The Messenger
by angellwings
Zhane was not looking forward to this conversation. In fact, he was terrified. Telling your best friend that you lost his kid sister is not something a guy should ever have to do. Kinda like telling your best friend you had a fling with his sister while she was an evil villain. He sighed as he landed on the NASADA base. Everything was always complicated. Would things with Karone ever be simple? He grinned as he stepped off the shuttle and found the nearest phone. He sincerely hoped not. He decided to call Ashley first. Maybe he was wrong and Karone had come here to visit Andros.
"Hello?"
"Ash! It's Zhane."
"Zhane? Aren't you supposed to be on KO-35 or—"
"We can definitely discuss that later," Zhane said as he desperately changed the topic. "Is Andros there?"
"No, he's in a meeting with the mayor. He should be back in an hour. Why?"
"Um, well, you guys haven't, by chance, heard from Karone have you?"
There was a long pause and Zhane just knew he was in serious trouble.
"Zhane," Ashley said suspiciously. "Did you lose Karone?"
"No! I didn't lose her. She snuck out! I knew exactly where she was! You know, until I didn't anymore," Zhane said with a gulp. "But she wasn't kidnapped this time. I know it."
"And how do you know that?" Ashley asked.
"Because before she left she mentioned that she knew where the pink Quasar Sabre was," He mumbled.
"She what? Oh God, Zhane. Andros is going to kill you," Ashley said with a whine. "He's been stressed out enough as it is. Are you trying to tell me that Karone went after Kendrix's Quasar Sabre? Alone?"
"I don't know that for sure!" Zhane exclaimed frantically.
Ashley snorted. "Do not say that when Andros finds out about this. That will only make it worse. So, what? She ran away? Did she leave a note?"
"If you were about to do something both your brother and your boyfriend wouldn't approve of would you leave a note?" Zhane asked pointedly.
"Good point," Ashley said with a tired sigh. "Alright, I'm coming to you and I'm bringing Carlos. Maybe he can tweak the NASADA transmitter and extend the communication signal. At the very least we might be able to reach the MegaShip. Stay put, Zhane. Got it?"
He nodded before he remembered she couldn't see him. "Got it."
Fifteen minutes later Carlos and Ashley were walking toward him on the shuttle landing bay. As they approached he could see Carlos smirking at him with a highly amused expression.
"So your girlfriend ran away to save the world, huh?" Carlos asked as they finally reached him.
"Looks like it," Zhane said in a resigned tone.
"Andros is going to kill you," Carlos said with a chuckle.
"So I've heard," he replied dryly.
"You'd better hope the Galaxy Rangers found her and she's on Terra Venture," Ashley said with a sympathetic wince. "That's the only way you're getting out of this alive."
"The Communication Deck is this way," Carlos said as he led Ashley and Zhane down a hallway to the left. "NASADA stopped trying to communicate with Terra Venture weeks ago so it should basically be empty. I'll see if there's any way to extend a signal that far."
When they reached the deck Carlos pulled a metal panel off the wall to reveal circuit boards and wiring. None of it made any sense to Zhane so he sat down in the nearest chair and propped his feet up on the control panel. Ashely rolled her eyes at him and knocked his feet off.
"Don't put your feet on the equipment," Ashley scolded.
"Yes, mother," Zhane said with a teasing grin.
"Don't start with me or I will call Andros right now," Ashley said with a playful glare.
"Wow," Carlos said with a laugh as he continued to rewire the wall panel. "If you didn't sound like a mom before you definitely sound like one now."
She smacked his arm and shook her head. "Shut up."
Carlos turned his focus back to the panel and nodded before he stepped back to look at his work. "That should do it I think. Let's try it now." He shut the panel and then sat down in the chair next to Zhane's.
"I'm going to try to hail it first. See if we get a response," Carlos said as he flipped a few switches and turned several nobs.
"How do you people work with this technology?" Zhane asked as he watched. "It's so outdated."
"Well, if KO-35 would share more than just a few small pieces of knowledge with us then we wouldn't have to work with outdated tech, would we?" Carlos asked him with a grin.
Zhane held his hands up in surrender. "Hey, not my decision. I just live there. Just because I helped save two worlds does not mean that anyone on either planet actually listens to me. My girlfriend doesn't even listen to me."
Carlos sighed and shook his head. "No response."
"Try the MegaShip," Ashley suggested.
Carlos turned a few dials, flipped a few more switches, and then suddenly a fuzzy image appeared on the screen in front of them. The lines moved and changed until an outline was visible, and slowly as the color came into the picture Alpha could be seen.
"Rangers!" He exclaimed happily.
