MMPR Dawn of Primacy: Vergence

by J Raine

Book 2 of the Dawn of Primacy Trilogy. All reality stands on the brink of destruction as Rangers from two dimensions must unite against the darkness of an alternate existence in a desperate gamble to prevent all reality's demise. MMPR-PRDT

2. Chapter 2

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers

Dawn of Primacy: Vergence

-2-

Kimberly's entire body tensed as Josh slowly placed his right hand against her stomach. In a sudden flash of movement Josh pushed Kimberly back, her socks allowing her to glide back on the hardwood floor out of the way as Josh thrust both arms forward in palm strikes, hitting the sides of the large rifles. The augmented strength of the Enforcers' armor prevented both from having their weapons spun toward the street; however Josh's attack shifted both weapons enough to bring them to bear against the opposite Enforcer.

Alex toppled over backward as the barrels slammed into his chest before both Enforcers accidentally discharged their weapons. Both barrels lit a brilliant azure as electrified balls of energy burst from the barrels striking the opposite Enforcer. Both soldiers frozen in place as energy coursed over their dark armor.
Jen, Lucas, and Katie halted in their advance as Josh dove under the weapons of the immobilized Enforcers and rolled on top of Alex's prone body placing a knee across his throat as he pinned his right arm down with his other leg and held down his left with his own left hand.

"Any of you comes any closer and I break his neck." Josh replied as his mind raced trying to find an escape route.

"We don't want to hurt you." Jen replied raising her hands. "We need your help."

"You have a funny way of asking for it," Josh replied. "I don't trust you."

Josh noticed Lucas' mouth was moving, but he couldn't hear what he was saying. With a quick change in position he rolled to his side and pulled Alex's body in front of him, causing his dark glasses to fall onto the ground as the two fell off the porch. Dragging Alex to his feet he pulled him back, concealing himself between Alex and the front of the house; his left arm locked firmly around Alex's neck.

"Kim, you alright?" Josh shouted over his shoulder.

"Yeah," came a quick reply from inside the house. "The police are coming,"

In a tree across the street, unseen by anyone else, another Enforcer shed his stealth field. He was hovering motionlessly within the tree sighting through a large targeting system mounted on the side of a slightly modified version of the standard Enforcer rifle. Though leaves obscured his view, the targeting equipment had a clear image of the target.

"This is unit four; I can see the target, but do not have a solution, Alex's head is in the way." The Enforcer relayed.

"When you have a solution you have permission to fire," the Commander replied. "Units six, seven, and eight enter through the back entrance secure target two, quietly. Unit two, time until arrival of local law enforcement?"

"Five minutes,"

Through his slight daze Alex was listening to the chatter on the com through his earpiece, a small, flat, flesh toned disk, no larger than a pencil eraser adhered to the inside of his ear. Alex struggled a little trying to provide a solution, but Josh had him held firmly in place. On the verge of blacking out from the lack of blood to his brain Alex jerked his head forward with all the force he could muster and quickly thrust it back toward Josh's face. Josh tilted his head to the right allowing Alex's head to glance against the side of his face. From the upper corner of his vision Josh caught a flash of blue in the trees. Before he could react he felt every muscle in his body tense at once, locking him into a state of immobility.

Even though he was frozen he could still see, though his eyes refused to move or even focus at any other distance other than the three individuals in white. In a blurred patch he could see that Alex was unaffected by whatever had immobilized him. Slowly Alex began to pry Josh's arm from around his neck, the muscles shifting with great effort as Alex slid out from his grip and stepped away retrieving his dark glasses from the ground.

Two more Enforcers emerged from the house carrying Kimberly who was frozen in a standing position, from her expression it was apparent she hadn't noticed the Enforcers until after she had been immobilize.

"Let's move," Alex replied. "Company is coming."

Three more Enforcers appeared in the yard holstering their rifles on some form of harness that folded out to the right from their backpacks; the holsters retracted holding the weapons behind their right shoulders. The Enforcers rushed forward taking hold of their frozen members as the third took hold of Josh. The group of Enforcers began moving toward the center of the street; Alex followed, walking passed the three Time Force Rangers.

"And you thought Enforcers were overkill," he said with some disdain.

"You didn't have to lie to him," Lucas said, his eyes narrowed as he glared at Alex. "You could have told him those weapons fired non-lethal rounds."

"That would have only given him more incentive to resist," Alex called back. "Now hurry up before this operation becomes more complex."

Ropes dropped from the sky, descending from an invisible point in the sky as the Enforcers quickly secured their two captives and their immobilized teammates.

"Two minutes," one of the Enforcers said, the sirens were barely audible in the distance to his electronically enhanced hearing.

Alex, Jen, Lucas, and Katie joined the soldiers, quickly securing their own lines.

"Everyone secure?" the Commander asked.

"Go!" The Enforcers responded in unison.

The Commander activated a button on his gauntlet as all the lines began to rapidly retract into the air, whisking everyone up into the sky. Even though he was still unable to move Josh watched the ground disappear from under him as he ascended into the sky. He couldn't see Kimberly and could only assume she was somewhere behind him. As they approached the section of sky in which the ropes disappeared Joshua suddenly found himself staring at the under belly of a large black ship; its form appearing as it had just risen from murky waters. He suspected that it was using the same type of invisibility shield as those armored men had, which meant in all likelihood, they were now concealed along with the ship.

The belly of the vessel quickly disappeared and their ascension began to slow as walls consumed Josh's field of vision. Finally coming to a stop he could feel a floor form under his feet elevating him several inches before everything was still again.

"Take our guests to the passenger compartment, make sure they're secured for our return trip," Alex said. He took a moment before walking over toward Josh's face taking off his glasses and starring him straight in the eyes. "If you resist when we release you I will flood the cabin with gas and render you unconscious before I place you in cryo-containment, which has some very unpleasant side-effects for humans." Alex looked intently into his eyes for a moment as if trying to discern an answer. Finally he turned his back to him and faced Jen, Lucas, and Katie. "Prep the ship for our return trip."

"The Director won't like this use of force," Jen said eyeing Alex coldly.

"I doubt, under the circumstances, that they'll look down on my methods," Alex replied as the Enforcers attached anti-gravity harnesses to Josh and Kimberly and began carrying them away. "The fate of all existence is at stake after all. Of course you're always welcome to file a report."

"I can't believe I use to think like you," Jen said turning away and heading toward the bridge. "You make me sick."

Alex stood by without emotion as Lucas and Katie gave him a strong glare before turning and following after Jen.

"They just don't understand," Alex said under his breath as he turned away watching the Enforcers disappear into the passenger compartment at the far end of the cargo bay.

Josh's heart jumped as the Enforcer put a small device up to his eye. There was a flash of blue light and suddenly Josh felt every muscle in his body relax as he collapsed like a rag doll into the chair, guided down forcefully by the other Enforcer. The two armored soldiers were quick to restrain him as collars sprung from the chair locking his hands, feet, and waist in place before a membrane on the inside of the collars inflated leaving him no room to move.

With Joshua secure the two men moved onto Kimberly repeating the procedure. Josh flinched as he watched Kimberly fall into the chair, his fist clenching in reflex as his body tried to spring up, but the restraint kept him firmly held in place. As the restraints locked around Kimberly's body Josh vented a frustrated breath through his teeth.

At the end of the room the door slid open as the Commander walked in. Both Enforcers immediately stood at attention saluting. The Commander returned their salute.

