashley had returned. "I'm not saying you shouldn't go, Ash, but... that's not really going to solve the problem, is it? You can't *all* go." She looked to TJ for support.

He shook his head firmly. "I understand what the Council is saying, Andros; I really do. But I'm not moving--and frankly, I don't see why I should have to give up my morpher. What if Divatox comes back? What if some new villain decides to attack Earth? We don't have a team, no, but at least there are some people here now who stand a chance of fighting back."

Andros swallowed. "That's... I guess, that's--" He couldn't seem to finish the sentence, and it occurred to Ashley distantly that he hadn't been so speechless even when she'd announced she was returning to Earth.

"The Alliance," Zhane said, covering for his friend as he always had. "You haven't heard anything from them, have you?"

TJ and Tessa exchanged glances. "Us?" TJ asked, when no one else said anything.

"You, Ashley, anyone." Zhane was frowning. "I didn't think of it until you said that just now. The Alliance isn't going to like this at all. I hope the Council hasn't made any kind of official statement."

"They are Kerovan morphers," Kerone pointed out, with her usual lack of concern for what anyone would think.

TJ frowned. "Earth Rangers used Eltaran morphers for three years. I don't see that this is any different. The Power chooses people who need it, regardless of where they're from."

Tessa looked at him in surprise, and he shrugged sheepishly. "I did some studying."

"I guess," she murmured, but she looked pleased.

"Is that someone in the hall?" Kerone was frowning at the door.

There were voices outside the door, but there was nothing unusual about that--until the familiar accents made Ashley sit up and call, "Come in, Carlos!"

Tessa gave her an amused look, and she ducked her head in apology. "Sorry," she offered ruefully, but Tessa just grinned.

Carlos leaned around the doorframe and inquired, "Dinner?"

Only then did Ashley remember how hungry she was, and she saw Tessa's eyes light up at the word. "Food!" the blonde-haired girl exclaimed, nudging TJ with her elbow. "Remember what that is, TJ?"

"It's not that late," he complained good-naturedly, glancing at his watch. "Well, all right--it's almost that late. Sorry about that."

"We were discussing the Council's request," Kerone offered. Carlos held the door for Aura when he realized no one was jumping to their feet, and as he entered behind her he gave Kerone a wry look.

"Funny," he said, pulling the door shut. "So were we. Come up with anything interesting?"

"Just that the Alliance is going to be ticked," Ashley muttered, irritated at the reminder of Carlos' and Aura's perfect relationship. Something occurred to her, and she made herself catch Andros' eye again. "I suppose KO-35's going to want the zords Zordon gave us, too."

He just stared at her, saying nothing. Beside him, Zhane shrugged. "That's a good question. The Mega Vs are sort of linked to the astromorphers now, aren't they?"

"Ashley." Andros was clearly paying no attention to the conversation. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

Zhane glanced at him uncertainly, and Ashley saw Carlos and Aura exchange puzzled looks. "Sure," she said with a shrug. She stayed where she was, watching him.

He swallowed. "Outside," he said, more quietly.

She felt Zhane's blue eyes on her, but where his gaze had been sympathetic before, now the intent behind it was just as readable. His expression said, Have a little compassion, clear as day. Don't do this to him.

Suppressing a sigh, she got to her feet. Carlos gave her a concerned look even as he stepped out of her way, but she didn't say a word until she was out in the hallway and Andros had closed the door behind them. For a moment, he too was silent, and her impatience bubbled over.

"What?" she demanded, as quietly as she could. She didn't care if people in the hallway heard her, but their voices would carry through the door as easily as Carlos' and Aura's had. "What did I do now? If this is another lecture on diplomacy, don't worry about it, because I can't embarrass you anymore."

She knew that wasn't why he wanted to talk to her, but this was just too reminiscent of so many other mid-situation meetings when he'd felt the need to impart some piece of information or just a plea for tact--or silence. She knew she wasn't the best diplomat in the world, but he didn't have to rub her nose in it all the time.

His response was quite possibly the last thing she had prepared herself for. "God," he whispered, leaning back against the wall. "I'm so sorry, Ash."

He'd never sworn to a god before, not that she could remember anyway, and she wondered where he could have picked that up. She watched him, feeling that she should say something but unable to deny that part of her thought he deserved this small anguish. It was a horrible thing to think, she scolded herself, but that didn't banish the thought.

"Look," he said, straightening up and reaching out to touch her shoulder. He withdrew his hand at the last second, as though he wasn't sure she'd let him do it, and the look of sadness that crossed his face made her wonder what he was thinking.

"I know I've screwed up," he said softly. "I'm sorry you thought I didn't want you there, because nothing could be farther than the truth. I'm sorry I let the whole Ranger thing get so big that I thought there was nothing I could do to make you stay, because there must have been something. Maybe it was..." He closed his eyes and started again. "Maybe it was as small a thing as letting you know that having you with me was the best thing about KO-35."

He was staring at her again, and she hadn't even noticed when he opened his eyes. "My home is nothing to me without you, Ash, and since you've been gone--nothing's right anymore. Kerone won't talk to me, Zhane's mad at me, and all I can think about is getting you back. I don't know what to do."

The forlorn look on his face was her undoing, and she wrapped her arms around him without another thought. "It's okay," she murmured, hugging him hard. "It's going to be all right."

She thought she felt him sigh, but there was nothing cynical in his voice when he whispered plaintively, "Promise?"

She closed her eyes, knowing that to keep his arms around her she would promise him anything. "I promise," she said, just as quietly.

Bizarrely, there was a knock from the other side of the door, and she heard Carlos' voice coming from inside Tessa's room. "Hey, you guys still out there? No offense, but some of us are really hungry."

Ashley didn't move, afraid anything she said would break the spell. Twirling the ends of Andros' ponytail around her fingers, she sighed when she felt him pull away. But he just put his hands on her shoulders and kissed her gently, almost hesitantly. *I love you.*

She wasn't sure which of them said it first, but suddenly it didn't seem enough to keep it inside their heads. "I love you," she repeated aloud, kissing his lower lip gently. "I'll always love you."

"I love you too," he murmured, kissing her again.

"Guys?" This time Carlos pushed the door open, and she knew without looking that he was rolling his eyes at them. "If you don't want to eat you could just say so, you know."

"The dining halls won't stay open forever," TJ was saying. "How long do we have, again?"

"I'm not sure the dining hall can take this conversation," Tessa answered, over the rustle of her windbreaker. "Maybe we should just order pizza or something."

"We can't do this without Cassie." Zhane sounded unusually firm. "We should see if we can get through to Elisia."

"The Megaship," Andros said, keeping his arm tightly around Ashley's waist as he braced his other arm on the doorframe. "Let's go up to the Megaship, eat, call Cassie, and figure out what to do from there."

The comm on his dashboard beeped, and Saryn regarded the blinking light quizzically. There were very few callers who would be automatically routed from his home comm to his jetcycle, and no one but the other Rangers could tap into the jetcycle network directly. And the other Rangers were only moments gone, if that.

He reached out to acknowledge the signal, but the light went dark before his fingers could touch it. Cassie must have picked up--Cassie must be home, he realized, looking up. He scanned the exterior archway automatically, hoping to catch a glimpse of her through the corner windows. He couldn't, of course, not if she was by the comm, but the gesture was instinctive.

Mirine's jetcycle was already parked inside and abandoned by the time his joined it, but he hadn't expected her to wait. He had told her that he and Cassie wouldn't be joining the others for the evening meal, and he knew that she had more to take care of this evening than they had yet accomplished. The burden of team leadership still lay with her, despite his return, and he knew it might be that way indefinitely.

When he was honest with himself, he didn't know whether to consider the situation trial or gift.

He stepped out onto the promenade again, absently keying the garage closed behind him. He stared out toward the horizon, soaking in the winter shadows of the early sunset. Though the primary sun was setting on the other side of the compound, reflected color was beginning to tinge the eastern skies as it dropped ever nearer to the planet's surface.

He took in the evening's serenity for as long as he could before curiosity drove him inside to see whom Cassie was talking to. She looked up and waved a greeting as he entered, hanging his jetcycle gear by the door and smiling over at her. She was still dressed in her fair clothes, and he couldn't help thinking that the Elisian style suited her.

"Here's Saryn," she was telling the comm screen. The transparent display let him see her teammate's face from where he stood, but the projector was on her side and he would be invisible to Ashley until he moved around to join her.

"How did it go?" she asked, as he came around the end of the counter to do just that. "Is the Defense going to get involved?"

Without a word, Saryn laid a hand on her shoulder and drew her close, burying his face in her hair. He didn't care if Ashley saw, and he didn't care if half the compound felt him let his shields down. The day had been longer than he liked, mentally trying if not physically difficult, and he would not be denied this moment of peace.

"Hey," Cassie murmured softly, not protesting the onslaught of emotion. She wrapped an arm around him and squeezed, whispering for his ears only, "Want me to call them back?"

He took a deep breath, getting himself under control again. "No," he breathed, pulling away. Giving her a grateful smile, he added in a more normal voice, "You look nice. I trust you were well-received at the fair today?"

"Don't change the subject," she chided, but she gave him a beatific smile for asking. In truth, he couldn't for the life of him remember what she had wanted to know when he walked in.

"Will the Defense get involved if KO-35 tries to reissue the astromorphers?" Cassie prompted gently, the concern on her face telling him that if he didn't do better than that she was going to shut the comm down no matter what he said.

"Not--as such," he said, struggling to turn his attention toward the face on the screen. Ashley couldn't be the only one watching this transmission. "They will not involve themselves in a system's internal politics."

"I'm sensing a 'but' in there somewhere," Ashley remarked.

"The Alliance," Andros' voice said from somewhere offscreen.

"The Alliance," Saryn agreed tiredly. "If the Alliance takes up for Earth, the Defense will have no choice but to support Kerova. Mirine will find herself in a most awkward position," he added, glancing at Cassie.

She frowned, looking from him to Ashley and back again. "I don't understand. Why would the Alliance have a problem with... oh."

Comprehension flashed across Cassie's face even as Ashley offered, "If KO-35 takes the morphers back, Earth won't have any Rangers."

"And after all the trouble we went to get Alliance recognition," Carlos added, leaning into the frame, "Aura thinks they probably aren't going to ditch us now."

"They will not," Saryn confirmed. "Earth's Alliance membership will ensure its League status whether there is a Ranger team present or not, but the Inner Alliance will not let allow a member world to lose its first line of defense."

"Its only line of defense," Cassie corrected, looking troubled. "Earth doesn't have anything that can go up again villains from space. Nothing but the Rangers, anyway."

"Hey," Zhane's voice objected. "It's not like the Kerova system is the bad guy here. KO-35 is a lot more likely to be attacked than Earth is."

"It is not a matter of good and bad," Saryn pointed out, trying not to wince in anticipation of the outburst Zhane's comment might provoke. He couldn't take any more of that today. "Both sides have a valid argument, but it comes down to the fact that one team cannot defend three worlds."

"What does Mirine have to do with it?" Cassie was doing her best to divert the others' attention too, for which he was grateful, even if the answer to her question should have been obvious.

He reached out and stroked her hair gently. "You have one of the morphers Kerova wishes to recall," he reminded her. "Her loyalties will be questioned no matter what position Elisia takes."

If he hadn't been staring directly at her, he might not have seen her shimmer. He wasn't even sure that was the right word, but for a brief moment that seemed to stretch into one unnaturally long, she became less substantial before his eyes. He had time to think that she might vanish altogether, he had time to realize that her expression of shock wasn't due to his words, and he had time for his heart to constrict painfully at the possibilities--but he didn't have time to act.

An instant and an eternity later, she was drooping under his frantic gaze and as solid as he could have wished when he gripped her arms to hold her up. "Saryn," she gasped, her head twisting as if to rid her mind of some vision as one hand went to her stomach. She squeezed her eyes shut in a grimace of pain, and he tried not to flinch at the disconcerting echo that seemed to emanate from her.

"Cassie?" Ashley's horrified gaze made it clear that whatever had just happened had been obvious to her too. "What happened? Are you all right?"

"I'm--okay," Cassie said breathlessly, leaning heavily on him as he helped her into a chair. But her gaze didn't leave his, and her words only worried him more. "It was dark," she murmured, staring at him. "Everything... it was all burned..."

Then she wrapped her other arm around her stomach and leaned forward, as though she could hurry the fading pain on its way. "That hurt," she whispered, her only audible concession to the stabbing sensation he had felt in his own gut.

"Saryn?" Ashley was trying to ask something, but he paid no attention. He pulled Cassie's arms away from her stomach and laid his hands there instead. Closing his eyes, he directed the healing ability of his Power into her body, willing the damage away.

His eyes opened in surprise when he felt the echo again--the same thing that had intensified her pain now doubled the feeling of comfort radiating from her. He pulled away carefully, and she smiled warmly down at him. "Thanks," she murmured, and her expression left no doubt that she meant it.

"I'm okay," she said, in a louder voice as she looked up over his shoulder. Only then did he realize he was kneeling on the floor in front of her. "I'm fine, really. I just--things got all fuzzy there for a second."

"*You* got all fuzzy there for a second," Ashley retorted, studying her as closely as the comm link would allow. "What happened?"

"I--I don't know," Cassie admitted, and Saryn fought the almost overwhelming urge to rest his head on her knees and close his eyes again.

*No more,* he whispered, to a power that might or might not be listening. *Please just let us be. Let her sing, for as long as it brings her pleasure, and let me listen, for the rest of our days. Is that so much to ask?*

He felt Cassie's concern as she had no doubt felt his dismay, and a moment later her fingers were in his hair, brushing it away from his face in a casual gesture that would likely mean little to anyone watching. But she did it again, and again, letting the darkly highlighted strands slide through her fingers until he had to pull away or risk letting her friends see far more than they should.

He tried to glare at her, but she just smiled that innocent smile and laughed at him from behind dancing brown eyes. "I saw something," she told the screen, but she didn't look away from him. "The whole room changed for a second, and there was this pain in my stomach, and then... Saryn was holding me, and you were staring at me like I'd turned invisible or something."

"You almost did," Ashley informed her. "You sort of faded, just for a second."

Cassie frowned, glancing over at the screen before looking back at him. He nodded in agreement, but neither of them could find any words.

"What did you see?" Zhane's voice wanted to know.

Out of the corner of his eye, Saryn saw Ashley look over her shoulder. She was replaced by Zhane a moment later, and the Silver Ranger repeated his question. "What did you see, Cassie?"

"I saw a burned room," she said softly, still holding Saryn's gaze. "Saryn was gone... there wasn't anyone else in the room."

He was distantly aware of Zhane turning to talk to someone else, but all he could hear was Cassie in his mind. *It's going to be okay,* she promised him. *Don't look like that.*

"Andros saw something strange this morning," Zhane said at last, facing the screen again. "We were at Aquitar for the races and he thought he saw Ashley. The Aquitian Rangers couldn't find anything that could have caused it."

"I--I saw something too," Ashley offered, from somewhere offscreen. "Andros, in the hallway, when he was really in Tessa's room. He looked different, too."

"When?" Zhane demanded. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"This afternoon," she answered. "And why didn't you?"

"Has anyone else... seen something inexplicable?" Saryn asked, so quietly he wasn't sure the comm would pick it up.

Cassie opened her mouth to repeat his question when Zhane did it for him. This time, the voices offscreen were too far away to be intelligible, and they had to wait for Zhane's attention to return. Meanwhile, Saryn let his hand drop possessively to Cassie's shoulder and entertained the idea of simply switching the comm off. Why did the Astro Rangers seem to attract trouble so?

"Carlos and TJ, too," Zhane said at last, turning back to the comm. His statement did not surprise Saryn in the slightest. "They were alone when it happened, but I was looking at Andros and he sure didn't fade the way Cassie did."

That was it. That was all he could take. Saryn turned and walked away.

He settled in the corner by the windows, as far as he could get from the comm and still keep an eye on Cassie. He doubted he would be able to let her out of his sight at all after this, and that would just lead to the old familiar drama. She would complain that he was overprotective, and he would growl about losing her, then she would roll her eyes and he would frown... it was a road they had been down too many times before.

He had rather grown to like their new routine, where they endured mock-battles over Jetson and taunted each other out of bed in the morning. Where the only thing he had to worry about was what public place she would chose to ambush him in next time, and all that made her complain was how long his hair was getting... Why this new threat, and why now? Hadn't they paid their price for happiness?

That was the exhaustion talking, a distant part of his mind noted. He was cross and sullen because he had been bombarded with intensity and secret agendas all day long, and all he had wanted on returning home was to share the evening meal with his wife. Instead, he had found her teammates and their ridiculously involved puzzles coming in to complicate things again.

"Sulking?" Cassie suggested softly, coming toward him with a smile on her face. He hadn't even seen her get up, but the comm was off and there was a hint of sympathy in her tone. "Rough day, huh?"

He held his silence, but his fingers clenched together and she didn't miss the gesture. Her knowing look was too much, and he blurted out, "I try to block it out! I try, but it's so loud and diplomats never know how foolish they sound! All I want--"

He drew in a breath as she lowered herself into the chair beside him, more in his lap than not as she put an arm over his shoulders and rested her head against his chest. "All I want is for it to be quiet, sometimes," he finished, more gently.

She didn't say anything for a moment, but at last she remarked, "There's more than one reason empaths aren't allowed in politics, I guess."

He sighed, the frustration draining out of him slowly. "Linnse and Tobin would protect me if they could," he murmured. "But they don't know what it's like. And Mirine has other things to worry about. I miss--"

He broke off abruptly, but she caught the name he didn't say. "Lyris?" she said softly.

He sighed again. "I suppose it is selfish to miss him for the way he used to shield me," he murmured. "He understood, the way you do. But... I begin to think that I may not be able to do this without him."

She stilled, frozen in place, and he slid his other arm around her. "Not *this*," he said, hugging her as tightly as he could. "Just--the politicking."

"Maybe the Frontier Defense could find someone else," she murmured, echoing his own thoughts. "Do you think?"

He nodded slowly, rubbing her arm with his free hand and reveling in the feeling of having her so close. At the end of the day, she was more than his love--she was his solace. The emotions that raged around him quieted in her presence... or maybe they were just overwhelmed, by her, by her flamboyance and caring and everything that made her who she was.

"I do think so," he whispered. "More and more often, of late."

He felt her smile, and just like that the image of her fading assaulted his memory again. He frowned down at her dark head. "Don't ever leave me, Cassie," he said suddenly. It was half command, half plea.

She didn't so much as twitch, but he knew she understood what he meant. "You know I won't," she replied quietly.

Tessa hadn't been on the Megaship in some time, but it hadn't changed much from what she remembered. In fact, it hadn't changed at all, except for the fact that having DECA's presence manifest itself physically--or at least photonically--in the form of a hologram was something she had never quite gotten used to.

"Eight o'clock class tomorrow?" TJ whispered in her ear, and she nodded wordlessly.

She didn't want to leave, but the conversation was dying down. There were only so many times that one could review the lack of knowledge they currently had, and even fewer during which they felt comfortable bringing up the Alliance/Defense conflict. She hadn't completely grasped what the problem was there, but Tessa gathered that Andros' and Zhane's world was part of one organization while Earth belonged to another. And apparently the Astro Rangers couldn't be on both sides.

"Hey, guys," TJ said, pitching his voice low to avoid waking Aura. The Aquitian had fallen asleep an indeterminate amount of time ago, and Carlos had mentioned it being mid-morning on Aquitar by now. "We're glad to stay and help clean up, but we'd better get moving pretty soon or the alarm clock is going to be our worst enemy tomorrow morning."

"The alarm clock is always my worst enemy," Carlos countered, but he spoke too softly for the words to carry much conviction.

"We'll take care of the dishes," Ashley volunteered. "I don't have to get up till late tomorrow anyway."

"Hey, speak for yourself!" Zhane looked indignant. "I'm not offering to do anyone's dishes."

"What, the only Silver Ranger in the history of the Kerova system can't do a few dishes for his teammates?" Andros' tone was mild, but his words were all it took to make Zhane throw up his hands in disgust.

"All right, all right! We'll do the dishes," he grumbled, sparing an unconvincing glare for TJ and Carlos. "Go put your girls to bed, or whatever you do at night."

Tessa tried not to giggle, she really did, but she couldn't help it. Was there anything Zhane wouldn't do if his best friend asked it of him? He didn't even do a particularly good job of feigning reluctance. And really... "'Whatever you do at night'?" she whispered to TJ.

He leaned over and kissed her temple. "I think we'll let that one lie," he murmured, before pulling away and offering her a hand up. "Come on, Physics Girl. Let's get out of here before they change their mind."

"Yeah, and 'thanks' to you too," Zhane muttered.

"Good night, everyone," TJ said, ignoring him. "Thanks for cleaning up, guys."

"Keep us posted," Tessa added, stifling a yawn. She might not have all the details down yet, but she had come to realize that being involved with the Rangers meant one never had all the details until after the fact. If then, she thought wryly.

Andros gave them a half-salute as TJ pulled her close to teleport. "Will do," he assured her.

5. In the News

They didn't even wait until he left to start arguing, and that bothered Carlos. It wasn't that he had never seen Zhane and Andros fight; it was just that he had never seen them so serious about it. They teased each other mercilessly and they bickered over trivialities like there was no tomorrow, but he had rarely seen them on opposite sides of an actual debate.

"It is good for them," Aura murmured, her head resting on his shoulder as they paused in the hallway outside her room. Her voice had the dreamy quality of someone who wasn't more than half-awake at best, but she was clearly aware enough to be reading his mind.

He made a noncommittal sound as he punched her code into the keypad beside her door. Aura's perception of the situation was arguably skewed by her teammates' odd relationship. She also hadn't known the Kerovans as long as he had; she couldn't realize that the unified front they presented to the universe wasn't a front at all, but a real reflection of their feelings.

Carlos had long suspected Zhane of supernatural qualities when it came to dealing with Andros, for no one seemed to reach the Red Ranger the way his best friend did. He had patience that exceeded Ashley's and an easy persuasiveness that had worked in the team's favor more than once. It was an unspoken truth among the Astro Rangers that if you needed Andros out of the way you went to Ashley. If you needed him to change his mind, you went to Zhane.

Unfortunately, that truth now seemed months out of date. Things were changing, but Carlos wasn't sure how or why. Was Andros pushing them away on purpose, as Aura seemed to think? Or was he just too overwhelmed by responsibility to see what was happening?

"Neither knows where the other stands anymore," Aura insisted. His support was all that kept her from collapsing on the bed as he sat down beside her, and the way she mumbled was charming if not particularly convincing. "Without confrontation, they will only drift farther apart."

Carlos suspected it was too late to prevent that, but one look at her convinced him that now was the not the time for rational discussion. "No offense," he told her gently, "but you'll be more believable when you can keep your eyes open."

Her fingers clenched on his shirt, forcing him to lean forward as she slipped out of his arms and fell back against her pillows. "You would be more believable," she said, very clearly, "if you would stay here with me where you belong."

His breath caught in his throat. Reaching up to disentangle her fingers, he was unprepared for the sensuous slide of her hands on his as she abandoned her grip on his shirt. "Aura--" His voice rasped and he stopped abruptly, embarrassed.

Clearing his throat, he tried again. "Aura, I have to go." He would have dearly loved to kiss her senseless, but she would be on call in three hours and he needed to sleep before classes started. "I'll see you tomorrow, all right?"

"Tomorrow," she mumbled, letting him go with a sigh that was almost his undoing. He trailed his fingers down her arm before he turned to leave, wondering if the incident would rate a mention in the morning. Once before she had asked him to stay the night in her bed, and then as now he had managed to avoid answering the question directly.

He wasn't sure what made him look up when he stepped out into the hallway. The route was so familiar that he could have found his way to the control room with his eyes closed, but maybe that was what tipped him off. He wasn't consciously paying attention to his surroundings, but something tickled the back of his mind nonetheless.

He glanced around, trying to pin the fleeting sensation down. There was no one else in the hallway, but that wasn't unusual. Cool muted light washed the walls with a faint violet glow, and the hum of the generators provided a faint but noticeable background for the peaceful setting. His gaze flitted across the lettering over Billy's door, absently translating the alien alphabet as he tried to find anything out of the ordinary.

His mind caught up with his eyes and he froze. He turned, a chill icing its way down his spine as he stared at the letters again. They didn't spell out "Billy," or any variation thereof. The design over the Blue Ranger's door was a completely unfamiliar combination of corners and curves.

Almost unwillingly, his gaze slid sideways down the hall. "Delphinius" was a hard one, but it didn't take more than a glance to know that the brief inscription over the Black Ranger's door couldn't be his. Cetaci's door was at such an angle that he couldn't even see the lettering by her room, let alone read it, but he had no desire to investigate.

Carlos took a step back, expecting an unfamiliar face to come bursting through one of those doors at any moment. The sight of Cassie fading before his eyes sprang into sharp relief in his mind, and he took another step backward. Aura's door, still unlocked, slid open behind him, and he backed through it slowly as though he could erase this vision by retracing the steps that had brought him here.

As Aura's door slid shut again, it suddenly occurred to him that he had just made a huge mistake. Wherever he was, it was obviously not the Ranger dome he knew, and this was no longer Aura's room. He swallowed, steeling himself to turn around and face a stranger outraged by this invasion of privacy.

Aura was curled on her side, in the same position he had left her just a minute ago. Her eyes were closed and her breathing was almost imperceptible. He studied her for a long moment, not convinced until he realized her mermaid necklace had slipped free when she lay down. The silver pendant glittered against the pillow where it had tangled in her hair, reassuring him that at least one thing remained constant.

He glanced back at the door, but for all he knew the unnerving vision still waited for him on the other side. He didn't know what had prompted it, so who was to say what would happen the next time he walked out her door? Maybe this time he wouldn't be able to leave.

Screw class, he thought, reaching down to yank his sneakers off. Dropping his belt next to his sneakers, he put both hands on Aura's bed and pushed experimentally. When she didn't stir, he climbed in beside her with a single, nervous glance over his shoulder. He slipped an arm over her stomach and buried his face against the back of her neck, closing his eyes as he did his best to forget that anything else existed in the world.

"Andros." DECA's voice intruded on the holding bay for the first time since the others had left, silencing Andros and Zhane's discussion. "You wished to be notified when the Kerovan Council publicly announced its intentions."

Kerone exchanged glances with Ashley. That could only mean one thing, and even she knew that it wasn't good. None of them had spoken to the Council since Kinwon left a recorded message for Andros that morning, and whether she agreed with their decision or not, it was simple courtesy to involve the Astro Rangers before the Council went public.

They turned as one to catch Andros' reaction, and her curiosity turned to regret when she saw the dark look on her brother's face. Andros was long past the point of dealing with the situation objectively, and he stormed out of the holding bay without a word. Zhane started to follow him, but Ashley's voice stopped him.

"Zhane..." She sighed when he didn't turn around. The Silver Ranger was frozen by the door, clearly waiting for her to speak, but just as obviously not willing to engage in a lengthy conversation. "This isn't the way."

Zhane didn't answer, but neither did he move to leave.

Ashley tried again. "He'll only make things worse if he talks to them now."

"Don't you think I know that?" Zhane snapped. He whirled at last, his eyes alight with anger and repressed hurt. "Don't you think I see what's happening? There's nothing I can do!"

Kerone wasn't even aware of her own wide-eyed stare until he glanced her way and visibly deflated. "I'm sorry," he said with a sigh. Moving back into the room, he reached out to Ashley and she returned his hug fiercely. "It isn't anyone's fault."

Not sure what to say, Kerone let him embrace her in turn. "I know he's handling it wrong," Zhane said, still speaking to Ashley as he let her go. "But even if I can't make him see that, he needs me... and at least someone else will know what's going on."

Ashley nodded mutely, and Zhane shot her a smile before he strode out of the holding bay. It was a smile that saddened Kerone for it was made of equal parts sympathy and wistfulness, and it was so far from his usual devil-may-care expression that it looked out of place on his face. Being at odds with Andros was tearing him up inside.

"He doesn't care about the morphers, does he," she said softly.

Ashley gave her an odd look. "Zhane?" She considered that for a moment, then shook her head. "I guess not," she admitted. "He just wants whatever Andros wants, and he knows this isn't the way to get it."

Kerone frowned. "What is the way?" she wanted to know. "How do we get what Andros wants?"

Ashley hooked one hip over the edge of the table and wiggled her way onto it, the fact that she didn't just hop a testament to how tired she must be. "First," she said with a sigh, "we'd have to figure out *what* Andros wants. And I'm not sure anyone knows what that is anymore."

"He wants the team to stay together," Kerone suggested.

Ashley caught her eye and smiled slightly. It was an odd smile, for Kerone got the feeling that she had just amused her friend somehow. "Maybe," she agreed.

DECA's hologram shimmered into existence, and Ashley actually started at her appearance. Kerone gave her an inquiring look, and DECA folded her arms. "Maybe Andros doesn't want things to change," she offered. "Maybe he doesn't know how to be anything other than the leader of the Astro Rangers."

Ashley obviously didn't feel compelled to soften her opinion when the remark came from DECA rather than Kerone. "He was alone for years, DECA. I don't think it's fear of abandonment that's making him act so strangely."

"I disagree." DECA's impassive tone made the words neutral no matter what the intent behind them. "It is precisely that remembered isolation that makes him afraid to let go of what he found with the Astro Rangers."

Kerone studied DECA's holographic form, surprised to hear such a decided opinion coming from the Megaship's computer. DECA was never reluctant to jump into a conversation, and rarely did she hesitate to offer observations about anything. But unsolicited opinions from her were new, at least as far as Kerone could remember.

Ashley, too, looked thoughtful, though Kerone suspected it was the sentiment rather than the source that made her pensive. "But he still has us," she said at last, looking to DECA for support.

The computer didn't answer, and Ashley frowned. Before she could say anything, though, footsteps in the hallway drew their attention to the door. Zhane poked his head in a moment later, a worried expression on his face. When he realized they were all looking at him, the expression faded a little and he joined them with a sigh.

"Kinwon wasn't there," he said, by way of explanation. "Andros left him a nasty message and went to the Simudeck to work out."

His voice had very little inflection, and it occurred to Kerone that he wasn't so much relieved to see them still here as he was just trying to cover up his concern. Zhane pulled one of the stools out from under the table, folding his arms as he sat down next to Ashley. "What are we going to do?" he asked the room at large.

No one said anything, and finally Ashley ventured, "What did Andros say to Kinwon?"

Zhane grimaced. "He told him that only Rangers can transfer Power. The Council shouldn't have made a decision like this without us, and Andros basically refused to abide by it."

"Ranger law?" Kerone suggested quietly, aware that she was treading in uncertain territory.

Zhane caught her eye. "There's no such thing," he said bluntly. "There's an unspoken understanding between Ranger teams and planetary governments that the Rangers know what they're doing when it comes to military action, and they leave civilian life to the civilians. But no one is willing to say that Rangers are the highest authority there is, so 'Ranger law' is just an expression."

"And yet Andros can get away with it," Kerone pointed out. "If he doesn't want to hand the morphers over, he doesn't have to."

"Just because he can doesn't mean he should." Ashley looked upset, but Kerone couldn't tell whom the agitation was directed at. "But the Council shouldn't have done what it did, either."

"They didn't even consult us," Zhane agreed. "I think they deliberately waited until we weren't at a Council meeting to discuss this. Whether the Rangers have ultimate authority or not, the Council definitely doesn't, at least when it comes to the Power Rangers."

"The Kerovan government has not dealt with active Rangers since you and Andros defended KO-35 three years ago," DECA remarked. "And you were always a somewhat unorthodox team."

Ashley smiled at that, but Zhane appeared to take her seriously. "You're saying they don't know what they're doing," he said, his tone making it a question.

DECA's image shrugged, which Kerone thought vaguely that she ought to find funny. "I am merely pointing out that the Kerova system's first chosen Rangers were five-year-olds. Its first active Ranger morphed when he was ten, and you and Andros were eleven the first time you fought together."

"You think they're treating us like kids?" Ashley asked, somewhat doubtfully.

Zhane just sat there, staring at the floor. "We always answered to Kinwon," he muttered, as though he was talking to himself. "He told us where and when, and we showed up."

Kerone tossed her head, irritated on their behalf. "The way he's doing now."

Zhane frowned, lifting his head to stare at the jump tubes. "But they're right," he said softly. "They do need a resident team, even if..."

"They're behaving as badly as Andros?" Kerone frowned too. "Can the Alliance be counted on to act more responsibly than this, or will we soon have three groups of children fighting amongst themselves?"

For once, Zhane didn't leap to Andros' defense. "You tell me," he said simply, his gaze sliding toward her. "You're the one who worked with Saryn all that time."

She hesitated, but Ashley and DECA were waiting on her answer too. "No?" she said finally. "I guess they won't see anything but their own interests either."

"The Alliance was formed as a way of protecting its members," DECA reminded them. "Its function is to defend the allied worlds, and if Earth's interests are threatened then the Alliance has no choice but to act."

"But to act how?" Ashley sounded troubled. "What will they do? And what do we do?" she repeated, glancing over at Zhane as she echoed his original question. "We can't be in both places at once."

"No." Zhane propped his elbows on the table and rested his chin on his fists. "We'll have to split the team up."

Kerone looked over at Ashley and found the Yellow Ranger looking back. "More than it already is?" Ashley asked at last, seemingly at a loss for words.

As though it was too much work to lift his head, Zhane just tilted it from one side to the other in an approximation of a headshake. "Exactly how it already is. Any of the Rangers who want to live on KO-35 already do. We have to stop pretending to be a team and accept that."

Kerone gazed at him. "And the morphers?"

Zhane shrugged. "Even Andros admits that morphers belong to the people who hold them. The Council can't just randomly reissue them; I agree with him there. So they're just going to have to deal."

"You wish to do nothing," DECA surmised.

Without moving, Zhane glared over at her holographic form. "If you have a better idea, I'm listening."

"You more than most know that the astromorphers are not the sole Power conduit available," DECA commented. "Split the team if you must, but do not limit yourself to your current circumstances until you have considered all the options."

Zhane stared at her for a moment before his gaze swiveled toward Ashley and Kerone. "Has she always been this assertive?" he wondered aloud.

They were lying out in front of the building on a blanket, soaking in the warmth of the sun before the day got too hot. Cassie smiled down at her friends, wondering how long it would take them to notice her if she didn't say anything. In the end, she decided not to find out.

"Hi guys," she said cheerfully, throwing herself down on the blanket beside them. "Slacking already? It's only the first day!"

TJ's eyes snapped open, and he stared up at her in surprise. "Cassie! What are you doing here?"

"Some welcome," she teased. "Whatever happened to 'we're so glad to see you'?"

"We're so glad to see you!" Tessa exclaimed with a giggle, scrambling over her book to give Cassie a hug. "How are you? We haven't seen you in ages! You look so tan!"

Cassie laughed, hugging her back. "I'm great. How are you guys?"

"We're still in shock from your sudden arrival," TJ informed her. "Do I get a hug or what? How long are you staying? Did you decide to try college life after all?"

"I should have," Cassie said, letting go of Tessa to wrap her arms around him. "Look at you guys, lying out in the sun! Do you actually do anything, or is this homework for Beach Bums 101?"