"Hey, Alpha!" Zhane said cheerfully. "Long time, no see."
"Zhane! So good to see you!"
"You haven't happened to have heard from Karone, have you?" Zhane asked hopefully.
"No, I'm sorry I haven't," Alpha told them.
"Are the rangers around?" Carlos asked.
"No, they've gone looking for the Quasar Sabre. Maya found out where it was," Alpha said.
Zhane and Ashley exchanged a quick look before Ashley spoke.
"We think Karone went after it too," Ashley told the little robot.
"Alpha, I'm going to leave this frequency open as long as I can," Carlos told him. "Let us know if you hear from the rangers and if they've seen Karone."
"We just need to make sure she's okay," Zhane told him.
"Will do, rangers!" Alpha agreed with a nod. "If I hear anything I'll let you know, first thing!"
"Thank you, Alpha," Ashley said.
"We'll talk to you soon," Carlos told him with a nod as Alpha closed the communication to try and call the rangers. Carlos turned toward Ashley and Zhane. "Now all we have to do is wait."
"How long can you maintain that frequency?" Zhane asked.
"Not sure. Maybe an hour or two. Depends on how fast Terra Venture is moving," Carlos answered.
"We've got half an hour until Andros gets out of his meeting," Ashley said as she looked down at her watch. "If we don't hear by then we'll have to tell him."
"This is what I get for dating my best friend's sister. I'm being punished," Zhane said miserably.
Ashley chuckled. "It's not you. It's them. Both she and Andros have that whole 'fate of the world is on my shoulders' persona. Andros runs off at least once a month to do some ridiculous world saving deed. I'm surprised it took Karone this long to do the same."
"So, what you're saying is that I should expect a lot more of this from her in the future?" Zhane asked tiredly.
Ashley grinned and placed a sympathetic hand on his shoulder. "For the rest of your life, my friend. You'd better get used to it."
Andros glanced down at his watch and then quickly shook hands with the Mayor to wrap up the meeting. That was a more productive reconstruction meeting than he was used to. Things were actually decided upon. For once he wasn't leaving with the urge to punch something, and they finished half an hour early.
It was a miracle.
Just as he was getting ready to call Ashley to see if she wanted to get lunch his phone rang.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Andros. Why didn't you tell me Zhane was coming to town?" TJ's voice asked through the phone.
His brow furrowed. "Because I didn't know. Zhane's here?"
"Yeah, Carlos and I were supposed to train but he said Ashley roped him into meeting Zhane at the NASADA base. You mean, you don't know anything about this?"
"No," Andros said with a shrug. "But I can't say I'm surprised. It's sounds like Zhane to visit on a whim."
"Yeah, I guess. Are you going to meet them there?" TJ asked.
"I'm done for the day so I don't see why not," Andros told him. "Are you going?"
"Nah, I'd better call Cassie. You know, she'll hate being the last to know," TJ said with a chuckle. "We should all have dinner tonight or something. I'll call you later after I talk to Cassie."
"Okay, thanks for letting me know," Andros said as he hung up. Well, that was interesting. Zhane had come to visit and if he was here then Karone probably was too. She and Zhane were attached at the hip lately. He resisted the urge to shudder. He still wasn't used to the idea of his best friend dating his sister. Or his sister dating at all, really. But if she had to date someone then at least she was dating someone he trusted.
He made his way to the base and when he arrived he was informed that Ashley, Carlos, and Zhane were currently holed up in the communication deck. Not exactly the first place he would have looked for them. It felt a little suspicious, actually. He shrugged it off, though, and quickly walked in the direction of the communication deck. He walked through the door and smiled at the sight of Zhane lounging around like he owned the place. Typical Zhane. His suspicions rose again when he didn't see Karone.
It might not mean anything, he told himself. Maybe she was somewhere else on the base. But where would she be? Or maybe she didn't come? No, that didn't sound like her. She wouldn't pass up an opportunity to visit. He stared warily at Ashley, Carlos, and Zhane. None of them had noticed his presence and they were all staring anxiously at the screen in front of them.
There was something going on here. He bit back a groan. He did not need any more insanity on his plate right now. He had a very full plate. Too full. Way too full. He cleared his throat loudly and all three of them jumped at the sound.
"Andros!" Ashley exclaimed in a pitch he'd never heard her use before.
Yes, something was definitely up.
"Hey, buddy!" Zhane said with a nervous gulp. "So good to see you again, man! Um, what are you doing here exactly?"
Carlos said nothing and instead ducked his head before turning back to the monitor.
"I thought your meeting didn't end for another," Ashley paused to look at her watch. "Fifteen minutes?"