"At ease," the Commander said, "Are our passengers secure?"

"Yes sir," the two soldiers responded in unison.

"Then get yourselves strapped in,"

"Sir, yes sir." The two Enforcers replied as they moved passed the Commander and exited the compartment.

The Commander stood in front of Josh, his own cold stare reflecting back at him from the Enforcer's mask. Slowly the Commander reached back taking hold of his helmet. There was a brief click before a hiss of depressurization. The Commander pulled his helmet forward removing it from his head.

A flexible hood covered his head with the exception of his face. He was younger than Josh or Kimberly had expected. His face was thin, but the look from his light blue eyes was intensely strong. He studied Josh for a moment.

"I understand where you're coming from," he said, his voice seemed less threatening without the helmet. "While it's not my place to question the way your cooperation was secured,"

Josh laughed.

The Commander continued, ignoring him. "I want to make one thing perfectly clear to you; we are not authorized to use lethal force in any form on you, the higher ups want you both alive and unharmed. So we can do this one of two ways." He said leaning in to Josh's face. "We can either handle you as invited guests, or as prisoners. And if you cause anymore problems for me or my men you will find out how far non-lethal force can go. Do we have an understanding?"

Josh's eyes narrowed as he looked deep into the Commander's icy stare.

"I understand you," Josh said.

The Commander smiled and stood back up and began to turn away.

"But I have something I want you to understand too," Josh said.

"Oh?" The Commander replied turning toward Josh with an amused smile. "And what would that be?"

"You cause even the slightest discomfort to her," Josh nodded his head toward Kimberly. "And you and all your men will regret it."

"That a threat?" The Commander asked looking at him.

"You can take it anyway you want," Josh replied. "But I mean it."

The Commander glanced over at Kimberly for a moment; her look was less resolute, however there was still a fierce fire that burned in her eyes. With a contemplative expression the Commander placed his helmet back on his head and walked out of the compartment.

"So now what?" Kimberly asked with a sigh as the door sealed shut.

"I don't know," Josh replied. "I can't even move in these things. How about you?"

"If my hand were a little smaller I might be able to slide it out, but it's stuck pretty good."

"What do you think the odds are that these guys are who they say they are?"

"If they're really Power Rangers things have changed a lot since I was one." Kimberly replied.

"But what if they work for the Government like Lightspeed?" Josh asked.

"I don't know," Kimberly replied shaking her head. "We're going to have to decide whether or not to trust them though."

"I can tell you right now I don't trust Alex, but those three in white don't seem to like him much either, so they might be okay." Josh replied with a smile.

"What do you think about the Sergeant or whoever that was?"

"I don't think he likes how things have been going," Josh replied. "But it's clear he's worried about what I can do to his men and wants to make sure they're safe."

"Obviously your reputation lives on," Kimberly said with a smile.

"Is this really the time to be joking?" Josh asked smiling a little himself.

"What do I have to worry about? I know you'll protect me." She replied looking over into his eyes.

"With my life," Josh promised.

"Did you feel that?" Josh's voice suddenly came from all around.

"Feel what?" Kimberly asked.

Suddenly the room shifted, the tiny compartment seemed to stretch into infinity as if the opposing walls had suddenly become mirrors. Kimberly could feel her mind expand, her thoughts were racing. Then for a moment everything collapsed back to a single point as the room suddenly became completely still. In a flash everything suddenly returned to normal.

"Did you feel that?" Josh asked.

"You just asked me that." Kimberly replied.

"That wasn't me before," Josh replied.

"It was your voice,"

"Yeah, but I didn't say it, at least not until just now."

"Where do you think we are?" Kimberly asked.

"I'm not sure." Josh replied his eyes wide with excitement. "But I have a feeling we're nowhere near where we were, or, if they really are from Time Force we might not be when we were anymore."

"You think we're traveling through time?"

"I'm not sure, but I've never felt anything like that in my life. Then again it could have been something unrelated to movement or maybe something unrelated to all this in general."

"I guess we'll know when we get to wherever or whenever we're going," Kimberly said sighing.

"I still don't know if I trust these people," Josh replied. "But now that I'm not running on pure adrenalin I think I at least want to get some answers, then if I don't like those answers we can escape."

"Sounds good to me," Kimberly replied smiling at him.

"Temporal Fold complete," Lucas replied. "Eisenzen Bridge stable,"

"ETA?" Alex asked.

"Ten minutes," Katie replied.

Jen unlocked her harness and got up from her seat.

"Where are you going?" Alex asked.

"For a walk." Jen replied moving passed him and off the bridge.

Alex was about to respond when he heard the elevator door lock into the closed position.

"Cargo bay," Jen said as the elevator began to move.

Within a few seconds she felt the tube come to a stop and a door opened behind her. She turned around and began to walk down the cargo bay toward the door at the far end. Two Enforcers were standing guard, one on each side. Each was holding a large pistol at their sides. Jen kept her focus on the door and walked passed them; neither one seemed to even acknowledge her presence.

As the door slid open Jen stepped through, the door closing quickly behind her. Josh and Kimberly both stopped mid-conversation and watched Jen cautiously as she walked toward them. Jen proceeded to a chair facing Kimberly's and slid open a panel on the side and pressed her fingers against the reflective blue plate.

"Chair restraints disabled." A computer voice announced.

Jen turned and sat down in the chair facing Josh and Kimberly.

"You don't maybe want to do that for our chairs?" Josh asked.

"I do," Jen replied. "But my career at Time Force would be over if I did."

"So are you one of the Rangers that was in Silver Hills last year?" Josh asked.

"Yes," Jen replied. "Time Force Pink Ranger."

"So why are you here? And what's going on?" Kimberly asked more eager to get to the point.

"You're here because you two were directly requested by our lead developer on the Chrono Storm project." Jen replied. "I'm sorry for the way you've been treated, but some people are a little high strung given the situation."

"So what's the problem?" Josh asked.

"All existence is coming to an end," Jen replied. Josh and Kimberly exchanged a quizzical look, Jen continued. "Right now we're on our way to the year three thousand and nine."

"Does that have anything to do with that weirdness a few minutes ago?" Kimberly asked.

Jen smiled. "That was the result of crossing from real space into Temporal Space using a sort of 'quantum bridge' developed by Doctor Rupert Eisenzen; It's a little like a wormhole in the fabric of space-time."

"Yeah," Kimberly replied. "I have no idea what you just said."

"We're traveling through time at the moment," Jen rephrased.

"Can we get back to this Chrono Storm project you mentioned?" Josh asked. "What is it?"

"I can't tell you much," Jen replied. "I'm already going to be in trouble for what I've said, but what I can tell you is that the Chrono Storm project is the only shot we have for saving all of existence."

"So how do we tie into all this?" Josh asked raising a skeptical eyebrow.

"Jen get back to the bridge we're about to exit Temporal Space." Lucas' voice came over the com.

"I'm in the passenger compartment," Jen replied. "I'll just lock in here."

"That would be fitting," Alex responded cutting in on the conversation. "Since you're likely to be Court Marshaled."

Jen cut the communication and reached down placing her fingers on the side panel.

"Chair restraints activated."

Jen leaned back and placed her arms on the arm rests and positioned her legs on the opposite sides at the base. With a quick flash the metal collars flipped out binding Jen to the chair.

"So what's with this guy, seriously?" Josh asked.