"I went to class," TJ rejoined. "Unlike Ms. Lab Rat here!"

"Labs don't meet on the first day," Tessa replied, unperturbed. "I don't have class until tomorrow."

"Then what are you reading?" Cassie wanted to know, reaching over to grab Tessa's book. She flipped it over to look at the title, and gave TJ's girlfriend an amused look. "Hyperspace?"

Tessa shrugged, not looking the slightest bit embarrassed. "A friend of mine recommended it."

"Yeah, Jay, who thinks exotic matter and the tenth dimension are light reading," TJ put in. "You should see me when we got out to dinner with her friends. They're talking about temporal physics and I'm like, 'Yeah, I'm in remedial counting. Anybody taken that?'"

Cassie giggled, handing the book back. "I think I'll stick to music theory. At least I know what the words mean."

"Yeah, you're singing now, aren't you?" Tessa asked eagerly. "What's it like? How are things going? Tell us about Elisia!"

"It's still there," Cassie said with a grin. "It's hot. And strangely rainy. Saryn says it's a winter thing, but every night we fall asleep to the sound of rain on the roof and it just seems wrong. But everything's growing, so that's cool. I guess it's almost springtime, but I have no idea what to expect."

"Robins?" Tessa suggested impishly. "Are there native birds? What about flowers? Where do you live? Is it big?"

Cassie laughed again. "There are birds, but I don't think they're native. There are lots of flowers. And it's not a mansion, but it's big enough. All the Rangers live in this group of buildings on the edge of the city... you'll have to come visit, both of you."

"Right now?" Tessa made a move to get up, then giggled at TJ's expression. "Just kidding. But say the word and I'm there."

"I'd like to see it too," TJ admitted. "I feel like we haven't even talked to each other in months. At least Ashley and Kerone showed up on our doorstep every few weeks," he added, giving her a good-natured glare.

She held up her hands to ward him off, but she couldn't stop smiling. "I missed you too," she shot back. "You could have called!"

"It's called 'work'," TJ informed her. "Plus I can never get the time difference straight."

"So wake us up," Cassie suggested. "I can't keep track of it either, but no one seems to care. We all have voice mail, which is good since Saryn never answers when he's there alone anyway. Just leave a message."

Tessa glanced at TJ. "I don't know about you, but my communicator definitely doesn't reach that far."

Cassie blinked, a little taken aback. "I forget about that," she confessed. "Can you use the one at Ashley's house? Or Tommy's?"

"It's easier to ask Tommy than Ashley's parents," TJ put in. "They're kind of... Well, they always want to know what's going on."

"Nosy?" Cassie offered, smiling. "I know. That's the nature of parents, I think. Maybe Rocky would let us set something up at the dojo."

Tessa brightened. "That's a good idea! Ask him tomorrow?" she suggested, and TJ leaned over to give her a quick kiss.

"Yes, ma'am," he replied good-naturedly. "Will do.

"So Cassie," he added, turning back to the Pink Ranger. "You didn't come all this way to tell us to call more often, did you? Is everything all right? How are you feeling after last night?"

Cassie shrugged, playing with the bracelet on her wrist. "I'm fine. Saryn's a little freaked, though. He's not too good with the whole disappearing thing."

"Yeah, where is he, anyway?" TJ looked around as though he expected Saryn to hiding behind the bushes. "I'm surprised he let you out of his sight."

Cassie smiled ruefully. "He doesn't know I'm gone. He had to leave before I got up this morning, so he thinks I'm at the fair again."

"The fair?" Tessa repeated. "What fair?"

"It's a spring festival," Cassie told her. "Basically it's just an excuse for the whole city to throw a party, but I'm not complaining. I've been singing there almost every day since it started. Today I told them I had to do Ranger stuff."

"Like?" TJ prompted.

"Like catching up with my friends!" Cassie retorted playfully. "What, that's not enough of a reason for you? You sure know how to make a girl feel unappreciated!"

"I don't believe you." TJ lunged forward, knocking her back onto the blanket as he tickled her without remorse. "Tell us the truth! What's worth sneaking out on Saryn for?"

"I didn't sneak!" Cassie protested through her giggles. "I came to see my friends!"

She was having trouble breathing when he finally let up, and her eyes were tearing as she pushed herself up on her elbows. "Tough crowd," she gasped, trying to stop laughing long enough to form a coherent sentence. "See if I ever come visit you again!"

"You'd better," TJ warned. "Or it's more of the same for you!"

"Don't scare her away," Tessa scolded. "She'll never talk to us again!"

TJ didn't press the subject any further, and Tessa's questions redirected the conversation almost immediately. She didn't know how long they sat out in the sun just talking, but it was long enough to make her miss their easy companionship. Cassie lost all track of time until one of the passersby paused next to their blanket, and the three of them looked up to find Kerone standing over them.

"Hello," she said, curiously polite. "DECA said you wanted to talk to me."

TJ turned an "aha!" expression on Cassie, and she grinned sheepishly. "Hi, Kerone," she said, waving to the other girl to sit down. "TJ and Tessa were just explaining how hard college is."

"It does look difficult," Kerone agreed, sprawling across the blanket beside Tessa. "And you say it takes four years to complete this rigorous course of study?"

"Some people take longer," Tessa put in. "Five or six years, even."

"I see." Kerone rolled over on her back and closed her eyes, a slight smile on her face. "Do I have to be a citizen of Earth in order to participate?"

"No," TJ said cheerfully. "That's the beauty of it. If you can't get in yourself, all you need is a friend with a room and a meal ticket. I used Tessa's all last year."

"And my guest pass is still suffering from the abuse," Tessa added, smirking at him. "I hope you know how many times you'll be taking me out this semester to make up for it."

"Oh, like girls ever eat two thousand dollars worth of food," TJ scoffed. "I'm doing you a favor."

"And saving money which you can then spend on me," Tessa chirped. She gave Kerone a wink. "It all evens out in the end."

TJ rolled his eyes at Cassie, and she tried not to giggle. TJ and Tessa had to be the most normal couple she had ever met. It was a strange thing to think, but then, only when it came to the Astro Rangers could normal seem strange. And she had thought she was different *before* she joined the Power Rangers...

"So is this conversation with Kerone something that we're not supposed to overhear?" TJ asked, breaking into her musing. "It's our blanket, you know, so if you expect us to come up with a polite excuse to disappear--"

"No," Cassie interrupted with a laugh. "No, there's no reason you shouldn't hear this too. I was looking for Kerone because I wanted to give her something, and you guys should know what it is."

Kerone opened one eye, her expression only mildly curious. "You came all the way from Elisia just to give me something? It's not explosive, is it?"

Cassie smiled, digging into her pocket. "Not usually," she said, pulling out her morpher and offering it to Kerone. "It has its moments, though."

Kerone opened her other eye, looking at the morpher and then lifting her gaze to Cassie's face. She didn't move. "I don't need your morpher," she said at last. Her tone wasn't incredulous, or even angry, just a statement of fact and nothing more.

"I know," Cassie agreed carefully. "But I can't keep it anymore, and you're the person I trust the most. I'm not asking you to use it unless you want to, I'm just asking you to keep it safe."

Kerone frowned, but she held out her hand without another word. Cassie put her morpher in her hand, and Kerone's fingers curled around it reluctantly. "I won't take your Power," she said, searching Cassie's expression.

Cassie shrugged. "You don't have to. But it's there if you need it."

Kerone looked up at the device in her hand, holding it in front of her face before turning her head to the side to squint at Cassie again. "You know that if I don't morph, it will never transfer."

"You don't have to take the Pink Power unless you want it," Cassie repeated patiently. "But I need you to have my morpher before the situation on KO-35 gets any more out of control. I can't be a part of the Astro Rangers from Elisia, and I won't put Saryn and his teammates in the middle of this fight."

"Cassie..." TJ didn't look thrilled with this plan. "This isn't going to solve anything."

"If you'd seen Saryn's face last night, you wouldn't say that," she said softly. "I'm not trying to fix KO-35's problem, TJ. I'm just trying to keep it from touching Saryn. He doesn't need anything else to worry about right now."

TJ stared at her. "You're going to give up your morpher so that Saryn won't worry? No offense, Cassie, but I think he can handle it."

"Do you really want her to keep it for herself?" Kerone asked unexpectedly. "Or are you worried that KO-35 will have four morphers to your two?"

"Wait a minute," Cassie interjected before TJ could respond. "This is my decision, you guys. I'm giving Kerone my morpher because I'm an Elisian citizen now. I can't defend Earth, I can't defend KO-35, and Elisia already has five Rangers. Kerone is the most deserving person I know, and I don't care which planet she comes from. She should be the Pink Astro Ranger."

Kerone was still sprawled on her back, but she raised her hand at that. "Excuse me? Did I mention that I don't want to be a Power Ranger?"

Cassie sighed. "Consider it first refusal, then. Whether you use the Power or not, it's your choice to keep it or pass it on. I won't be a Ranger anymore either way."

"The Alliance won't like it," TJ warned.

Cassie threw up her hands. "I don't care what the Alliance thinks! The Alliance wouldn't have been happy no matter what I did! I'm just passing it from one Border planet to another, so it's none of the Alliance's business.

"Did you hear about Kerova's announcement last night?" she added, hoping to divert them a little. "The Council managed to insult Earth at least three different times."

"Four," Kerone corrected, absently wrapping Cassie's morpher around her wrist. She, at least, had stopped protesting. "Zhane and Ashley and I watched the broadcast together. It wasn't so much that they intentionally insulted Earth as they just ignored its existence."

"Ashley told us about it," TJ agreed, still frowning. "She said the Alliance is expected to respond sometime today."

"The news networks want to hear from Earth," Cassie told him. "You're lucky you're out of the loop; it's really crazy out there."

"Is Earth going to make a statement?" Tessa asked uncertainly.

"We are Earth," TJ said dryly. "You and me and Carlos. So no, not unless you want to go in front of intergalactic cameras again."

"It may come to that." Kerone twisted her wrist experimentally. The astromorpher turned into a metallic wristband, then back to a morpher when she twitched it again. "The Alliance will want to know where you stand before they say anything. It may not change their position, but I'm surprised someone hasn't already tried to contact you."

TJ and Cassie exchanged glances. "Would we know if they had?" he asked dryly.

Cassie smiled at that. "How do you get in touch with a planet that doesn't even have interstellar communication?" she countered. "That's a good question."

"The Mega V zords?" Kerone suggested. "Or Aquitar? I bet they'd go to Aquitar, figuring your neighbors would know how to reach you."

TJ looked around as though a transmission might come out of thin air straight to his ears. "Where is Carlos, anyway? I haven't seen him since last night. He'd have had to walk right past us on his way back from class."

"Maybe he didn't come back to the dorm." Tessa craned her neck to follow his gaze. "He could have gone to the library or the dining hall or something."

Cassie made a face. "It's times like this when I can't believe you don't miss your communicators."

"We have communicators," TJ said, reaching into the pocket of his shorts. "They're called phones. You've been on Elisia too long," he added, flipping open his cell phone and pressing a couple of buttons.

From her prone position on the edge of the blanket, Kerone shrugged. "I miss them," she remarked to no one in particular. She was still rolling her wrist idly, making the wristband flicker back and forth between communicator and morpher.

"I'm just waiting for someone to look over and see you doing that," Tessa commented, watching her play with the little device.

"He's not answering," TJ said, sounding surprised.

Cassie shrugged. "Maybe he's busy."

"No, I mean his phone isn't answering." TJ frowned. "I'm not even getting his voice mail."

"Out of range?" Tessa suggested. "He couldn't still be on Aquitar, could he?"

"I hope not." TJ closed his phone and shoved it back into his pocket. "I can't think of anywhere else he'd be, but missing the first day of classes can't be a good thing."

A high-pitched beeping was the first sound she identified as external to her dream, and as Aura tried to roll over she realized she wasn't alone. There was someone else in bed with her, and it was a very familiar someone. It was also, she was beginning to suspect, the source of the beeping.

Carlos wore his communicator on his right wrist, which also happened to be the arm he had draped over her in his sleep. The communicator in question was making a very strange noise, and she thought she ought to recognize it. Unfortunately, she hadn't paid as much attention as she'd meant to when Billy was explaining the device to them.

"Carlos," she mumbled, taking his hand as she rolled over. She squinted at the communicator even as it stopped beeping, causing her to abandon her attempt to decipher its message. Instead, she twined her fingers through his and clasped them closer as she turned on her side to study his face. "Carlos," she repeated, watching him stir slightly. "Wake up."

He tilted his head back toward the ceiling before he opened his eyes, and she had to prop herself up on one elbow to see his expression. He squinted in the muted glow of her room, contemplating his surroundings and what they might mean. Only then did he glance back at her, and his face was so inscrutable that her telepathy was sorely tempted.

He saved her the trouble a moment later. "What time is it?" he muttered, stretching his arms above his head. He yawned as soon as he moved, and he shook his head before she could answer. "Never mind. I probably don't want to know."

"You stayed," she murmured. It was the only significant thought she could associate with his presence right now. She watched as he stretched again, his dark eyes closing as he arched his back against the nest of bed cushions and covers. "I thought you were going back."

Carlos sighed, squeezing his eyes shut again before opening them wide and giving her an apologetic look. "So did I. Sorry to crash here without even asking."

"You are long past the point of asking," she chided, studying his expression. There was a reason he wasn't supposed to be here, and she couldn't for the life of her remember what it was. "You are always welcome--did you not have someplace to be today?"

He grimaced up at the ceiling. "Yeah, you could say that. I probably slept through at least one class, and I feel like that doesn't really start the semester off on the right foot."

"Perhaps not," she said carefully, not quite daring to settle down in case he was about to get up. She wanted to curl up next to him and close her eyes again, and she couldn't help being a bit miffed that he hadn't decided to stay until after she was asleep. She hadn't even been able to enjoy his presence. "It starts my day off on the right foot, though."

He turned his head back toward her, smiling unexpectedly. "Yeah, I like this," he admitted. "Did you sleep all right? I hope you had enough room."

"I require far less room than you," she pointed out. She was secretly delighted by his response, and she wondered what had made him change his mind. "I was not crowded."

"Good," he said, yawning again. "I suppose we'd better get up eventually. I need to check the scanners for any dimensional weirdness last night... I saw something really strange just after you fell asleep."

She frowned, noting that he didn't make any move to get out of bed. "Something like what Cassie saw last night?"

He hesitated. "I guess."

Aura waited, and he continued uncertainly, "When I went to leave, the hall was... different. All your names were gone from the doors, and other peoples' names were there instead. I don't know--it sounds kind of silly, now."

"That was what made you stay," she surmised, careful to keep her tone neutral.

When he nodded, she sat up the rest of the way. "If it was real enough to frighten you, it isn't silly," she told him. "I will go with you to investigate."

Carlos pushed himself up, leaning back on his hands as he studied her. "Do you want to change first? I can wait in the hall."

"Are you implying that my appearance is unacceptable?" she countered, and a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.

For answer, he leaned over and kissed her gently. "You're beautiful and you know it," he whispered, kissing her again. "But I know you won't go anywhere until you brush your hair. I'll meet you in Control."

She almost laughed at the conspiratorial look he gave her as he pulled away, and she threw a pillow at him as he got up and headed for the door. "Scaredy-cat!" she called after him, using one of his own epithets.

"Hydrophobe!" He ducked out into the hall before she could throw another pillow, and she smirked at his retreating form. He would pay for that later.

By the time she joined him in the control room, Carlos' tall form was already bent over the scanners. Delphinius stood next to him, another black-clad figure in an otherwise deserted room, and she tried to remember whether Cetaci was on call with them today or not. The White Ranger had requested several personal days at once, and Aura hadn't paid attention to exactly when they began.

"Have you found anything?" she inquired, sidling up to Carlos and peering around his shoulder. "I understand the scanners detected nothing yesterday when Andros experienced this same phenomenon."

"They did not," Delphinius agreed. "However, Andros was not in the Ranger dome at the time. I hoped Carlos' proximity would make a difference, but it does not seem to have had any effect on the results."

She felt Carlos' arm slide around her waist, and she leaned against him as she considered the readings they were scrolling through. "There is no aberration in the scans? I find that unlikely."

"You and me both," Carlos agreed. "You'd think anything that could phase an entire section of the dome would show up somehow. But there isn't even an interruption in the scanner feed from that hallway. It's weird."

"You are certain you were not just tired," Delphinius ventured. "It is not your native language, after all--"

"I know what I saw," Carlos interrupted firmly. "Even if I wasn't reading it right, I know what your names looks like. Especially yours--there's no way the word over your door was long enough to be 'Delphinius'."

Delphinius cocked his head. "And you say this has happened elsewhere?"

"Yeah." Carlos sounded amused. "What, you think it's just some strange effect Aquitar's been having on us lately? Ashley and TJ and I were on Earth when it happened the first time, and Cassie saw something on Elisia last night."

"So it is specific to the Astro Rangers," Delphinius mused. "How odd."

"You have just described everything that happens to Carlos' team," Aura pointed out. "I find incidents such as this quite normal, in fact."

"Very funny," Carlos muttered, squeezing her tighter. "You won't say that when it starts happening to you. It's probably contagious."

"I would not be surprised," she agreed. "That would coincide with the level of strangeness I have come to expect from you and your friends."

The door to the living quarters slid open before he could retort, and her curiosity about Cetaci was satisfied when the White Ranger came through to join them in Control. Their team leader strode up to the console from the other side. Bracing her hands against the panel, she looked Delphinius straight in the eye and announced, "I hate you."

He returned her gaze without flinching. "Do you expect me to react to that in some way?"

"I expect you to explain the message that was on my vid terminal this morning," she shot back. "What point is there in directing such information to me in particular, rather than to Control itself?"

"No one in Control cares except for you," he informed her. "Besides, it doesn't apply to anyone else. I thought you'd want to see it first."

Cetaci narrowed her eyes at him. "I will *never* have your child." With that, she spun around and headed for the lift, disappearing into it without another word.

Aura felt Carlos lower his head to look at her. "What was that about my friends?"

She hid a smile, trying to keep her expression blank as she looked at Delphinius. He caught her eye as though he expected her gaze, and he gave her an innocent shrug. "I hope you don't assume that I am to blame for her outburst."

"She didn't say she hated me," Aura retorted. "What have you done this time?"

The comm chimed, and Delphinius' serene look lightened with amusement. "I did nothing," he told her, moving over to the comm panel. "Why don't you help Carlos with the scanners? I will take care of this."

"Of course you will," she muttered. "He does this on purpose, you know," she said, pretending to address Carlos. "He deliberately upsets her, and the rest of us are left to face her wrath for no cause of our own."

Delphinius ignored her, and she was about to turn back to the scanners when she saw the seal of the Alliance appear on the screen in front of him. That sight, while not unusual in and of itself, was enough to inspire mild curiosity. She exchanged glances with Carlos and by unspoken consent they remained silent, waiting to see who would reply to Delphinius' greeting.

The speaker was no one she recognized, but when it inquired after the Astro Rangers she caught Carlos' eye again. Delphinius didn't even hesitate. "I'm afraid I can not put you in contact with the Rangers of Earth at this time," he said smoothly. "However, if you will state your intent, I will pass your message on to them."

The Rangers of Earth. Her mouth formed the words silently, and she saw Carlos raise an eyebrow at the phrasing. It was well known that the Astro Rangers defended multiple worlds, and she had not heard them deliberately referred to as either "Earth" or "Kerovan" Rangers in some time.

When the transmission ended, Delphinius considered the blank screen for a moment before turning to face them. Giving Carlos a searching look, he inquired, "You expected this, I assume?"

"That the Alliance would want us to fight the Kerovan Council?" Carlos sighed. "It crossed our minds. I just didn't think they'd be quite so fast about it."

"I am surprised that Andros has done nothing to stop this," Delphinius said slowly. "I did not think he would let it get as far as it has, and I certainly did not expect to see it on intergalactic news networks."

Carlos gave him an odd look. "It's in the news?"

Aura turned her gaze on Delphinius too, puzzled by the reference. Surely she wouldn't have overlooked a story that mentioned the Astro Rangers, no matter how they were portrayed. "Did something occur yesterday of which I am unaware?"

"You did not hear Kerova's broadcast last night?" Delphinius looked genuinely surprised. Their expressions must have convinced him, though, because he elaborated without prompting. "The Kerovan Council declared their intent to become a fully integrated member of the Frontier Defense, up to and including the presence of a resident Ranger team. References were made to 'their' astromorphers, and it was clear that they are not content with the situation as it stands now."

Carlos swore under his breath. "I'd better go," he said, letting go of her as he straightened up. "Andros is probably ticked, and the rest of the team should know about the Alliance. Thanks for screening that call, by the way."

Delphinius inclined his head. "It was a matter of reflex more than anything else," he admitted. "Now I am glad you did not try to answer questions for which you were unprepared."

"Yeah, we're going to have to figure out what to do," Carlos muttered. "We didn't get anywhere last night, but we didn't know KO-35 was going to go public so soon, either. This isn't good."

"You are a team," Aura reminded him. "The Astro Rangers are a team, no matter the circumstances. Government interference does not override your right to make independent decisions."

"Does that mean the Rangers are autonomous?" Carlos fixed a curiously intent look on her. "Can KO-35 take our morphers from us if we don't want to give them up? How much authority does the Kerovan Council have?"

"With the backing of the Frontier Defense, the Council will be quite influential," Delphinius answered. "They could bring considerable pressure to bear, and their legal authority includes the right to disown the Kerovan team. Nonetheless, there is no existing government with the authority to take the Power from those it has chosen."

"Ranger law," Carlos muttered, glancing from her to Delphinius and back again.

"Indeed." Delphinius looked thoughtful. "I am not aware of any precedent for this situation. I will be interested to know what you decide."

"So will I," Carlos said with a sigh. "Thanks for your help. I'll get back to you when we figure out what to say to the Alliance."

"If there is anything we can do..." Aura left the sentence unfinished, but his grateful smile was answer enough.

"Thanks," he said, reaching out to take her hands. Their fingers entwined and he squeezed gently, adding, "I'll call you later, all right?"

She nodded once, and he leaned down to kiss her before taking a step back. He triggered the "teleport" command from his communicator, and he vanished into a water molecule shape identical to Delphinius'. The shadow whistled out of the room through the ceiling, and she knew he would be stepping out of the teleportation stream on Earth almost as soon as it disappeared from her sight.

She stared after him for a moment, before Delphinius' movement distracted her. She turned on him, deliberately narrowing her eyes. "What did you say to Cetaci?" she demanded. "She didn't even wait until Carlos was gone!"

He gave a dismissive shrug. "One of the historical tiers completed a ceremonial Ranger genealogy," he said vaguely. "I thought she might want to see it."

Aura stared at him, torn between chastising him and laughing. "You know how sensitive she is about Ranger genes!" But of course he did; that was no doubt what had prompted him to do it in the first place.

The look on his face only confirmed it, and she shook her head. The first in her family to hold the Power and the youngest Aquitian Ranger in generations, Cetaci would never have been considered to lead the team were it not for Delphine's intervention and her own confident assertiveness. Her relationship with the rest of the team was almost impossibly competitive, and her history with Delphinius only made things more interesting.

"At least we will never have the problem that the Astro Rangers face," Delphinius remarked, as though it were a bright side to Cetaci's temperament. "Our White Ranger would quit before allowing anyone in authority to tell her how to run the team."

And she had, Aura knew. Cestria had once implied that someone else could do a better job leading the team, and Cetaci had quit then and there. Only Delphinius had been able to talk her into returning. Still...

"Is it possible that she is not the only one?" Aura wondered aloud. "I do not see Andros taking the Council's decision lightly. Especially if he was not consulted."

Delphinius sobered quickly, but he didn't appear to give the idea serious consideration. "Andros is more the Red Ranger than he is Andros himself. He will not give that up."

"No," Aura murmured, unconvinced. "Perhaps not."

6. Half

The table wasn't really one color. It looked like it from a distance, but up close it was full of glittery flecks and silver-white sparkles that made the grey table shine when it was clean. Not that it had ever been clean very often, and recently it had been covered with a fine layer of dust that dulled the gleam even further. But this particular part was so polished that it would probably reflect images when he let the light strike it again.

He exhaled, watching his breath damp down the tiny glimmer that still managed to find the metal tabletop. As the slight fog evaporated the glimmer brightened again, then dimmed with his next breath. The air against his face was warm, and he shifted a little to allow fresh oxygen to wander through the confined space between his arms. More light filtered in, and he closed his eyes to avoid it.

Little glowing shapes danced lazily across the darkness behind his eyelids, and he watched idly as they formed orange mosaics for his amusement. He had found that if he concentrated on them long enough he could make them look like anything he wanted, but he wasn't up for that kind of effort right now. So he just watched them shift as he breathed in, felt the warmth on his skin as he breathed out, and ignored the shiny tabletop in favor of the lightshow in his mind.

"Zhane?" The voice sounded uncertain, and he wondered if he could make it go away by ignoring it. He had heard the teleportation that heralded an interruption of his solitude, but he didn't feel like doing anything about it.

"Are you all right?" Carlos' voice sounded more puzzled than concerned, but it wasn't going away. He supposed he ought to lift his head off of his arms and reassure the Black Ranger, but it seemed like too much work. He was becoming very fond of this table and the orange shapes that played above it.

"Yes," he said, not moving. He heard the sound of footsteps, and the orange glow became a little darker. Carlos must be standing in his light. "I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" The concern was stronger this time, and he could practically feel the other Ranger hovering over him. "You don't look fine."

With a sigh, Zhane lifted his head and blinked up at the Black Ranger. The world was bright and sharp to his dark-adapted eyes, and the colors seemed to be slightly skewed. It was as though everything had become just a shade more blue while his eyes were closed, and now his vision was trying to compensate.

"Well, I am," he told Carlos, blinking again. "I'm more than fine, in fact. I'm peachy. How are you?"

Carlos frowned, but apparently decided not to press him. "I'm good, I guess. The Alliance wants to talk to the Earth Rangers. Where is everyone?"

"Don't know." Zhane clenched his fists and stacked them on top of each other before resting his chin on them, contemplating the table once more. In point of fact, he did know, but he didn't feel like being responsible for anyone else right now.

"DECA, where are the other Rangers?" Carlos asked, glancing up at the ship's nearest camera.

The camera's red light was already on, Zhane noted. He stared up at the camera without turning his head, gazing at it from the corner of his eye until the angle started to bother him. Looking down at the table again, he wasn't at all surprised by DECA's answer.

"To whom do you refer?" she inquired.

Carlos just sighed. "DECA, I want anyone who has an astromorpher on this ship in five minutes. Do you think you can do that for me?"

DECA didn't react to the impatience in his tone. "I will endeavor to fulfill your request," she said calmly, as though he had asked for some new food from the synthetron.

"Won't work," Zhane remarked, considering the shine on the table's surface. It was, as he had suspected, much stronger directly in front of him. "She won't be able to reach Andros."

"Why not?" Carlos demanded, pulling out a stool from the other side of the table and sitting down. "Where is he?"

Zhane shrugged, reaching out to trace a pattern across the gleaming tabletop. "Don't know," he repeated. "He was gone when I woke up this morning. No message, no nothing. Not answering his communicator."

"Is he all right?" Carlos shifted slightly, and Zhane lifted his gaze to watch the Black Ranger glance back and forth between him and DECA. "Maybe something happened to him. Can we track him down?"

"Already tried." Zhane's fingers tapped moodily against the table, and he decided to stare at them instead of Carlos. "No Power signature anymore. He's not that easy to find when he disappears."

"And you're not worried?" Carlos persisted. "With his talent for getting into trouble?"

Zhane shrugged again, still watching his fingers drum out an idle rhythm against the metal. "He's all right. I'd know otherwise."

"Zhane, are you sure you're okay?" Carlos sounded torn between frustration and worry. "Did something happen? What's going on? Did you and Andros fight?"

Zhane considered that for a moment, formulating one-word answers and trying to remember each question in order. Annoying Carlos was easily the most entertaining thing he'd done all day. "Yes, yes, nothing, and no."

"Then why are you acting like this?" Carlos wanted to know. The frustration in his voice was beginning to edge out the concern, and he sounded about two seconds from throwing his hands in the air and giving up.

Zhane smiled down at the table. "It's kind of fun."

He could almost feel Carlos glaring at him. "Well, I'm glad I could amuse you," the Black Ranger said sarcastically.

"Me too," Zhane agreed, not looking up.

Carlos made no further attempts at conversation, and they sat there in silence until the metallic song of magical teleportation intruded. Zhane didn't bother to look over, knowing who would be standing in front of the jump tubes. Kerone had gone to Earth at Cassie's request, and DECA had informed him later that the sorceress was in the company of not only Cassie but TJ and Tessa as well.

She had encouraged him to join them. Zhane wasn't sure whether the suggestion or the intent behind it seemed stranger to him at the moment. He had no reason to visit Earth. In fact, he found himself becoming vaguely resentful of the planet as a whole. DECA, too, seemed to be going out of her way to irritate him today, but he couldn't put his finger on exactly how.

"DECA said it was important." TJ's voice slid across his thoughts without interrupting him, though there was a definite note of urgency in the Blue Ranger's voice. His tone also made it clear that his was a question, not a statement, and he expected an immediate answer.

"It is," Carlos said firmly. "Where's Ashley?"

The way his voice changed told Zhane that he had turned his head, no doubt checking with DECA for an answer Zhane could have given. The rustling of people rearranging themselves as no imminent danger presented itself made him wonder how much longer he could get away without saying anything. They'd probably be making themselves comfortable at the table in a few minutes, and he didn't really feel like moving.

"I have been unable to locate either Ashley or Andros," DECA replied. "They are either not wearing or not responding to their communicators."

"That doesn't sound good." TJ had reverted to leader mode, Zhane noticed. He proceeded to ask exactly the same questions Carlos had voiced. "Could something have happened? Can we track them?"

"You will have to be more specific in your inquiry when it comes to the nature of 'something'," DECA answered with some asperity. "I can conduct a thorough scan for their biosigns, but the procedure will take some time."

"Do it." Zhane could almost hear TJ's attention shift. "Carlos? What's going on?"

"We need to work some things out," Carlos declared. "The Alliance wants to talk to 'the Earth Rangers', and we need to decide whether there's any such thing. I'm sorry to drag you all up here so abruptly, but we didn't get anywhere last night and no one is going to wait around for us to figure out what we're doing."

"Agreed," TJ said, not surprising Zhane in the slightest. "Where do we start?"

"We start with everyone who has a morpher and then we vote." Carlos response was swift and unusually stern, as though he expected objections but wasn't about to put up with them. "It's the only fair way."

"All right," TJ said slowly. Then, with a hint of humor in his voice, he added, "All in favor?"

"Why are you looking at me?" Cassie asked, a moment later. "I'm just along for the ride."

"Sorry." Zhane couldn't read TJ's voice, but he didn't look up even when the Blue Ranger asked neutrally, "Kerone?"

"Voting... seems fair," she said hesitantly.

"Zhane?" Carlos' voice overrode his momentary curiosity at Kerone's response, and Zhane shrugged once. "Is that a yes?"

"Vote, don't vote; I don't care," Zhane told the table. The conversation was too interesting to ignore, but he wished Carlos would stop asking him to participate. "It doesn't have anything to do with me."

"Zhane?" Cassie sounded alarmed, and he suppressed a sigh as the questions began all over again. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he said, lifting his head to shoot an exasperated look in her direction. "And I really wish people would stop asking me that!"

"Look, Zhane, you're an Astro Ranger." Carlos' statement left no room for argument. "If you don't vote, we don't have a majority, and we're back to square one. I don't know about you, but I'd like to resolve this sometime this year."

This time Zhane did sigh. "Fine," he said, taking one arm off the table and turning slightly to face them. "What are we voting on?"

"KO-35 wants the Astro Rangers to defend the Kerova system," Carlos said, addressing everyone once more. "The Alliance wants Earth to have Ranger protection too, and I'm pretty sure Earth would agree. But the whole team can't be in two places at once--"

"Split the team," Zhane interrupted. "We're not one team anymore anyway."

"I'd have to agree." TJ sounded a little reluctant, but not uncertain. "Especially after today, there are Kerovan Rangers and there are Earth Rangers. Ashley will have to make her own decision, but we can't ignore the fact that things have changed."

"Especially after today?" Carlos echoed. "What do you mean by that?"

"Cassie gave her morpher to Kerone." TJ's voice was flat, as though his own opinion was irrelevant. Which it was, Zhane supposed. Still, while he wasn't surprised by Cassie's decision, he wouldn't have thought Kerone would go along with it.

"Well," Carlos said, after a moment's pause. "I suppose that makes this more fair. Two votes from Earth and two from KO-35."

"So?" Zhane demanded impatiently. "Are we voting or not?"

"All in favor of splitting the team," TJ declared. "Zhane, Andros, and Kerone become Kerovan Rangers, and Carlos and I continue as Earth Rangers. Ashley decides for herself later. Raise your hand to vote yes."

Zhane lifted his hand, leaving his elbow propped on the table. They knew where he stood. TJ and Carlos raised their hands too, but Kerone shot an uncertain look at Cassie. The other girl just folded her arms, giving Kerone a reassuring smile. After a brief hesitation, Andros' sister slowly held up her hand.

"Well, that was easy," Tessa offered, speaking for the first time.

"KO-35 won't like it," TJ said, lowering his hand with a frown. "They want all the astromorphers defending their planet."

"Tough," Carlos responded. "They're our morphers. Andros gave them to us."

"Will he agree with this decision?" Kerone wanted to know. "I think maybe he wanted to keep the team together, not split it up."

"Andros wants you guys to keep your morphers." Zhane frowned down at the floor, wondering what Andros would say when he found out that they had put Ashley in the uncomfortable position of choosing. "He didn't want us to split up, but he'll go along with it because it means KO-35 has no authority over you anymore."

"Really?" Carlos sounded surprised. "What, just because we say so?"

Zhane lifted his gaze, staring at the Black Ranger curiously. "If you didn't think you could decide for yourself, why did you vote in the first place?"

"So what are we going to say to the Alliance?" TJ asked, into the silence that followed Zhane's question. "And why are they waiting to talk to us when the Kerovan Council didn't bother asking Zhane and Andros?"

"Because the Council is stupid," Zhane muttered under his breath.

There was another silence, until finally Kerone spoke. "Zhane and Ashley and I were talking about that last night," she told TJ. "The Council was wrong not to confer with us. I wasn't convinced the Alliance would do any better, but it looks like they're at least trying. If they'll listen, I think you should tell them what we just decided."

"That the Astro Rangers split up," Carlos agreed. "Now there are two teams, one for Kerova and one for Earth. The Earth Rangers will keep the Power that chose them."

"And the Kerovan Rangers will do the same," Kerone said firmly. "Andros says that's the way it's always worked with the Power Rangers. The Kerovan Council doesn't have any real jurisdiction over the Power, whether the morphers once belonged to them or not."

"Aquitar uses Eltaran morphers," Carlos volunteered. "And so did Earth, once."

"Elisia's morphing crystals are Eltaran," Cassie offered. "Eltare was the first planet to discover how to access the morphing grid. They've been sharing their technology ever since."