"We finished early," Andros answered simply. "And then TJ called and said my best friend paid us a surprise visit so I thought I'd come and meet all of you here."
"Oh," Ashley said with a nervous laugh. "Perfect."
That made him even more nervous about where Karone might be. They wouldn't have sent her off on some insane mission to get rid of some sort of corruption within NASADA would they? What were they doing in the communication deck anyway? And why did they look so guilty? How much trouble were they all causing now?
"So, where's Karone?" Andros asked as casually as possible.
Ashley let out a very soft squeak, Carlos avoided eye contact in every way possible, and Zhane merely blinked at him. A long pause stretched out between the three of them and Andros glared at them all perceptively. "Would someone like to tell me what's actually going on here?"
The monitor suddenly lit up with the image of Alpha and the little robot exclaimed, "We found her! The rangers found her! Well, technically she found the rangers. She went to Onyx to get the sabre and then found them to get it back to them! I just heard from Leo!" Alpha paused and then waved when he noticed Andros. "Hello, Andros! Don't worry! We found Karone!"
Zhane paled and his eyes went wide while Carlos winced.
"Thanks, Alpha. You've been a big help," Ashley said as she blushed with embarrassment.
"Yeah, thanks, Alpha," Zhane said with a gulp. "Tell her to be safe, okay?"
"Will do!" Alpha said with a nod. "When she gets here we'll try and open up this frequency again so you can talk to her yourself."
The call ended and Andros glared at his friends.
"Karone was missing?" He exclaimed as he turned toward Zhane. "You lost her?"
"I didn't lose her! She ran away!" Zhane told him. "She's not exactly easy to keep in one place, you know! Plus, she's sneaky! I mean really sneaky! I can't help it if she was once the Mistress of All Evil and knows how to get away with things!"
Andros took a step forward and Zhane immediately stood up from his chair to stand behind Ashley.
"We're friends, remember? You trust me with your life. Please, don't kill the messenger. I swear I had no idea she was planning to do this," Zhane said with an overly friendly smile. He continued when Andros kept a stony glare focused on him. "You know how she is. Right, buddy? I mean this isn't the first time she's done something kind of crazy to save the world. You know, like that time she went back to Darkonda to save you guys? Remember that? This is sort of the same thing."
"Zhane," Ashley said as she kept her eyes on Andros. "Not exactly the best thing to bring up. You do remember how that ended, right?"
"Or this could be nothing like that at all. It's a completely different situation that will have totally dissimilar results," Zhane said frantically as he realized his mistake. He attempted to smile and shrug casually at Andros.
Carlos had completely turned his back on them to avoid getting involved and Ashley was holding her breath in anticipation of Andros's next move. While Zhane maintained his, hopefully, charming smile and resisted the urge to flee.
"Andros?" Zhane asked warily as silence stretched out between them. "You still in there? She'll be fine. She can handle herself, you know that."
"Run," Andros said simply.
"What?" Zhane asked in surprise.
"Run," Andros repeated as he moved toward Zhane again. Zhane immediately bolted past Andros and out the door. Once he was gone Andros calmly sat down in his vacated chair.
Ashley's brow furrowed and she eyed him suspiciously.
Carlos stared at the doorway for a moment before finally turning to Andros. "Aren't you going to go after him?"
"No," Andros answered as he attempted to get contact Alpha again.
"Why not?"
"The fear of me coming after him is probably worse than anything I could actually do to him," Andros said with a smirk. "He'll come out of hiding eventually."
Ashley laughed and rolled her eyes. "That was mean."
"Trust me, it could have been worse. I could have retaliated against you too, you know. You're not completely innocent in all of this," Andros said as he quirked a brow and grinned at her.
"Hey, I was just trying to save a man's life. I didn't want you to commit unnecessary murder," Ashley said with a chuckle.
"It's true, that's how she pulled me into all of this. She pleaded for Zhane's life," Carlos said with a smirk.
"I'd never kill him. Scare him, yes. But I would never go so far as to kill him. Now, my sister, her I might kill. There's a reason she went after that sabre without telling anyone. We need to have a serious talk about asking for help," Andros said as he shook his head.
"I had to have a similar talk with you once upon a time," Ashley reminded him. "Go easy on her. She's having a hard time adjusting to being just Karone."
"Yeah, you definitely don't sound like a mom," Carlos said sarcastically.
"Who, Ashley?" Andros asked with a smirk. "No, never."
Carlos laughed as Ashley scoffed and smacked Andros's shoulder.
"Why don't the two of you just shut up and get Alpha back on the line," Ashley said with a glare.