"Alex just has his own way of doing things." Jen said apologetically. "He's by the book and has no tact when it comes to people's feelings. Sad thing is I use to be a lot like him before I met Wes."

"Your boyfriend, husband?" Kimberly ventured.

"No," Jen replied shaking her head. "Nothing like that. Just someone from my past."

Josh and Kimberly exchanged a smile.

"So how do we tie into all this?" Josh asked getting back on topic. "They need us for this thing, this project right? No one else can do it?"

"Well," Jen replied biting her lip for a moment. "No one else is as qualified."

"What does that mean?" Kimberly's voice filled the room.

"Here we go again," Josh replied as the room distorted before returning to normal.

"What does that mean?" Kimberly asked.

"I'm sorry, but what's with the repeating thing?" Josh asked looking at Jen.

"Technically it's not repeating, what you heard was a sort of echo through time, it's like a normal echo instead of the sound bouncing off an object and returning the sound bounces off the entry and exit points of the Eisenzen Bridge and reflects into the past."

"That's just weird," Josh replied.

"So what does it mean that we're the most qualified," Kimberly repeated.

"Right, sorry." Jen replied. "I wish I could be more specific, but if I go into project details I'm in more trouble than just a breech of conduct."

"Seems like a lot of rules for no reason." Josh said. "What are they so afraid of?"

"Temporal contamination." Jen replied. "When you interact with things outside your own time line things change slightly."

"You mean like the butterfly effect?" Josh asked.

"It's not that serious in reality." Jen replied. "Anyway, when things change your mind still remembers them the way they happened; have this occur enough and you end up with Temporal Dissociative Disorder, a form of dementia in which you lose the ability to distinguish reality and your outdated memories."

"That seems strange," Kimberly said.

"When you think about it though time is the way we humans distinguish the passage of events, it's how we organize things. You start moving things around or eliminating them you end up with gaps in your organization. These can be minor from something being invented that wasn't before to someone you know no longer existing in extreme cases. To fix these problems our memories are rewritten to fix these aberrations, but the technology isn't perfect. Sometimes it doesn't work and sometimes certain people don't ever completely forget; the end result isn't pretty."

There was a rumble as the ship touched down.

"I didn't even feel the ship moving," Josh said.

"Inertia stabilizers," Jen replied with a smile. "Welcome to the Thirty-first century."

"So are we going to be cooperative?" Kimberly asked looking over at Josh.

"I have some conditions," Josh replied. "But I think we can at least hear them out."

"So what are your conditions?" Jen asked.

"I'll save those for Alex," Josh replied. "Since they apply to him."

The door to the compartment slid open and two Enforcers entered the room carrying pistols. One reached back pulling a pair of restraints from an automated compartment on his backpack.

"That won't be necessary," Jen replied. "They've agreed to cooperate, but they have some conditions they want to present to Alex."

The two Enforcers held their position as one contacted Alex on the bridge. There was a moment of delay.

"He's on his way down," one of the Enforcer's replied.

There was a period of silence as they waited for Alex to arrive. After nearly two minutes the door opened and Alex entered followed closely by the Commander who had a pistol held by some invisible force to his right leg.

"You have some conditions for me?" Alex asked, the hostile tone in his voice making it apparent that he was not in the mood for any trouble.

"Yes," Josh replied. "First I want you to let Jen over here go free and keep her clear of any trouble in this incident."

Jen looked shocked.

"Is that all?" Alex replied trying to choke back his annoyance.

"I also want you to start treating us with some respect," Josh replied. "If you continue with this attitude of yours we're done. I don't know what passes for good manners in your time, but I grew up in Japan and people there were very respectful, so if you want our help I expect you to treat us with the level of respect you would give us as if we've already agreed to help you."

Alex paused for a moment as if he were considering his words. "Very well," Alex replied his tone changing though Josh could still hear some hostility in his words. "Release them,"

"Yes sir," the two Enforcers replied attaching their pistols to the magnetic harness on their leg and releasing the restraints on the three chairs.

Josh reached back and took hold of Kimberly's hand as the two of them rose from their seats and walked passed Alex toward the Commander.

"Please lead the way," Josh replied looking into the Commander's reflective mask.

The Commander nodded and turned walking toward the exit, Josh and Kimberly followed after him. Jen brushed passed Alex with a dismissive smirk. Alex stood with his back to the door for a moment, his fist clenching briefly before he straightened up and began walking toward the door, the other two Enforcers turning to follow after him. He wasn't happy about this turn of events, but if Jen's complete disregard for protocol had secured their cooperation then he could live with it.

Josh and Kimberly continued to follow the Commander across the cargo bay toward a large loading ramp that was opening toward the front of the bay, illuminating the area with bright rays of light.

"It's going to be interesting to see what things look like," Josh replied. "You know if we're still here in a week we'll be celebrating our one-thousandth and fifth anniversary."

"What do you get for that one?" Kimberly teased.

"Not sure," Josh replied. "But I'm sure it will be expensive."

Kimberly laughed as they reached the end of the cargo bay and began to descend from the ship. The ground below was some form of raised concrete platform, at least it looked a little like concrete in form; the surface was incredibly smooth however, like polished steel. Looking around they could see that they were, in fact, on a large runway complex that was suspended above the ground. The center of the runway seemed to have a rotating section that aligned any ship that entered from one of the other platforms; several other large vehicles sat waiting on these side platforms. Josh couldn't be sure, but they looked a little like components for the Zords he had seen on the news during the Silver Hills incidents.

Below the platform they could see small cube like buildings scattered under the large complex and several areas of well maintained lawn lined with small shrubs and trees. As they cleared the ramp the expanse of blue sky was open to them revealing distant vehicles that streaked across the sky vanishing behind the towering cylindrical buildings. On the tops of some of the shorter buildings near the runway they could see elaborate gardens on the rooftops.

Then they caught sight of the Time Gate. The structure rose from twin pylons at the end of the runway rising nearly one hundred stories into the sky and being nearly fifty stories wide at the level of the runway.

"What's that?" Kimberly asked.

"That's the Time Gate." Jen replied. "It ensures we can maintain a stable Eisenzen Bridge through time when we travel."

Josh's attention was suddenly diverted as he caught a hint of movement out of the corner of his eye. He turned quickly before stopping in awe as he gazed up at a large Zord toward the back of the runway.

"Wow," managed to escape his lips.

"That's Transwarp," Jen replied. "He's sort of an all purpose Zord for the base. But he's also combat capable if we need some extra support. His primary function however is using his Inertia Transfer Drive, allowing vessels to reach maximum acceleration in point six four seconds." Kimberly gave her a puzzled look. "We need to be at a high speed before we cross the event horizon of the Eisenzen Bridge."

"So he's kind of like a catapult on an aircraft carrier?" Josh asked.

"I'm not familiar with what you're talking about." Jen replied. "Sorry."

"That's okay," Kimberly replied with a smile. "I don't understand half of what you're saying either."

Jen grinned. "I know this all probably seems pretty remarkable and complicated."

"Billy would have been at home here," Kimberly replied.

"Who?" Josh asked.

"Oh, an old friend from Angel Grove," she replied.

"Oh right, I remember you mentioning him before, the genius."

"Right,"

As they continued to walk forward Josh suddenly noticed a man in a black and gold uniform similar to Alex's approaching. With him were several more Time Force officers in white suits. Josh eyed the man cautiously.

"Do we like this guy?" Josh asked quietly leaning toward Jen.