"That would be a good thing to mention," Kerone said with a small smile. "If KO-35 is going to blatantly disregard Earth, there's no reason Earth shouldn't make a few pointed comments in return."

"I don't want to turn this into a fight." TJ grabbed one of the stools from underneath the table and sat down, a troubled look on his face. "The morphers are ours, and I don't see that insulting KO-35 is going to make that any more or less true."

"I'm not talking about insulting them," Kerone insisted. "I'm talking about defending your right to be Rangers. If Eltare acknowledges that the Power chooses where it will, regardless of what planet a person is from, then I don't see why KO-35 can't abide by the same rule."

TJ frowned. "It's not us that they're objecting to, exactly. It's not so much that they don't want us to have the Power as it is that they do want their people to have it. It's perfectly understandable for a planet to want a complete Ranger team."

"What's complete?" Kerone retorted. "Zhane and Andros defended KO-35 alone for three years. If the two of them could protect a Border planet in the middle of a war, I don't see why three people can't do just as well during a time of peace."

TJ didn't have any answer for that, but Zhane saw Carlos shrug out of the corner of his eye. "She's got a point," the Black Ranger commented. "I know where you're coming from, TJ, but we can't avoid a fight if we're going to stand up for ourselves. We have to explain why we're not giving up our morphers, to the Alliance if no one else. We can't expect them to defend our decision if we don't tell them why."

"Actually, you can," Cassie interjected. "That's what it means to be an Allied world. But I agree with Carlos. KO-35 started this, and if you don't fight back they'll turn the intergalactic media into their playground."

TJ gave her an amused look. "Is that your professional diplomatic opinion?"

"For whatever it's worth," she agreed, returning his smile. "The Defense can make just as good a case for KO-35, so you'd better give the Alliance as much to work with as you can. It's probably better to get in touch with them sooner rather than later."

Zhane saw TJ and Carlos exchange glances, and he felt compelled to point out, "It would help if you knew what Ashley thinks. If the Earth Rangers are going to take a stand, you should know who the Earth Rangers are."

TJ didn't answer directly, but he gave DECA's camera a sideways glance. "DECA? Any luck finding them?"

"I have not been able to locate them yet, TJ." DECA's camera blinked, as though she were irritated with her own failure. "I have tried contacting both Andros and Ashley again, but I have yet to receive any kind of response."

TJ got to his feet. "Then let's go looking. Cassie, can you check with the Hammonds?" When she nodded, he glanced at Carlos. "If you can ask around the dorm and see if anyone's seen them, that would be great. Maybe her roommate knows something."

"Sure thing," Carlos said quickly. "What about the Surf Spot? Could they have gone there?"

"Tessa and I will check." TJ caught Tessa's eye, and she smiled in agreement. "We'll hit a couple of places around campus, too. I'll call you if we find anything." He saw Cassie's look, and amended, "I'll call Carlos, and he can call DECA. She'll let everyone know."

*Zhane?*

The mental query was so unexpected that he blinked. Glancing Kerone's way, he found her regarding him intently. *I could probably find her, if it's important. Do you think I should offer?*

*Up to you.* It was so easy to forget how capable Kerone really was. *But no, if you want my opinion. I don't. She's probably with Andros. Let them hide if they want to.*

*But you said it would help,* she protested.

*I know what I said.* He switched his glare back to the floor, trying not to think dark thoughts that Kerone might overhear. *It doesn't matter, okay?*

"Want to come?" Cassie was asking, the question apparently directed at Kerone. "You can help me think of a story to tell Ash's parents. Plus if you're there they won't ask me about Saryn so much," she said with a rueful grin.

Kerone smiled back, but her expression was apologetic rather than conspiratorial. "I'd like to help, but I have someone waiting for me on KO-35. I'll be late if I stay much longer."

Zhane looked up in surprise, but Cassie didn't bat an eye. "Have fun, then," she told the other girl warmly. "And call me sometime, okay? We should get together."

"I'd like that," Kerone agreed sincerely. "Say hi to Saryn for me."

"I will," Cassie promised.

"See you later, Kerone," TJ added. "Thanks for helping us out today."

Carlos nodded to her. "Take care."

"You too," Kerone said, still smiling. "All of you." She didn't move, clearly waiting on their departure before she made her own.

"DECA?" TJ asked, looking up at her camera. "You know where we're going?"

"It is safe to say that I recall the conversation in far greater detail than you," DECA replied. "Teleporting."

Zhane felt a smirk tug at his expression when he saw outrage flicker across TJ's face just before he disappeared. The Blue Ranger would probably spend all afternoon thinking up a retort. There were days when Zhane would have taken it upon himself to put the computer in her place, whether the remark had been directed at him or not, but today wasn't one of them.

He didn't forget Kerone's reason for not participating, though, and he gave her a curious look. "Who are you meeting on KO-35?" he asked. He hoped he didn't sound as resentful as he felt. It seemed like everyone had something in particular they wanted to be doing lately--and people they wanted to be doing it with.

"Some friends from the agrec crew," she said, studying him. "There's a hay party tonight. I want you to come."

He wasn't sure he'd heard her right. "Excuse me?"

"I want you to come with me," she said patiently. "I think you'd have fun."

She had never invited anyone but Ashley to go with her when she visited her spring friends. For so he had come to think of them: seasonal friends that only existed in the abstract. She'd worked on an agri reclamation site for several months, but she rarely mentioned the people she'd met there. She returned for periodic visits, but she had never asked him or Andros to accompany her.

"Sure," he said, before she could change her mind. "I'd love to go."

Kerone smiled, holding out her hand. "Then come on. I don't want to miss anything."

The desert was starting to come alive as she stepped out of the shuttleport, the intense heat of the afternoon beginning to fade into evening's pleasant warmth. Sunset was still far in the future, though, and it was a dramatic change from the night that had hung heavily over Angel Grove by the time Cassie left. She could feel her drowsiness lightening as she set out for the outskirts of town, tucking her Ranger ID into the pocket of her jeans and smiling absently at passersby.

She had meant to return before Saryn, knowing that he wouldn't be happy to come home and find nothing but a message flashing on the vid screen. Looking for Ashley had taken longer than anyone expected, however, and ultimately it had proved unsuccessful. The only clue they had managed to garner was the testimony of her roommate, who reported that Ashley had left early that morning in the company of a boy with long, highlighted hair.

Neither she nor Andros had been heard from since, and eventually TJ and Carlos went ahead and contacted the Alliance without her. The organization took the news of the team's split in stride, and their approval gave the decision a ring of legitimacy that Cassie suspected both of them had been looking for. The Alliance had recorded their statement, but they didn't say whether it would be played during the official rebuttal of KO-35's broadcast or held until later.

Cassie and Tessa had let the boys treat them to dinner afterward, and despite the circumstances there had been something of a celebratory atmosphere. Carlos had left to call Aura as soon as they finished, but he rejoined them when Tessa suggested a movie and he accompanied them to the park for ice cream afterward. After three months offplanet the movie had been more of a novelty than anything else, but Cassie found that she had missed ice cream.

The Ranger compound was starting to stir by the time she reached it, and the doors to the community center had been thrown open to catch the evening breeze. She wandered in, noting idly that Shei had been fingerpainting again. Child-size handprints covered one of the tables and some of the surrounding floor, and there was a blanket with similar designs hanging near the door to dry. Neither the artist nor her parents were anywhere to be seen, however, and Cassie wondered if one of the Rangers was cooking tonight.

She spent an indecisive moment gazing out into the courtyard, trying to remember whether she should know the answer to that without checking. Eventually, as much out of a desire to postpone the confrontation with Saryn as real curiosity, she went over to investigate the list posted behind the buffet counter. The evening's slot was blank, although Raine had promised to make a walk-through treat before bedtime.

She looked up at the sound of the door chime, glancing around in time to see Kyril pace into the community center. It was his wont to touch the chime upon entering, for his bare feet made no noise on the hard floor. His brother often complained that he was going to scare someone to death sneaking up on them unintentionally, so the Blue Ranger made the effort to alert others to his presence.

Cassie smiled in greeting before turning back to the list, knowing he wasn't likely to speak unless he had come specifically to see her. A moment later, though, she heard a tap on the counter behind her, and she turned to see Kyril leaning casually against it. His gaze was directed over her shoulder at the meal board, but his eyes wandered until they seemed to meet hers entirely by accident.

"Saryn was looking for you," he remarked. He held himself so still that he barely seemed to breathe, but his tone was perfectly normal.

She smiled again, wondering if that meant that Saryn had interrogated everyone in the compound in her absence. "Good," she said lightly. "I'm looking for him too."

"He's across the way," Kyril told her, his gaze sliding away as he straightened up. He moved around the counter, heading for the kitchen without another word. She passed him as she started for the door and it was like passing a ghost. There was a brief fluctuation of air, but nothing more.

"Across the way" could mean almost anything, but she assumed he would have said if Saryn were with one of the others. She probably would have been safer if he had been; Saryn didn't like causing a scene. She wondered if the fact that he hadn't tried to contact her since he'd realized she was gone was good or bad.

The courtyard was welcoming in the way that all familiar places are after an absence, no matter how brief, and Cassie smiled involuntarily as she realized how quickly this place had become her home. She wasn't on vacation, as she had pretended at first, or enjoying it only because Saryn did. She was truly happy here, with friends and their families giving the community a sense of permanence.

She picked up one of Shei's toys and set it under the shaded promenade, where the sun wouldn't fade the colors so quickly, and took a deep breath before heading inside. The door was open and the scent of dinner greeted her the moment she stepped through, both good and normal signs. She was probably making this into more than it was, but then, that had always been Saryn's specialty.

He was standing behind the counter by the stove when she came in. His eyes were fixed on something outside the windows, or maybe he was just staring off into the distance. The intensity of his gaze made it hard to tell sometimes. He didn't turn at her entrance, though he must have known she was there.

Cassie hooked her fingers into the back pockets of her jeans and wandered over to the counter. There was nothing on the stove, but the smell was stronger here and she sniffed appreciatively. "Mmm," she said, watching him out of the corner of her eye while she hunted for the source of the aroma. "Smells good!"

Saryn turned around at last, and his eyes were hooded when he pinned his gaze on her. "You deceived me."

She suppressed a sigh. "Yeah," she agreed, not bothering to argue his conclusion. It was true, after all. A random thought occurred to her then and she was hard-pressed not to smile. "Think how handy that will be on your birthday."

He studied her for a moment. Then, to her surprise, his gaze softened and he looked away. "You could have told me where you were going," he said quietly.

"I thought it would be better if you didn't worry," she offered, feeling awkward all of a sudden. He wasn't angry, just... tired. He was letting other people's problems hound him again, and there wasn't a thing she could do about it.

"We have had this conversation before," he replied, catching her eye. There was a gentle amusement in his voice as he searched her expression. "When we first met... do you remember?"

Still a little off balance, Cassie could only shake her head.

"Not knowing does not make one worry any less," he prompted, clearly expecting her to recognize the statement. "It's not comforting to not know--it's torture."

Her eyes widened. "How do you remember that?" she blurted, unable to keep from smiling as she thought back to that day on the Megaship. "And why does your ability for total recall only apply to things that are inconvenient for me?"

His lips curved in response. "I would hardly share things that weaken my side of the argument," he pointed out. "You have enough of an advantage already."

Relieved to see him so relaxed, she put her elbows on the counter and leaned across it conspiratorially. "You're right," she admitted. "I should have told you."

He echoed her posture, putting his face inches from hers. "You will remember that next time?"

She nodded, and Saryn smiled again. He kissed her once, then drew back to gaze into her eyes again. "I'm glad you're home," he said simply.

She smiled back. "Me too." Cocking her head, she added, "So what's for dinner?"

"Dinner?" he repeated, blinking innocently at her.

She laughed, delighted with his expression. "What, are you going to send me to bed without food?"

Still leaning on the counter, he smirked at her. "That's an idea," he agreed, his gaze trailing suggestively over her upper body. "Are you making promises?"

She leaned closer again, inviting his kiss, and he pressed his mouth to hers hungrily. Cassie closed her eyes and surrendered to the heat and passion behind that kiss, a smoldering desire that he had let burn openly ever since he realized she matched him want for want, need for need. Sometimes it seemed strange to think that they had become lovers before they had been friends, but at times like this she knew exactly how it had happened.

"Still want dinner?" Saryn breathed, kissing his way down to her neck. She tilted her head to the side, knowing she should say "yes" for his sake but unable to make herself voice the word.

"I fail to comprehend why you think I would want to eat when you do not," he murmured, obviously sensing her conflict. "Dinner will keep."

"But I want to know," she said with a sigh, pulling back far enough to catch his eye. "What happened today? Did you see the news?"

He gazed back at her for a long moment, until finally a rueful smile crept onto his face. "Why don't you get out the dishes," he suggested, giving her hair a last caress as he straightened up. "We will eat while you explain to me what possessed you to give your astromorpher to Kerone, and then, if it's a good explanation and you're very lucky, I will tell you what happened here."

She couldn't keep from giggling as she pushed away from the counter and came around the end to join him. "You'd better be nice to me," she threatened, rummaging around in the storage space under the counter. "I'm going to cut your hair after dinner."

"You think you're going to cut my hair," he countered, not missing a beat. "This morning I thought I was married to the Pink Astro Ranger, and as it happens we are both wrong."

Cassie paused, watching him fill their bowls. "Does it bother you?"

He glanced over his shoulder, giving her an arch look. "The thought of you cutting my hair? Would I tease you so much if it did? Your motivation is transparent."

She laughed as she stepped away from the counter and followed him over to the corner windows. "I meant the morpher. Does it bother you that I gave it to Kerone?"

"I didn't want it," he replied, passing her a bowl as he sat down.

"Tell me," she insisted. "I want to know how you feel about it."

He hesitated, contemplating his food. It was several moments before he answered, and she started eating while she waited for his response. It sometimes amused her that she could stump him like this at home when he had never once been at a loss in front of others. It was part of being an empath, she supposed, that he could be better with other people's feelings than with his own.

"I feel relieved," he said at last, looking up. "It is selfish, but you seem somehow--closer, now. But..." He paused again, studying her expression. "I worry that perhaps you have done this more for me than for yourself."

She smiled, not surprised that he had seen through her. "I did it for myself months ago," she assured him. "Now I'm doing it for you. Because I want to, not because I'm making some big sacrifice."

"I appreciate the gesture," he murmured, not taking his eyes off of her. "You have given up much to be with me."

Cassie swallowed another bite and frowned over at him. "I've gotten a lot more than I've given up," she informed him. "Same as you. If you get all guilty on me I'm going to spend the night at Mirine's."

A smile flickered across his face, and the tension in his shoulders relaxed. "Which will also keep your scissors safely away from my hair," he pointed out. "Perhaps it is not such a bad idea after all."

She smirked back at him. "If that's what you really want."

"Stop looking at me like that," he complained, shifting restlessly. "It wasn't my idea to have dinner first. If I let down my shields you would not be so complacent."

"I can block as well as you can," Cassie reminded him, grinning. "Plus the rest of the compound would kill you."

He gave her a look she couldn't interpret, but it was fleeting and he sighed in apparent surrender. "Very well. Let us exchange information and be done with it, then. Why Kerone?"

She blinked, surprised by his abrupt solemnity. It took her a moment to formulate an answer, and she ended up telling him the same thing she had told Kerone. "Because she deserves it. Because I trust her and I think she'd make a good Ranger.

"Besides," she added as an afterthought. "I think the others need her. Maybe having a morpher will give her another reason to stay with them."

Saryn seemed to consider that, and it struck her suddenly that he was sitting in a particularly flattering patch of sunlight. He had probably done it on purpose. Or at least "accidentally on purpose", which seemed to be the way diplomats did everything. If there was one thing she had learned about his profession, it was that nothing was ever as coincidental as it seemed.

"That is very insightful," he said at last, and it took her a moment to remember what he was talking about. "You think she can hold the Kerovan team together?"

Cassie shrugged, gazing idly at Saryn's fingers on the bowl in front of him. "I don't really know. But Andros has a better chance of keeping Ashley with Kerone than without her, and Kerone will keep Zhane from giving up if Andros doesn't stop ignoring them." Saryn's grip was loose now, but she knew it could turn possessive in a heartbeat.

She could feel him regarding her curiously. "Your visit to Earth included time for a thorough psychoanalysis, it seems. Did you deduce all of this in just a few hours?"

She gave her head a shake. "Just a guess... Zhane's pretty depressed. And I know Ashley and Kerone were awfully close this summer. I think I may have been replaced," she added, trying to laugh but distracted by the way Saryn's shirt clung to his shoulders.

Saryn said nothing, but his bright eyes were dark when she lifted her gaze to his. Her eyes widened as she realized what was happening. "You--you sneak!" she sputtered, grabbing a pillow from the chair behind her and throwing it at him as hard as she could. "You're doing that on purpose!"

He deflected the pillow easily, and the grin on his face told her all she needed to know. "You underestimated me," he reminded her, as though it had been a slight of tremendous proportions. "I have no need to broadcast to the entire compound when you are sitting right in front of me."

She closed her eyes, concentrating on blocking his desire from her mind, but the damage had been done. She wanted him, and she wanted him right now. She gritted her teeth, unwilling to give in so easily. "At least tell me what the Defense said," she insisted, not opening her eyes.

She felt him moving closer, and was not surprised to feel a feather-soft kiss on her neck a moment later. "Linnse was predictably horrified by your choice of successors," he murmured, kissing her again. His hands slid across her shoulders, trailing gently down her arms. "I believe Tobin was secretly impressed by your actions. Overall, you have greatly simplified the position of the Defense."

For a long moment, he devoted his attention to kissing rather than speaking, and she would almost have forgiven him for leaving it at that. But he must have known what she was most curious about, for he paused long enough to whisper, "They will be able to focus on containing Kerova, rather than defending you and diverting an internal struggle between KO-35 and Elisia."

She sighed, more from his ministrations than his words. "Good," she murmured, lifting one hand to slide it through his hair and draw him closer. He came willingly, pressing against her back and banishing all other thoughts from her mind. For now there was only the two of them, a forgotten dinner, and all the time in the world.

The evening stars had long since set, replaced by midnight skies and eventually the constellations of predawn, but the bonfires burned on and the volume of the music had yet to abate. With hovers parked in every corner of the recently hayed field, the stereo sound was inescapable and occasionally deafening, but no one seemed to mind. One of the advantages of agri reclamation was that neighbors were all but nonexistent.

Sprawled across the back of a trailer, Kerone felt someone nudge her shoulder. She rolled over to find Tevi nodding in the same direction she had been staring a moment earlier. "Is he with you?" the other girl wanted to know, settling down on the trailer bed beside her.

She didn't have to look to know whom Tevi meant. "Yes," she said simply, relaxing again as she gazed up into the heavens. The stars twinkled and beckoned, but not as strongly as they sometimes did. Here she was free, cut off from responsibility and unencumbered by the needs of others. Why run from herself when she could run from everyone else?

"The Silver Ranger," Tevi murmured, as though talking to herself.

Kerone stiffened anyway, reacting involuntarily to any mention of the Rangers. *Everyone except Zhane,* she amended her earlier thought. She had brought him with the belief that if there was anyone who needed to get away right now, it was Zhane. In doing so, though, she had effectively erased any anonymity she might still have enjoyed on the agrec crew.

Tevi's voice intruded on her musings once again, with a question that could have any number of uncomfortable implications. "Can I ask you something?"

For a moment, Kerone considered saying no. She came here to get away from questions, not answer more. But hearing the question didn't mean she had to answer, and she couldn't help but be curious, so she agreed.

"Why didn't you tell us who you are?" Tevi asked bluntly.

Kerone didn't move. "Does it matter?"

Tevi was quiet for a moment, but at length she chuckled. "I guess not," she admitted, a grin in her voice when she added, "Mud is a great equalizer."

There was another pause, and then Tevi remarked more seriously, "It doesn't matter now, but it might have then."

Kerone nodded once, still gazing up at the sky. "That's why I didn't tell you."

"So why do you disguise your appearance, but not his?" Tevi wanted to know.

She smiled to herself, amused by the other girl's assumption. "How do you know I'm disguising my appearance?"

"I've seen you on the news," Tevi said, a hint of reproach in her voice. "I know what you look like."

"How do you know that's not the disguise?" Kerone countered. The stars winked back at her, seeming to share her good humor. "How do you know this isn't what I really look like?"

Tevi had no answer for that, and Kerone smiled again. Rolling over on her side, she sought out Zhane with her eyes. He was easy to spot, his white-blonde hair shining brighter in the firelight than his silver clothes. She found it ironic that he blended in better on Earth than he did on KO-35; he looked more "native" there than here on the planet where he'd been born.

"Sorry about my twin," Tevi offered abruptly.

Zhane was playing one of the less decent drinking games with someone Kerone didn't recognize, but with Tevi's words the resemblance became clear. She scrutinized the face as best she could through the shadows and the crowd, trying to remember if Tevi had ever mentioned siblings. "That's your twin?"

"That's Ty," Tevi confirmed. "No matter how many times I try to disown him, he just keeps coming back. He probably didn't see Zhane arrive with you--I'll tell him to back off if you want."

"No," Kerone said absently. "It's all right." Zhane actually seemed to be enjoying himself for the first time all day. That was worth something in and of itself. Without taking her eyes off of him she told Tevi, "We're not exclusive. He can kiss whoever he wants."

Zhane lost again, and when he turned to down his drink he caught her gaze on him. She didn't know what he told Ty, but moments later he was making his way toward her. The trailer shifted under his weight as he climbed up beside them, settling himself with a boneless grace that gave away his intoxicated state even before he opened his mouth. Zhane was usually clumsy on purpose, evincing grace only when he was too distracted to think straight. She had never seen him drunk before, but it didn't surprise her that he would find a way to make even that unusual.

"Hi, Astrea," he announced, grinning at her before switching his attention to Tevi. "Don't I know you from somewhere?"

"You know my twin," Tevi informed him. "Whom I'm going to go rescue before he decides he can play Lunar Twist alone. Nice to meet you, Zhane."

The trailer bobbed again as she slid off, and Zhane just shook his head. "She says that like playing alone is a bad thing," he observed. "Just think, you could flip a coin to see whether you won or lost. Which is basically what you have to do anyway," he added, frowning a little.

Kerone had to smile. "You look like you're having fun," she commented, as he tipped his head back to regard the stars momentarily. "What's Ty like? I've never met him."

Zhane shrugged, lowering his gaze and letting it slide restlessly from her to the nearby bonfire and back again. "He's cool," he said, reverting to Earth slang. "He's not Andros, but he's a cool guy."

Kerone blinked, amused by the comparison of Andros to someone with whom Zhane had been playing Lunar Twist. Not that she didn't think her brother could be bullied into it, but the thought of him going up against Zhane made her giggle. She would have to remember to tell Ashley later. Maybe even Andros--her stoic brother didn't laugh nearly enough anymore.

"Hey, we're all alone," Zhane realized. He seemed oblivious to her humor. "That's convenient. Can I kiss you?"

He didn't wait for her answer, but she pushed him away before he could touch her. "You smell like alcohol," she told him firmly. "No kissing."

He pulled an expression remarkably similar to a pout, and she almost laughed again. She wasn't going to tell him what she thought of alcohol unless he asked, but she also wasn't going to put up with drunken intimacy. "You don't want to kiss me," she said, softening her tone a little. "You just want to kiss."

Zhane frowned at her. "How do you know? And what do you want, anyway? You never tell me."

"Maybe that's because I don't know," she responded, trying to gauge his reaction through the exaggeration of his expression. "But I don't feel like finding out right now.

"Do you want to go home?" she added belatedly. She probably should have asked before, but she hadn't wanted to pull him away from the party. "It's getting late. It's already after sunrise in Keyota."

"I don't care about Keyota," Zhane said, frowning. "You go if you want to. I'm staying here."

She stared after him as he jumped off of the trailer and walked away. She didn't know what to think of that. Since when did he not care about Keyota? Since when was he irresponsible enough to get drunk and then turn down a ride home? Since when did *he* walk away from *her*?

Ty had found a new conversation partner by now, but even from where she was Kerone could see his face light up when the Silver Ranger came his way again. Another question occurred to her, and it dampened her indignation over Zhane's behavior. Since when does Zhane have friends outside of the Rangers?

When she thought about it, she couldn't come up with any other person he consistently spent time with. He was arguably the most social of any of them, yet out of deference to Andros he had formed few lasting friendships outside of the team. She wondered if it had been like that before, on Rayven when they two had been the only Rangers--

Her eyes widened as comprehension dawned. Not only would it have been like that before, Zhane was acting as though it was *still* like that. He had befriended the "new" Astro Rangers, certainly, but he treated Andros like the other half of a team of two. He backed Andros in everything, supported every decision he made, and dropped whatever he was doing at the Red Ranger's whim. He was giving all of himself to a teammate who no longer gave it all back, and she doubted he even realized what was happening.

She wondered if introducing Zhane to the agrec crew would prevent or hasten a final, angry confrontation between the two Rangers.

"Ty will make sure he gets back safely," someone said from behind her. She hadn't heard Tevi return, but she managed not to start at the sound of her voice. "If you want out," Tevi continued, "I have a room back at the hostel."

Kerone looked over her shoulder and found Tevi leaning against the front of the trailer, resting her chin on her arms as she contemplated their surroundings. "You're sure?" she asked, and Tevi's eyes snapped back to her. "About Ty?" she elaborated.

"I know my brother," Tevi answered without hesitation. "He's lonely--his boyfriend was killed in the war--but he's a good person. He'll make sure your boy doesn't get hurt."

Your boy. She couldn't help but smile at Tevi's choice of words. "I'll take you up on that, then," she said, stifling a yawn as she stretched. She swung her legs over the side of the trailer and looked at Tevi expectantly. "I've had enough of this party."

Tevi tilted her head to the side in invitation, and Kerone hopped down to follow her across the field. Vehicles still encircled the bonfires and lined the dirt roads, and the fields probably wouldn't be empty of people until after dawn. She glanced back once, but Zhane and Ty were already lost in the dance of the firelight and the pounding hover music.

7. No Matter What

Her eyes widened as she read the hastily scribbled words in the margin of her notebook. She shot Andros an incredulous look, but he was slouched in the chair beside her and paying no attention to her expression. She followed his gaze, her eyes settling on a hooded figure three rows in front of them.

Shaking her head, Ashley wrote wonderingly, You are so immature!

Andros glanced in her direction when she tapped the notebook with her pen. His eyes flicked across the words she had written, and he smirked slightly. Lifting his gaze to hers again, he gave her a one-shouldered shrug. The look on his face was clear as day: So?

She bit her lip to keep from giggling. Leaning closer so they wouldn't be overheard, she whispered, "Double dare you."

He held out his left hand without a word. There was no way to tear paper quietly, especially in a quiet lecture hall, but she tried to be as inconspicuous as possible. Passing him the torn off corner of her notes, she watched with amusement as Andros leaned forward to crumple the paper under his seat. The chair muffled the noise a little, and she had a sudden image of him as a delinquent kid in grade school.

With a flick of his right wrist, so quickly she wasn't even sure he had done it, Andros lobbed the crumpled up piece of paper at the kid he had pointed out earlier. It struck the shoulder of the blue hooded sweatshirt, no doubt on purpose--Andros had better aim than she did. A better poker face, too... when someone near the blue kid turned around to scan the rest of the room, Andros was already slumped back in his seat, eyes lidded and apparently two seconds from falling asleep.

"I can't believe you just did that," Ashley hissed, lowering her gaze to her notebook quickly.

Andros shrugged again, a slight movement of his shoulders that did little to dispel his drowsy façade. "You dared me," he murmured, not looking over at her.

"You dared me first!" she shot back. The conversation was becoming audible to their neighbors, so she shut her mouth and ignored him for the next few minutes. Apparently a bored Andros was one thing she should remember to avoid in the future.

On the other hand... Her lips curved a little, and she had to admit seeing him like this was infinitely preferable to the way he'd been on KO-35. Maybe moving back there was the wrong idea. Maybe he should come here. Maybe I could just kidnap him, Ashley mused, wondering how difficult such a thing would be.

Her first class ended early, and she figured that was a good thing considering Andros' idle energy. She had already caught him drawing on the arm of his chair and teaching himself to uncap and recap her pen one-handed before he started writing notes to her. He hadn't offered any reason for accompanying her to class in the first place, but she suspected he was trying to prove something.

"Well, that was exciting," Andros remarked, scooping up her backpack as the classroom started to empty out. "Even I lecture better than that professor."

"Andros!" She glanced toward the front of the room automatically, trying not to giggle. "Don't say things like that in here," she warned, gathering up her notebooks when she was satisfied nobody important had overheard.

"Why not?" Andros sounded amused as he preceded her down the aisle and out into the hallway. "It's all the kids behind us could talk about for the first twenty minutes. They were probably right, too."

"Why do I think your lectures would involve random target practice?" Ashley asked, glancing sideways at him.

"It would keep students awake," he countered, holding the door for her. "Plus I could write important syllabus dates on the pieces of paper I threw at them. Then it would be like learning reinforcement or something."

She laughed aloud at his serious expression. "Did you and Zhane ever study that way?"

He grinned. "Maybe," he admitted. "I had more answers, but he was always better with the questions. So we traded. Or we tried to. Sometimes it kind of degenerated."

"You beat each other up instead of studying?" she suggested, smirking.

"We're Rangers," Andros reminded her, with an attempt at dignity. "We don't beat each other up. We spar."

"It's totally different," Ashley agreed, rolling her eyes with a smile. "What was I thinking?"

She didn't take any notice of the cars parked outside the building as they stepped out into the sunlight, but one of them took notice of her and Andros. The honking didn't register at all, as she assumed it was directed at someone else, but Andros glanced up when someone shouted their names. He nudged her shoulder, and she glanced curiously in the direction he indicated.

"Justin?" she gasped, stopping in her tracks before realizing that wasn't a very smart thing to do in front of an academic building between classes. "Justin!" she shouted, waving back at him as she and Andros made their way toward the road. "Where've you been!"

His blue Jeep looked vaguely familiar, but she didn't give it conscious thought until the passenger door popped open of its own accord. She gaped at him, then at the car. "Storm Blaster?"

Justin rapped the steering wheel affectionately. "I've told you not to do that," he said, apparently addressing the car. "We're on Earth, remember. Let me open the doors.

"Hey guys," he added, glancing over at them with a twinkle in his eye. "How's it going? Want a ride? Do you have an hour or two, or ten? I could use your help."

Ashley glanced at her watch out of habit, but Justin had been a teammate too long for her to give the question much thought. "Sure," she agreed, exchanging glances with Andros. He nodded once, and she tossed her notebook in the backseat before climbing in after it. "Count us in," she told the former Blue Turbo Ranger.

"What are you wearing?" she added as an afterthought, catching sight of his shirt as she settled herself in the back. Andros slid into the passenger seat and closed the door behind him, doing a double take at her question.

Justin just laughed. "I didn't bother to change before I left Eltare," he explained, as Storm Blaster stopped idling and shifted into gear. They pulled out of the crosswalk and started crawling through the maze of pedestrians, most of whom didn't seem aware there was anyone else in the road. "I was in a hurry, and this is California, after all."

"Eltare?" Andros repeated, reaching back for his seatbelt. He cast an odd glance over his shoulder before raising an eyebrow at Justin. "No seatbelt laws on Eltare, huh?"

Ashley slapped his shoulder fondly. "Like you should talk, Mr. 'The Power Will Protect Me'!"

He shrugged, giving her a rueful grin. "What can I say, you've got me trained."

"There are seatbelts," Justin interrupted. "Trust me, they're there, and you'll want them soon. Do you guys mind going on a little trip?"

"How little?" Ashley asked suspiciously. "You came all the way from Eltare to take us on a road trip?"

"Not exactly." Justin caught her eye in the rearview mirror and had the grace to look chagrinned. "I came all the way from Eltare to take you back with me. If you'll go, that is. It's kind of a long story, but I can explain it on the way."

Resting his arm on the door, Andros craned his neck to look back at her. "I'm in if you are," he said simply.

Ashley eyed Justin once more. It was hard to tell in the car but he seemed a bit taller than he had been last spring, and his hair was cut in short spikes instead of the shaggy little boy look he had once favored. His clothes were as foreign looking as Cassie's were nowadays, and she couldn't help wondering if everyone was changing but her.

"I'll go," she agreed at last, bracing one elbow against the back of his seat as she gave him a mock-glare. "But you'd better tell us everything, Justin Stewart. And I mean everything! Where have you been? You didn't even go to graduation! What was the point of finishing school early if you weren't going to celebrate?"

"I did celebrate," Justin answered, a grin in his voice. "By getting away from there as fast as I could. Getting through high school was one of the most boring things I ever did. When Storm Blaster came for me last spring, I didn't think I'd ever make it to June. But I did, and you did, and here we are."

"Which is where, exactly?" Ashley frowned at the little back road that had materialized around them while she hadn't been paying attention. She knew Angel Grove fairly well, but she didn't recognize the street they were on now.

"Earth," Justin said. "But not for much longer. You might want to find those seatbelts now."

So saying, he banged his fist against the door and something clicked audibly over the sound of the engine. Without looking, he drew forth a harness catch and ducked his head to settle it easily over his shoulders. He fastened it without once taking his other hand off of the wheel. Andros imitated his actions, though far less gracefully, and Ashley gave the door to her left a skeptical look.

When Justin gunned the engine, though, she was suddenly convinced. The door responded to her somewhat tentative tap, offering her a harness catch first and feeding it out to her as she struggled to fasten across her body. She looked up as it clicked into place and flinched instinctively at the sight of sky in every direction. She hadn't even felt the shift from pavement to air.

There was no whistle of wind as Storm Blaster continued to accelerate, racing into the heavens without so much as a nod to planetary gravity. As the horizon darkened and disappeared, the stars came out around them and a tunnel of hyperspace whirled them away from the world below. The visible universe was left behind, but Storm Blaster's self-contained environment simulated normal light even as it provided air in the vacuum of space.

"That's not what I heard," Andros was saying, and she realized belatedly that he was responding to something Justin had said. Neither of the boys seemed bothered by their abrupt transition from the normal universe to the external world of hyperrush. "I thought the Eltaran Rangers had enough to worry about right now without dimensional experimentation."

"The Eltaran Rangers aren't actually involved," Justin explained. "Remember the Robot Rangers? And your friends the Psychos? We've been working with Zordon for the past few months, first in an attempt to access ID space and then to move through it."

"Is that even possible?" Andros didn't sound doubtful, just extremely curious. "No one's been able to control that kind of thing since the gateways were built, and the civilization that created them is long since gone and forgotten."

"That's what gave us the idea!" Justin rummaged around what would be the emergency brake in a normal car, paying no attention to the instrumentation and apparently trusting Storm Blaster to navigate. "We thought if we could duplicate that sort of technology, we could create almost instantaneous travel anywhere in the universe. We weren't sure it could really be done, but while we were investigating we found this."

He produced something from underneath his seat, passing it to Andros for inspection and grinning when the Red Ranger looked appropriately impressed. "This is amazing," Andros agreed. "It's you, isn't it? Do you have reliable communication, or was it just the one time?"