"That's Director Westcott, he's the head of Time Force."

"But do we like him?" Josh repeated.

"From what I know he's a good man."

Josh glanced back over his shoulder at Alex and the other two Enforcers following a short distance behind. On the top of the ramp Josh noticed the other two Time Force Officers, who had been with Jen at the house, exiting the ship. He quickly turned his eyes forward again.

As they approached the Director and his entourage everyone came to a halt as the Commander and Jen both saluted the Director.

"At ease," Director Westcott replied.

"Sir these are Joshua and Kimberly Raine," Jen replied stepping aside.

"A pleasure to meet you," Director Westcott replied extending his hand to Josh first. "I trust your experience so far hasn't been an unpleasant one?"

"No complaints," Josh replied shaking his hand. Kimberly noticed the semi-shocked expression on Jen's face, she did a good job of concealing it quickly though.

"Thank you for your hospitality," Kimberly replied taking the Director's hand. "Your staff has been very courteous."

"Wonderful to hear it," The Director replied though Josh could discern a certain degree of disbelief in his tone and expression as he glanced back toward Alex for a moment. "Well let's go inside so we can explain the situation to you."

"Excellent, I'm looking forward to getting some answers," Josh replied as the group began to move toward the back of the runway where a large lift was located.

Kimberly tried hard not to smile. She knew their performance had caused some confusion, but hopefully it had taken some of the edge off. If things got bad it was better to have a potential enemy relaxed, it created more opportunities to control the situation. She could tell Josh was already actively memorizing the route they were taking and looking for blind spots in the security; though it was almost impossible to tell just by looking at him.

She wanted to believe these people were sincere, especially Jen, but their methods up until this point had been questionable, certainly not in line with how Zordon would have handled the situation. He had allowed the five of them to originally walk out of the Command Center with the Morphers even though they had no desire to help him. Then again, he had brought them there without their consent, of course he had simply teleported them, he hadn't used armed guards; maybe she couldn't really compare the two situations as directly as she would like.

"I was just curious," Kimberly began as the group stepped onto the lift. "Do you have teleporters?"

"You're referring to the technology used by the Rangers of Earth under Zordon?" Director Westcott asked.

"Yeah,"

"I'm afraid that technology is still not feasible for us to use." He replied.

"How so?" Josh asked trying to keep the conversation going, it was a good diversion.

"We lack the power output to use it effectively." He replied as the lift began to descend.

"So you can transport a ship full of people a thousand years into the past, but can't transport a single person across the face of the planet?" Josh asked a little puzzled, he also noticed the other two Time Force members in white were not with the group.

"It's more complicated than that." The Director replied. "When we move something through time we do so through something like a wormhole, a gateway. If we could use wormhole technology inside the atmosphere it would be different matter. The Eltarian Teleporter technology however, was fundamentally a particle accelerator that could dismantle and reassemble a person's molecular structure for transport near the speed of light."

"And that's why it takes more power?" Josh asked.

"To put it in terms you'd understand," Alex interrupted. "You would need the equivalent energy that the sun generates to power a device like that and even then there are mass and distance restrictions."

"And how much energy does your Time Gate use?" Kimberly asked.

"By comparison," Jen began. "If the total energy outputted by the sun was equivalent to the Earth's total water supply, it would require less than a drop."

"Huh," Josh replied as the lift came to a stop.

The group began to move toward a large, multi-sectional complex that spread out under the shadow of the runway structure above. Josh noticed that the entire structure was floating above the large building.

"What's holding up the runway?" Josh asked looking around.

"Anti-gravity fields," Jen replied.

"What happens if the power goes out?" Kimberly asked.

"We have emergency reserves to keep it aloft for up to five minutes and we can raise physical pillars to support it, but there hasn't been a power failure in two hundred years," The Director replied. "Now if you'll come this way."

The group turned off from the main building and entered through a pair of sliding doors leading into a domed extension to the right side of the main complex. The room had a large ringed table at the center with rows of stadium style seats outside of, what seemed to be, the main conference area. The room was deserted and a dim ambient light filled the room with a warm glow.

"What is this place?" Josh asked.

"This is the conference room," The Director replied. "We had something we wanted to show you that might help you understand the situation better once we explain it."

"If you'll direct your eyes toward the center of the room." Alex said raising his hand as the lights dimmed into darkness.

An image suddenly spun to life hovering in the air. Josh and Kimberly watched intently as the form of a Ranger in red materialized in the static.

"Greetings," the Ranger in red began. "My name is Tommy Oliver, behind me are the remains of Angel Grove, California in the year nineteen ninety-six,"

Kimberly gasped. The two of them continued to watch the rest of the message intently. Josh's expression changed becoming more sullen. As the message ended the two of them looked at Jen then at the Director.

"None of that ever happened though." Josh said.

"Not here," Alex replied. "It's a message from another dimension, a parallel universe."

"Those exist?" Josh asked.

"They're not suppose to." Jen replied. "That's part of the problem."

"I don't understand," Kimberly began. "What's Tommy doing there?"

"It's not the Thomas Oliver you know," Alex replied. "In the year you left from Thomas Oliver was working with Timothy Mercer on some dangerous research; but that's not relevant to our current problem. I was wondering if you could identify this Ranger."

The display changed to show a blurred image of a Ranger in white with, what appeared to be, a cape flowing behind him.

"The only White Ranger I knew was Tommy," Kimberly replied. "But that's not him; at least I don't think it is. The White Ranger has a black vest with a gold insignia on it."

"You're referring to the White Thunder Ranger?" Alex replied.

"Yes,"

"What about this one then?"

The image changed again showing a blurred Ranger in green, a gold streak blurred over the upper body.

"That looks like the Green Ranger," Kimberly replied. "But…"

"It's not Tommy," Alex replied finishing her sentence. "Do you know who else it could be?"

"No," Kimberly replied shaking her head. "Tommy was the only one to ever have the Green Ranger powers. Unless it was that fake Rita's wizard created, but what I was going to say was Tommy lost his powers. Zordon tried to restore them, but eventually the Green Ranger's powers were used up, there shouldn't be a Green Ranger at all."

Alex made a gesture with his hand and the lights came back up as the image in the center of the room faded.

"Whatever happened to create this alternate reality these two Rangers are somehow involved." Alex said. "The insects you saw in the background were…"

"Sting Wings," Josh replied. "They were minions of Scorpius and Trakeena, members of a race of highly intelligent insects that attacked Terra Venture trying to get the Quasar Sabers from Mirinoi."

"It was on the news," Kimberly added noticing the puzzled looks of everyone in the room.

"So you closely follow the exploits of the various Power Ranger groups over the years?" The Director asked.

"The whole world does," Josh replied. "It's been big news ever since the original team in nineteen ninety-three."

"Interesting," The Director replied pondering the idea for a moment. "Regardless," he began again shaking his thoughts. "If you wouldn't mind accompanying us to our research center you can meet Doctor Jeor and we can begin filling you in on the situation."

Josh and Kimberly both nodded and the group began to head toward the back of the conference room. Josh looked over the area as they exited through a pair of sliding doors. So far things were not looking too good if they needed to escape. The path to the research center was a straight shot down a wide hall, no points for ambush. He wasn't sure if the Director or Alex had much in the way of combat training, but with four white suits, not counting Jen, and the three soldiers in black it would be difficult if he had to fight. There was also the uncertainty of the weapons those armored soldier had. While the Commander said they had been carrying non-lethal weapons, without knowing what those pistols fired it was too dangerous to use them as part of an escape attempt or to risk exposure to them. There was also the matter of how the weapons were attached to the soldiers and if they could even be removed.