"Guys?" Ashley grew tired of waiting for them to explain and decided to just interrupt. "Anyone want to tell me what you're talking about? Or at least translate it into English so I have some chance of catching up?"

"After Cassie's Psycho Ranger kidnapped me last spring I got in touch with the Robot Rangers again," Justin said, twisting to face her without skipping a beat. "Jay, who's me only with electronics instead of organs, wanted to try this crazy experiment with dimensional morphing, but he needed two people with the same Power to make it work. And since Storm Blaster charged my Turbo key for me, we were the perfect people for it.

"It didn't work at first, but eventually we realized it just wasn't working for us. It was working for someone else, somewhere, and that's when we enlisted Zordon's help to communicate with JT. JT is us, or at least me, in the dimension the Turbo powers originated in," he added as an aside. Glancing at the object in Andros' hands, he added, "That's a recording from the first time we got the keycomms to work between dimensions."

"Wait," Ashley said helplessly. She'd like to hope the explanation was about to start making sense, but knowing Justin she was afraid it was only going to get more complicated. "So you and your Robot Ranger are talking with your counterpart in another dimension? Why?"

"We want to try and find a way to send more than radiation," Justin said earnestly. "If we can transmit comm signals reliably we should be able do more, and being able to send objects, even people, back and forth between dimensions would make hyperrush obsolete. We could send a starship from one galaxy to the next in seconds!

"Of course," he added, not as though it mattered, "JT wants it for other reasons, but there's a lot of uses for controllable access to ID space. The thing is that we can't do it without an anchor, and so far the best thing we've been able to come up with is Ranger Power. We think we can use a Ranger's link to the morphing grid to stabilize the transfer and make sure the person actually goes where you're trying to send them, but obviously that's only going to work for a really small percentage of the population. And it won't work at all for inanimate objects, so we're going to have to find something else."

"The grid works because it's extradimensional?" Andros wanted to know. "Do you need something outside of the target dimension to anchor the transfer? What if you used a third dimension as the anchor point?"

"We'd like to do that," Justin agreed, "but there has to be some kind of constant. Say you want to go from our dimension to JT's, and you want to use a third dimension as your anchor. First you have to locate yourself in that third dimension, or the link vanishes as soon as you do. The Power works because it's so easy to trace."

"Guys?" Ashley repeated with amusement. She could either be amused or impatient, and she was enjoying Andros' enthusiasm far too much to become frustrated. So she just suggested, "Maybe you could summarize for me, so I don't feel completely left out?"

"You're trying to build an ID drive, right?" Andros didn't even wait for Justin's nod before turning to Ashley. "Justin's doing what dozens of other incredibly brilliant people have tried to do and failed in the last decade alone. ID space is like cold fusion on Earth. Everyone thinks it should exist, but no one can figure out how to get there."

Ashley sighed, giving him a patient look. "ID space?" she repeated.

"Interdimensional space," Justin put in. "If we could cross dimensions, we could theoretically access a place of near infinite mass, or momentum, that could propel an object tremendous distances in almost no time at all."

"And then crush it," Andros added wryly.

"We'd bring it back before it was crushed," Justin retorted, taking his remark seriously. "But we have to be able to control the transit, and that's where Ranger powers come in. At least for now, we have to have an external link in both dimensions to serve as the anchor. That's where you guys come in."

"I thought you were using the Turbo Power," Andros said with a frown.

"Well, Andy and Lee aren't. They're the ones we want to send, or at least, their counterparts are. JT and Jay and I have to coordinate the transfer to make it work, so Andy and Lee volunteered to be test subjects. But it turns out the Astro Power is stronger in our dimension, so their counterparts offered to try coming here instead of the other way around."

"Wait a minute," Ashley said slowly, glossing over the unfamiliar names. "You're using the Astro Power as an anchor for an experiment that makes people cross dimensions?"

Andros was giving Justin an odd look. "Who are Andy and Lee?"

"They're your Psycho Rangers." The words gave Ashley a chill, but Justin didn't seem to notice. He went on without pausing. "I meant to ask you, have you noticed anything unusual lately? Hallucinations, weird dreams, whatever?"

"Yes." Andros went from wary to irritated comprehension in the blink of an eye. "It's you, isn't it. Using the Astro Power as an anchor is affecting everyone who's held it, not just the people you're trying to transfer."

Justin looked momentarily sheepish. "Yeah," he admitted. "We didn't realize it could happen until yesterday, when Andy and Lee's connection to the Power wasn't as strong as their counterparts'. We thought that was strange, since it was supposed to be stronger in our dimension, but then it occurred to me that their counterparts never shared the Power. There's only one Astro team in JT's dimension, not two."

Andros was silent at that, and Ashley spoke up quickly. "There weren't any Psycho Rangers in his dimension?"

"From what JT says, Dark Spectre has other uses for his power in their dimension." Justin frowned for the first time. "They're at war there, you know. The Turbo Rangers left Earth to reinforce Eltare before it fell, but they lost their powers in the battle, same as we did. I don't know what happened to Earth."

This time, it was Ashley who had no answer. When the quiet stretched out, though, she forced herself to focus on the rest of Justin's explanation. "But you said 'their counterparts'--we must have met up with Andros there too, right?"

"Yeah... I don't know how, but he's there." Justin brightened a little. "And if I'm right about the Astro powers, he'll be here in a few hours."

"JT just got back," Justin's doppelganger announced as they walked through the doors. "He says he's ready whenever we are. I told him you had set down and were on your way, so Ashley and Andros are standing by with him."

Andros blinked, not so much at the mention of his name as at the presence of his own twin. Ashley's Psycho Ranger was there too, and both looked up as the doors slid closed again. The resemblance was less eerie than it had once been, and not just because he had mentally braced himself for it. They actually looked... different, somehow.

"Let's do it, then." Justin tossed the vest he had grabbed out of Storm Blaster's backseat on a console and strode over to join "Jay". "He has less time than we do. Are you guys ready?"

According to Justin, their presence ought to be enough to complete the transfer. Since they weren't actually required to do anything, Andros opened his mouth to say "yes" but his double beat him to it. "We're set," he agreed, exchanging glances with "Lee". She nodded in agreement, and Andros shot a sideways glance at Ashley. She looked bemused as he felt.

"Should we wait for Zordon?" Jay wanted to know. "He said he wanted to be here for the trials."

"He saw the first one," Justin answered. Neither of them paused while they spoke; it was as though they were carrying on an internal dialogue out loud. "With the Power they can't get lost, so the worst that can happen is nothing. We'll tell him what happens later."

"It's not like he was that helpful last time, anyway," Andros heard Lee mutter. He saw his Psycho Ranger smirk at her in agreement, and he wondered if his own cynicism was rubbing off on her. When he saw Ashley trying to suppress a smile, he knew she'd had the same thought.

Justin looked up. "Ready?"

"Let's do it," Jay echoed.

Nothing happened.

Both Blue Turbo Rangers turned expectantly, looking from the Psycho Rangers to Andros and Ashley. There was no one else in the room. Before Andros could ask what had gone wrong, Lee remarked, "Well, that wasn't as bad as I thought it would be."

Andy glanced around the room. "I thought JT said you'd brought your Astro Rangers."

Justin and Jay exchanged alarmed glances. "This isn't good," they said in unison.

"We are the Astro Rangers," Andros said, comprehension fighting to gain a foothold in his mind. If they didn't know that... "Who are you?"

"They switched," Justin said with a frown. "That wasn't supposed to happen."

"JT?" Jay asked, tapping out a sequence on the console. "Do you have Andy and Lee?"

"Looks that way," Justin's voice replied. "How did that happen? And how freaky is it that they're wearing the same clothes?"

The two Rangers that had apparently taken the Psycho Rangers' places looked at each other. "That's weird," the other Andros remarked noncommittally. "I'm glad to know I have as much fashion sense as one of Astronema's clones."

Ashley's double cuffed him on the shoulder. "Be nice," she reproved. "It's probably some freakish psychological thing. You'll get over it."

"What if there's too many of them?" Jay was asking Justin. "Instead of anchoring them, what if it causes some sort of magnetic concentration that automatically pushes them apart?"

"But we tried it with just Andy and Lee," Justin argued. "They weren't enough."

"They didn't have the morphers," Jay pointed out. "What if it's their spirits that repel each other, not the Power? A morpher could be a conduit without the Ranger, right? So what if six of the same Rangers are too much?"

"Great," Justin groaned. "Now we're breaking physical *and* spiritual laws."

Jay seemed to be thinking. "We can't test it on us," he said, as though he was talking to himself. Which, Andros supposed, he technically was. "One of us has to be on either side to make the transfer."

"Zhane volunteers," the other Andros interrupted, and they all turned to look at him. He held up a familiar looking digimorpher, a disarming grin on his face. "He sent it with me on purpose. Want to give it a shot?"

Justin and Jay looked at each other. "He's not here," Jay said slowly.

"But it's his morpher," Justin said, as though that was a logical progression. "It's not from our dimension."

"How does he get back?" the other Ashley broke in. Andros couldn't tell if she was following the conversation better than he was, or just ignoring it better. "Our morphers are still there. But if his is here, and so is he..."

"It's easy enough to backtrack the transfer," Justin assured her.

"Besides, Andros just demonstrated the ability to piggyback signals." Jay plucked the digimorpher out of the other Andros' hand and handed it to Justin. "He brought Zhane's morpher here; there's no reason he can't take it back."

"JT?" Justin asked.

"Zhane's more than willing to try," the disembodied voice answered. "I'm curious too... what do you say we try again?"

"If at first you don't succeed," Jay said cheerfully. "It's all or nothing, after all. He'll either show or he won't; it's not like he'll switch--"

He stopped, and Justin gave him an unreadable look. "That wouldn't happen, would it?"

"I don't think so..." Jay frowned, then caught sight of Andros' expression. "No, of course it won't. I'm sure it'll be fine. Let's do it."

"Right," JT agreed, and a moment later, there was Zhane.

Andros' eyes widened. The first time he hadn't known what to expect and had seen nothing. This time he had expected nothing and had been witness to a dramatic demonstration of the power that Justin and his counterparts sought to harness. His best friend had just appeared out of nowhere in front of him--

The lights went out. It was almost belated, as though the universe had only now realized what they were doing and had decided to take action. The room descended into chaos, but over Justin and Jay's sudden storm of technobabble Andros could hear his double cursing his friend.

"Dammit, Zhane! You had to make a dramatic entrance, didn't you! You couldn't just appear, like any normal interdimensional traveler. No, you're too special for that. You had to have a light show."

"Well, excuse me for trying to top you," Zhane's voice shot back. "You sent a freakin' servant of darkness in your place! What was I supposed to do, sit there and laugh? Which I did, by the way. They probably think I'm insane."

"First impressions are the most accurate," Andros' double answered dryly. "I've always known you're certifiable."

A flashlight came on, illuminating more than half the room with a light strong enough to read by. Andros heard someone--he couldn't tell whether it was Justin or Jay--say that the generator was down, and he met Ashley's worried gaze with his own. What did that mean for the travelers' return trip? It might be easy enough to backtrack, but what if the memory of the transfer one was backtracking had been erased?

"Jay? Justin? Is everyone okay? What's going on?"

Andros started at the sound of Cassie's voice. He reminded himself that it wasn't really her, but it was still hard to believe. The Pink Ranger's face was peering out at them from an emergency hatch beside the door, concern in the shadows of her expression. She curled up and slipped into the room with the easy grace of someone stronger than she looked, surveying the scene more closely as another familiar face appeared behind her.

"We're fine," they answered simultaneously.

"The whole building lost power," TJ's voice put in, as his form unfolded itself from the hatch through which Cassie had just emerged. "Did you kill the backups, too?"

"We were using the backups," Jay replied. He was wearing a t-shirt with a dragon on it, where Justin clearly had on a uniform of some kind. It made them easy to tell apart--as long as they stayed where the light was. "We needed both generators to make the transfers work."

"'Transfers'?" Cassie echoed. Andros couldn't tell if it was her Psycho Ranger or her Robot Ranger that had joined them. "You said--"

"Zhane? What are you doing here?" TJ's confusion overlapped with hers, and Andros wondered if the fact that they recognized Zhane meant they were Psycho Rangers. He couldn't help being a little uncomfortable at the thought of all four of them in the same room with him.

"There were some unexpected variables," Justin said quickly. "John, can you help me with the generator?"

"Sure, but--"

"Everyone else out," Jay interrupted. "Except Andros. JT says you're good with this stuff?"

The other Andros nodded, responding to the way his tone made it a question. "I've been helping him some. You think the second transfer overloaded the generators?"

"No... the power requirements were fixed. I think your Power signatures bridged the dimensions instead of anchoring you within the grid. When Zhane tried to transfer with both morphers in the target dimension, his digimorpher yanked him through but the backlash cut us off again."

"If that's true, then we shouldn't have lost power," Andros' double argued. "The keycomms would have to be recalibrated, but that's no reason for the generators to go down."

"We'd better go," Cassie said, a hint of humor in her voice. "They could go on like this for a while, and we'll just be in their way."

"Always do what you do best," Zhane quipped, and Andros saw his double throw him a look of amused exasperation. "What? I take pride in my ability to interfere!"

"Out," Jay repeated firmly. "The faster we can get JT back, the easier it'll be to figure out what happened."

Ashley's double took Zhane by the arm and gave him a shove. "You've already interfered enough," she told him with a laugh. "Be happy that you've crashed the generator and left the whole building in the dark, all right? Let's go."

Zhane sighed loudly. "You never let me have any fun," he complained, but he allowed Ashley to herd him toward the door.

"We'll have to use the hatches," Cassie told them apologetically, pausing by the one through which she'd entered. "The doors don't actually run off the generator, but they lock when the power goes down for security reasons."

She ducked through the hatch and disappeared, and Zhane followed at Ashley's insistent prodding. She was right behind him, and Andros caught his Ashley's eye before they left the room. She hesitated by the hatch when she saw him watching, and she wrinkled her nose with a rueful smile.

"Is this as weird as I think it is?" Ashley whispered. "I swear, I can't tell who's talking to who anymore."

"I thought it was just me." Andros braced his arm against the hatch and leaned a little closer, whispering in her ear, "You do realize they're all crazy, right?"

"What does that say about us?" she murmured back.

He grinned at her, and she giggled. "Never mind," she conceded. "I already know the answer to that."

"The library is only a couple of buildings down," Cassie was saying, as they joined the others in the hallway. "It'll take us longer to leave here with the doors locked down than it will to get there once we're out."

She nodded to Andros and Ashley, smiling a little in acknowledgement. "I'm Sandy, by the way. In case anyone is too polite to ask, I'm a Robot Ranger, not a Psycho."

"'Sandy'?" Zhane repeated, irrepressible as ever. "Don't you and Andy get confused?"

To Andros' surprise, Sandy laughed. "Actually, yes," she admitted. "We used to have a lot more trouble than we do now. Ceci and I still confuse the heck out of people, though. Somehow they find two of John easier to accept than two of me."

"Ceci is... Psycho Pink?" Ashley guessed, looking a little uncertain.

Sandy nodded, turning away to hide her face in the shadows of the emergency lighting. "We figured it would be easier to get used to nicknames than picking entirely new names," she offered, and there was a click from the wall she was leaning against. The hallway was suddenly flooded with light, and Andros realized that she had just pulled a flashlight out of the dimness.

"How'd you get 'Sandy' from 'Cassie'?" Zhane wanted to know. His Ashley poked him, presumably for being rude, but he just made a face at her. "I'm only curious!"

"I didn't," Sandy answered, looking more amused than anything. She cocked her head over her shoulder, indicating that they should follow her as she started down the corridor. "My real name is 'Cassandra'. I just went by 'Cassie' because it sounded cooler."

"Well, I think 'Sandy's cool," the other Ashley declared.

"Although Ceci has a certain ring to it," Zhane remarked. "Do you use your last name? Cause hers would be redundant if she's using her initials as her nickname."

"That's what TJ does," Ashley pointed out unexpectedly. "Sort of... Is John his Robot Ranger?"

"Yup," Sandy confirmed over her shoulder. "He and Terry split up their name to spare the rest of us," she added with rueful good humor. "Unlike Justin and Jay, who gave us a headache for months before Jay deigned to choose a nickname."

She paused again, doing something to the wall that Andros couldn't quite see. She extracted a second flashlight, which she passed to the other Ashley before continuing down the corridor. "But then, Carlos wouldn't pick a nickname either, before he and Ash left. We haven't heard from them in a while, so I don't know if they're still using their old names or not."

"They left?" Ashley repeated. "Where did they go?"

At the same time, her double exclaimed, "This is crazy! How many of you are there? And how do you ever keep everyone straight?"

Sandy laughed again. "You get used to it," she answered good-naturedly. "It's not so bad, really. Jay and Justin have a blast together, and John and Terry both think they're the best thing since sliced bread. Lee and Ash couldn't stand each other, but they got along with everyone else."

"Is that why Ash left?" Ashley wondered.

"No..." Sandy paused in front of another door, triggering a hatch that opened onto darkness. "She left before that, with Carlos. He freaked out on Zordon one day--he said it was because Zordon kept treating us like copies of the originals." She hesitated. "I think it was probably more than that, but that was all he would tell us before he took off.

"We're going to have to climb," she added, peering through the hatch. "It's a couple of stories up to the nearest hover pad, if you guys are cool with that."

"Whoa," Zhane said quickly. "Climb in what? I don't do small spaces; sorry."

Andros looked at him in surprise. He was one of a very few people who knew Zhane was claustrophobic, and he had never heard the Silver Ranger admit it aloud. He had to keep reminding himself that this was not the friend he had grown up with. Seeing him, though, it was easy to forget that his Zhane hadn't been this cheerful in weeks.

"It's an emergency tunnel that Maintenance uses to access the lift system," Sandy told him. "There are stairs, too, but they're on the other side of the building."

"Bring on the stairs," Zhane informed her. "I'm not climbing into a dark tunnel."

"How many stories is it?" the other Ashley asked. "Are we going a long way?"

Sandy shook her head, eyeing Zhane with an undecipherable expression. "It's literally two floors to the hover pad; it's really not that bad. It'll only take us a minute."

"Come on, Zhane," the other Ashley coaxed. "Two stories? You've done more than that on the Megaship, and we'll have flashlights. Plus Andros will be there," she added, giving Andros a warning look that said he'd better not contradict her.

Zhane gave her a cross look. "If I could rationalize my way past it, don't you think I would have done it by now? I'm not scared of enclosed spaces, I'm unreasonably and incapacitatingly terrified."

"What if Sandy goes first?" Andros asked suddenly. He'd gotten Zhane through things like this before. "She can open the hatch at the top and shine her flashlight back down, and Ashley can stay down here with hers until we're out. We'll be able to see the way out as soon as we're inside."

Zhane hesitated, and the other Ashley nodded to Sandy. Sandy turned her flashlight off and stuck it in her pocket before ducking through the hatch, clearly more acquainted with the tunnels than Andros had expected. They could hear her sneakers squeak on ladder rungs as she disappeared upwards, and he wondered at her ability to navigate blind--until he remembered that she was a robot with vision that probably surpassed his a dozen times over.

"Want me to go too?" Ashley asked, looking from him to Zhane. She didn't look at all surprised by Zhane's reaction, and he wondered if she had guessed before or if she was just writing it off as a dimensional difference.

"No," Andros said, knowing it would be better for Zhane to get it over with. "We'll go. Ready?" he asked. He stepped through the hatch without waiting for an answer, counting on his friend to follow as he had so many times before. Sandy was at the top as promised, her flashlight illuminating the narrow passage perfectly well.

When a second flashlight lit the tunnel from below, he knew Zhane had joined him. He made the mistake of looking down, and his eyes widened as it occurred to him exactly how far down these maintenance shafts must go. His fingers clenched on the rungs, but he managed to keep moving. The last thing Zhane needed was for him to freeze right now. He kept his eyes straight ahead, knowing that looking up would give him an even harsher sense of vertigo.

Then Sandy was helping him out, prying his fingers off of the ladder and pulling him through the hatch with a grip that probably could have bent hull plating. Zhane was right behind him, his face pale as Sandy dropped her flashlight and used both hands to haul him out and steady him. "You all right?" she asked, searching his expression.

He nodded, brushing her off and slouching over toward the transparent doors at the end of the hallway. Andros met Sandy's gaze, silently apologizing for his friend's behavior. She just smiled and shook her head, mouthing it's okay and cocking her head in Zhane's direction. He took the hint, following the Silver Ranger while Sandy waited for the others.

Zhane was leaning against the doors now, and he said nothing as Andros joined him. He looked better, though, greedily soaking up the outdoor vista as he was wont to do whenever he felt trapped. Andros was suddenly struck by the familiarity of that expression: it was the same one his Zhane had been wearing nonstop for the last few days. Now matter how hard he tried he couldn't remember when it had first appeared, and it worried him.

"Tell me how much you love me," Zhane said suddenly, turning away from the window.

Andros blinked, startled. "What?"

Zhane smiled weakly. "You don't play that game, huh?" His gaze wandered back to the door, and he sighed a little. "My Andros always says, 'too much for your own good'."

Too much for your own good... He didn't know what to make of that, but Zhane obviously needed reassuring. "I do, you know," he told his friend, the truth of that statement a little frightening in its intensity. "Love you that much, I mean."

It was awkward to say aloud, but it must have been the right thing to do. Zhane grinned at him, the twinkle that Andros had missed so much lately back in his eyes. "Say that to your Zhane the next time you see him and he'll probably kiss you," he said lightly.

Andros blinked again, his image of this Zhane shifting for the second time in as many minutes. "I doubt it," he managed, trying not to sound as amused as he felt. "We--we don't really do that."

Zhane chuckled at his expression. "My Andros sucks at public displays of affection too," he said, misunderstanding. "That's why you should try it. He'll thank you for it; I promise."

"No--" Andros wasn't even sure where to start. "You don't understand. Me and Zhane... we're not like that in this dimension. I mean, you're my best friend, but--I'm with Ashley."

Zhane stared at him. For several seconds, he didn't say a word, and his wide eyes made Andros wonder what he was thinking. Finally, Zhane echoed, "...Ashley? You and Ashley are--together?"

Andros nodded wordlessly, a little uncomfortable with Zhane's obvious shock. He and the other Ashley had seemed friendly enough; he supposed it hadn't really occurred to him that they wouldn't be closer. But then, after hearing Zhane promise to kiss him, he supposed nothing should have been able to surprise him.

Zhane's expression was slowly fading as a pensive look settling over his features. "I must be jealous as hell," he said frankly, studying Andros with unnerving honesty.

"Good job, guys," Ashley interrupted, squeezing both their shoulders as she passed.

Andros started, and for one disorienting moment he wasn't sure who she was. Then he recognized the same clothes Lee had been wearing earlier, and the even brown of her shorter hair, and the world made sense again. It was Zhane's Ashley, the one from the other dimension, reassuring her own Zhane and thanking Andros for playing a part that wasn't really his.

He turned away, seeking out his lighter-haired girlfriend with his eyes as Sandy led the four of them out onto the hover pad. Ashley was chatting easily with Cassie's Robot Ranger, apparently untroubled by the girl's deliberate kinship with her best friend. The two seemed to find this whole situation more entertaining than bizarre, and Andros suspected the other Ashley shared their view. It was in their nature to find the good in everything.

He realized as they took off, though, that it was more than that. His Ashley sat up front with Sandy, eagerly watching the city pass them by, questioning everything she saw and sometimes not even waiting for the answers before asking about something else. It hadn't occurred to him that she might never have been to Eltare before, but now, looking around, he remembered what a majestic first impression the city actually made.

"Hey!" The other Ashley bumped his shoulder as she shoved Zhane, interrupting his contemplation of the skyline. "I only let you have the window seat because I felt sorry for you, you know! Don't take up my space too!"

"I'm not!" Zhane protested. "Andros is probably hogging it; tell him to move over!"

"But he doesn't listen to me the way he listens to you," she purred, turning to bat her eyelashes at Andros. "Don't you want to switch seats, Andros?"

He shot a furtive glance at his Ashley, a little alarmed by her insinuation. Ashley didn't seem to catch it, though, throwing an amused look over her shoulder at them before sighting something else she wanted Sandy to explain. He couldn't help feeling relieved, but he still didn't know what to say to her double. How to explain without getting his Ashley's attention again...

It was Zhane that came to his rescue, sounding more amused than anything. "Leave him alone, Ash; he's had a hard day. Besides, you're just mad that your hair's getting messed up."

Ashley squawked indignantly, shoving him again. "Am not! And don't forget that I saw you steal Andros' comb for the five thousandth time yesterday, so be nice to me or I'm telling!"

It was a good thing the hover trip was brief, because Zhane and Ashley squabbled the whole way. It was friendly bickering that made them sound more like family than anything else, but after Ashley's earlier remark he couldn't help being a little nervous about what might get mentioned. He'd rather his Ashley didn't hear too much about the other Andros' relationship with Zhane.

"I'm just going to find a comm to contact City U," Sandy said, as they disembarked high up on the side of the library. "If John and Justin don't get the generators back up quickly, the city will automatically override our independent power request and turn the lights back on. It's a real pain to get them to disengage again; there's about three pounds worth of paperwork, so I'd rather stop them now before they get that far."

"Sounds like you've done this before," Ashley remarked, following her across the hover pad toward the library entrance.

"Damage control?" Sandy grinned back at her. "Oh yeah. You should have been here the time Justin and Jay turned the entire building into a signal booster for hyperspace teleportation. It screwed up comm codes all over the continent. John and I had a great time trying to explain that one to the city officials."

Ashley trailed after her as she headed for the nearest public comm, but the other Ashley stopped in front of the display in the foyer. She stared at it with a bemused expression, wandering around the hologram and poking her finger through parts of it as she went. Andros gave Zhane an inquiring look, and the Silver Ranger just shrugged.

"Beats me," he answered. "She spends more time at the library than I do; maybe there's a different display in our dimension." Then he shrugged again, a smirk on his face. "Or maybe she's just figuring out the best way to hack it. You're a bad influence on her."

"Me?" Andros stared at him. "I taught her to hack?"

Zhane grinned. "You taught her most of what she knows about Eltare. You went out hacking together the other night while I was making dinner, and the LO chased you halfway home. I swear I thought they were going to be at the door the next morning."

"You made dinner?" Andros repeated, his brain refusing to process the rest of the story.

Zhane chuckled. "I always make dinner. You can't stand Eltaran food."

Andros' lips twitched. "But you're a terrible cook!" he blurted, unable to contain his amazement.

"Hey!" Zhane cuffed him affectionately. "You never complain! I know everything you'll eat, and I make it better than you can! And let me tell you, I've had a lot of practice over the years."

That last remark made Andros sober, reminded once more that this was not his Zhane. The Zhane who had lost two years of his life to hypersleep hadn't had time to practice much of anything until recently. Studying a familiar face that hid strange memories, he wondered, "Can I ask you something... personal?"

Zhane shrugged easily. "Shoot," he invited.

"When did you--" Andros hesitated. "When did we--I mean..."

"When did we get together?" Zhane asked bluntly, returning his curious gaze. Only when Andros nodded did he look away, a smile playing across his face. "Three years ago. The night after we evacuated KO-35."

Andros swallowed, remembering the harsh realities of that day. There was nothing about those memories that would ever prompt a smile in this dimension. "What happened?" he asked quietly.

"You almost died," Zhane answered. There was a flash of fierce protectiveness in his eyes when he glanced back at Andros. "I could have killed you myself for being so careless," he confessed. "But it was kill you or kiss you... so I did. Kiss you, that is."

Zhane smiled again, a soft look on his face now. "We were just a couple of scared kids back then. Still are, I guess, in some ways. But from that day on I knew I'd die to defend you. Can't live without you; can't beat you up without hearing you whine," he added flippantly.

Andros didn't answer, and Zhane's smile faded. "What is it?" he asked, sounding genuinely concerned. "I know that look."

Andros looked down at the floor, tracing a continental mosaic with his eyes. "You did die," he muttered. "In my dimension, you did die to defend me. DECA put you in hypersleep, and it was two years before you woke up.

"I wasn't sure you ever would," he admitted, lifting his gaze to Zhane's in desperation. Somehow he wanted this alternate version of his friend to understand. "I thought you were gone forever, and it was because of me. I didn't deserve what you gave me."

"Andros." He didn't even realize the Silver Ranger had reached out to him until he felt Zhane's hands gripping his shoulders. "You did deserve it. I'd do anything to keep you in this world, alive and well, whether I could be with you or not. You're the most important thing in my universe; do you understand that?"

Andros stared at him. "You left me alone," he whispered. Suddenly he was angry with himself. He shouldn't be saying these things to someone he didn't even know. And Zhane shouldn't be listening. Justin shouldn't have brought any of them here in the first place.

Zhane didn't flinch at his expression. "No I didn't. You just said I woke up. I'll always be there when you need me, Andros. No matter what our relationship is."

When you need me... How much had he needed Zhane lately? Every time he turned around, it seemed that the Silver Ranger was there with encouragement, support, or just a cocky grin when he forgot how to smile himself. He pondered that as the other Ashley rejoined them, pulling Zhane over to see something in the display. Or maybe to mock it, or ask his opinion--Andros didn't follow their conversation very well.

He was still thinking about Zhane's words when Justin contacted them more than an hour later to say that the generators were up and running again. Jay's announcement came moments later, informing them that they were ready to try again, and Andros wondered absently what theory they had concocted during the blackout that made them so certain it wouldn't happen again. Maybe Zordon had arrived in their absence.

That idea was proven wrong as soon as they returned, and Andros couldn't help wondering what the interdimensional being thought of Justin and Jay's experiments. Did he encourage them, or condone them only because he knew the boys would go ahead and try anyway, with or without sanction? They had mentioned him wanting to be present, but they seemed to be drawing all of their own conclusions.

"Did either of you notice the consciousness swapping effect the first time?" Justin asked, as soon as they had more or less reassembled. "Any of you, actually? JT says no one did on his side, but that's not totally conclusive."

"Your 'weird hallucinations'?" Ashley asked. "No, I didn't see anything."

"Me neither," her double agreed. "But I guess that makes sense, since we would have been each other," she added, trading a grin with Ashley.

Andros shook his head wordlessly, watching the way the other Andros folded his arms and leaned casually against Zhane's shoulder. "Nope," his doppelganger replied. "Nothing."

Jay frowned. "It may be more noticeable when you leave a dimension where you have doubles; I don't know."

"We're not really sure why it happens," Justin said cheerfully, "so it's hard to predict. Tell us if you see anything."

Andros felt warm fingers brush his hand, and he tore his gaze away from himself and Zhane. Ashley stood beside him, cocking her head toward Justin and Jay with a smile. His lips quirked in amused acknowledgement, and he shrugged in agreement. Their genius was surpassed only by their enthusiasm.

"Ready?" Jay was asking, and only by watching the two of them could Andros be sure that it had to be JT who answered.

"We're ready here," the third Blue Turbo Ranger agreed over the comm link. "Cross your fingers that the switching thing happens again, because it's going to be a pain to send them all separately."

"Hey!" the other Ashley protested, laughter in her eyes. "Thanks for your concern!"

Justin and Jay grinned at each other, and Andros unconsciously braced himself. There was no perceptible shift, nothing to signal the transfer as it happened--except that Jay had been right. The "weird hallucinations" were back, fleeting but unmistakable when he suddenly found himself holding Zhane's hand instead of Ashley's.

Abrupt movement sent his senses reeling, struggling for something to latch onto in the darkness. His head was pounding, threatening to overwhelm everything he couldn't see or hear, and he cursed whatever had roused him from the pleasant oblivion of sleep. For a moment that seemed to stretch into eternity, he didn't know or even care where he was.

Then something penetrated the prickling haze that had wrapped itself around his brain, and he managed to sort the sounds into words. "You all right?" a nearby voice mumbled, still rough with sleep.

Zhane slumped backwards, flinching when his head screamed in protest. "Yeah," he muttered, burying his face in the pillows. "Weird dream."

8. Wake Up

It was the phone that woke him up. The ring was fairly innocuous, but it was set to ring and vibrate simultaneously and the vibrate function made it jump whenever it wasn't in his pocket. The sound of a phone skipping across the surface of his desk and finally tumbling off onto the floor was enough to rouse him, and TJ rolled over onto his side to squint at the clock.

It was quarter past seven. His alarm clock should have gone off more than an hour ago, and he scrambled out of bed with a muttered curse. He grabbed for his phone and wasn't surprised to see Tessa's name flashing on the screen.

"Hey," he mumbled, stifling a yawn. "Sorry; my alarm clock didn't go off."

"Hello, class at eight!" she retorted, no trace of sleep in her voice. She'd probably just gotten back from the gym. They'd planned to go together and then eat afterwards, before she had to be in class. "Do you want breakfast, or should I go alone?"

"Give me ten minutes," TJ promised, fumbling with his shirt. He managed to get it on over his head without letting go of the phone, and he started looking around for his keys. "I'll be right there."

"See you soon." She didn't sound skeptical, or even annoyed, which was one of the things he loved about her. No matter how much of a morning person Tessa was, she didn't insist that anyone else be.

"See you," he agreed, hanging up and dropping his phone on the bed while he searched for his sneakers. His ID was clipped to his key ring, which he had left on the desk with his phone, but his shoes were nowhere to be found. He jammed his feet into the sport sandals he'd dropped by the door instead and shuffled across the hall to the bathroom.

There was coffee already made in the kitchen, and mostly gone too. Max had a harder time waking up than he did, so he assumed there had a been a teacher workshop at the local elementary school today. School was the only thing that got his uncle out of bed early on a regular basis, and the regular school year didn't start until next week.

The screen door slammed behind him on his way out, and he grabbed the helmet off his handlebars before turning his bike away from the steps and wheeling it down the driveway. The locked clinked briefly as it slid down the steering column, but he ignored it as he swung out into the road and headed for campus. It was a ride he could make in eight minutes on a good day.

It was a good day. He arrived at Tessa's door sixteen minutes after her phone call had woken him up, and she was slipping her bag over her shoulder as she opened the door for him. "Hey," she said, kissing him in welcome and thrusting a piece of paper into his hand as she pulled him out into the hallway. "Let's go. You can read this on the way."

"What is it?" he wanted to know, glancing down at it while she locked the door behind them.

"E-mail from Ashley," she answered. He kept pace with her easily as she hurried toward the stairs, the garbled text at the top beginning to make sense in light of her words. "The subject line is 'Hell In A Handbasket,' if that tells you anything. I don't think she's too happy."

TJ blinked, scanning the recipients' list. It had been sent to him, Carlos, and Tessa, with a CC to Cassie that was almost an afterthought. Cassie didn't check her e-mail anymore, as far as TJ knew, but she still had a screen name on the Hammonds' account.

We were only gone for one day! The e-mail started out indignantly and only became more so as it went on. How did you guys manage to restructure the universe in 24 hours? And what on Earth did you do? KO-35 is threatening to disown the Astro Rangers and IN is having a field day!