Fortunately there was no reason to distrust anyone at this point, but the lack of viable escape options at the moment was still troublesome, Josh began hoping he wasn't going to need one.

"This is our Research and Development Department." Westcott announced as they entered a large open room.

The open space reminded Josh of a hanger or a gym. There were high ceilings and several small rooms running off the main area, in some ways it was more like a high-tech workshop. The machinery and work spaces were a combination of gray metal and gloss black surfaces. Buttons and displays on various devices all appeared to be displayed on smooth glossy screens inlaid into the equipment giving everything a very streamlined and sterile feeling.

An older man in a white body suit began to walk toward them; old as he was, his shaved down gray hair was still thick and full and his eyes had a fierce wisdom to them. As he drew closer Josh could see that the suit he was wearing was actually some form of flexible armor made of soft overlapping pads giving it a look similar to an insect's exoskeleton. On the right breast pad in navy blue was an icon of a half gear with the Time Force insignia in front of it.

"Doctor Jeor," Alex began. "These are the two candidates you asked for."

"Ah yes," the Doctor replied, his voice immediately sounded familiar to Kimberly. "I'm sorry for any trouble I may have caused you, but we are facing a grave situation."

Josh felt a sudden pang in his mind as an almost overwhelming sensation rushed through his mind. He slipped in his stance catching himself before he fell to the ground.

"Are you alright?" Kimberly asked as she wrapped her arms around his right arm as he staggered.

"Yeah," Josh replied. "Just felt a little light headed for a moment."

"It might be a residual effect from time travel," Doctor Jeor replied. "Some of our operatives experience it from time to time."

"Doctor Jeor is head of research division that works on personal equipment for our officers such as the Morphers and various other devices." Westcott explained.

Josh stared at the doctor as the Director continued talking. He couldn't shake the feeling that he had met this man somewhere before. He almost felt as if he had known him all his life.

"We wanted to begin the briefing, if you're ready Doctor?" Alex asked snapping Josh back to the moment.

"Yes, of course," Doctor Jeor replied.

Doctor Jeor motioned toward one of the side rooms and began to walk toward the door, the rest of the group following quickly behind him. As the twin doors slid open the group entered into a small meeting room with a round gloss black table surrounded by ten black leather chairs. The Enforcers took positions to the left and right of the door while the Commander stayed with the Director. As everyone took their seats a holographic image emerged in the center of the table, the insignia of the Time Force Research Division. The Commander remained standing just behind the Director's seat.

"Well," Alex began folding his hands on the table. "Rather than bore you with all the complicated terms and long winded explanations I'll just get to the bottom line."

"That would probably be best," Josh replied; his eyes fixed on the rotating image at the center of the table.

"As you're aware Time Force conducted operations in the year two thousand one to recapture an escaped prisoner of ours named Ransik." He paused briefly as Josh and Kimberly nodded in affirmation. "During the final battle there was an incident with the power sources in the Q-Rex and Ransik's Zord. The result was the creation of, for lack of a simpler term, time holes. Even though we were able to stop the formation of more time holes by the two Zords damage had been done to the time continuum and we spent the next three years reinforcing the damaged sections of our temporal continuity, or timeline. However, in early three thousand three while tracking one particular anomaly we had some source of unknown power break through a quantum barrier, a sort of breech between dimensions…"

"I thought you said there weren't suppose to be any other dimensions?" Kimberly replied.

"Not any parallel dimensions," Alex corrected. "The Quantum Universe has many other dimensions, but none have ever been found to be like ours. For a long time there were theories of a sort of branch chain universe, the idea that each choice made resulted in a new universe thus creating an infinite number of connected universes. This theory was eventually discredited."

"Kay," Kimberly replied.

"When this breech occurred something escaped into the mid nineteen sixties and altered the timeline, or so we thought. We launched a vessel through the gate with one of our Operatives along with several other technical staff onboard at the time. Shortly after they entered the gate we experienced an intense temporal flux, very similar to the effect you experience when time traveling, but amplified over one hundred fold. After we recovered from our disorientation we received the transmission you saw. We were able to indentify our operative's voice at the beginning of the message and also visually when they retreated at the end of the message.

Fortunately, we were also able to establish a temporal anchor point at the source of the transmission. From there we began gathering data on this parallel existence. At which point we discovered that in thirty sixteen, seven years from now, the parallel universe will implode destroying itself along with our universe."

"So why can't you just stop whatever it was that caused this split?" Josh asked.

"Because we don't know exactly what caused it, and more importantly we don't know where it was caused. We know when the energy was released that caused the split and we know when it entered into the past, but not where. All the clues may very well exist in the parallel universe as it appears to be radically different from ours."

"I still don't see how any of this concerns us." Josh replied.

"I'm probably the best one to answer that," Doctor Jeor replied. "You see most people have a limited degree of compatibility with the powers of the Go-Dai."

"The what?" Kimberly asked.

"The Dragon and the Phoenix,"

"Doctor Jeor, may I remind you that the existence of any such beings is nothing more than legend left over from primitive times." Alex interrupted. "The Morphing Grid is nothing more than an alien construct of unknown origin that works to regulate the flow of energy from one dimension to our own."

"But that has nothing to do with the Go-Dai," Josh replied. "The Go-Dai, or the five greats were the elements that made up all that man knew at the time. Earth, Fire, Wind, Water, and Void or Heaven."

"In this case the fifth is void," Doctor Jeor replied. "The Dragon encompasses the Water and Wind elements, the Phoenix the elements of Fire and Earth, with Void being a separate entity."

"If you believe in that kind of thing." Director Westcott added. "Doctor could you please dispatch with the mythology and get to the point, time is limited after all."

"I'm sorry sir," Doctor Jeor replied. "Like I was saying, most people have a limited ability to interact with these powers. The original design or early icons that could tap into this power, as in the case of your power coins," he said nodding toward Kimberly. "Was to allow the user to train his or her mind to achieve a greater level of compatibility and by extension to gain a greater level of power. However, during the war on Earth the Sorceress Rita Repulsa was able to devise a device that allowed for the creation of an artificial converter, a fusion of," he paused for a moment choosing his words. "What, at the time, was considered arcanum and technology. This allowed anyone to achieve roughly a forty percent compatibility with the power and transform. In some cases this number could be raised to fifty or sixty percent with proper mental conditioning."

"So how are we more compatible?" Josh asked.

"Well, most individuals are somewhere between ten to fifteen percent compatible with the power without any form of conditioning or assistance. You and your wife are roughly seventy percent compatible, with Kimberly being closer to seventy-five."

"So how does that help?" Kimberly asked.

"What it means," Alex replied trying to avoid another of the doctor's lengthy explanations. "Is that either one of you should be able to use the power without the need of a Morpher, and, that with one, you would each be capable or harnessing over ninety percent of the power, and for short bursts you two could conceivably channel the full potential of the Morphing Grid."

"So why is it that I couldn't make better use of my powers when I was the Pink Ranger?" Kimberly asked.

"Because Zordon, most likely, never taught any of you how to interact with the Power Coins directly," Doctor Jeor replied. "I would assume he did this to protect you since the Morphers he had constructed were inherently safer than the one designed by Rita and were built with better power regulation abilities. However, there surely must have been points were Zordon pushed you to use your coins independently of the Morphers?"