TJ laughed. He couldn't help it. He saw Tessa shoot him an odd look, and he shrugged as he held the door open for her. "What can I say?" he asked, trying to suppress a grin. "They weren't here. We did what we thought was right. Who'd have thought Ashley would be the one to flip out..."

Tessa smiled a little at that. "I have to admit, I was more worried about Andros than Ashley. From what Kerone said, I thought she was on your side."

"Zhane did say Andros wanted us to keep the morphers," TJ remarked thoughtfully. "But now Ashley has to choose... I guess it's not surprising she'd be upset. It's too bad we couldn't have warned her beforehand--where were they, anyway?"

"She says something about Eltare later on." Tessa gave the e-mail a token glance, but he didn't try to read any more while they were walking. "Between Justin and the Psychos and some connection to the weird things you've all been seeing, I didn't really follow what she was talking about."

"Justin has something to do with it, huh?" TJ shook his head in amusement. "I should have guessed. He got us into almost as much trouble as he got us out of when we were Turbo Rangers."

"Has he been on Eltare long?" Tessa asked, frowning a little. "I didn't even know he had left until Ashley mentioned it."

"Beats me," he admitted. "I haven't seen him all summer. It wouldn't surprise me, though... Justin was so far ahead of the rest of us that school was like a hobby to him. He went because everyone else did, not because he needed to."

"But he graduated, didn't he?"

"Sure," TJ said with a chuckle. "He skipped eighth grade, which almost no one does anymore, and he finished high school a year early. He could have been in college at sixteen, but it sounds like he found something better to do."

Tessa was quiet a moment. "What about his dad?" she asked at last. "I thought he didn't go with you last year because he wanted to stay with his dad."

"He did." TJ sobered a little, wondering about that himself. "I don't know what happened. Maybe he and his dad bonded long enough. Or maybe he still lives with his dad and just visits Eltare on the side; I don't know."

Tessa giggled, and he looked at her in surprise. "Visits Eltare on the side?" she repeated, her eyes sparkling with laughter. "That's what I love about the Rangers. You make these things sound so normal."

"That's what I like about college," TJ countered with a grin. "It makes these things sound so interesting."

"They are!" she exclaimed. "How can you not think that going to other planets is exciting? And meeting aliens, and seeing other dimensions, and--"

"And fighting aliens, and being cloned, and getting e-mails from your teammates that accuse you of sending everything to hell?" he suggested. "Yeah, it's one big party. Remind me to give you a morpher next time one's free and you can see how you like it."

"Put me on the list for Kerone's," she said impishly. "Pink is my second favorite color."

He raised an eyebrow at her. "After blue, you mean?"

She gave him a look of wide-eyed innocence. "How did you guess?"

They were approaching the dining hall by now, and he glanced down at his watch. "Well, you may love me a little less when you see what time it is," he said ruefully. "Should we try to sit down and eat, or do you want to take breakfast with you?"

Tessa looked at her own watch and shook her head. "Plenty of time," she said firmly. "Especially for someone who inhales his food. And it's not like there will be a line."

"Why doesn't anyone eat breakfast?" TJ wanted to know, as they climbed the steps to the main doors. "I don't get it. It's not like there aren't morning classes."

"This from the guy who thinks breakfast is orange juice and coffee!" Tessa retorted. They foyer was predictably deserted, and as they tossed their backpacks in cubbies she added, "No one eats breakfast because no one on campus is civil enough to interact with other people until at least ten, that's my theory."

"So how do you explain eight o'clock classes?" He followed her across the foyer, paying no attention to the bulletin boards and display cases announcing various campus events. The card reader was unmanned this early in the morning, further testament to the lack of traffic in the dining halls at breakfast time.

"Eight o'clocks were thought up by someone who had no idea how universities actually work," Tessa informed him. "Probably an administrator--or maybe a scientist, since all the science classes are offered at eight. Somebody who works nine to five, anyway."

"Or eight to four." TJ paused to swipe his ID before picking up a tray and silverware. "That's another question. Why do all the support staff come in and leave an hour earlier than the rest of the country?"

"They're probably trying to make up for the students," Tessa answered over her shoulder. "Since we get up at noon and go to bed at four in the morning, the OS is engaged in a futile effort to normalize through balance."

"All right, Physics Girl." TJ snapped the tongs in one of the heated buffet dishes at the serving bar, holding up something that was vaguely pancake-like. "If you're so smart, identify this."

Tessa was already waiting at the end of the bar, with nothing but a hard-boiled egg on her tray. "Hash browns," she said immediately, and he gave it an odd look.

"Are you sure?" he asked doubtfully. It didn't look like potatoes.

She rolled her eyes. "There's a reason I don't eat from the bar at breakfast," she reminded him. "My stomach can't take the uncertainty this early in the morning. I'll meet you in the back."

He shrugged, taking two of the potato pancakes, some bacon, and a couple of hard-boiled eggs. He stopped to get both orange juice and coffee, just because he could, and he grinned in anticipation of Tessa's reaction. She thought the combination of fruit sugar and caffeine was what had addicted a state of sports' extremists to Surge. While TJ tended to agree, he didn't see why it was a bad thing.

She was already eating when he joined her, her spoon in a bowl of cereal and her fingers wrapped around a glass of apple juice. TJ frowned in mock disapproval as he sat down across from her. "That," he told her, "is a disgustingly healthy breakfast."

Tessa smile beatifically. "Excuse me," she said, pushing her chair back with careful dignity. "I forgot to get my fruit. I'll be right back."

He rolled his eyes, but he was grinning as he dug into his own food. He was almost as hungry as if he had gone to the gym with her, and he was willing to take his chances with dining hall food. It wasn't up to Max's standards, but it was better than anything TJ could have done on his own. Besides, if something didn't measure up there was always more. He had no trouble believing the "freshman fifteen" jokes about how much weight students gained during their first year.

His gaze drifted back to Ashley's e-mail, and he pulled it out from under his plate so he could skim it while he ate. He hadn't had time to check his e-mail before he left this morning, but Tessa must have thought it was important if she'd printed it out for him. Besides Ashley's ranting about them making decisions without her, not to mention her confusing references to Justin and the Robot Rangers, there was a something at the end that made him sit up and take notice.

TJ frowned, alarmed not only by the words but by the sentiment behind them. He hadn't realized how seriously Ashley was taking this. Or how seriously KO-35 was taking it, if what she was saying was true. Wouldn't Kerone have said something if she thought that splitting the team could get her and her brother exiled from their home planet?

"Read the rest of the e-mail?" Tessa asked sympathetically, dropping a banana on her tray as she sat down again. "She sounded pretty worried there toward the end."

"Yeah," TJ said slowly. "I didn't realize it was that big a deal. Why didn't Kerone say anything last night?"

Tessa peeled her banana halfway down and started slicing off pieces into her cereal. "About KO-35 disowning them, you mean? Maybe because it's not very likely? I mean, no matter how upset they are, I can't really imagine a planet exiling its own Rangers. Especially one like KO-35. They're not exactly the safest place in the universe as it is."

TJ couldn't disagree with that. "Isn't disowning their Rangers kind of counterproductive anyway?" he mused. "Their whole point is that they want more Rangers, not less."

"And definitely not none," Tessa put in. "The forces of evil would just love that. 'Oh, look, a helpless little planet in the middle of nowhere! Not only does it have no Rangers, but it's already been overrun twice before!"

"Third time's the charm?" TJ agreed with a chuckle. "I see what you mean. What would make them threaten to do that, then? They must be a lot more upset about this morpher thing than we thought."

"They're bluffing," Tessa said with certainty. Before he could answer, she added, "Or maybe Ashley's exaggerating. I mean, I love her, but she is a little..."

"Dramatic?" TJ suggested.

"Yeah." Tessa swirled her spoon around in her bowl some more, drowning the remaining cheerios in milk and picking out one of the banana slices with her fingers. Popping it into her mouth, she continued, "Maybe she's just upset and trying to lay on the guilt, you know? Worst case scenario stuff."

TJ had already finished off his hash browns and bacon, and he rolled one of his eggs over the tabletop as he considered that. "But why is she so upset? We should have told her, sure, but she wasn't here and Kerone made it sound like she and Zhane and Ashley had already decided basically the same thing the night before anyway. If she knew this was going to happen, why is she swearing at us every other line?"

"I thought she was joking at first," Tessa admitted, glancing at the paper on his tray once more. "The only time I've heard her that indignant is when she's kidding, so I didn't realize she was serious until the end."

"Oh, I've seen her mad before." TJ concentrated on peeling his egg, debating whether this instance really fell into that category. "I can't tell if she's totally serious or not--I feel like it might be a little of both, but it's hard to tell in an e-mail."

"But you do think she's angry at having to choose," Tessa said, the statement more of a question when coupled with the expression on her face.

"Sure," he agreed readily. "In fact, maybe that's why she brought Andros into it; I don't know. She has to join either Earth or KO-35 now, and she's not going to want to. Earth is her home, but..."

"But Andros wants her on KO-35?" Tessa finished. "It's like she has to take sides. I didn't think of that yesterday."

TJ grimaced. "I didn't either." He put salt on the last bite of his egg and reached for the second one as he swallowed. "It doesn't change things, though. I'm sorry for what it means to her, but the team had to split. We did the right thing--the only thing we could do, without leaving Earth unprotected."

Tessa nodded in silent agreement, and for a moment neither of them said anything.

Then TJ brightened deliberately. "Speaking of Homecoming," he remarked, raising his eyebrows at her. "What are you doing this weekend?"

She laughed, though whether at the change of subject or his expression it was impossible to tell. "This weekend... Let's see, I'm working in the lab, going to a study group for Differential Equations, and, from the looks of the textbook, reading about three hundred pages for Thermodynamics."

TJ waved his hand dismissively. "I mean after Friday night. What are you doing the rest of the weekend?"

She made a face at him. "Jock," she accused. "Do you know how much Ned teases me for going out with an athlete? Honestly, it's like you're from another planet or something."

"You're confusing me with my friends," he replied, smirking at her. "So are you going to the game? Because I'm working all Saturday, and I'll let you into the tailgate party if you come keep me company."

"How did you get assigned to the tailgate party?" she demanded. "You can't even drink!"

TJ grinned. "Strange campus, isn't it? But Max is bringing the grill, some friends, and a lot of hamburger, and I know Tommy and Kat are planning to be there. Rocky was even trying to talk Penny into it, last I heard, and Jason went to Homecoming last year."

"Oh, so lots of my friends," Tessa agreed, straight-faced.

"I'll let Karen in if you bring her," he coaxed. "And Jay, if you can pry him away from the lab long enough. Come on; I'll be so bored if you aren't there!"

"You are such a bad influence on me," she muttered, but he could see her trying to hide a smile. "I'll think about it, all right? I have to get to class."

"I'll walk you," he offered, gulping the rest of his coffee as he stood up. "Where are you going? Brandon?"

"You don't have to do that," she protested. "It's halfway across campus."

"I'm just trying to make up for missing our gym date," he assured her, setting his tray on the conveyor belt behind hers. "It's the least I can do. And I promise not to bug you about Homecoming for another--" He took a quick look at his watch. "Three or four hours, or until lunch, whichever comes first."

She laughed. "I guess that's fair," she conceded, pushing open the heavy fire doors that let out into the foyer. "Want to meet out front?"

"Sounds good to me." He swung his backpack over his shoulder, holding the main door for her on the way out. "I'm going to try and track Ashley down before class, see if I can find out what's going on."

He felt his phone hum as they started down the stairs. Fishing it out of his pocket, he raised an eyebrow at the screen. "Message from Carlos," he said, by way of explanation. "Probably doesn't think I'm awake yet," he added with a grin.

The message said simply, Checked your e-mail recently?

He relayed the question to Tessa, then punched Carlos' number into his phone and held it to his ear as they walked. There were more people around now, proving that no matter how many complaints there were about eight o'clocks, some students still got up. At least at the beginning of the semester.

"Hey," Carlos' voice greeted him over the phone. "Did you get Ashley's e-mail?"

"Yeah," he said, glancing at Tessa. "Or at least Tess did, and she showed it to me. She sounds ticked."

"She may be ticked, but she doesn't have any room to complain." Carlos sounded a little irritated himself. "Two-thirds of the team voted to split up. We can't stay together just because she doesn't want to choose between us and Andros."

"I thought that might be what she was really upset about too," TJ said, switching his phone to the other ear so he could take Tessa's hand. He squeezed it apologetically, but she just smiled at him. "I wonder what Andros thinks of the whole thing."

"Did you follow any of that stuff about Eltare?" Carlos asked abruptly. "With Justin and the Psychos?"

"Not much of it," TJ admitted. "I'm heading over in a few minutes to see if I can get some answers. Are you in the dorm?"

"Yeah," Carlos confirmed. "I'll meet you there."

"Right." He hung up and dropped his phone back into his pocket, looking up and down the street automatically as they crossed toward Brandon Hall. "Carlos is going to meet me at Ladd in a few minutes," he told Tessa, turning to her when they paused in front of the building. "I don't know if Ashley's there or not, but maybe we can work things out."

"Good luck," she said with a smile, going up on her tiptoes for a kiss. "It'll be all right, TJ. You did the right thing."

"Thanks." He smiled back, stroking her curls lightly. "Have fun in class."

She rolled her eyes, indicating what she thought the likelihood of that was, but she waved as she turned away. "See you at lunch!" she called over her shoulder.

He waved back, watching until she disappeared through the doors. Then he headed back the way they'd come, wondering whether Carlos would actually wait for him or if the Black Ranger was already knocking on Ashley's door. He'd bet on the latter. Carlos wasn't one to wait around after making a decision.

TJ wasn't disappointed. By the time he reached the third floor of Ladd, Ashley's door was open and it was clear from the conversation inside that she wasn't alone. He stuck his head in, knocking on the door to get their attention, and he smiled when she and Carlos looked up at the same moment.

"Morning," he offered, hoping their closeness was a good sign. "Can I come in?"

"Sure, of course," Ashley said, jumping up. "Missy's off doing yoga somewhere, so I have the room to myself this morning. Carlos said you got my e-mail."

"Yeah," he said, raising an eyebrow at her as he let go of the doorframe and claimed her desk chair. "I read it."

She actually looked a little uncomfortable, and he waited expectantly. "I'm sorry," Ashley said at last, still standing. "I didn't mean it to sound so... huffy. It's just that we didn't get back until really late last night, and then when we saw the news--Andros just got this look on his face, and I guess I kind of freaked out."

"How is Andros taking it?" Carlos wanted to know. "Since you brought it up."

Ashley shifted, frowning down at the floor. "I don't know, exactly," she said at last. "He didn't look mad. He didn't look... anything. He just looked... detached, like he didn't care anymore. And he only looks like that when he's about to do something really drastic, but he won't tell me what it is. It scares me," she confessed, looking over at Carlos.

"Wait a minute," TJ interrupted. "I get the feeling I'm missing something here. Andros got all weird when he heard we'd split up?"

"No," Ashley said quickly. "I think he saw that coming, to tell you the truth. But," she added, glaring at him, "I didn't expect you to do it without us here! Thanks a lot!"

TJ shrugged. "It's not like we didn't make the effort. We had DECA running bioscans of the whole planet, but the clock was ticking and we couldn't find you guys anywhere. Next time leave a forwarding address."

For a moment her expression didn't change, but finally she sighed. "Okay, that's fair, I guess. But for the record, we didn't expect to be gone that long. Justin showed up with some wild story about interdimensional travel, and somehow we ended up on Eltare before I even figured out what he was talking about. I still don't really understand it, to tell the truth."

"Which explains why your e-mail on the subject was one of the most confusing things I've ever read," Carlos put in, and she shot him a look that said she was two seconds from sticking her tongue out at him. "What? It was!"

"So why are you worried about Andros, again?" TJ asked, making an attempt to force the conversation back into some sort of linear progression.

Ashley hesitated, diverted. "He's going to do something," she murmured. "I just don't know what."

"KO-35 released some kind of statement last night," Carlos answered, when TJ gave him an exasperated glance. "Ashley says they refused to sanction the Astro Rangers' decision. Of course, the rest of the universe doesn't care whether they sanction it or not, but basically it's their way of saying they disapprove."

"Well, we didn't expect them to throw us a party," TJ commented. "Why did it surprise Andros?"

"It's not that it surprised him," Ashley said with a sigh. "It's the fact that IN is making a huge deal out of it, and KO-35 isn't doing anything to stop them. It's all over the news that the Kerova system is two steps away from disowning their Rangers, which it turns out no one in the history of the League has ever done."

TJ found himself at a loss for words, but Carlos didn't have that problem. "At least we know where Andros gets his stubbornness," he quipped. "Too bad we can't tell whether it's genetic or cultural."

Instead of protesting, Ashley seemed to relax a little. Sinking back onto the bed, she wrinkled her nose at Carlos. "Definitely cultural," she said, with surprising good humor. "The whole Council can't be related, and they're the ones that started this mess."

"As long as we have someone to blame," Carlos replied. "Aren't there a few other things we could pin on them while we're at it? World hunger, the existence of evil, that sort of thing?"

Ashley actually giggled a little. "Intergalactic news?" she suggested. "Homework? The creation of oatmeal?"

"Sounds just like them, the sneaky devils," Carlos agreed. "And I can't believe I just said 'sneaky devils', so you'd better cheer up or it will have been for nothing."

Ashley laughed again, then leaned over to hug him impulsively. "I do feel better," she admitted. "Thanks, Carlos. And TJ. I missed you guys this summer," she added, smiling at them both. "It's nice to have you around again."

"We aim to please," TJ said good-naturedly, putting the rest of his questions about KO-35 on hold and choosing a safer subject. "And speaking of missing persons, what's going on with Justin? What made him kidnap you and Andros yesterday?"

"Where is Andros, anyway?" Carlos interrupted, derailing TJ's effort. "I thought he'd be here--did he take off to try and intimidate the Council in person? I wouldn't put it past him."

"He didn't say," Ashley said slowly. At least she looked more pensive than concerned this time. "He left for KO-35 this morning, but if he had a plan he didn't tell me what it was."

Zhane woke up. That was all he was sure of at first, though eventually it did occur to him that there was light. It looked like sunlight, even, which meant that it was probably daytime. He added that to the list of things he knew and rolled over, hoping for a better glimpse of his surroundings.

The light pierced his eyes as he came face to face with a window, and he flinched. It was harder to see with his eyes closed, but he figured the tradeoff was one he was willing to make. His head throbbed as he struggled to sit up, and between that and the stabbing pain that had come with the light he didn't notice how sore he was until he tried to swing his legs over the edge of the bed.

He stifled a gasp, wondering if getting up was really worth all this effort. Maybe he could just stay in bed until he felt better. Unfortunately, the major flaw in that plan was that this didn't seem to be his bed, and since he didn't actually know where he was he couldn't be certain he wanted to stay here. He cracked his eyes open once more, considering the part of the room that he could see.

It was a nice enough room, he supposed, not much neater than the one he shared with Andros but larger and better lit. Sunlight streamed in through two large windows on the south side, but he found that as long as he didn't look directly at them the light didn't bother him so much. It certainly didn't bother the plants that crowded the corners and stretched out across every available surface, and he wondered briefly why they weren't clustered around the windows.

The windows... he didn't dare glance back at them, but it suddenly occurred to him that he wasn't wearing anything. He looked around carefully, not sure he was up to anything more than a visual search. Despite the fact that the floor was littered with clothes, none of them seemed to be his. He was just trying to decide what to do about that when he realized his silver t-shirt and dark trousers had been folded neatly and placed on the other side of the bed.

There were a lot of things that Zhane wasn't very clear on about the night before, but he was pretty sure he hadn't done that. Presumably, then, he hadn't gone to bed alone. The more he thought about it, the more convinced he was that he had woken up during the night--and that he hadn't been alone then, either.

Great, he thought with a sigh. Not only did I get drunk enough to sleep with someone, I don't even remember who it was. That's going to go over really well. He was guessing from the unfamiliar surroundings that it hadn't been Astrea, and from the way he felt he suspected it hadn't even been a "her".

On the plus side, he was less likely to offend a guy by forgetting his name than a girl.

He reached over to retrieve his trousers, wincing when the movement threw off his tenuous equilibrium. He persevered, though, managing to pull them on and push himself into a standing position somewhat simultaneously. He stopped there, congratulating himself on the accomplishment while he eyed his shirt warily. It smelled of smoke and it was dirtier than it was wrinkled, which was saying something.

He couldn't convince himself to put it on. Instead he made his way toward the only doorway as he was, avoiding the windows as best he could and hoping he didn't look quite as ragged as he felt. He took a deep breath by the door, steeling himself for the uncertainty of the other side before pushing it open.

A boy with wavy chestnut hair looked up from the table, his gaze flicking across Zhane's bare chest before catching his eye. He put his mug down and got to his feet, smiling a little in welcome. "Morning," he said, then shot a look toward the window and amended, "Well, afternoon, anyway.

"I'm Ty," he added, lifting his shoulders with a self-consciousness that seemed uncharacteristic somehow.

Zhane relaxed slightly. "I'm Zhane," he offered, smiling in return. "Thanks, uh--thanks for letting me sleep."

"Just woke up myself," Ty assured him, but his freshly washed appearance and the steaming mug in front of him gave the lie to his words. "I made some tea, if your head's bothering you. And there's hot water if you want a shower."

"That'd be great," Zhane agreed gratefully. "Thanks."

Ty was already taking another mug out of the drainer and filling it with something that steamed as he poured it. He cocked his head at Zhane, indicating that he should follow, and led the way into a bathroom near what seemed to be the front door. He caught a glimpse of open fields through the window, and he wondered again exactly where he was.

"The showers are in the back," Ty was saying, setting the mug down between the sinks and pulling a clean towel out of one of the cupboards. "The other guys aren't up yet, so you should have the bathroom to yourself."

He tried to remember if he knew anything about how the agrec crew lived, or more specifically what size groups they lived in, but he could call nothing to mind. In lieu of asking, he said simply, "Sounds good," and waited until Ty pulled the door shut behind him on his way out.

He didn't hear the door open again, but Ty must have been back through because by the time he emerged from his shower there were clean clothes by the sink. He was still alone in the bathroom, so they were obviously intended for him--but his trousers were there too, making it clear that it was just an offer, not a suggestion. He decided to take Ty up on it, since his own clothes weren't in any condition to be smelled--let alone worn--right now.

Between the tea, the shower, and the clothes, he felt almost decent by the time he left the bathroom and found Ty fussing over the stove. The other boy lifted his head when the door opened, and there was an appreciative look in his eyes when he caught sight of Zhane. "You should think about joining agrec," he joked. "Black looks good on you."

Zhane grinned. "Not as good as it looks on you," he tossed back, falling easily into the tease-compliment routine. This was a game he knew. "If I'd known this was where all the good-looking people were hiding, I'd have come out here a long time ago."

"Just as well you didn't," Ty answered over his shoulder. "I only volunteered a couple of months ago, and I'd have been disappointed if someone else got to you first."

"You and me both," Zhane agreed, dropping his towel over the back of a chair and running his fingers through his still damp hair. That was when he noticed the peculiarity of Ty's appearance. "Hey, when did you get up, anyway? Your hair's dry!"

Ty laughed, not turning around. It was a pleasant sound, and Zhane found himself grinning again. It was nice to meet someone who knew levity when he heard it. The world took itself entirely too seriously these days.

"There's a hot air compressor out back," Ty said, gesturing with one hand. "We use it on our clothes when it's raining out. Keeps my hair from taking hours to dry when I'm not outside."

Zhane studied him for a minute. The brown waves of Ty's auburn-streaked hair fell to his shoulders, and it was probably longer when water added weight to straighten it out. He wondered suddenly what it looked like in the sun, if the highlights glowed red the way they promised to in the muted indoor light. He wondered, too, what color Ty's skin was in the real light of day, without dark shadows or flickers of firelight--

"What?" Ty was asking, giving a half-smile over his shoulder. "Just because your hair probably takes five minutes to dry, don't begrudge me my vanity."

Zhane flashed his most charming smile in return. "I was just wondering what you look like in the sunshine," he said frankly. "Because if you're anymore beautiful than you are now, I won't be able to look directly at you."

Ty laughed again, shaking his head as he turned back to the stove. "You're good," he admitted, a note of admiration in his voice. "You're really good. So are you going to let me feed you before you sneak off, or should I leave the extra food for my housemates?"

Zhane's smile faded a little. "Am I sneaking off?" he asked, making sure his voice was neutral. "Is there a time limit, or do I just have to be gone by the time your friends get up?"

"Well--" Ty flipped the old burner off on the stove and glanced back at him, wariness on his face. "No, I mean... I thought you had one. A time limit, I mean."

Zhane frowned, trying to remember what he could possibly have said the night before.

Ty must have misinterpreted his silence. "I wasn't sure if you wanted to be seen here, that's all," he said quickly. "I understand that what happened last night was just a--a thing, and I don't... I don't want you to feel like you have some kind of obligation."

Zhane stared at him, and a sudden revelation overwhelmed whatever he had been about to say. "Wow," he breathed into the silence. "Your eyes are gold!"

Ty blinked, looking startled, and Zhane shook his head. "Sorry," he apologized, drawing back. "I only know one other person with gold eyes, and it surprised me.

"I don't feel like I have an obligation," he added, before Ty could answer. "I won't pretend I remember all of what happened last night, but if you're offering breakfast, don't think I won't take you up on it."

"It's actually closer to lunch, now," Ty murmured, but he looked pleased. "And I'm not much of a cook, but I can make omelets with the best of them. Or maybe the most mediocre of them--it's sort of a toss up."

Relieved to be back on familiar footing, Zhane commented, "Well, I'd offer to help, but I'm told I shouldn't be allowed to boil water, much less prepare food. My role in the kitchen is more that of the unconditional complimenter than anything else."

Ty grinned, looking more sure of himself as he agreed, "I can live with that. There are plates in that cupboard over there, if you want to grab something to eat off of. Do you want anything to drink?"

"Yeah," Zhane said ruefully, then paused. "I was going to say, 'more of that tea', but my headache's gone. What's in that stuff, anyway?"

Ty shrugged, pulling a couple of glasses out of a drawer. "Just some herbs... it's a local remedy, I think." He caught Zhane's knowing expression and his lips quirked. "Of course, we add a stimulant and some serious painkillers."

"Of course," Zhane agreed good-naturedly. "No reason to be miserable."

Ty lifted a glass in salute. "Exactly what I say!"

They had the table and the room to themselves for most of breakfast, and despite Ty's warning the food tasted exceptionally good. Zhane supposed it helped that he couldn't remember the last time he had eaten, but on the other hand, the mere fact that he couldn't remember was linked to the idea that food of any kind ought to be making him nauseous right now. So he stopped wondering and just enjoyed it, trading jokes and the occasional snide comment with the resident chef while they ate.

One of the housemates Ty had mentioned wandered through as they were finishing up, but his eyes were only half open and he didn't acknowledge them in any way as he headed for the bathroom. Another boy appeared a few minutes later, looking considerably more awake, but he poured himself some tea and headed outside without a word. Their lack of curiosity put Zhane back at ease, and he released a breath he hadn't realized he was holding.

"If they weren't so hung over they might at least have said hi," Ty offered apologetically. "None of us are very social in the morning."

Zhane waved it away, getting to his feet to help Ty with the dishes. "I make it a habit never to speak to anyone for at least half an hour after I wake up," he commented. "No matter where I am, I always wake up disoriented and mean. It's bad for my image."

Ty chuckled. "Does that mean you were lying awake in my room for half an hour before you came out here?"

Zhane smirked at him. "Does that mean you don't think I was disoriented and mean? I like you better the longer I talk to you."

"I have that effect on a lot of people," Ty remarked. "My sister calls it brainwashing."

"Consider me brainwashed," Zhane said agreeably. "You'll have to teach me sometime."

Ty paused, an odd smile on his face. "I think you've got it down," he replied. "Trust me." As he took Zhane's plate and put it on the wash rack, he added, "So are you in a hurry, or can I give you a hover tour? There's a lot of land out there, and most of it's in full bloom right now."

"Can't," Zhane said regretfully. He couldn't remember what Astrea had said the time difference was, but he knew it was later in Keyota than it was here. "I'd better go make sure the others haven't disbanded the Council or something. Blown it up, maybe; Astrea would probably like that."

"Right, of course." Ty offered a token smile. "We've even heard about that out here. Good luck with--everything."

Ty actually looked disappointed, and that was enough to convince Zhane that he wasn't just being polite. "Hey," he said impulsively. "Are you busy tonight? We don't have any hay parties, but Keyota's kind of a fun place... I bet we could find something to do."

Ty's smile widened. "I'd like that," he agreed. "I've never been to Keyota."

"I'll pick you up so you don't have to fly into the city alone," Zhane suggested. "The traffic's a nightmare. Do you want dinner? I promise not to cook."

"Sure," Ty said with a laugh. "That sounds great. Is seven all right?"

Zhane tried to do the math in his head, but he didn't even know where to start. "I have no idea what the time difference is," he confessed, giving Ty a rueful grin. "Tell me how many hours that is from now, and I'll be here."

The words were starting to blur together on the screen. She blinked, refocused, and watched the letters sharpen once more. She got through a few more sentences before they began to waver again, and she lowered the reader with little regret. She hadn't really felt like reading anyway, but it seemed lazy to lie around doing nothing.

Kerone turned her head so she could watch the sun slant across the courtyard. The light was more adventurous than she felt this morning. Stretched out on the windowseat in the common room, she was only barely motivated to keep her eyes open, let alone do anything constructive. She wondered idly if she could justify taking a nap so soon after getting up.

She didn't think she dozed off, but she started when the door slammed across the hall. For one panicked moment, she thought someone had gotten past Ecliptor and come for her, but the common room registered as "friendly" before she could follow through with the assassin reflex. She took a measured breath as her heartbeat started to slow, and she wondered if she would ever get over that.

"Kerone?"

At the sound of Andros' voice, she closed her eyes again, hoping he would go away if he thought she was napping. It wasn't so much that she wanted to avoid him as it was that she just didn't want to talk to him. She knew what he was going to ask, and she doubted he would be pleased with the answer.

"Kerone?" Andros' tone was gentler now, but it wasn't going away. "Kerone, wake up. I need to talk to you."

She barely kept herself from sighing as she opened her eyes. "About what?" she murmured, surprised when she didn't have to feign the fog in her voice. She must have been asleep longer than she thought.

"About your morpher," he answered, sitting down beside her on the edge of the windowseat.

She blinked up at him. "What?" That wasn't what she had expected at all.

"I need to talk to you about your morpher," he repeated patiently. "The Council is pretty upset about us 'giving' Earth three of our morphers, and since I wasn't there when you voted, I want to know what you think."

She did sigh this time, putting one hand behind her head and staring deliberately up at the ceiling. "Andros, can't we have one day where we don't talk about the Council? Just one day."

He was quiet for a moment, and she couldn't help glancing at him to see what his expression looked like. It wasn't brooding or resigned, as she had expected. In fact, it was so out of context that it took her a moment to recognize it, but when she did, she sat up abruptly and stared at him harder.

Andros looked smug. She hadn't seen him look smug in weeks, maybe longer. Yet here he was, the smirk on his face faint but unmistakable as he gazed out the window.

"How about more than a day?" he suggested at last, his eye drawn back to her when she sat up. "How about several at a time? Starting tomorrow."

She narrowed her eyes at him, her mind racing as she tried to figure out what he was up to. He didn't want to talk about the Council. It must have something to do with Ashley. Had she told him what they had discussed the night the Council first tried to recall the morphers? Could she somehow have convinced him that ignoring Kinwon would be more effective than trying to fight him?

But he had asked about the morpher Cassie gave her, and he'd mentioned the vote--was he having second thoughts? Did he want her reassurance that the team was doing the right thing, or did he have something else in mind? She hadn't been able to outthink him as Astronema, and she couldn't do it as Kerone either. It drove her crazy.

"Kerone," he said, watching her intently. "I need to know. Did you vote to split the team?"

She nodded without hesitation. "I voted to make the split that already existed official, yes. TJ and Carlos should keep their morphers, whether Earth needs them right now or not. So should Ashley."

Andros smiled, surprising her again. "Yeah, they should. How did the others vote?"

"It was unanimous." She was still trying to figure out where he was going with this, futile though the effort might be. "If you agree, then..."

"You just said you weren't sure Earth needed Rangers right now," Andros interrupted, when she trailed off. "What about KO-35? Do you think it needs Rangers?"

Kerone frowned. "You mean militarily? In terms of planetary defense? No, I don't think either planet needs a Ranger team right now. But that's not all the Rangers are."

"No, it's not," Andros agreed. "The Alliance seems to know that, don't you think?"

She glared at him. "Andros, if you're trying to say something, just say it. This is stupid."

Instead of glaring back at her, her brother grinned. "I know. But I had a lot of time to think about it on the way here, and I'm trying to see if it makes as much sense out loud as it did in my head."

"If *what* makes sense?" she demanded. "If you're saying that the Council doesn't appreciate the Rangers, I'm not arguing. But I don't see what difference it makes. We can't change the Council."

"But we can change the Rangers," Andros replied. "If the Council doesn't like the way we're handling things, why don't we just resign? You've always said you don't want to be a Ranger, and I'm getting really tired of this fight. It's not like there are lives at stake."

Kerone gaped at him. As the meaning of his words sank in, she gave him a suspicious look. "Who are you, and what have you done with my brother? Since when do you quit? You've been a Ranger all your life, and you're going to give it up for good?"

Andros shrugged idly. "Zhane says you can't fight every little battle that comes along or you won't have enough left for the ones that count," he said, and the moment he mentioned the Silver Ranger she knew he wasn't considering this just to spite the Council. He actually had thought about it.

"Lately I feel like we've been fighting an endless series of little battles," he added, glancing out the window before looking back at her. "They don't mean anything, but the Council never lets up. I'm tired, it's wearing Zhane down, and I know you hate it. So let's stop."

"I'm not disagreeing," she said slowly, trying to work through the implications in her head before she committed herself to either side. "And I'm certainly not a Ranger. But you will be whether you resign or not, probably for the rest of your life. Are you sure you wouldn't regret giving up the Power?"

"No," Andros answered. He shrugged again, giving her a response so typical of him that she almost laughed. "But I think it's the right thing to do."

"Strangely," she said, feeling a smile play about her lips, "that makes me feel better."

The door slammed again, and a black blur bounded down the hallway toward the stairs. There was something vaguely familiar about it, but she hadn't quite gotten her mind past its energetic bounce when Andros called out to it. "Zhane, wait up!"

Kerone winced. She wished now that Andros had asked the question she'd been dreading earlier. She had come to some alarming conclusions about an hour after climbing into bed this morning, and she was going to make sure Zhane paid for her lost sleep later. In the meantime, she could think of very few ways for this to go well.

There was a thump in the hallway, which she guessed meant Zhane had made it up three or four of the stairs before hearing Andros' shout. He was still running when he hit the common room, grabbing the doorframe and swinging to slow his momentum as he galloped into the room. He had a huge grin on his face and his good spirits were so contagious that she laughed aloud.

He threw himself down on the windowseat beside her, winking when he let his head fall back on her shoulder. "Hello," he said cheekily. "Is this space taken?"

"It is now," she said, trying to stifle another giggle. "Having a good day?"

He threw his arms out to the sides, stopping just short of hitting the window. "How could you tell?" he demanded dramatically. "I thought I was being so subtle!"

"About as subtle as you always are," she retorted, seeing Andros grin out of the corner of her eye. His change of clothes hadn't escaped her, but she hoped that if she didn't comment on it, Andros might not ask either. "Listen up," she suggested. "My brother has something interesting to say for once."

Zhane let his head roll to the side so he could regard Andros upside down. "Hey, Andros," he offered, no discernible change in his tone. "I haven't seen you in years! Well, days," he corrected, as though it were almost the same thing.

"Looks like Kerone's been keeping you busy," Andros answered with a grin.

She blinked, and then she realized that Andros had no way of knowing that the agrec genetics symbol on Zhane's shirt was any different from the general crew logo she had worn. As far as he was concerned, agrec was agrec. She glanced at Zhane, but he didn't seem inclined to enlighten Andros either.

"Had to find something to do," he said instead. This time she noticed the slightly less enthusiastic note in his voice, and she wondered if he sounded cooler only because she was listening for it. "So what's your exciting news?"

She glanced at Andros as Zhane sat up, giving the Red Ranger an expectant look as he straightened. Whether intentionally or not, Zhane radiated impatience by virtue of his sheer energy, and that Andros noticed. If he hadn't picked up on the change in his friend's tone, he didn't miss the implication that Zhane was about three seconds from leaping to his feet again.

"I think we should resign," Andros said, making no attempt to soften his declaration. "Give up our morphers, let new Astro Rangers take our places. There are better things we could be doing, and I'm tired of the Council."

"Me too," Zhane agreed, bouncing up off the windowseat. "But I'm not giving up my morpher. Good idea, though; let me know how it turns out." And he sauntered out of the room without another word.

Kerone stared at the door for several seconds before it occurred to her to go after him. Obviously, Andros wasn't the only one who'd had enough--leave it to Zhane to snap cheerfully and completely without warning. She scrambled up from her place by the windows and darted toward the door, but Andros' voice stopped her before she could reach the hallway.

"Kerone?" He sounded utterly bewildered. "What's going on?"

She rolled her eyes. "Does it look like I'm the one you should be asking?" she demanded, turning back to face him. "Why did you ask me what I thought but not Zhane? Why did you explain it to me and not him? Is he just an extension of you now?"

"That's not fair!" Andros protested. "I know how Zhane thinks, okay? I wasn't sure how you'd react, so I asked. I don't have to ask with Zhane. I just know."

"You just know," she repeated, staring at him. When he glared back at her, she rolled her eyes. "You can't really think that's my shirt he's wearing, Andros." She left the common room without waiting for his answer.

9. War Games

He had time to change, which was more than he'd expected. Zhane was pulling a clean t-shirt on over his head when the knock came, and he sighed. "I'm not here!" he called, knowing it was a futile gesture.

"Neither am I!" It was Astrea's voice, and she actually sounded amused, both of which were probably good signs. "I'm coming in whether you invite me or not, so open up."

"Come in," he grumbled, and the door slid open. He watched warily as she slipped inside. "If I wanted to talk about it, I'd still be in the common room," he warned.

"Andros didn't send me," she replied. "I just wanted to make sure you were all right. Tevi promised me Ty would take care of you last night--did he?"

He frowned. "What, do you have spies everywhere? Who's Tevi?"

"Ty's twin," she answered, making herself comfortable on his unmade bed. "We worked together on the crew, but I didn't know she had a brother until last night. Is he nice?"

Zhane shrugged, unwilling to commit until he knew where this conversation was going. "I guess," he allowed. "He's pretty..."

She looked up, focusing abruptly. "He's pretty what?" she prompted.

He broke into a grin and he couldn't resist. "He's just pretty. I have good taste."

Her serious expression dissolved, and Andros' sister giggled. "I've always known that," she teased. "You chased me, after all."

"I wouldn't say I chased you," he protested, but he threw himself down on the bed next to her anyway. "I'd say you stalked me, that's what I'd say. Then," he admitted, catching her indignant look, "I chased you."

She smiled. "There was mutual chasing," she agreed. "It turned out well."

"Yeah..." He felt around for her hand, managing to find it without lifting his head. Sliding his fingers through hers, he raised their clasped hands so he could see them from where he was. "It did turn out well."

Astrea leaned back against the pillows, her head next to his as she too stared up at their hands. "So," she commented idly. "We've established that you chase pretty people." There was a pause, and her next remark caught him completely off guard. "Andros is pretty."

He glanced over at her, searching her face when she turned her head toward him. Her expression was inscrutable, and he said the only thing that he could think of to say. "What?"

"Andros is pretty," she repeated, as though he might not have heard her the first time. "It runs in the family," she added, an impish smile gracing her lips. "Don't you think?"

"No," he said quickly. "I mean, sure, but--what do you mean?"

She managed a credible impression of a shrug, despite the fact that she was almost lying down. "Nothing. I just think Ty and Andros have a lot in common, that's all."

He didn't have to feign confusion this time. "Why are you talking about? The only way they could be less alike is if one of them was a girl."

An odd look flickered across her face. "Do you remember playing Lunar Twist last night?"

He squinted up at the ceiling, letting his arm fall but keeping his hand in hers. "Maybe," he decided at last. "Sort of. With Ty?"

He felt her nod before he looked over at her. "With Ty," she agreed, the odd look still on her face. "Later I asked you what he was like, and do you know what you said?"

"Is this going somewhere?" he asked, irritated and more worried than he wanted to admit. Astrea didn't usually play games, and he didn't think she was doing this just to torture him. She had something in mind, and he suspected he wasn't going to like her conclusions.

"You said he wasn't Andros," she told him.

Zhane just looked at her, willing his face not to reveal anything.

"You were practically making out with Ty," she continued, studying him. "And all you could say about him was, 'he's not Andros.'"

He pulled his hand out of hers and sat up, staring at the opposite wall without seeing it. Nope, definitely not liking her conclusions. "I was drunk, Astrea. People say stupid things when they're drunk."

"People say things they think they shouldn't when they're drunk," she countered, not moving. "That doesn't mean they're not true."

"So? It's true; he isn't Andros. I was probably proud of myself for noticing something. It sounds like one of those things people think is really insightful when they're drunk and then are glad to forget the next day."

"Maybe." She didn't sound convinced. "To me it sounds like something else."

He ran a hand through his hair, aware of her gaze on him without even turning around. "Is this going somewhere?" he repeated, more subdued this time.

He felt the bed shift with her movement as she pulled her legs in and sat up, not too close. She might have been leaning against the wall, but he didn't dare turn and look. Even if his expression had been neutral before, he was sure it wasn't now.

"When you say you love him," she said quietly. "You don't mean like a brother, do you."

He sighed. "Could you remind me never to get drunk around you again?"

She let out a breath of amusement. "I'm not talking about last night. You've said it before; I just never really listened. Even when we were talking about being exclusive, I didn't think..."

"Neither did I," Zhane interrupted, before she could get too far along that track. "This is more recent than that. Honest."

She didn't answer, and finally he glanced back at her. The skeptical look on her face made him sigh again, and he flopped back on the bed beside her. "Okay, so maybe you're not totally wrong. But it wasn't an issue until now, anyway."

"Until Ty?" she prompted gently.

He stared up at the ceiling, wondering if it was as obvious to everyone else as it must be to her. "He looks like Andros, doesn't he."

"A little," she admitted. "Is that why you went home with him?"

He was silent for a moment, considering the ceiling. Why wasn't there ever anything interesting to look at on ceilings? Walls were bad enough, but at least they weren't all the same boring color. You could put things on walls. Walls were good. Until annoying girlfriends walked through them without even noticing they were there.

"I don't know," he said finally. "I really don't know."

Cassie was gone. He knew that even before he got out of bed, so he took his time getting up. He was tired enough that he almost tried to sleep some more, but the nightmare that had woken him was too fresh. Sleep would do him no good if it returned.

It was almost breakfast time when he finally dragged himself out of bed, and he began to wonder what had happened to Cassie. She still wasn't used to the length of Elisia's days, and it made her sleep schedule almost as odd as his. Sometimes she woke up early, sometimes late, and he could never predict when he would come home and find her napping. Still, this was obviously one of the early days, and she was nowhere to be found.

There was a message flashing on the comm when Saryn emerged from the bedroom, but it wasn't from her. Instead it bore the logo of the Astro Rangers, and he almost didn't listen to it. He considered Cassie's friends his own, but the trouble they got into made him crazy. It was a miracle they didn't wind up dead more often than they already had.

Ashley's face greeted him when he let the recorded message play, and he couldn't help narrowing his eyes at her cheery, "Good morning!"

"Maybe for you," he grumbled, as though she could somehow hear him. "Would you like to know why my morning is less than good?"

"I just wanted to update you guys on the mysterious vision thing," Ashley's image went on, oblivious to his reaction.

"I thought not," he muttered. "Please, continue."

"Justin's been doing some experiments on Eltare, and he has the Robot Rangers and the Psychos helping him. Basically he's using the Power to open doors to this other dimension, and since we use the same Power as the Psychos and we used to use the same Power as the Robot Rangers, it's affecting us too. He calls it consciousness-swapping, but it turns out the doors he's opening may actually be moving."

Saryn frowned at the comm. "This Justin of yours is far to precocious for the universe's good. You are aware of that, I assume?"

"That's the only way he can explain what happened to Cassie, anyway," Ashley continued, and suddenly he found himself listening more closely. "She shouldn't have faded unless she was traveling herself, and Justin says consciousness swapping only happens when someone else travels, like Psycho Pink or Cassie's Robot Ranger. So he thinks maybe the doors between dimensions are attracted to the Astro Power..."

"You have no idea how little that surprises me," Saryn interrupted. "If something inexplicable and vaguely threatening is going to happen anywhere in the galaxies, naturally it would happen to the Astro Rangers. And is it an enemy causing this phenomenon?

"No," he said, answering his own question and not caring that he was talking over the rest of her explanation. "It's a Ranger. One of your own, no less, a former teammate who is even now interrupting your pretense of normalcy with dangerous and apparently unbounded curiosity."

"--but he says it shouldn't happen again," Ashley was saying, and Saryn sighed.

"A guarantee he cannot make, given that he doesn't know what caused it in the first place." He turned the comm off without waiting to hear the rest of her message. The lack of concern Cassie's teammates evinced in circumstances such as these never ceased to amaze him. They shrugged it off until it blew up in their faces, and then suddenly they were surprised.

He supposed he ought to tell Cassie her friend had called. And recently, too, unless she hadn't checked the comm when she got up. That would be out of character, so he could only assume Ashley had called after she left. He hadn't heard the comm chime, but he'd gotten so used to ignoring it that he might have been awake and just not noticed.

Saryn wandered out into the courtyard, noting idly that Nen's door was the only one still closed. The community center was wide open, as usual, and Kyril was perched in one of the windows. He raised a hand in welcome, his gaze flicking back toward the sky when Saryn nodded in return. The Blue Ranger's eyes were more sun-tolerant than anyone else on the team, and he had been known to stare at the horizon for hours at a time.

The atmosphere inside the community center was far less reflective. Saryn heard Jetson growl the moment he stepped through the door, but for once the dog wasn't barking at him. Instead, the big yellow canine was on his back, pinned to the ground by a skinny toddler who was yelling louder than he was growling.

The next moment Jetson had wriggled free and pounced on her back as she shrieked with laughter, and Saryn stepped carefully around them as he made his way toward the buffet counter. Cassie was seated there, an amused look on her face as she caught his eye. Mirine was behind her, ignoring both his entrance and the commotion on the floor while she rifled through the cupboards.

"Good morning," Saryn offered, leaning on the counter beside her. "I trust you slept well?"

"Couldn't." She made a face, but she didn't seem overly upset about it. "I must have slept too long yesterday afternoon. Which means I'll probably crash by lunchtime, but I guess it'll make the fair more interesting. What about you?"

He hesitated a moment too long, and Cassie gave him a knowing look. "What did you dream about? Not the kids again?"

"Saryn's dreaming about kids?" Mirine interrupted. She was obviously paying more attention than she pretended. "What, you two don't have enough to do? Now you're going to raise a family in your spare time?"

Saryn gave her a half-hearted glare. "If you feel the need to participate in the conversation, you could at least say good morning."

"Hello to you too," she retorted. "You're grumpy this morning."

"It's the nightmares," Cassie remarked, swinging her legs idly against the counter. "They make him grouchy. Breakfast usually does the trick."

"Here." Mirine pulled out a plate before he could protest. "Raine's leftovers from last night. She says you weren't around when she made them, so you'd better have some quick before they're gone. The sugar's good for you, anyway."

He frowned at his sister. "I am not grouchy, I don't need the sugar, and I had better things to do last night. And, in case it escaped your notice, sweet puffs do not constitute breakfast."

"Hungry!" a strident voice complained, and he glanced down to see Shei pressing her fists against the base of the counter. "Want to eat now!"

Saryn reached down and picked her up, setting her on the counter beside Cassie. "This," he announced to no one in particular, "is not my fault."

"It never is," Cassie noted, handing Shei a sweet puff. "Here you go, hon. Don't tell your mom, okay?"

"Tell mom," the girl agreed, grabbing for the dessert greedily. "Sweet puff!"

"So what about these dreams?" Cassie wanted to know, holding the plate out to him. "Are they serious? Are they symbolic, or precognitive, or what? Was it exactly the same dream both times, or were they different?"

"I don't know," he said with a sigh, taking one of the sweet puffs. "They weren't the same, but the feeling they inspired was identical."

She raised her eyebrows at him as she passed the plate back to Mirine. "And that was?"

"Fear," he said simply.

"More!" Shei demanded, reaching for his sweet puff. "Hungry!"

Jetson barked once, and Cassie took two more sweet puffs from Mirine. Breaking one of them in half, she frowned as she passed part of it to Jetson and gave the other to Shei. "Fear of something in particular, or just fear?"

He peeled the outer layer of the pastry free before putting it in his mouth, contemplating the question. "Fear for our children," he said at last. "I know it doesn't make any sense, but that's how they make me feel. I am afraid for children we do not have."

"More than one?" Mirine put in, leaning against the counter across from him. "Ambitious, aren't we."

He gave her a dirty look, and she smirked back at him.

"They *make* you afraid," Cassie said slowly, ignoring the silent exchange. "You mean it's not just a feeling you have in the dream? Are you afraid now?"

"I feel obliged to point out," a new voice broke in, "that this is not a breakfast which Raine would approve of."

The three of them looked up guiltily to find Azmuth standing in the courtyard doorway. The Yellow Ranger took in the scene with an expression of amused tolerance, her lean frame propped against the wall and her arms folded across her chest. "She would, I think, comment on both the lack of nutrition and the informality of the presentation."

"Can we convince you that it's not really breakfast?" Mirine suggested hopefully.

"That's right," Cassie chimed in. "It's more of a pre-breakfast snack. Saryn needed sugar, and we didn't want him to feel left out."

He glared at her, but her smile was so innocent that he couldn't find it in his heart to contradict her. Besides, Azmuth was already pushing away from the door and pacing across the room toward them, and she didn't look particularly upset. She even took one of the sweet puffs for herself, which delighted her daughter no end.

"More!" Shei exclaimed, reaching for the dessert.

Azmuth raised her eyebrows, her inquiring gaze going from one to another. "How many has she had?"

"One?" Mirine offered, though she didn't sound entirely certain.

"And a half," Cassie put in. "Not that many."

With a shrug, Azmuth handed her sweet puff to Shei and took another one for herself. "So long as she does not have more sugar than blood in her veins. What conversation did I interrupt? I assume it was not fear of Raine that caused you to fall silent so quickly."

"I think you underestimate her," Mirine muttered.

A smile played across Azmuth's normally serious expression. "I assure you, I do not. She is meditating this morning, however, and I do not expect her at breakfast. Thus we are safe from her parental sensibilities for the time."

"Too bad we're not safe from Saryn's," Cassie teased, and he sighed as Azmuth's curious look came to rest on him. He concentrated on his sweet puff, ignoring Cassie's explanation as best he could.

"So these dreams," Mirine began, the moment she had finished. "Are they just regular nightmares, or not? You said they scared you... how many times have you had them?"

"Twice." He reached for another sweet puff, and she gave him a look that said he was being difficult. Peeling off the outer layer of the puff again, he muttered, "Maybe three times." He felt Cassie glance sharply in his direction, but he didn't look up.

"And?" Mirine demanded.

"And what?" He tore off a corner of the sugared dough and tossed it to Jetson, who had been watching him intently throughout the whole process. "I don't know if they're regular nightmares or not, and I don't know what to do about them either way. What more can I tell you?"

Mirine's communicator went off at that moment, and she gave it a dismissive glance. The ID code must have caught her attention, though, for she frowned and straightened up from the counter. "I'll be right back," she said, pointing at Saryn as she retreated into the kitchen. "Don't think this is over."

"It never is," he answered, glancing away to avoid her glare. He heard Cassie chuckle, but it was the window that caught his attention. The one nearest the door was empty, and he was sure it hadn't been that way when he came in.

Jetson let out a growl. It wasn't the playful growl that the dog used when wrestling with Shei, nor was it a sound of real menace. It was more an acknowledgement than anything else, and Saryn knew what it meant before he even turned around.

"Hi, Kyril," Cassie said cheerfully, and sure enough, there was the Blue Ranger standing on the other side of the counter. His presence was more disconcerting than most, for he had no empathic echo. He was one of a very few people who could sneak up on Saryn without even trying.

"Morning," Kyril answered, greeting them all with a lazy smile. "Bet Raine wouldn't have saved the leftovers if she'd known what you were going to do with them."

"If you don't want any," Azmuth replied, leaving the sentence hanging. She pulled the plate out of his reach, taking another sweet puff for herself as she did so. "No, Shei," she added, when her daughter tried to imitate her. "Two for you, two for me. This is equitable."

"Between you and Saryn, that girl is going to have a better vocabulary than I do by the time she's five," Cassie remarked. She handed Kyril a sweet puff, and he grinned in thanks. "Do you guys write thesauruses in your spare time?"

"Thesauri," Saryn corrected automatically, and she rolled her eyes.

"Do you ever wonder," Kyril inquired, "how the Eltaran language disseminated so thoroughly throughout the universe without being corrupted beyond recognition by individual subcultures?"

Saryn put the rest of his sweet puff in his mouth, not bothering to answer. He recognized Kyril's tendency to muse aloud, and he didn't feel like thinking that much this early in the morning. He noticed with amusement that Cassie didn't want to either, but she had no qualms about admitting it.

"I can honestly say I've never wondered that," she told Kyril. "But I'll put it on my list of things to think about while I'm lying awake at night. Right after 'why is the sky white?' and 'how come only half of Elisia has winter?'"

Kyril gave her an odd look. "I could tell you that."

"That is unnecessary," Azmuth interrupted, exchanging sympathetic glances with Cassie. "Perhaps another time."

Saryn was making an effort not to smile when Mirine stuck her head out of the kitchen. "Saryn?" she said, tilting her head in obvious invitation. "Can I talk to you?"

He raised an eyebrow, but he circled the counter and followed her into the kitchen without a word. He was aware of Azmuth's gaze on them, coupled with Cassie's curiosity, but he had no sense of Kyril at all. Next to Shei's impatience and Jetson's idle content, the Blue Ranger couldn't have made less of an impression if he'd ceased to exist.

"Can you cancel your publicity op with the Defense this afternoon?" Mirine asked as soon as they were out of the main room. "There's a surveillance briefing I'd like you to be at instead."

"Done." He studied her expression, wondering what could have prompted such a question. She rarely made professional requests of him that didn't involve the rest of the team, and she had never asked him to choose between Ranger duty and Defense obligations. "Is something wrong?"

She hesitated, frowning. "I'm not sure," she said at last. "Maybe. Calijyt brought home two of their undercover agents this morning, and the extraction wasn't scheduled for another four days."

Saryn considered that. It was rare for an agent to be pulled without imminent threat, especially on the Border. On the other hand, it wasn't unheard of, and a briefing was standard in this situation. "You believe they were endangered with cause," he said, searching her gaze for confirmation.

Mirine sighed. "It's just a feeling, but yes, I do. Border scouts have been trading steady fire with velocifighters for days, and I don't think it's a coincidence that encounters are up."

"The Defense has been concerned by those same reports," he admitted, and she smiled briefly.

"I'm not surprised. I hope you can bring that perspective to this briefing."

"Where you lead," he promised, "I will follow."

She caught his eye again, an odd look flickering across her face. "You always have," she agreed soberly. "I've meant to thank you for it a hundred times. You were chosen to lead, and I can't tell you how much I appreciate you taking a subordinate role recently."

"I can not tell you how much I appreciate the team you've built," he replied, smiling faintly. "And it is your team, not mine. I gave up the mantle of leadership a long time ago, and I am proud to see you wear it so well."

Instead of looking pleased, Mirine looked troubled, and a perceptible silence lingered before she spoke. "Saryn... if it happens that we need you to lead again--if the team needs you to take over--will you?"

"You will not need me," he said simply.

"But if we do." Mirine's gaze was intent, and suddenly he realized it wasn't herself that she doubted. It was him. "If you had to assume command of the Elisian Rangers in a battle situation, now--today--could you do it?"

She seemed to expect him to think about it, so he did. These Rangers were not the teammates he had led to their deaths five years ago, but in the heat of the moment, surrounded by their uniforms and with adrenaline distorting all sense of time, it was possible to forget. He knew that, and he knew too the emotional demands of battle, the choices that sometimes had to be made--and he made his.

"Yes," he said at last. "Yes, I could."

"Good," Mirine answered, an honest smile lighting her face. "That's all I wanted to hear."

"Still haven't met Steve," Carlos remarked, stopping to pick up a soda can someone had tossed outside the door. "Taj is all right, though."

"By 'all right', I assume you mean that he has not spoken to you?" Aura guessed. Her accent was all but lost in the comm distortion between galaxies, something Billy hadn't been able to compensate for in a device as unsophisticated as Carlos' cell phone.

He grinned as he yanked the dorm door open and headed for the main lounge. "He doesn't bother me and I don't bother him. What else could I ask for in a roommate?"

"So he is not curious about your frequent phone conversations with another planet?"

The TV was going in the first floor lounge and there were people sprawled across the cushioned furniture, watching with varying degrees of interest. At the other end of the lounge there were a couple of students chatting with open textbooks in front of them, and someone playing idly on the piano. Carlos headed over to the communal recycling bins, watching to make sure Voyager was a rerun before turning his attention back to Aura.

"I think phone conversations are the least of my worries," he told her, popping the lid of the bin open and tossing the can in. "If anything's going to bother him, it'll be the teleporting in the middle of the night. Not only is it loud, but it probably lights up the entire room."

"Perhaps we should do some research," she suggested, her tone a little too innocent to be what it seemed.

He narrowed his eyes, forgetting for a moment that she couldn't see him. "Do you have me on an open comm link?"

"Of course," Aura answered. "I am the only one in the control room, and it is the easiest way to communicate."

He wasn't immune to the stares that followed him out of the lounge, but he wasn't going to worry about them either. After three months of turning heads wherever he went, he found that he was getting used to it. There were days when it got to be too much and he would just stay on Aquitar until he felt normal again, but those days were becoming less and less frequent.

"In that case," he said, pushing the fire doors open on his way to the stairs, "I won't say anything inappropriate about teleporting in the dark with you. I think Billy has that whole room bugged."

"Of course he does," Aura replied with perfect equanimity. "The entire dome is under constant surveillance as a security measure. If, however, you are suggesting that any of the Rangers access those logs without due cause--"

"Which you all do, every time someone ticks you off," Carlos interrupted. "Especially Delphinius. Don't expect me to believe it was coincidence he knew exactly when that genealogy chart would be arriving."

"I find it interesting that you accuse him and not Cetaci," Aura remarked. She didn't contradict him, though. "The White Ranger is the only one who could be forgiven such subterfuge in the name of team relations."

"Which is why I don't blame her," he pointed out, stepping around someone at the top of the stairs and pausing by the water fountain. He leaned over to get a drink before he added, "I'd spy too if I was going out with someone as devious as Delphinius."

"You think I am less devious than Delphinius?" she demanded.

He grinned at her indignation. "All right--I'd spy if I was *living* with someone as devious as the two of you; how's that?"

"I accept your apology." There was a pause, and then she added, "Your opinion of Cetaci has changed significantly in recent months, has it not?"

Carlos tried the doorknob before punching his code into the lock, and to his surprise, it turned. Pushing the door open, he saw Taj sitting at his computer next to the windows. Steve was absent, as usual. Except for the laundry that had accumulated on the lofted bunk since he moved in, Carlos would have wondered whether his second roommate actually existed.

Grabbing the end of the bunk beds to swing himself up, he considered her question. "Not really," he said at last, flopping down on top of his bunk. "I think it's my opinion of Delphinius that's changed. I used to feel sorry for him, but he's a lot sneakier than I gave him credit for."

"He would probably appreciate that observation," she answered, and he could hear her smiling. Funny that facial expression came through the link when her accent was so muted.

"And I'm sure you'll tell him I said so, too," he commented. She and her teammates were as close as the Astro Rangers used to be, and he had learned not to say anything to her that he didn't want repeated.

"As I said," she replied smugly. "He will appreciate it."

"Yeah, whatever," he muttered. It didn't bother him anymore, but he still teased her. "Do you have a time for the synchronized flight tests yet?"

"And you think I read *your* mind." He could almost see her quizzical look. "I have just received clearance for upper atmospheric testing at eleven and a quarter. Billy and Delphinius will join us, and Cetaci has agreed to pilot the fourth fighter if you can not be present."

"Are you kidding?" He glanced down at his clock out of habit, but he could do the conversion in his head. It would be almost midnight here before the tests began, and they would probably last the rest of the night. "There's no way I'm missing this. Is Darren going to be there?"

"He will observe," Aura agreed. "Along with the majority of the fighter wing and the graduating pilot class. Some of the new ground-based defense force will also be present."

Carlos whistled. "What, you couldn't think of anyone else to invite?" he inquired. "Is this a test run, or an air show?"

"Perhaps both," she said, taking him more seriously than he'd intended. "We are recruiting as well as refitting, after all."

He opened his mouth to answer, then thought better of it. He wasn't much given to nostalgia, but there was something just a little bit sad about seeing military expansion on such a peaceful planet. Dark Spectre's war had left its mark on all of them.

Mechanical beings without the ability to reason or improvise, quantrons were an efficient if somewhat limited fighting force. Their loyalty was unquestionable, as they did only what they were programmed to do, and their robotic capability to withstand what humanoids could not was a tremendous advantage in the harsh environment of space. Still, as pilots against a sentient enemy they suffered from a distinct inability to learn.

Wave after wave of velocifighters washed through the Border and broke against the wall of the Calijyt Planetary Defense. The Border world's fighter wings were fast, ruthless, and committed, and their tenacity gave the Frontier patrol plenty of time to catch up. Trapped between the Calijyt PD and a well-armed patrol that had reinforcements on the way, the velocifighters stood no chance at all.

Kerone watched impassively as the little ships began to wink out, dozens of them flaring at a time before vanishing into nothingness. The simulation was not one the library had on file, naturally, but she had been able to modify some of the battle scenarios to suit her purposes. She needed something more sophisticated than the hostel terminals to run a program with so many variables.

"Whatcha doing?" Zhane's voice asked, interrupting her concentration once again. She had left him more than an hour ago, heading for the vid tanks when his research became more boring than she could tolerate without fidgeting. Unfortunately for him, it wasn't much more exciting on his end, and he didn't have the option of running off and letting the computer work without him.

"War games," she answered absently, watching the Frontier reinforcements arrive in time to scatter the remaining velocifighters and meld seamlessly into the patrol wing. "Just trying to stay on top of the news."

"News?" Zhane asked suspiciously. "What news?"

"The news that isn't news," she answered. "The fact that the Defense hasn't established any kind of base in this system, even though KO-35 is the most distant Border world in the League and patrols come through here every other day. What are they waiting for?"

"That's just bureaucracy for you," he opined. "They have to get seven different kinds of approval for expansion, not to mention authorization and contracts for building in Kerovan space. They've been working on it for months."

"So they say," Kerone agreed noncommittally. She reset the program, sending the velocifighters after Elisia this time. It was more vulnerable than Calijyt, and it had a history that the forces of evil could use to their advantage if it fell.

Zhane didn't answer, and she found herself lost in the new simulation. Unlike its neighbor, Elisia's Rangers swarmed out ahead of the fighter wings and engaged the velocifighters first, leading the planetary defense in much the same way Aquitar's Rangers did. The unified front strengthened the fighter wing but restricted the Rangers, and she narrowed her eyes as she considered the tradeoff involved.

Elisia, too, beat back the velocifighters with enviable ease, though when she compared numbers she found there was little appreciable difference in their losses. Interesting. Tactically speaking, she had expected Elisia to suffer fewer losses up until the threshold of defeat, which should have been reached faster than that of Calijyt's independent Rangers. She ran the simulation again, this time with more velocifighters.

The comm chimed, but since it wasn't Zhane she ignored it. Her login code enabled other network users to trace her anywhere on the planet, and contacts were automatically routed to her location. That didn't mean she had any obligation to acknowledge them.

"Astrea?" Zhane's voice intruded a few minutes later, and she lifted her head instantly. He sounded odd. Something had happened. She didn't know what it was, but she knew that tone of voice.

"What's wrong?" she asked, glancing over at the screen linked to his computer camera. "Did you find something?"

"No. At least, not in the records," he amended. His expression was as strange as his tone. "Andros just sent us a message."

She frowned. "That was him? I didn't bother to check."

"It's wasn't live." Zhane was silent a moment, and just when she was about to ask he added, "You should listen to it. I can't--I don't know what to think about it."

"Did he send the same thing to both of us?" she asked, reaching for the comm. Her login prompt appeared beneath Zhane's video feed, and she entered her password again. The message source and time appeared and froze while she waited for Zhane's answer.

He only nodded, his expression unreadable.

She halted the battle sim where Elisia was once again decimating the velocifighters and turned her full attention to the comm. Andros' image appeared in place of Zhane, and she blinked in surprise. He was wearing a tawny vest over an undyed tunic, and she knew with a sudden sinking sensation what he was going to say even before he opened his mouth. He hadn't worn anything but red for longer than she could remember.

"Hello, Zhane. Hi Kerone. I'm sending this to both of you because I owe you both the same apology. I know I haven't been a very good friend recently, and I'm sorry it happened without me even noticing. Somehow I got so caught up in what I thought I should be that I forgot what's really important, and that's you.

"You never forgot," Andros continued, and she found herself hearing his message twice. Once aloud, the way he had sent it, and then again in her head as she tried to imagine the way it sounded to Zhane. "You stood by me through everything, and I want you to know that means more to me than anything else. You reminded me... well, you made me remember what's worth fighting for."

Zhane had told him to choose his battles. She wished suddenly that she had been there to overhear that conversation. Were they closer behind closed doors, or did they joke and fight just as stridently as they did in front of her? For the first time, she wondered if she had taken her brother and his best friend for granted all these months.

"I turned my morpher over to the Council," Andros was saying, and her eyes widened involuntarily. For all that she had been expecting that, the words that had seemed so innocuous this afternoon were more alarming after the fact. "I think they were still kind of shocked when I left, but they'll be looking for a new Red Ranger soon. I thought you guys should know before--I thought you should know first.

"I'll be at the hostel tonight," he added. "Zhane, I'm sorry for the things I've said lately, and I hope you'll let me apologize in person. I'll do anything to make it up to you, and I mean that. When I said being your best friend was more important than being a Ranger... it's--it's so much more important that I don't even know how to tell you. I'm sorry I was so rude this afternoon."

Andros paused for a moment, frustration flickering in his eyes. It was clear to her that he wasn't sure exactly what he was apologizing for, and she hoped it wasn't as obvious to Zhane. Her brother was trying so hard... she had never seen him quite so earnest. But then, she'd never seen Zhane walk out on him like that either.

"Kerone--" There was a wry smile on Andros' face now, hiding his uncertainty. "I won't promise to do anything for you, but only because you're a sorceress and I know your sense of humor. So I'll settle for saying I'm sorry, and I hope you believe me because it's true."

She nodded once, glad he couldn't see her smile as he signed off. Funny that he would be more confident of where he stood with her than with Zhane--should she read anything into that? What about his offer to do "anything" to make it up to his best friend? She'd give a great deal to know what had gone through Zhane's mind when he heard that.

She began reprogramming the battle sim, waiting for Zhane to realize she'd had plenty of time to listen to Andros' message and reopen their private comm link. The vid tank was perfectly capable of initiating the signal, but she found herself in the same situation Zhane had been moments before. She had no more idea what to say than he had.

She did know that she hadn't thought Andros would truly resign without them. When she agreed to accompany Zhane to the library, she had assumed her brother would put his plans on hold until he could talk them into participating. Clearly, he was more serious than she had expected, and for some reason his actions troubled her now in a way they had not when they were just words.

"Weird, huh?" Zhane didn't bother with preamble as the link flared to life again.

She frowned, inputting the final variables before answering. "Weird," she said, as velocifighters flooded into the Kerovan system, "isn't quite the word I would have picked. Maybe... surreal."

"Same thing," Zhane said dismissively. "Who'd have thought he'd actually go through with it? Andros giving up his morpher is like... like--"

"Astronema turning good?" she suggested, watching the Kerovan PD intercept the velocifighters at the asteroid belt. Only two zords flanked them as they engaged the enemy.

She heard Zhane laugh, and she smiled to herself. That was a sound she hadn't heard often enough lately. Glancing up at the comm screen, she was reassured to see the strange look gone from his face and a grin in its place. He could be teased again, so the initial shock of Andros' message must have worn off.

"Yeah, about as weird as that," Zhane agreed. "Are you still running those games?"

She glanced away from the screen in time to see velocifighters breaking through the planetary defense and being chased down by zords. She frowned, surprised the fighter wings had been overcome so quickly. The zords couldn't pick up their slack, but they were being expected to even as the PD fell back. "Did you and Andros fight with the planetary wings?" she asked abruptly.

"I'll take that as a yes." Zhane sounded more amused by her preoccupation than anything. "No, we didn't--neither of us were trained for that sort of thing back then."

She halted the simulation before it could reach its inevitable conclusion, reprogramming it to take independent maneuvering into account. Naturally, she and Zhane would fight differently than Zhane and Andros, but it was the best she could do with just a computer program. No one could recreate reality.

"Blown up any important planets yet?" Zhane inquired after a moment of silence.

"Not yet," she answered absently, watching the simulation reset itself. "I'm still working on it."

"Take a break," he told her, and she looked up in surprise.

"Why?"

"I need to ask you something." He looked serious all of a sudden, and she studied him as best she could over the comm link. Possibilities flitted through her mind, but the chime of the comm interrupted before she could prompt him.

Zhane glanced away, and she saw him frown. "The Council," he said, eyes scanning something she couldn't see. "Did you just get--they sent us a summons!" He broke off indignantly, staring at the screen.