"We used them to transfer energy," Kimberly replied trying to recall the specifics. "I'm sure we used them for other things once in a while, but if the coins don't hold power why did the Green Ranger's power get used up?"

"We really don't have time for this," Alex replied.

"I want to know," Kimberly replied. "It's important to me."

Alex lowered his head as the Doctor continued.

"The original Power Coins worked much like modern transmitters and receivers. They needed some form of internal power to function. Normally these internal power sources would be sustained by the Morphing Grid's energy, all I can assume from the vague historical records that we have from that period, is that the coin's ability to gather energy from the grid to sustain itself was interrupted. In which case the coin would cease to transmit or receive power."

"You mean like a radio stops working if you unplug it." Josh said.

"More or less, but it would be a radio where the incoming energy from the transmission would normally power it and recharge its internal stores of energy." Doctor Jeor replied.

"Is everyone happy now?" Alex asked. "Because we are approaching the end of all reality."

"Why are you so tense about this?" Josh asked. "You said there's still seven years until the end of all this."

"That is true," The Director replied. "But we don't know what caused the problem exactly, or how to fix it. We're actually asking you to travel to this alternate timeline for as long as it takes to discover the cause and undo it. The cause for it may not be on Earth, there may be no answers or leads on Earth either. Every second we waste is one less second we have to discover the cause of all this and fix it."

Josh and Kimberly sat back in their chairs allowing these words to sink in.

"Seven years is not enough time to search the entire universe," Alex added. "We are working against the clock in the worst possible way. You only have seven years to figure this out or our whole universe is going to end."

"We need time to talk about this," Josh replied. "It's not that I don't understand the situation, but being ripped from our lives and spending up to seven years away from everything and everyone we know is a big decision."

Alex opened his mouth to speak, but the Director placed a hand on his shoulder. "Of course, but understand that we can not give you more than a day to decide." The Director said. "Chrono-Storm is scheduled for launch tomorrow morning at O-Nine Hundred and for the sake of all life everywhere we will not delay it."

"I understand," Josh replied.

"Jen please show these two to their guest quarters." The Director said.

"Yes sir," Jen replied rising from the table. "This way please," Jen said directing them toward the door they had entered through.

Josh and Kimberly rose from their chairs and walked quietly out of the room. Josh watched the soldiers on either side from the corners of his eyes as they passed by. Jen followed closely behind them.

"It's a lot to take in isn't it?" Jen replied as they walked down the hall toward the Conference Room.

"Yeah," Josh agreed; his mind elsewhere as they proceeded though the corridor.

"Are you okay?" Kimberly asked noticing his distant expression.

"Sorry," Josh replied, his eyes refocusing as if he had been watching something beyond the confines of the building. "Just thinking about all of this."

As they entered the Conference Room Jen guided them to the right and out through another door into a hallway with several corridors branching from the main passage.

"Jen?" Josh began. "I know this is insignificant with everything that is going on, but do you think we can get some shoes?"

Jen looked down realizing that the two of them had nothing more than their socks when they had been captured.

"Of course," Jen replied with a smile. "I'm sorry I didn't notice sooner."

"It's fine," Josh replied.

"Oh," Kimberly said suddenly. "What about Hailey?"

"Who?" Jen asked.

"Our dog," Josh replied.

"I'll have someone retrieve her," Jen replied.

"I hope the Police didn't take her somewhere," Josh replied.

"Don't worry," Jen replied as they came to an elevator at the end of the hallway. "We'll be able to secure her."

The elevator doors opened and the three of them entered the circular tube. The wall rotated sealing the lift as it began to move downward.

"Where are we going?" Josh asked noticing the downward movement of the lift.

"Living quarters," Jen replied. "Most of Time Force's facilities are located underground."

After a few seconds the lift came to a stop and the door slid open. Josh and Kimberly stepped out into a wide hallway of sterile white. The walls, ceiling, and floor almost appeared to be made of plastic, but had the cold feel of metal under their feet. The ceiling seemed to glow with a soft white light that was reflected by the other surfaces creating a pleasant array of ambient lighting down the corridor. Several other Time Force Personnel in white suits were moving through the various hallways that passed through their own.

"These are the living quarters," Jen replied. "They're organized into blocks and then the blocks are numbered by row."

"How big is a block?" Josh asked.

"Nine units," Jen replied. "Follow me,"

Jen led the two of them down a series of halls zigzagging toward her destination, various officers stopped and regarded them with a degree of interest until they arrived at unit two-J-six. The door slid open as ambient lighting flared to life. Jen held her arm out directing them in. As Kimberly stepped through the door she could see the unit was roughly the size of a small studio apartment. A wall partly divided the common area from the sleeping area which contained a small bathroom. The common area had four chairs around a small round table and a large gloss black panel lining the wall, roughly the size of a large window.

"The computer here is voice activated and should be able to explain how everything works and how to get anything you need." Jen said. "Computer, authorization Jennifer Buer, delta-one-six-Z-two-four-rho-J-nine-nine-K-V link com system to Jennifer Buer, Lucas Kendall, and Katie Jantzen."

There was a short tone before the computer's calm female voice replied. "Acknowledge, link established."

"Clear code," Jen replied.

"User logged out,"

"If you need anything else you can contact myself, Lucas, or Katie and we'll get it for you. I'll send one of them down with a change of clothes and some shoes; I'm going to go see if I can get authorization to retrieve your dog."

"Thank you," Kimberly replied. "For everything."

"Thank you," Jen replied with a smile, "Thanks to you two I still have a career."

"Don't mention it," Josh replied returning her smile. "By the way, do we really have privacy here?" He paused. "They're not watching or listening to us?"

"I selected this room as one of the many currently open, so I don't think they could have possibly set any form of surveillance up." Jen replied. "So the only place they could view you from would be the terminal over there." She said indicating the black wall panel. "I wouldn't worry about it though. The only thing they might be concerned with is you escaping and since Time Force is considered to be the most secure facility on Earth it's not very likely they'll be watching, especially with all the preparations being made for tomorrow."

"Well thanks again," Josh replied.

"Your welcome," Jen replied stepping back as the door slid shut. As the door closed Jen turned away and began moving back up the hallway toward the nearest lift raising her Morpher to her chin. "Katie, this is Jen."

"I read you," Katie replied, a holographic image appearing above the tinted dome on Jen's Morpher.

"I need you to get a change of clothes for our guests, including some form of footwear, and take them down to unit two-J-six."

"Is everything alright?" Katie asked.

"So far," Jen replied. "They're at least considering the situation, but haven't decided if they plan on helping or not yet."

"What about you though?"

"Joshua actually made ignoring my insubordination a criteria for his cooperation and so far it looks like Alex is going along with it."

"That's a relief."

"I need one more thing from you, Katie."

"Sure."

"I need you to get Lucas working on an authorization for a temporal transition."

"What for?"

"The Raines would like something from their home," Jen replied. "Just tell them it would be helpful in securing their help in the Chrono-Storm project."

"Alright," Katie replied as the image faded from Jen's Morpher.

Jen reached the end of the hall and activated the elevator controls, the door quickly spinning open before she stepped in. As the door whirled closed she let out a heavy sigh, it seemed the next twenty hours would decide everything, and there was still a lot of work to be done.