She had to enter her password again to view the static text that had caught Zhane's attention. It was indeed a summons from the Kerovan Council, complete with formal address and a deadline. Confused, she let the message disappear and gave Zhane a questioning look. "What was that about?"

"It's probably about Andros." Zhane looked torn between laughter and outright anger. "I can't believe they did that! Since when do they summon Rangers?"

"Did they tell you why?" she asked. "All I got was where and when."

"That's all they sent me too, and if they think I'm going to show up they're sadly mistaken. You don't summon a Ranger! And you certainly don't do it without an explanation!"

Kerone just looked at him, not sure how to respond to that. He sounded almost like Ecliptor for a moment, objecting to some perceived slight on her behalf. She knew the Rangers were, in theory, autonomous, and their military might made them a force to be reckoned with whether it was an enemy or an ally doing the reckoning. But she didn't see why this warranted such outrage on his part. They had ignored the Council before, after all.

"You'd think Andros leaving would have shocked some sense into them by now," Zhane was muttering. "I'm not playing their game anymore. If they want to summon me, they can summon away. I'm not listening."

"I am," Kerone pointed out. "And I don't know what you're so upset about. It's not like you and Andros do what the Council wants anyway."

"But they still expect us to!" Zhane exclaimed. "Why? Why does a planetary government think it can order Rangers around? We're not bureaucrats; we're warriors! We're supposed to fight, not sit in on endless and totally pointless meetings!"

With that, she realized what was fueling his anger. She'd thought he had taken Andros' message too calmly. He wasn't calm at all; he was furious inside and it was leaking out despite his best efforts. Zhane, ever the fun-loving and carefree clown, had no way to contain negative emotions when his almost preternatural perspective failed him. The Council was a convenient target, but it was Andros he was upset with.

Andros had made them attend those meetings. Andros had let the Council dictate their actions. Andros had left them to force a vote amongst themselves when it came down to the wire, and now, when things were spiraling out of control, Andros had quit.

She frowned at the miniature velocifighters in front of her, finally understanding what this looked like to Zhane: apology or no, Andros had abandoned them again. Andros had abandoned him again. But that's not what he meant! Her mind protested, and she couldn't let the revelation pass without trying to impart some of it to Zhane.

"He did it for you," she said, looking back at the comm. "He wasn't trying to abandon you--he gave up his morpher because of you."

"Well, you could have fooled me!" Zhane shot back, confirming her suspicions. "He didn't even tell me what was going on!"

"I don't think he knew," she told him. "I think he decided on the way back from Earth. This afternoon was the first I heard about it."

Mentioning Earth had been a mistake. Zhane's eyes narrowed, and belatedly it occurred to her that the only thing taking more of Andros' time than the Council these last few days had been Ashley's home planet. "So he doesn't consult the rest of the team at all anymore? The fact that we could wind up with a new leader isn't important enough to discuss?"

"He said he was taking your advice," she said quietly. She knew it might not be the right thing to say, but she didn't know what else to tell him. "He said you told him to stop fighting the little battles and concentrate on the bigger ones, so that's what he was going to do. He said he knew you were tired of fighting the Council, and he wanted to make it so none of us had to anymore."

Zhane was staring at her. "He told you all of that and all he said to me is 'let's resign'? No offense, but since when do I rate lower on the 'pour your heart out' list than you?"

"I was there," she offered awkwardly, more uncomfortable with the way his words echoed her own than with his bluntness. She found herself searching for a defense to the argument she herself had made. "He just--"

"You were *there*!" Zhane didn't even wait for her to finish, and she bit her lip. Definitely not the right thing to say. "I was gone for one lousy night, and suddenly it's my fault that Andros doesn't talk to me? It's my fault that he gave up his morpher?"

He made a visible effort to contain himself, but his gaze burned into hers even through the comm screen. "Why do I bother?" he demanded. "Tell me that, Astrea! Why the hell do I bother?"

The answer to that was glaringly obvious now that she knew what to look for, and she wondered that she had never seen it before. "Because you love him," she said softly.

Zhane snorted, picking something up and stuffing it into his backpack as she watched. "Yeah, and a lot of good it does. I have to get out of here," he said, closing the bag and swinging it over his shoulder. "I'm taking Ty on a tour of Keyota tonight. Want to come with?"

It was only a token offer, but it filled her with guilty relief. No matter how angry he was at Andros, he wasn't upset with her. She was surprised by how much that meant to her, and she smiled at the screen. "Thanks, but no. I'm going to try to get somewhere with the sims."

"Yeah, well, remember to put the Border back together when you're done with it," he cracked, offering a half-hearted smirk in return. "We need some of those planets, you know."

"I'll try," she said solemnly. "Tell Ty to treat you right or I'll turn him into a frog."

He actually chuckled at that, shaking his head in mock reproach. "I'm sure that's just what he needs, the former princess of evil stalking him. That will help him sleep at night."

There was a pause, and then Zhane added more seriously, "Thanks for caring."

"You know I do," she replied softly.

A smile brightened his face, and some of his usual cheer slipped back into his expression. "Have a good night, Astrea."

"Same to you," she said, blowing him a kiss. He made a grabbing motion with his right hand, touching his fingers to his lips with a wink. She laughed, watching his image fade from the screen as he stood up to leave.

She did turn back to the sim then, and the mess that had once been a decent representation of the Kerovan system confronted her. The motion had stopped once the program ran its course, but the aftermath of the battle was all too clear. The Kerovan PD was nonexistent, both zords were gone, and the colony itself had been completely overrun.

Kerone frowned, considering the widespread devastation laid out before her. "This can't be good," she murmured to no one in particular.

10. Preference

Years ago, Cassie had complained to her best friend and housemate that she never got any phone calls. Ashley had sympathized, telling her it was only a matter of time before she made friends at her new school--friends that didn't wear communicators on their wrists. It had been comforting and annoying at the same time, coming as it did from a popular cheerleader, but Ashley had been right.

Still, she could remember a time when no one called her. Now, staring at the constantly blinking comm screen, it seemed like there was no one who didn't.

She had come home early hoping to sleep the afternoon away, and she had found messages waiting from both Nen and Kerone. The latter wasn't technically to her: Kerone had called looking for Saryn, but it would be rude to ignore her nonetheless. The former was a request from Nen for both Cassie and Saryn to stop by whenever they got home, though he didn't say why.

With a sigh, Cassie sat down in front of the comm screen and had the network trace Kerone's signal. She would just say hello, tell Kerone that Saryn wouldn't be back until later, and then go see what Nen wanted. Barring unforeseen emergencies and undue socialization, she would still have plenty of time for a nap before dinner.

Undue socialization, she thought, amused in spite of herself. I'm starting to sound like Saryn.

It didn't take long for the network to initiate a link; one of the benefits of Ranger access was that she had priority over normal comm traffic. The Astro Ranger logo flashed across her screen, and to her surprise Kerone answered almost immediately. She wasn't sure what time it was on KO-35, but she hadn't really expected the other girl to be in her room.

"Hi, Cassie." Andros' sister greeted her with a sort of curious equanimity, but she supposed Kerone had been expecting Saryn. "How are you?"

"Tired," Cassie admitted. "I came back for a nap, but I saw your message and thought I'd say hi. How are things with you?"

"Strange," Kerone said fervently, surprising Cassie again. Kerone was nothing if not honest, which occasionally struck Cassie as an unusual trait for the former princess of evil, but she was quicker to comment on other people's circumstances than her own. In that, she and Saryn were a lot alike.

"I'm worried about Zhane," she added, unaware of Cassie's musing. "I was calling to see if Saryn had any cryptic insight to share that would make me feel better."

Cassie couldn't help smiling at that. "He may not be much help when it comes to Zhane," she warned. "You know they're only friends when they're on different planets."

Kerone shrugged. "Mostly I just wanted to complain, so it doesn't really matter."

"What's wrong?" Cassie asked, frowning a little. "Is everyone all right?"

"No," Kerone said bluntly. "Zhane and Andros are tearing each other apart, and I'm stuck in the middle of an argument that Andros doesn't even know they're having. It's really frustrating."

"Whoa, back up--what?" Cassie stared at her. "Zhane and Andros are fighting? Over what?"

For the first time, Kerone hesitated. "Bad communication, I guess," she said at last. "Did you hear that Andros gave up his morpher?"

Cassie's eyes widened. "What? To who?"

Kerone shook her head. "No one. He handed it over to the Council. He said he was tired of putting them first, and he needed to concentrate on his friends instead. But Zhane thinks Andros ditched us because he can't control things anymore."

"Control things? You mean the Council?" Cassie couldn't help feeling taken aback. Zhane gave complete strangers the benefit of the doubt--he had been the first one to trust Astronema, after all--so it was hard to believe that he would think the worst of his best friend.

"The Council, the Astro Rangers, Zhane... I don't know. He's probably more upset that Andros didn't talk to him about it than he is that Andros did it in the first place."

"Andros didn't tell you first?" The more she thought about that, the less it surprised her. Andros was nothing if not volatile. "Did you say he doesn't know Zhane's mad?" she added, frowning. "How could he not? Saryn says Zhane gets mean when he's angry."

Kerone gave her an odd look. "So this isn't unusual? I've never seen him angry before."

"*What* isn't unusual?" Cassie demanded, a little frustrated at having to repeat everything the other girl said. "Kerone, what's going on?"

There was another pause. The look on Kerone's face was troubled, and suddenly Cassie missed the days when she could just walk down the hall and shake her friends until they told her what was wrong. Not that she had ever really done that, but then, she hadn't had to. There had been a time when they were close enough that she hadn't had to ask. Now she had to intercept other people's comm transmissions just to find out something was going on.

"It's mostly Zhane," Kerone said at last. "He's--he's trying to hurt Andros. Not physically hurt him," she said hastily, seeing Cassie's expression. "Just... I think he's trying to get back at him for--for being distracted."

Cassie frowned, reminding herself not to echo Kerone yet again. "That doesn't sound like Zhane. He doesn't hold a grudge against anyone, let alone Andros."

"Even Zhane has limits," Kerone said with a sigh. "And Andros has been more self-centered than usual lately. If it doesn't have a Ranger code on it, he doesn't even see it."

"Andros has always been sort of single-minded," Cassie pointed out. "It's not like that's anything new. What's Zhane doing that makes you so worried?"

Kerone looked away from the comm screen. "Come in," she said, responding to something the comm hadn't picked up. Her expression was wary, and when her visitor entered Cassie's field of view she knew why. It was Andros.

"We were just talking about you," Kerone told him, with her usual lack of concern for what was polite. "What have you done now?"

Andros gave her the Look, and Cassie hid a smile. Some things didn't change.

"I was looking for Zhane," he said, choosing to ignore her question. "I haven't seen him since this afternoon, and he's not in our room. I thought maybe he was with you."

"He's not." Kerone was on the receiving end of the Look again, and Cassie wondered if the expression seemed a little more exasperated than usual.

"I can see that," Andros informed her when she didn't elaborate. "Any idea where he might have gone?"

Kerone shrugged, as though Zhane had told her but she hadn't been paying much attention at the time. "He said something about touring the city. I don't think he'll be back till late."

"It's late now," Andros objected. He glanced at the screen when Kerone didn't answer, seeming to notice it for the first time. "Hi, Cassie."

"Hey," she said, smiling at his distraction. He didn't smile back.

"Look," he was telling Kerone, "can you at least tell him I'm looking for him when he gets back? I don't care what time it is; I just want to talk to him."

"He doesn't report to me, Andros." Something in his demeanor must have made her relent, for she added, "I'll tell him if I see him, okay?"

He nodded, but he didn't look very happy about it. He disappeared without another word to either of them, and a moment later Kerone looked back at the screen. "See?" she demanded. "He's been like that all evening!"

"That's just Andros," Cassie insisted. "He likes having something to obsess over. If it wasn't Zhane it would be Ashley, or you, or the Council. He has a one-track mind and he doesn't like to wait, that's all."

"That's not what I mean." Kerone looked frustrated at her inability to explain. "Since when does he have to ask where Zhane is? Have you ever known *either* of them to do that? Even when they're not together, they just know. Or they find out telepathically."

"That's true," Cassie admitted. "They do have that telepathic thing going for them. I wonder why Andros didn't try that."

"I think Zhane's blocking him." Kerone leaned forward, as though she was on the verge of making Cassie see something that still evaded her. "I really think he's avoiding Andros, and Andros doesn't know what to do about it."

"You said he was out touring the city?" Cassie asked, frowning a little. "That's not so strange, is it? Or is it? I mean, you've been there for months."

"It's strange," Kerone replied immediately. "Well, not that he's touring, because he's doing that with a friend from Chessa Brook. But it's strange that he's out with someone other than Andros for the second night in a row, and he didn't even tell him where he was going."

Cassie hesitated, her confusion dissipating a little. Kerone had known Zhane when he first woke up from hypersleep, but back then she had been the non-Ranger friend he could go to when the others were too absorbed in each other to socialize. Now he had found someone else to fill that role, and Kerone probably didn't even realize how lonely a small team could be for someone like Zhane.

"Zhane's not like you and Andros," Cassie pointed out, wondering how to make her see without sounding rude. "He doesn't like to be alone. He needs people. He likes people--he likes crowds, the same way Andros hates them.

"He's like Ashley," she said, the connection suddenly clicking in her mind. She got along with Zhane so well partly because he reminded her of her best friend. "They both love us, but we're not enough by ourselves. If they don't have friends outside the team they're going to be lonely, no matter how much time the rest of us spend together."

Kerone was very still, an odd look on her face. She didn't say anything for a long moment. It was as though she was listening to some internal monologue that had no outward manifestation except intense concentration, and Cassie wished she could overhear some of it.

"That's an interesting comparison," the other girl said at last. "I hadn't thought of it that way."

She lapsed into silence again, and this time Cassie interrupted. "It doesn't mean we're any less important to them," she offered. Without knowing exactly what was going through Kerone's mind, she couldn't know what to say, but she didn't want to say nothing. "Ashley's been my best friend for years, and I know she considers you her best friend now as much as me. When it comes to friends, 'best' doesn't mean 'only'."

Kerone studied her over the comm, considering that carefully as though she had said something entirely different. "Do you think Andros sees it that way?" she asked abruptly. "If Zhane were to have another best friend, would Andros mind?"

Cassie blinked, somewhat taken aback. "He has you, doesn't he?" Even as she said it, she realized that wasn't what Kerone meant. She wasn't talking about a girlfriend, she was talking about someone that could conceivably be everything that Andros was to Zhane. His own sister wasn't competition.

Even as she thought that, though, Kerone was nodding. "That's true," she said, almost to herself. "He doesn't mind me. Maybe..."

"Do you really think Andros would be jealous of Zhane's friends?" Cassie asked when she trailed off. "He's knows Zhane better than I do; it's not like he doesn't know how social he is. Zhane must have had a lot of other friends--before."

She hadn't meant that to come out quite so awkwardly, but Kerone just shook her head. "I'm not sure he did," she said, obviously understanding what Cassie meant. "Not after he got his morpher, anyway. They were younger then, and the colony was in complete chaos. I think they depended on each other because there wasn't anyone else."

"But Andros has other friends now," Cassie argued. "He can't expect Zhane not to."

Kerone didn't answer, but there was something in her expression--

All of a sudden it was like she had put a magnifying glass to the situation. "I think he's trying to get back at Andros for being distracted..." It wasn't Andros that was jealous at all; it was Zhane. Zhane was angry with Andros for not being the same friend he'd had all those years ago, and he was trying to replace that friend with someone else. And if Andros' earlier distress was anything to go by, he was only now starting to notice.

"Why now?" Cassie asked out loud, and Kerone gave her an odd look. "You said Zhane was trying to hurt Andros," she clarified. "If he's upset about being left out, why now and not before?"

"Critical mass?" The words were flippant, but there was a wary note to Kerone's voice that Cassie didn't understand. "It takes a lot to make Zhane mad, but this has been going on for a while. Maybe he just got sick of it."

"Maybe," Cassie agreed slowly. "Or maybe when Ashley left he thought he'd get Andros to himself again."

Kerone's eyes widened, though Cassie wasn't sure what she had said to startle the other girl. "You knew?" she blurted out.

Her reaction confirmed Cassie's suspicion: there was something going on that Kerone wasn't telling her. "That Zhane was jealous of Ashley?" she guessed. She watched the other girl closely, trying to figure out what it could be. "I guess it should have been obvious."

"Yeah," Kerone agreed after a moment. "I guess."

That wasn't it; there was something more to this. Kerone had only recently seen it, too, or she wouldn't have been so surprised when she thought Cassie had figured it out. "Does it bother you?" she asked, looking for a way to keep Kerone talking without revealing her own ignorance.

Kerone gave her a look of neutral curiosity. "What do you mean?"

Either she had said something wrong, or Kerone was no longer sure she knew. This was usually Saryn's area; she wasn't as good at coaxing things out of people. "That Zhane's so..." She searched for the right word. "Attached to Andros. You said you didn't like being in the middle of their arguments."

Kerone sighed. "Are we playing word games?" she asked bluntly. "Because I hate that. Zhane told me something that I can't tell you, okay? And it makes me more worried about him and angrier with Andros at the same time. I'm not upset with Zhane at all."

"Okay," Cassie said carefully, then stopped. Just like that, it clicked. Zhane was jealous of Ashley. Zhane was avoiding Andros. Zhane was going out with someone other than Andros. He was... trying to make Andros jealous?

"Oh, god," she breathed, her eyes widening. If she hadn't already been sitting down, she would be now. "He loves him."

Kerone didn't answer, and Cassie just stared at her in disbelief as she remembered. She remembered Zhane sacrificing himself for Andros in the prisons of Dark Spectre's flagship. She remembered Zhane giving up his morpher for no other reason than because Andros did. She remembered Zhane dancing with Andros on graduation night... and she remembered him with his head in his hands the day before, slouched morosely at the table in Andros' absence.

"That's it, isn't it," she whispered, still watching Kerone. "Zhane's in love with his best friend."

Kerone looked uncomfortable, but still she said nothing. Her silence was damning enough, for if Cassie had been wrong she would have denied it immediately. She clearly felt that to speak would be a betrayal of confidence, though, and Cassie searched for something else to fill the silence.

"Does Andros know?" she asked at last, and then she could have kicked herself. "No... of course he wouldn't."

"I don't think Zhane wants anyone to know," Kerone said softly, not looking at the screen. "He didn't even tell me; I guessed, like you did."

"I won't say anything," Cassie assured her, then winced. "Except--Saryn will know, if he asks."

Kerone lifted her head, her mouth quirking in a smile. "Is it something that's likely to come up in idle conversation, then? Don't worry," she added, when Cassie smiled reluctantly. "I know. He probably would have figured it out from me anyway, the way you did. I don't know why I thought talking to him was a good idea."

"Are you okay?" Cassie asked, concerned. "How do you feel about--everything? Have you and Zhane talked about it, or are you on the avoidance list now, too?"

"I don't think so," Kerone said with a sigh. "We hung out all afternoon, even after I dragged it out of him. I just can't help being angry with Andros for not seeing it. He has no idea how much he's hurting Zhane. He doesn't even mean to, and that almost makes it worse."

"What about you?" Cassie persisted. "How do you feel about all of this? Are you and Zhane... okay? I mean--"

"I'm not going to break up with him, if that's what you're asking," Kerone interrupted. "You just got finished telling me how much Zhane needs people, and I'm certainly not the commitment type. Neither of us is exactly suited to an exclusive relationship anyway."

"Sounds like you talked about it," Cassie ventured, wondering how she could be so calm about it. If Saryn... no. She didn't really want to think about it.

Kerone actually shrugged. "It's come up before. What I don't like is having to interpret for them. Zhane's gotten to the point where he can't see anything Andros says or does objectively, and Andros... well, he's just Andros."

"He's not exactly Mr. Interpersonal Relations," Cassie suggested wryly, and Kerone nodded. "Maybe this is for the best, then. Zhane avoiding him, I mean. Maybe they just need some time apart."

Kerone wrinkled her nose, a habit she must have picked up from Ashley. "I'm not sure that's going to help. Andros is just going to end up stalking him until he finds out who Zhane's hanging out with, and then he'll throw a fit. Or move back to Earth. Maybe both. Neither one's very productive."

"Productive in terms of what?" Cassie pointed out. "Maybe if Andros left, Zhane could work things out. Or--" She stopped when she realized the usual suggestion in this case wouldn't be very polite.

"Find someone else?" Kerone didn't hesitate to finish her sentence. "He already has. That's part of the problem."

Cassie frowned, not understanding. "I thought you said it didn't bother you. Not that I'd blame you," she added hastily, but Kerone was already shaking her head.

"Not me," she said. "He's been seeing my friend's brother. That's who he's with tonight."

Cassie stared at her, open-mouthed. "Who--what?" Andros was one thing, but this... "Zhane's seeing another guy?"

"His name's Ty. Zhane says he's really nice." Kerone made another face. "But guess who he looks like."

"Wait a minute," Cassie objected, wishing she could rewind this conversation and listen to it from the beginning--in context this time. She had definitely missed some things the first time through. "Zhane, who kisses girls' hands and holds doors and stands up for us at the table... you're saying Mr. Chivalrous Flirt himself is gay?"

"Is that derogatory slang on your planet?" Kerone asked, frowning a little. "I've heard it before, but I don't know what it means."

"No, it's--" Cassie's mind was way ahead of her mouth. It wasn't that homosexuality bothered her; it just startled her in someone like Zhane. Or maybe, in all fairness, it surprised her because he was her friend and she had always taken for granted the fact that he was straight. But he couldn't be gay, not with the way he and Kerone kissed...

"It just means someone who prefers their own gender," she said, when she realized Kerone was still waiting for her to explain. "You know, sexually. 'Gay' usually means men, and lesbians are women who prefer women."

Kerone's frown evaporated, and she looked more surprised than anything. "You have words for that? Do you have one for the opposite--women who prefer men, and men who prefer women?"

"Straight," Cassie answered, wondering how Kerone had managed to miss that part of the vernacular. She supposed that of all of them, Kerone had spent the least amount of time on Earth, but still--

"That's just slang, though," she added belatedly. "Homosexual is a better word for gays and lesbians, and straight people are considered heterosexual. You probably use those words instead."

Kerone just shook her head. "No, I've never heard them before. Do you consider people who prefer one or the other an aberration, then? Unusual? You seem very... straight? Is that the right word? I would have said you preferred men."

Cassie blinked. "I do. Don't you?"

"I prefer Zhane," she said simply. "I'm kind of prejudiced toward humans, too, but I think that's just because I didn't meet many aliens until after I was kidnapped."

Cassie stared at her in surprise. It hadn't occurred to her that species would matter in a relationship. "So how do you feel about Saryn?" she asked before she thought.

Kerone gave her an amused look, and Cassie blushed as she realized how strange that sounded. "I didn't mean--" she began awkwardly, but Kerone just laughed.

"I'll tell you, if you really want to know," she said, smiling. "But you have to promise not to hold it against me."

"I promise," Cassie said instantly, though she felt a flicker of nervousness. Now she was too curious to back out.

"He's pretty," Kerone admitted. "And there were a couple of times when I might have kissed him, if things had been different. But he's still an alien, and I don't know if I'll ever really get over that. I associated aliens with evil for too long to just shrug it off."

Cassie nodded, more relieved than she had any right to be. It wasn't as though Kerone would ever hurt her, it was just... easy to be defensive. She'd like to blame that on Saryn's influence, too, but she knew she was jealous enough in her own right.

"You promised not to hold it against me," Kerone reminded her, a gently teasing note in her voice. "What are you thinking?"

Cassie laughed, startled out of her reflection. "It's funny," she said, studying her friend over the comm. "It never occurred to me that Saryn being alien made a difference, but it never occurred to you that Zhane's new 'friend' being a guy mattered either. I guess we all have our biases."

"Are you considered unusual on Earth?" Kerone asked curiously. "Because you prefer one gender over the other?"

"No," Cassie said, realizing belatedly that she hadn't wondered about Zhane until Kerone mentioned her friend's brother. When confronted with the possibility of Zhane and Andros, she had worried only about the complications between two friends, not to mention Ashley. And that's a pretty big "only", she thought wryly.

"No," she repeated, smiling in apology for her distraction. "Heterosexuality is the norm in Angel Grove, so it's people who are bi or gay who are considered unusual."

"'Bi'?" Kerone repeated.

"Bisexual," Cassie offered. "No preference. Kind of like you, I guess."

Kerone sighed in obvious exasperation. "You have separate words for all of those things? How do you keep them straight?"

Cassie resisted the temptation to giggle at her unintentional pun. "It's just because we grew up with it, I guess," she said, trying to suppress a smile. "Most of Earth doesn't have much contact with aliens, so that kind of prejudice doesn't occur to us."

Kerone nodded slowly, but she still looked puzzled. "Well," she said at last, "you managed to distract me, anyway. Thanks," she said with a rueful grin.

"You're welcome," Cassie said automatically, but her concern returned as soon as she remembered what had prompted their conversation. "Is there anything I can do, really? I feel bad about you having to handle this all by yourself."

"I don't have to." Kerone's smile turned more sincere. "Thanks for listening, Cassie. I mean it."

"Anytime," she promised. This time she could smile back. "Keep me updated."

Kerone rolled her eyes at that. "I'm going to bed now," she said firmly. "If they want to act out any more melodrama today, they can do it without me. I'll talk to you later."

"Sleep well," Cassie said, stifling a giggle.

"You too."

As the screen went blank, Cassie reflected that the wish was probably a futile one. She was tired, yes, but her mind was now struggling to wrap itself around the Zhane-Andros dilemma and she wasn't sure it would stop long enough to let her fall asleep. Besides, she still had to go see Nen...

She hoped he didn't have anywhere near the bombshell that Kerone had unwittingly dropped, or she would have to write off rest in any form until tonight.

The common room was dark and quiet and for a moment he wasn't sure how he had gotten there. As soon as he sat up, though, the lights blazed to life and he flinched back instinctively. His eyes teared in the brightness and he blinked hard, trying to take in everything as quickly as he could.

The room was empty... he must have fallen asleep down here. He didn't know what time it was, but there was one thing he was sure of. Zhane would have woken him up when he came in, if not accidentally with the noise of the front door, then on purpose so that Andros didn't spend the night in the common room. He hadn't been woken up, thus Zhane hadn't come back.

*Kerone!* He should find out what time it was. She had said Zhane would be out late, but he didn't feel tired enough for it to be much before dawn now. Something must have happened to him.

There was a noticeable hesitation, and when her answer finally came back it was curt and to the point. *What.* Her tone was more threatening than curious, and he realized belatedly that he had probably woken her up too. She didn't say anything else, but he was too worried to apologize.

*Zhane isn't back yet,* he said, running a hand through his hair in an unconscious imitation of his best friend. *Did he say anything about where he was going? Is there any way to track him down? He wasn't going anywhere dangerous, was he?*

*He's here, Andros; he's fine.* She sounded only slightly more civil than she had before. *Go back to sleep.*

He stared around him in confusion. Zhane had already come back? He would have had to walk right past the common room to reach the stairs, but Andros had heard nothing. And why hadn't Zhane stopped? It was dark, certainly, but he knew from experience that the light from the hallway was enough to illuminate the couches in the common room. Zhane couldn't have missed him.

He pushed himself to his feet, deliberately keeping his thoughts to himself. Kerone sounded irritated enough without him compounding the problem. When he forced himself to think, he admitted that she didn't have the answers he wanted anyway. But she did have Zhane, so that meant at least one thing was right with the world... he could corner the Silver Ranger in the morning.

The light in the hallway was dimmer than that of the common room, but it was enough to get him to the stairs. The stairs themselves were lit from both above and below, and he concentrated on the way they glowed faintly beneath his feet as he trudged up to the second floor. One foot, and then the other... it was a route he had followed innumerable times before, but rarely did he give it this much attention.

Unexpected motion made him look up as he reached the next floor. He had thought the hallway would be deserted this late at night. The hostel was home to people displaced by war and those waiting to rebuild, refugees, travelers, and the occasional visitor. Most hostel residents these days were long term, and Andros knew everyone on his floor by name if not by reputation.

The boy coming out of the bathroom as he crested the stairs wasn't anyone he'd met before. Andros nodded anyway, assuming he was someone else's guest, and the other boy returned his greeting just as calmly. He must have known in advance that there were Rangers staying here; it was rare that Andros encountered such indifference in a stranger.

Kerone's room was next to his, and Andros slowed involuntarily as he passed. He was sorely tempted to knock, just to see for himself that Zhane was safe and accounted for, but he knew his sister wouldn't thank him for waking her a second time. Zhane might not appreciate his concern either, what with the way the Silver Ranger had been behaving around him lately.

The boy he had passed earlier must have been more flustered than he let on, for he paused in front of Kerone's door while Andros watched and keyed the door open. It wasn't unheard of for visitors to get confused in the long, arcing hallways, but most people used the privacy locks for exactly that reason. Kerone must have forgotten to set hers, and Andros opened his mouth to say something when he caught sight of Zhane.

The Silver Ranger looked up at the sound of the door and a welcoming smile lit his face--not for Andros, but for the boy in the doorway. The other's presence was obviously no intrusion. Andros could only stare as the stranger joined his best friend inside and the door closed behind them.

He backed away without thinking, fumbling the code for his own door before he realized his hand was shaking. An adrenaline reaction, he noted distantly. He wondered if he had actually expected the stranger to pose a threat. Ranger reflexes were a strange thing sometimes. There was no predicting what the Power would react to.

The lights in his room didn't brighten automatically when he stepped inside, but he was too distracted to consider what that meant. When the door slid shut, cutting off the dim illumination from the hallway and leaving him blind in the darkness, he remembered that Ranger reflexes were no longer an excuse for his actions. He sank down on Zhane's bed, staring numbly at the blackness.

There was a silent hum like a static charge, and it would have alerted him had he been reacting normally. As it was, he didn't notice anything through the haze of confusion until something sharp crackled against his back. He stiffened, his mind crystallizing into one single perception: threat.

"Dammit, Andros," he heard Kerone mutter, and the pressure on his back relaxed abruptly. "Don't startle me awake. I've told you over and over."

"What--" He swallowed, glancing carefully over his shoulder. An electric purple shimmer outlined the knife clenched in her fist, but the weapon dissolved even as he looked at it. Being a psychic manifestation didn't make it any less dangerous, of that he had no doubt. "What are you doing here?"

She yawned, shaking silver wisps of hair out of her eyes. At least, they were silver in the starlight; there was no telling what color they would be when he could see properly again. "Zhane and I switched rooms," she said, propping herself up on her elbows and blinking innocently at him. "So he'd have someplace to take Ty."

"Who's Ty?" Andros demanded. "Why didn't you tell me when he got back?"

"You were asleep," she said, stifling another yawn. "I told him you had been looking for him, though." She waited a beat, then added, "You're welcome."

He narrowed his eyes, not fooled by her casual air. Zhane would have woken him up if she had really told him. "Who is *Ty*?" he ground out.

Kerone squirmed out from underneath the blankets, drawing her knees to her chest as she sat up. "Friend of Zhane's," she answered at last. "They met at the hay party last night."

"Yesterday?" Andros repeated incredulously. "And he's still here? What's he doing spending the night?"

His sister shrugged. "It's hard to have sex when you're on different continents."

Andros gaped at her, broadsided by the reality his mind had been avoiding. It was no more pleasant head-on than it had been lurking in the shadows. "He's--he's sleeping with him?" he echoed, his voice cracking. "You... did you--break up?"

"No." Her tone was more impatient than anything else. "Why do people keep saying that?"

"But... Because he's cheating on you!" he burst out. "How can you still be together if he's sleeping with someone else!"

"He's not cheating on me." Now she sounded downright cross. "For him to cheat, he'd have to think I care who he sleeps with. If anything," Kerone added irritably, "he's cheating on you."

His stomach clenched and he stared at her in shock. "What?" he managed. He tried to make his voice louder than a whisper and failed miserably. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, you obviously care," she said, studying him frankly.

Andros swallowed hard, wondering how she could take this so calmly. "Because you're my sister," he muttered. Some of the strength was returning to his voice. "He shouldn't be sleeping around if he's going out with you."

He could have sworn she rolled her eyes. "Andros, we're in love. Love and sex aren't the same thing. And to be honest, if we want to have an open relationship then it's really none of your business."

"How can you say you're in love when he's sleeping with someone he just met?" Andros insisted angrily. "He's treating you like you're--like you're nothing!"

"No, *you're* treating me like I'm nothing." Her tone was even, but her eyes flashed violet in the dimness and he drew back in surprise. "You're treating me like I'm still a little girl you have to protect, who can't make her own decisions or understand the consequences! This isn't your relationship, Andros; it's ours!"

"It's not you I'm angry with," Andros protested, not sure what he had done to upset her. "Zhane's the one who's wrong; it's not your fault he's treating you so badly."

"Do you ever *listen*!" Kerone's eyes were glowing now, and he resisted the urge to back away. "You gave up any say you had in Zhane's love life a long time ago, Andros. And you certainly never had any in mine. So back off and let us figure this out on our own."

He stared at her, stung beyond words. He didn't know whether it hurt more that his little sister was telling him to mind his own business, or that she had for the first time completely excluded him from her and Zhane's relationship. Kerone had never been possessive, and she had certainly never tried to monopolize Zhane's attention. The Silver Ranger was allowed to be her boyfriend and Andros' best friend simultaneously, without ever having to choose one over the other.

Maybe that was why Ty didn't bother her. Maybe she had gotten used to sharing. But if it truly didn't bother her, then why did it bother him?

He sighed, his eyes sliding away from that luminous violet gaze. "I'm sorry," he muttered, staring down at the shadows on the floor. There was more than starlight coming through the windows, and he realized with a start that the sky outside had started to lighten. It was almost dawn.

Zhane had stayed out with Ty until dawn.

He caught himself frowning, and he forced his fists to relax. Kerone was right, it wasn't really any of his business. The Silver Ranger was an incurable flirt, and Andros had always known he wouldn't settle down. His relatively long-term relationship with Kerone continued to be a surprise, but if she was content than Andros had no right to get involved.

Or did he? He sighed again, still frowning. No matter his sister's protestations, he had trouble convincing himself that Zhane's actions weren't traitorous. And yet the idea that his best friend would ever intentionally hurt someone was laughable... what was he supposed to do with such a contradiction?

"I accept your apology," Kerone said primly, out of nowhere. She scrambled off of the bed as though eager to escape the silence, pausing in front of the door just before it would have detected her presence and opened automatically. "Try not to do anything drastic while I'm gone, all right?"

Her pajamas sparkled, straightening themselves out and unwrinkling under the magical light. She slipped through the door while he was still trying to gather his thoughts to answer, and he blinked. The door hadn't opened. She didn't usually teleport this early in the morning.

He was thinking about crawling into bed and making up for some of his lost sleep when the comm chimed. His best friend was sleeping with someone he'd never met, his sister wouldn't listen to a word he said, and on top of it all someone was calling him. The sun hadn't even risen yet and already it was the worst day he'd had since Ashley left.

The incoming link wasn't live, and he was tempted to let it lie. Something told him that it wasn't good news, and he'd already had too much shock on too little sleep. He wasn't sure how much more he could handle at this point.