"So what are all your thoughts on this?" Josh asked walking into the common area and talking a seat in one of the four chairs.

"In general?" she asked sitting on the right arm of his chair and putting an arm around his shoulder as his arm wrapped around her waist. "I think they're telling the truth, but I don't really like how they've been handling things."

"True," Josh replied. "But if all existence is being threatened I don't think we should hold their attitudes against the whole universe."

"No, you're right, I wasn't even thinking that."

"So what do you think we should do?"

"I think we should help if we can," she replied. "But if you don't think we should I'll support you."

"For better or for worse," Josh replied thinking aloud.

"Do you not want to get involved?"

"I don't know," Josh sighed. "I just don't know."

Kimberly could tell there was more on his mind than what he was voicing.

"So what's going on in your head?" she asked. "We can figure it out together."

"Since we've been here I've just been wondering if all this is related to those nightmares I've been having."

"Are you thinking maybe those dreams are the future?"

"The future, the past, maybe the present in another world, I'm not sure. On top of it, there was that doctor, when he started talking I just got this overwhelming feeling that I had met him before."

"Yeah," Kimberly replied raising her left arm and running her fingers through his hair. "I got that feeling too."

"I just get the feeling all this is connected,"

"Personally, this is a little unnerving for me too. I think Zordon knew this would happen someday,"

"What do you mean?"

"It was when I was still trying to decide if I wanted to go to Florida," Kimberly began, her voice softening. "I had decided that I wasn't going to go, I felt my promise to protect the Earth had to come first, and so I was ready to let go of my dream. But my friends, and even Zordon, talked me into going. One of the things Zordon said though was that it would be beneficial to everyone if I went because someday it would make me a stronger Power Ranger.

"I always thought he meant that after the Pan Global Games I'd come back to help the team again, but then I met you and things didn't work out that way. Now I'm wondering if this is what he was talking about."

"So you think this might be destiny?"

"I don't know," she replied softly. "But I know if we don't go we'll never know."

"It isn't that the chance to go to another world isn't alluring, but…"

"But what?"

Josh paused for a minute and sighed. Kimberly waited quietly running her fingers gently through his hair. She could tell whatever it was he was trying to get out was difficult for him.

"I'm afraid…"

"Afraid of what?" Kimberly asked sliding her other arm around him in an embrace.

The doors to the lift slid open as Jen stepped out onto the flight deck. The area was eerily silent, with all the technicians having been pulled from their regular assignments and reassigned to the Chrono-Storm project. Jen glanced around looking for any sign of a time ship. Not seeing any vessels on the platforms she raised her Morpher.

"Lucas?"

"I'm here," he replied as his image appeared on the display.

"Have you been able to get me my Authorization?"

"Yes," Lucas replied. "Just barely, they've authorized a Raven; it should be coming up one of the smaller service lifts on the south end any time now, if it's not already there."

"Thanks Lucas," Jen replied cutting the communication.

She began walking toward the structures on the south side of the deck. As she drew closer she could make out the sleek midnight blue form of the Raven. Like all next generation equipment since the Time Shadow the Raven had been upgraded with a cloaking field to help keep operations discreet. Its forerunner, the Eagle, had almost been completely cycled out of active use, though not many had been developed before the Raven had been introduced.

Jen walked up to the vehicle, running her hand over the prow of the streamlined craft before climbing into the single-seat cockpit. As she entered the vehicle's systems sprang to life, up-linking with her Morpher.

"User, Jennifer Buer identified," the computer voice began. "Biometric scan confirmed; power up complete, control link established."

There was a dull hum as the Mu Drive powered up negating friction and gravity. Then the engines came online and the small craft lifted from the ground, the twin turbines producing almost no noise as the Raven glided smoothly over the flight deck lining up with the temporal gate.

Jen's fingers danced over the controls causing the gate to flare to life as the Eisenzen Bridge formed beyond the gate's event horizon. Jen glanced over the system readout one last time before pushing the throttle forward.

The slender ship darted forward, accelerating at an incredible rate. In mere seconds it traversed the runway and vanished into the gate in a burst of white light.

"I just don't understand why though," Kimberly repeated pacing around the outside of the chairs. "You've never been afraid of any challenge in your entire life. You'd probably still be fighting in the UFC or worse if I hadn't asked you to stop."

"It's not the challenge… it's not the difficulty, that's giving me second thoughts," Josh replied staring up at the ceiling.

"Then what is it?" Kimberly asked looking at him.

"I already told you."

"All you said was that you were afraid that the challenge was too much, I don't understand what that means though," Kimberly replied.

"I'm not sure I know myself," Josh replied. "It's just something, I guess a feeling, I don't have the words to explain it…"

"What is so different about this from any other challenge you've faced?" she asked pushing a chair toward his and taking a seat opposite him.

"The scale, I guess," Josh replied as Kimberly took hold of his hands. "But not in the sense of the difficulty, I guess I'm worried that I won't be able to win this time… I guess it's the stakes that concern me."

"It's the burden of having to save the world?" she asked.

"Yeah," Josh replied, his tension easing as he came to grips with his thoughts. "I guess in that sense you're stronger than me." He paused for a moment. "You see an opportunity to save the world and you jump at it, but me? I just don't want that responsibility resting on my shoulders; I don't even know how I would begin to deal with that,"

"By realizing you aren't alone," Kimberly replied squeezing his hands.

Josh looked into her eyes as a moment of understanding passed between them.

"But what if we fail?" Josh asked.

"What if we don't?" Kimberly replied. "Don't lose your determination just because the stakes are high."

"But that's part of my problem; I can't get passed this idea of 'what if'."

"Why hasn't that stopped you before?" she asked.

"It's different, it's all that's at stake." Josh repeated searching for a better way to explain. "Before, if I failed, so what, I could always work harder; try again, but this time?"

"Can I give you a different 'what if'?" she asked, Josh nodded his head slightly. "What if they send someone else and they fail; what if the people they send are killed and everything is erased forever with no second chance?"

Before Josh could answer a tone sounded from the direction of the door.

"Yes?" Josh responded.

The door slid open as another woman in a Time Force uniform entered the room carrying a package.

"Hi I'm Katie," she replied. "I hope I'm not interrupting," she said seeing the couple.

"No," Josh replied. "We're just talking."

"Well," Katie began. "I brought you a change of clothes and some shoes. I hope you don't mind but they're Time Force training uniforms."

Katie set the box on the table and opened it to reveal a pair of black shirts with the Time Force Emblem in white over the left breast, and a pair of gray pants under which were two pairs of black athletic shoes.

"Will these fit me?" Kimberly asked looking at the size of the shoes.

"They adjust automatically," Katie replied.

"So one size fits all?" Kimberly replied.

"As long as you're human," Katie replied with a smile. "Well I should let you two get back to whatever you were discussing." She replied as she turned to leave.

"Before you go," Kimberly began. "I have a question."

"Okay," Katie replied as she turned in the doorway.

"You're a Ranger right?"

"Time Force Yellow," she replied with a smile.

"Why do you do it?" Kimberly asked.

"Why am I a Ranger?" Katie asked. Kimberly nodded in response. "It's funny you ask, there was a time a few years ago that I didn't know myself." She replied as her thoughts seemed to drift to a distant place and time.

"So did you finally find a reason?" Josh asked after a moment.

"I did," Katie replied snapping back to reality. "I realized I had been given an opportunity to protect everything I loved. And while, at the time, I didn't know what would happen, if everything I loved was already lost or not, I knew that if I didn't fight then there was no hope."