Responsibility won out over reluctance, though, and he let the comm deliver its message. As soon as he saw the seal of the Frontier Defense, he knew he should have obeyed his instincts and gone back to bed. He should have known better than to think that giving up his morpher would change anything. Hadn't Kerone warned him?

He was still staring at the screen when his sister returned. Her bare feet padded over to the closet, then paused. A moment later he felt her at his side, scanning the words over his shoulder. He almost smiled at her intuition, but he stayed silent until she finished reading.

"It's taken them longer to regroup than I expected," she said at last.

Andros looked up, catching her eye as she braced one arm against his workstation. "You saw this coming?"

She shrugged. "Dark Spectre wasn't the embodiment of the forces of evil. He was just their monarch. By destroying him we drove them back, but we didn't obliterate them."

"No," he agreed with a sigh. "Nothing ever does."

They were silent for a moment, and Andros contemplated the screen. For a while, he had allowed himself to forget that there were things in the universe worse than the Council. Now, too late, he realized that was what Zhane had been trying to tell him all along. Being a Ranger was about more than politics and power struggles.

"Kerone," he said suddenly. He wasn't the only one who was going to have to change. "You keep saying you're not a Ranger. Do you want to be?"

There was a noticeable hesitation. "What do you mean?" she asked warily.

He turned around to face her. "You commanded the Dark Fortress," he said, searching her expression. "What would it take, right now, to bring down KO-35?"

She gazed back at him, as though trying to decide how much of the truth he could take. "Not much," she said finally. "I could do it with a couple of wings of velocifighters."

He nodded, not surprised. He deliberately didn't glance at his wrist, for the absence of his morpher was all the more disturbing in light of Saryn's message. "It's time to change that," he told her. "Will you help me?"

Saryn contemplated the comm, as though he could see each of the recipients' reactions to their message. "The leaders of Border teams know as much as we do, now," he remarked aloud. He didn't know if it would be enough, but they had to do something.

"Which isn't much." The zords' comm channel rendered Mirine's voice clearly, and she sounded pensive. "What do we tell Elisia?"

"The truth, I suppose." He lifted his gaze to the simulated starlines on the cockpit's forward screen. "That quantrons are massing and velocifighter attacks are becoming more frequent. That we suspect the rise of a coordinating force within their ranks, and we must stand together now as we have in times past. It is why Ranger teams exist, after all."

He heard her sigh. "I was hoping for something less dramatic and maybe a little friendlier. How about, 'the bad guys are coming, but we'll protect you'?"

"I refuse to use the phrase 'bad guys' in front of an audience," he replied firmly. "If you wish such a statement made, you will do it yourself."

"Spoilsport," she teased. "It would sound better coming from you."

"You believe that precisely because it is not something I would say," he countered. "I fail to comprehend how you grew up with a colonial accent when both our parents were Eltaran."

"Easy," she said impishly. "I had friends. You spent way too much time reading."

"I was not as unsociable as that," he objected, reaching for the comm again. "I can recall several times when you were the one who had to be coaxed outside during winter celebrations or the spring festival. You had quite the aversion to large gatherings."

"You say that like I'm the strange one!" she exclaimed. "I still don't understand why you *chose* a profession that's all about intense emotion and huge groups of people. I think there must be something wrong with you."

He smiled slightly. "You are not the first to say so."

She muttered something he probably wasn't supposed to overhear, and his smile didn't fade as he began a private static message for Linnse and Tobin. "If you are through insulting me," he commented, "you should know that I plan to resign as a governing member of the Frontier Defense."

There was silence from the comm. This time he had truly startled her, and he felt some amount of satisfaction at the knowledge that it was still possible. He continued his message while he waited, choosing his words carefully as this would no doubt surprise them as much as it did Mirine. They knew he was less content than he had once been, but they three had founded the Defense together and it was hard to imagine it being run by anyone else.

"Well, I didn't see that one coming," she admitted at last. "Is this because of the surveillance briefing?"

"No," he said honestly. "But circumstances have given me an opportunity that I intend to take advantage of. An active Ranger can not serve offplanet in a time of war."

"We're not at war," Mirine countered. "We're on alert--or we will be soon--but that's the way it is on the Border. We didn't end martial law only to bring it back at the first sign of trouble."

"Agreed. Nonetheless, the possibility exists that fighting will resume before the year is out. I do not welcome the thought, but that is no reason not to be prepared."

He heard her sigh. "You taught me everything I know about paranoia, Saryn."

"You only say that to flatter me," he answered.

She laughed, and her tone was lighter when she asked, "So what's the real reason?"

He hesitated. Allowing the static message he was composing to lapse, he turned his full attention back to Mirine. It was hard to tell her the truth, but if there was anyone he could count on for support it should be his teammates. "I am overwhelmed," he said quietly. "I can not continue to function at this level on a daily basis."

She didn't answer, and he knew she was waiting for him to elaborate. "You said you did not understand why I chose this work," he reminded her. "I chose as I did because diplomacy intrigues me, but right now the Frontier Defense is too much. My allegiance is first to Cassie, then to you and the Rangers. The Defense is a consideration only after these obligations are satisfied, yet I find my priorities of late do not reflect this."

"I see," she said after a moment. She sounded thoughtful again, all trace of their earlier banter absent from her voice. "Saryn... your marriage is up to you, but I hope you don't feel like you're being forced to choose between the team and your job. We'll take you whenever we can get you--you know that, right?"

"I do," he assured her. "And I appreciate the allowances you have made." He knew he sounded a little rueful when he admitted, "You run a much looser team than I did, and it works as well if not better than mine. I will resign because I want to, not because I have been pressured into it."

"If that was supposed to make me feel better," she began. There was a brief pause, and she added, "Well, it worked. Are you going to set down at the compound?"

He glanced at the nav display, which was even now showing imminent system entry. "Yes," he decided. The comm registered the recognition code as they dropped out of hyperrush, and the zord's autoresponse function bounced it back. "Cassie implied that she might be home early today, so I will stop there before going on to the fair. Do you--"

He choked on the words, unable to stifle a cry as pain lanced through his midsection. He doubled over under the assault, gasping for breath as he struggled against the consuming fire inside his body. He was dimly aware of Mirine's sharp query, but he couldn't focus on anything with enough coherence to answer.

Fear washed over him then and his vision sparkled to black, dragging him under despite his best efforts.

"Saryn!" She was saying something, but all he could make out was his name. The roaring in his ears was starting to subside, and he was relieved to finally see something when he blinked his eyes. The blackout couldn't have lasted long, for he was still in his zord and on final approach to Elisia.

"Mirine," he muttered, staring at the comm as though he could will his hands to work it himself. "Call Nen. Tell him..." His breath caught, and his arms tightened across his stomach. "Find Cassie," he breathed, squeezing his eyes shut.

The last time this had happened, Cassie had nearly faded out of existence before collapsing in his arms. This time the pain was twice as intense and he wasn't there to catch her. He didn't even know if she was still here to fall.

Damn the Blue Turbo Ranger and his experiments. If anything happened to her, nothing in the universe would save Justin Stewart from his wrath.

11. Guardian

A breeze tumbled past, tickling her ankles and tugging her hair away from her face. The slanted hem of her skirt rippled in the warm air, and she got the distinct impression of sunlight on her bare skin. Even the breeze smelled faintly of warm sand, as though it was coming in off the desert, and it brought with it a perceptible whisper of rustling grass.

The only problem was that there was no grass in sight. There was also no sand, no desert, and definitely no sun. She was surrounded by a featureless white that was disorienting in its uniformity. There was something solid under her feet, but she knew that only because she wasn't falling.

"Where am I?" Cassie asked aloud. The question was natural enough, but it occurred to her suddenly that she expected someone to answer. When she thought about it, she didn't know who that someone should be, but she didn't feel alone.

She didn't feel much of anything, actually. This sort of situation probably qualified as alarming, but for some reason she wasn't worried. She didn't know where she was or what had brought her here, yet all she felt was a mild curiosity about her circumstances. She wondered if that in and of itself ought to worry her.

"You're at the junction of Reed and Firstroad."

Cassie turned, not surprised by the answer. It wasn't that she had expected that particular reply, she just wasn't surprised. "Near the old library," she surmised, scanning the vast white expanse. At least, she assumed it was vast. It was hard to judge distances when there was nothing to measure them against.

"Right in front of it, actually." The voice still came from behind her, and she wondered if turning again would do her any good. "Between the crowd and the spectacular wreckage, you're causing quite a scene."

Cassie turned full circle, but there was still no one there. "I go past the library almost every day," she told the disembodied voice. "This isn't it."

"No," the voice agreed. It was feminine and vaguely familiar, and she wondered if she should know it from somewhere. "But you did ask where you were."

"What happened?" Cassie wanted to know. It seemed like a logical follow-up question.

"You ran a yield at Firstroad and slammed into a cargohauler. I hope you didn't have any sentimental attachment to your hover."

She felt her first flicker of concern at those words. "Was anyone hurt?" A cargohauler wasn't going to suffer much damage no matter what hit it, but there could have been any number of passersby on the street at this time of day.

The reply was strangely comforting. "Just you."

"I blacked out while I was driving," she realized. "That's why I didn't yield. The cargohauler couldn't stop."

Someone clapped once, twice, three times. She turned slowly, feeling the presence more strongly this time and reluctant to confront it as she had not been before. She knew somehow that this time the sound would have form, and she was no longer sure she wanted to know who was talking to her.

An older girl with flyaway curls and sparkling eyes leaned back against the nothingness, the casual posture at odds with her curious expression. "You remembered more quickly than I did," she remarked. There was a palpable distance between them, despite the fact that she was little more than an arm's length away.

It was a face that Cassie knew all too well, and warning bells went off in her mind. "Jenna."

The blonde-haired girl inclined her head. A pink bandana kept her curls from falling in her eyes, and her crystal necklace gleamed in the nonexistent sunlight. "Cassie Chan."

She swallowed, knowing what she had to ask next. "Am I dead?"

"Not yet," Jenna said, with an odd smile. "And not anytime soon, if the medics have their way."

"Then--why am I here?" she asked uncertainly. Since Katherine Hillard's intervention three years ago she'd had several near-death experiences, but she hadn't found herself talking to ghosts until now.

Jenna cocked her head. "Well, it's not always up to the medics, is it."

The words gave her a chill, and she fought to suppress the sense of foreboding. "Where's Saryn?" she asked quietly.

"He's waiting for you at the hospital. The medics found your Ranger ID and called the compound, and Saryn teleported there as soon as he set down."

He had been on Calijyt, she remembered suddenly. "He's not alone, is he?"

Jenna shook her head. "Mirine's with him," she said, that same odd smile touching her lips again. "She'll keep him calm, if anyone can."

"Are you... have you been watching over him?" Cassie wondered aloud.

"You, actually," Jenna said with a shrug. "Although I admit that it turns out to be almost the same thing."

"Me?" She wasn't sure she'd heard right. "You've been watching out for me?"

"Sure." Jenna gave her a fierce grin. It was the most expression she'd shown yet. "We Pink Rangers have to stick together, you know."

"It was you," Cassie breathed, staring at the former Pink Elisian Ranger. "Last fall, on Aquitar... that was you, wasn't it."

Jenna seemed to know what she meant without explanation. The other girl tilted her head in acknowledgement, her grin gone but a flicker of amusement lingering in her eyes. "I didn't put Saryn through four years of hell just so he could go and die right after he found you."

"Thank you," Cassie said softly. "For keeping him here. Again."

Jenna didn't even blink. "You're welcome. Now if I can keep *you* here long enough for him to get to you, then you can really thank me."

"He has the others," Cassie murmured, looking away. "He'd be all right." She deliberately kept her gaze averted, for if she couldn't convince herself there was no way she was going to convince Jenna.

"Right." The other girl's tone was wry. "Someday he'll be that stable, but right now you give him too much credit and I think you know it."

"Is that why you're doing this?" Cassie caught her eye again. "So Saryn won't be alone?"

Jenna actually shrugged, as if to say her reasons didn't matter. "He's a wounded soul," she offered. "It attracts protectors, I think. That and the voyager tendencies. The universe tends to balance strength and vulnerability, and he has a little too much of both to be comfortable."

It was the longest explanation she had given yet, but Cassie couldn't help noticing that she hadn't really answered the question. "So you're one of his protectors?" she prompted.

Jenna gave her an odd look. "No," she said at last. "For some reason, I'm drawn to you."

Cassie frowned. "But you don't even know me!"

"You don't think so?" Jenna inquired. A smile played about her lips, and Cassie shifted uncomfortably. There was something more than a little familiar in that expression. "I think you'd be surprised."

"Do you watch us?" Cassie blurted. She couldn't help feeling defensive, and she wasn't sure she didn't have the right. The idea of Saryn's former girlfriend spying on them was creepy, no matter how benign she seemed.

Jenna's smile widened, but her voice was gentle when she replied, "That's a little too time-consuming for me, and none of my business besides. No, it's not that I watch... it's more that things have become clearer."

"I don't understand," Cassie said, still frowning. "What things?"

"You, for one," Jenna remarked. "Your place in Saryn's life... His identity as a voyager, combined with his empathy and his history, makes him dangerously self-destructive. You've seen that, I'm sure. He has all that power and very little focus. You and your children will help ground him, give him the anchor he's needed for years."

It was on the tip of her tongue to say that Saryn was doing just fine when that last sentence brought her up short. "Children?" she repeated, startled. Reluctantly she added, "Saryn's been having dreams..."

"He would," Jenna agreed. "He can probably sense them. I assume you didn't tell him when you stopped taking your hormone supplements."

Cassie stared at her, her mind clicking into overdrive. She had stopped keeping track of her period months ago, when the stress of moving and going off the pill had made her irregular. "But he said--he's not human! I can't be... pregnant?" It came out as a question despite her best intentions, for the idea was too incredible to dismiss out of hand.

"You of all people should know how minor the difference is." Jenna looked nothing so much as amused. "From an evolutionary standpoint, the Eltaran line hasn't diverged that much. Although," she said thoughtfully, "I can't vouch for your children. I'm not sure whether they'll be able to continue the family or not."

"Children?" Cassie echoed again, not quite able to wrap her mind around the concept. But Saryn had used the plural too. "You keep saying 'children' instead of 'child'..."

"Are you telling me you really didn't know?" Jenna asked, giving her a curious look. "Not even a suspicion? You're pregnant with twins, Cassie. Believe me, you won't be able to ignore it much longer."

Her hand went to her stomach automatically, but she couldn't find the words to answer. "Twins?" she whispered, searching Jenna's face for confirmation. The surreal nature of the situation struck her then: standing here in what was quite literally the middle of nowhere, talking to her husband's old flame about her unborn children...

Jenna flashed an envious smile in response. "A boy and a girl--I hope I didn't spoil it for you," she added wistfully. "I'd always heard that you can tell when you're pregnant, that it's a feeling better than anything in the world."

"You wanted kids," she said softly, turning the statement into a question at the last second. She didn't want to assume too much about someone she had never truly met.

Jenna tried to smile, but her eyes were sad. "Doesn't everyone?"

Impulsively, Cassie reached out to clasp her hand and lay it over her stomach. "Will you watch out for them too?" she asked, searching the other girl's expression. "Will you come see them when they're born?"

The white flickered, a brilliant piercing sparkle that made her eyes tear. There was a sound like a radio tuned a little too low, picking up static with the occasional understandable phrase. She shook her head, trying to clear it, and she felt Jenna pull her hand away.

"He's waiting for you," the former Ranger told her.

This time the white was drowned out by a crimson tide, a glow that washed through her and turned the world upside down. It brought with it intense pain, fear, and an anguish that did not abate with the rest as the flood of red light subsided once more. She felt the warmth and tingling that proceeded Saryn's Power-induced healing ability, stronger than ever as it brought her back to herself for a few brief seconds.

"I will not stand aside," she heard his voice growl, full of raw menace that would have sent any sane person scrambling for cover. "She is my wife, and my place is here!"

"She's also a pregnant woman who has just suffered intense trauma," a clipped voice replied. "So unless you're a prenatal specialist, get out of the way and let me do my job."

The static flared, as though everything she could hear had just taken on equal significance, and through the roar she could hear Saryn repeating faintly, "Pregnant?" He sounded so lost that she desperately regretted not discussing the idea with him before.

"You have to go," Jenna's voice urged. The white had melted into a chaotic blur that refused to settle, and the Pink Elisian Ranger had vanished but for her words. "I didn't keep you here just for the company, you know."

"Cassie?" She heard Saryn again, closer than he had been. When she tried to move she found that her body was no longer responding, and panic edged out all rational thought. There was only swirling darkness, throbbing noise, and an immense weight across her arms and chest.

"It's all right, Cassie..." His voice came again, and she wondered wildly what had happened to his friend. "Don't try to move. You're going to be fine. You have to stay still so the doctor can get some pictures."

She found herself relaxing involuntarily, and she tightened her fingers. She felt his hand in hers abruptly, and a surge of relief swept through her. The success with her fingers gave her enough courage to try opening her eyes, and kaleidoscopic motion made her head spin the moment she managed it.

"It's all right," Saryn murmured, and she felt his hand squeeze hers again. "Everything's going to be fine. Don't try to move."

She cracked her eyelids once more, intent on waiting out the dizziness this time, and color came rushing back. The ceiling settled out above her, the old-fashioned fan resolving itself at the proper distance and putting everything else into sudden perspective. She drew in a sharp breath when she realized there was some kind of equipment spread across her upper body, and she tilted her head before she thought.

A hand pressed against her forehead, holding her down, and she closed her eyes briefly. "Saryn?" she whispered, her eyes going wide as she tried to find him in the confusion.

"I'm right here." His voice had lost none of its reassuring calm--a far cry from the fierce defiance she had heard in his warning before. "I'm not going anywhere, Cassie. You're going to be fine; it's all right."

He had a tendency to latch onto a single phrase in a crisis, she noted distantly. It was as though his creativity failed him and he spoke only because he thought he should. And with the way he was projecting, she didn't see how he could think he had to talk. Mirine must be pouring everything she had into containing him, and if experience was anything to go by he wouldn't even thank her for it.

"Cassie?" He might say everything was all right, but his pretended calm slipped the moment she didn't respond. "Can you hear me?"

She swallowed, not sure how much she could trust her voice. But it was better than thinking about anything else right now, so she tried. "The whole--" Her throat closed up, and she swallowed again. "The whole city can probably hear you," she whispered, finally catching sight of his worried gaze at her side.

His lips quirked, but it was obviously a token smile. "You're going to be all right," he repeated, for the dozenth time. "Just relax."

"I'm more... more relaxed than you are," she breathed, her fingers clenching as she felt metal on her bare skin. She didn't try to move, not that she could have with him holding her down, but she couldn't help wondering. "They told you?"

"Told me what?" he asked, all innocence. His concern was unfeigned, of that she was sure, and she found herself wondering how much to say.

"The twins," she murmured at last, her eyes sliding shut against her will. "We're going to have babies, Saryn."

The room was dark except for the reflected glow of the streetlights, and she thought she was dreaming when she woke to the sight of Andros' face. Then she realized he was shaking her, gently but insistently enough to pull her out of a restless sleep. His hair was hanging in his face, and as she struggled to sit up she realized she didn't recognize his clothes.

"Andros?" she whispered. For a moment she thought Justin's experiment had sent her to JT's dimension, to switch places with an Ashley who knew a different Andros, or maybe brought him here instead. But then she saw his locket, still on its accustomed chain around his neck, and the absence of the phoenix necklace was enough to convince her that this was her Andros.

"I need your help," he whispered back. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Yeah," she murmured, untangling the sheet from her legs. "Of course. Is everything all right?"

"For now," he said cryptically. He caught her hand and helped her up, letting her pull him toward the door. "That's what I need to talk to you about."

She gave him a searching look as she put her hand on the doorknob, but he didn't seem to see it. "The others?" she asked, a little worried.

"They're okay," he assured her. "This is about KO-35. Saryn sent a message this morning to the Border teams, and it sounds like we may have trouble."

The lights from the hallway blazed full strength all night long, and the instant she opened the door the glare spilled into her darkened room. She winced, squinting against the assault as she stepped out into the corridor. It didn't seem to bother Andros as much, and she took a closer look at him as her eyes adjusted.

"Where's your morpher?" she asked suspiciously. His wrists were bare, and she studied his clothes once more. "Andros, you didn't resign!"

He put a finger to his lips. She wrinkled her nose at the reproof, silently demanding an answer, and he nodded reluctantly.

She slapped his shoulder. "What were you thinking!" She kept her voice to a loud whisper as he pulled the door shut behind them. "How could you resign without telling me? And what's this about trouble on the Border? KO-35 hasn't recovered from the last war yet!"

"Believe me, I know," he said, his voice just as quiet. "And I resigned because it was the only way to get the Council off my back. I would have told you, but there wasn't time. They're getting worse, Ash--Kerone says they summoned her and Zhane yesterday."

"That doesn't surprise me," she whispered. "We tried to tell you, you know."

"I know," he agreed, looking appropriately chagrinned. "I finally listened. It's time the astromorphers were reunited."

"Andros..." She glanced over her shoulder out of habit, but the hallway was empty. "We've been over this before. We can't all go to KO-35, and it's not fair to ask us to."

Andros gave her a half-smile. "I don't want all of you to come to KO-35." He held something out to her, and she glanced down automatically. Her eyes widened when she saw the two morphers in his hand, and as she looked up he told her, "I want to bring all the astromorphers here, to Earth."

"But--" She stumbled over the word, not sure where she was going with the rest of that thought. "You said..."

"I can't stay," he cautioned, a flicker of regret in his eyes. "I'm sorry, but now KO-35 is more vulnerable than ever. I can't abandon it just because I don't like the way the government is treating us."

"Then why--" She couldn't seem to complete a sentence. "You're giving us the astromorphers? All of them?"

"You guys were the team," he said simply. "I was just the Red Ranger. The astromorphers have defended Earth for years now, and I think somehow the Power knows that. I want them to stay here."

Her gaze was drawn irresistibly back to the red and pink morphers in his hand, and she reached out to take them. She hesitated before their fingers touched, though, and she frowned at him. "What about KO-35? You said you were going back, and if there's trouble on the Border... you need them more than we do right now."

"We do need them," he agreed. "But so does Earth. We can't have one team for two worlds, and as much as I admire TJ and Zhane for trying to make a split work, it's not going to last. It's just not enough."

"You're going after new Power," she breathed. "You're going to form a new team, aren't you. You and Kerone and Zhane."

"And you, if you'll come," he said steadily. He didn't seem at all surprised by her intuition, but they had always been able to read each other like that. She hadn't realized how much she missed it until he was standing in front of her again.

Now he was asking her to stand with him permanently, to be like this again: partners, lovers, two halves of a whole. But he was also asking her to give up all the things she had put on hold to be with him: school, her family, everything she had outside of the Rangers. They wouldn't just be secondary anymore, they would be out of the picture completely.

If she went with him this time, she wouldn't be coming back.

"We'll have to leave the morphers with Carlos," she whispered, pulling her silver and yellow wristband off over her left hand. "Let me call his phone so we don't have to knock on the door."

She ducked back into her room and picked up Missy's cordless from the desk. She tilted it toward the light as she slipped out into the hallway again, punching in the number she had only yesterday committed to memory. She felt a pang of disappointment at the thought that she probably wouldn't be using it again, but she suppressed the feeling as she pressed it to her ear and waited for Carlos to pick up.

There was no ring, no sound at all even, not even the chime of voice mail. She frowned, wondering if she had gotten the number wrong. She hung up and tried again, with no better results, and suddenly it dawned on her. "Damn," she muttered, lowering the phone. "He must be on Aquitar. Does he ever sleep?"

"What about Tessa?" Andros suggested. "She's just downstairs, right? She'd keep them for TJ if we asked her."

Ashley nodded slowly, still wondering about Carlos. She didn't even know when he'd left... it was funny, but she wasn't much closer to her friends now that they were on the same planet than she had been all summer. The old days really were gone--maybe they'd been gone a long time, and she just hadn't noticed until recently.

"I'll change," she murmured, realizing Andros was still waiting for her answer. "Let me put on some clothes and we'll go."

It was easier to leave than she had expected. The sense of muted urgency from Andros helped, and she suspected he had some kind of timetable. She didn't ask, just pulled on a pair of jeans and a yellow t-shirt and pretended not to watch Andros watch her dress. She was already wearing the necklace he'd given her for her birthday, and she slid Cassie's friendship bracelet into her pocket as she grabbed a sweatshirt off the back of her chair.

"I'm ready," she whispered, turning back to him. "Let's go find Tessa. Did you bring the Megaship?"

He shook his head, holding the door for her as she stepped out into the hallway. "Kerone," he answered, and that was all he had to say. Astronema's teleportation was nothing short of fantastic, and it was easy to forget how powerful she really was.

No one answered at Tessa and Karen's door for a good minute and a half, and Ashley was beginning to wonder if everyone was out when the lock clicked and the door cracked open. She put on her guiltiest face, which wasn't hard when she thought about what time it was, and the door creaked open a little wider. "Ashley?" someone whispered. "What's going on?"

It was Karen. She felt Andros shift impatiently, and she groped for his hand behind her back. He caught her fingers and squeezed briefly as she gave Karen her most apologetic smile. "It's kind of an emergency," she said softly. "Sorry to wake you up. Are you alone?"

The door creaked again, and it opened enough to reveal a sleepy Tessa beside Karen. "No," the blonde-haired girl said with a yawn. "We're harboring fugitives. Come on in."

Karen flipped the light on, and she and Tessa both shied away from the brightness. "What's the emergency?" Karen asked, ever practical. "Can we help?"

"Actually, yes," Ashley said with a small smile. She caught Karen's hand and closed her fingers around the Yellow astromorpher before she could protest. "Andros and I are going back to KO-35. He wants Earth to have the astromorphers. Carlos is gone and we don't have a whole lot of time, so you got elected as their guardians. Is that okay?"

Karen was staring at the morpher in her hand, and Tessa was staring at all three of them. "You want us to keep your morphers for you?" she managed at last. "For how long?"

"Forever," Andros interrupted. He took her hand as Ashley had done and put the Pink astromopher in it. "Or at least until you decide you don't want them anymore. You'll have to give mine to TJ; he'll know what to do with it." He proffered the Red astromorpher, and, if it was possible, Tessa's eyes widened even further.

"You're quitting?" Karen demanded. "You're giving up your morphers, just like that?"

"It's kind of a long story," Ashley offered, then narrowed her eyes at Andros playfully. "At least, I assume it is. I haven't actually heard it yet."

His mouth turned up at the corners, and they shared a smile.

"So does that--are we--" Tessa broke off, and Karen filled in the rest of the sentence.

"Are we Rangers, or what?" she asked bluntly. "Do you have someone else in mind for these? Are you coming back for them?"

"No," Andros answered. "They're yours. I hereby declare you the Yellow and Pink Astro Rangers, unless and until you choose not to accept the Power. Does that answer your question?"

"Not really," Tessa admitted. "Why are you giving them to us? Where are you going? Aren't you leaving KO-35 undefended?"

"Maybe it's just me," Karen added wryly, "but that seems bad."

"It's not just you," Ashley said, trading another amused look with Andros.

"There will be a Kerovan team soon," Andros told them. "Whether it's us or not, some new Power will rise to fill the void. That's how the Power Rangers work. By handing over the astromorphers we've created a vacuum, and it can't last."

"That's some pretty serious faith you've got there," Karen remarked.

"If faith is knowing something that other people only hope for, then yes," Andros replied. "It's serious faith. We need to go. Will you make sure TJ gets this?"

Tessa held out her hand without a word, and Andros passed his morpher to her. "I have faith," he added quietly, "that you'll both be excellent Rangers."

Karen's expression broke into a grin, and Tessa flashed him a brilliant smile. "Good luck," she said, her gaze flicking to include Ashley. "We'll see you soon."

Ashley smiled back, and Andros' hand on hers was the only warning she had before the world sparkled violet. He must have spoken to Kerone, but for the life of her she couldn't hear him when he did it. She could catch his thoughts when he spoke to her or to Zhane, but she seemed to have a blind spot when it came to his sister. She had cornered the Silver Ranger about it once, and he had admitted that he couldn't hear them speak to each other either.

They appeared in the room Andros shared with Zhane, and the light through the window was that of late morning at least. The time difference changed fast, for Keyota had been almost equivalent to PST in Angel Grove when she left. She glanced around, unconsciously scanning for other changes.

Zhane's clothes were still tossed haphazardly over everything in sight, while Andros' side of the room was predictably neat and organized. She smiled a little, remembering their discussion about living space. There was plenty to go around, but they had ended up spending more time in each other's rooms than in their own when they were separated, so Kerone had suggested sharing. She refused, however, to share with Zhane, which meant that they wound up with one room for the girls and another for the guys.

"She must still be with Zhane," Andros muttered, and only then did Ashley notice that they were alone. "How long does it take to wake him up, anyway?"

Ashley frowned a little at his tone, and she shot a glance at Zhane's bed. It was hard to tell whether it had been slept in or not, since he rarely bothered to make it. "Was he sleeping?" It must be almost noon, and that seemed excessive even for Zhane.

"Yes," Andros grumbled. "Maybe," he amended, at her surprised look. "I don't know. He was out late last night."

Ashley glanced at his bed again, considering Zhane's absence. There was only one logical conclusion, and it might account for Andros' odd reaction. "Have he and Kerone been sleeping together?" she asked, as casually as she could. She hadn't expected that, but it wasn't as big a deal as Andros would make it out to be.

"No," he said, surprising her. "But she doesn't seem to care."

She blinked. He actually sounded... upset. And that didn't make any sense. "Sex isn't everything, Andros. It's enough that they love each other, isn't it?" She shook her head, smiling a little. "I would have thought you'd be the first to tell her that."

"It wouldn't matter if I did," he muttered. "She doesn't take my advice anymore."

"Did she ever?" Ashley countered, puzzled. "She's your sister. She's Kerone! Since when do you not trust her?"

"I trust *her*," he retorted. "She was here last night. Zhane wasn't."

She stared at him. "You don't... where was Zhane?" she asked, changing questions midsentence. It was probably safer to avoid the implication that his best friend was the one he didn't trust.

"No idea." Andros glared at the floor as though it had done something to offend him. "He didn't tell me where he was going."

She put a hand on his shoulder, repressing a sigh at the tenseness of his muscles. Zhane must have gotten tired of fighting and gone out to find his own fun. She didn't blame him: Andros was too much for her sometimes, and she was in love with him. She couldn't imagine how happy-go-lucky Zhane put up with him when he got like this.

"He just needs some space," she murmured, putting her free hand on his other shoulder and squeezing gently. "You can't ask him to give everything without getting something back. He's just..." She dug her thumbs into his muscles, kneading absently as she searched for the right words. "Zhane has different priorities, that's all. He'll always be there when you need him."

Andros rolled his shoulders, and it surprised her when he only tensed further with the motion. He did sigh, but it didn't seem to relax him any. She let her hands slide down his arms and leaned forward to kiss the back of his neck. "Andros," she said quietly, resting her chin on his shoulder. "What's wrong?"

He sighed again, and this time, finally, she felt his shoulders slump a little. "I don't know," he muttered. "I'm glad to see you, but I'm so angry with Zhane that I haven't even told you. I'm worried that this isn't going to work, and I'll have left KO-35 with no defense against evil. And on top of it all, I slept on a couch last night and my neck hurts even more than my shoulders."

She smiled to herself, pressing closer against his back as she slid her arms around his waist. "Typical Andros," she whispered in his ear, walking her fingers slowly up his chest. "Taking all the responsibility for yourself. Didn't you learn about sharing in kindergarden?"

He drew in a breath as her hands reached bare skin at his collar, and she flexed her fingers gently against his neck. "No," he mumbled, letting his head droop forward a little. "Everything I know about sharing I learned from you."

She kissed him again, but she didn't stop her caresses. He shrugged once, loosening the tight cords of his neck further, and she worked her fingers around to the back. There was only so far she could reach, but when he moaned softly she knew she'd hit the right spot. She kept it up until he relaxed enough to lean into her, and then she unwound her arms and let him turn toward her.

"Did I mention that I missed you more than anything?" Andros whispered, lifting one hand to stroke her cheek tenderly.

"Maybe." She tilted her head, nuzzling his fingers until he slid them into her hair and drew her closer. "But I wouldn't mind--"

"I missed you," he breathed, not waiting for her to finish. "I've never missed anyone like this, not the way I've missed you the last few days. I don't know how I made it through all those years before we met."

He kissed her before she could answer, his mouth melding with hers in a hot kiss that took her breath away. She hadn't expected his insistence, and her arms crept around his neck even as her knees threatened to give way beneath her. He held her close, held her up, demanding everything she had and giving no less in return.

As she melted into his embrace, Ashley found herself wondering why she had ever left.

*Zhane?*

He didn't move from the pleasant tangle of arms and legs, keeping his eyes shut in an effort to deny the intrusion. *Not here?* he suggested hopefully.

*Sorry,* Astrea's voice answered. *That won't work this time.*

The corner of his mouth quirked upward, but he still didn't stir. *You say that like it worked last time!*

*I need to talk to you,* she insisted, not diverted by his humor. *Can I come in?*

*No.* Of course she could come in; it was her room, after all. And if she said she needed to talk to him, it had to be important. *Give us a minute, would you?*

*Sure.*

He really didn't want to move. As long as he was here, in this bed, the world couldn't touch him. And he didn't have to care--about the world, about the Rangers... about anything, really. It was a pretty nice way to exist.

The warmth beside him shifted a little, and it was enough to tell him that he wasn't the only one reluctant to face the consequences of consciousness. "Awake?" he heard Ty whisper, the word barely audible in the silent room.

He sighed, letting his eyes slide open at last. "Awake," he agreed quietly. As he took in Ty's tousled hair and sleepy golden eyes, he felt a smile spread across his face. "Morning, Beautiful."

A lazy smile echoed his own, lighting Ty's face and making him seem far more alert than he'd been a moment before. "Back at you," he murmured, tipping his head so that his hair fell away from his eyes.

Zhane reached out and brushed it back, his fingers skimming the tangles so they wouldn't pull. The auburn streaks gleamed in the sunlight pouring through the window, and he wondered idly what time it was. Then Ty stretched, drawing in a deep breath as his eyes closed in utter contentment, and the thought vanished as quickly as it had come.

*Zhane...*

He sighed again. *Just a minute!*

Ty was watching him, and there was a flicker of concern in his expression. "You all right?"

"Yeah," Zhane mumbled, pushing the sheet back unwillingly. "Remember the girlfriend I told you about?"

Ty went from concerned to wary in the space of a second. "Astrea?"

"Yeah," Zhane repeated. "Astrea. She's at the door right now, and she says it's important."

Ty reached the logical conclusion, and his eyes widened. "You can read each other's minds?"

"Not so much," Zhane said wryly, propping himself up on his elbows. He reasoned that it was closer to getting up than he had been before. "It's more that she can read anyone's; she just does it to me more than most. She's a telepath."

Ty considered that for a moment, an unreadable expression on his face. "That must be--interesting,"