Josh smiled watching the fierce look of determination burn in her eyes as she spoke those words. "Thanks," he replied. "That was helpful,"

"And thanks for the clothes," Kimberly added.

"You're welcome," Katie replied. "Can I do anything else for you?"

"No, what you said was good, thank you." Josh replied.

"If you need anything else, just let us know." Katie replied as she turned and walked out of the room.

"Well?' Kimberly asked.

"That was a little too coincidental don't you think?"

"Like you said, maybe it's destiny." She replied with a playful smile.

"I'm beginning to think it really is," Josh replied with a sigh.

His mind was racing as he faced the prospect of accepting this task. There were all kinds of things he wanted to protect, Kimberly, his family, his friends, if everything ended it wouldn't just be the end of him, but it would put an end to everything he valued in life. But at the same time doing this would mean putting the person he loved the most in harms way.

"I suppose you wouldn't consider letting me do this alone?' he asked.

"No," she replied staring intently into his eyes. "I want to protect you as much as you want to protect me."

"So I guess we're really going to do this," he replied.

"Are you sure that's what you want?"

"I know I want to protect you and my family and friends," Josh replied. "If that means going to another world and fighting then that's what I'm going to do."

The Raven burst from the sky in a flash of brilliant green light as the stealth field engaged, washing over the vehicle as it vanished into the blue of the sky. As Jen raced down the coastline she could see the Raine's house rapidly approaching. She reduced her speed and came to a stop over the Raine's backyard. Below she could see a small back porch just behind the garage and began making a slow descent. Lightly she touched down on the concrete slab and shut down the engine.

Before she could exit the Raven a golden retriever emerged from a small dog door at the back of the house. Jen looked at the Chronograph on her Morpher; Alex would be at the front door soon. The dog moved toward her, apparently the stealth field did not completely fool the dog's more developed senses. Jen slowly reached down to her belt and pulled out a small cube with a translucent blue face on one side. Slowly she leaned toward the dog as it sniffed around the edge of the stealth field.

The dog suddenly perked up as Jen's jacket brushed against the side of the Raven. In a panicked movement Jen thrust the cube toward the dog's face depressing the thumb pad on top. In a flash of azure light the dog froze, becoming completely immobile.

Jen slowly slid out of the Raven's cockpit and opened the side storage compartment.

"Sorry to have to treat you like baggage," Jen whispered as she leaned out of the stealth field and picked up the dog, quickly pulling her back inside.

As Jen finished securing Hailey in the cargo pod the Raven's main display lit up identifying another temporal anomaly. She was out of time; she would have to wait until they left before she made her temporal jump to avoid detection, but staying in place was dangerous too. If she kept the turbines running on minimal power then she might be able to avoid Alex and the Enforcers from detecting her presence.

She slowly powered the engines up trying to remember the flight path the Chronos Black had taken. They had come in over the ocean, but she could not remember if they had passed directly over the house or over one of the neighboring homes. She glanced around the skies, but through her own stealth field was unable to locate any visual distortions.

With a deep breath she pulled back on the control stick, elevating the Raven enough to clear the back fence before slowly gliding forward. So far her systems were not indicating any form of active tracking; of course there was little reason for the Chronos Black to be scanning for anything out of the ordinary.

As the Raven cleared the fence Jen dove sharply down the cliff face, pulling up just short of the sandy beach. Satisfied with the distance she had put between herself and the house she pushed up on the throttle racing over the sand and out over the waves. Now she merely had to wait until after the Chronos Black made its return jump.

Josh was standing in front of the wall panel dressed in the clothes he had been given; an image of Katie was displayed in the center. Kimberly was sitting in one of the chairs behind him slipping her foot into one of the shoes which quickly constricted, as millions of nano-machines reorganized, form fitting to her foot perfectly.

"Jen is out at the moment," Katie replied. "Do you two need something?"

"Nothing like that," Josh replied. "We just needed to talk to Jen about something at her earliest convenience."

"I'll let her know as soon as she's available," Katie replied.

"Thanks," Josh replied.

The image faded to black and the words 'transmission ended' appeared on the center of the screen before disappearing.

"I hope Jen gets back soon," Josh replied.

"I'm sure she'll be back before tomorrow morning," Kimberly replied. "And if not we can just let someone else know."

"It's not that," Josh replied. "I mean I really want to give the news to Jen, but right now I'm missing out on time that would be better spent practicing with those powers. I know you're familiar with all this, but I need time to adjust."

"There's not much to learn though," Kimberly replied as Josh took a seat next to her. "The first time you morph you become aware of how to use all your abilities, it's almost like an instinct."

"So you're just at your best once you morph?"

"Well, not exactly, you have to get over your ideas about what's possible and what's not."

"How so?"

"Well, being able to leap a hundred feet, being able to lift a car, a fall from a sky scrapper not hurting any more than tripping, it's hard overcoming your normal reactions to it at first."

"So you're saying even though all your powers are there you just aren't use to using them so you don't?"

"That's how it was for me," Kimberly replied. "It took a while before I began to realize that I wasn't limited by my normal abilities. When you start to understand that you can break through thick rock like it was thin glass, how you look at problems changes."

"So, for instance, if you were cornered in an alleyway you normally would only have the option to go back the way you came, but with these powers you could go through a wall, or leap to the top of a building."

"See, you'll be fine." Kimberly replied with a smile. "Just don't over think it, it comes naturally."

"Okay," Josh replied slumping down in his chair looking up at the ceiling. "I'm just,"

"Anxious," Kimberly replied getting up and walking over behind his chair. "You've never failed at anything you've been determined to succeed at," she bent down and kissed his lips. "So relax,"

The temporal gate flared to life as the small form of the Raven emerged through the event horizon and slowly glided to a stop at the end of the runway. Jen moved the craft onto one of the maintenance bays and initialized the vehicle's shutdown. The fans slowed to a stop dropping the Raven lightly on the deck. As the Mu Drive deactivated Jen could feel the sudden shift in her body as gravity was restored, almost as if she had suddenly dropped. She climbed out of the cockpit and opened the cargo pod. The dog was still standing motionlessly in the container, air cushions holding her firmly in place.

Jen pressed a button causing the bags to deflate as the base of the cargo pod slid forward bringing Hailey out. Stooping down Jen attached a small, thick disc to the dog's collar and squeezed it; a small blue light in the center began flashing at two second intervals.

"I hope you're friendly," Jen said with a sigh as she pulled out her black cube and held it up to the dog's face.

There was a brief flash before Hailey stumbled to one side quickly sitting to avoid falling over. Suddenly Jen's Morpher toned.

"Go ahead," Jen replied bringing her Morpher up to her chest.

"This is Katie, Josh wanted to talk to you as soon as you're ready."

"Alright," Jen replied. "I'll head down there in a minute, thanks."

The image flickered off. Jen slowly reached her hand out toward the dog allowing her to sniff it.

"You want to go see your owners?" Jen asked.

The small disc alternated between blue and yellow pulses of light for a moment as Jen's words were translated into thought impulses. Slowly Hailey stood up, apparently a little disoriented from the whole ordeal.

"You'll be okay," Jen replied rubbing her head as she rose to her feet. Jen began to walk toward the main service lift, Hailey walking calmly at her side.

"All systems have passed checks and appear to be operational within point zero two of tolerance." One of the technicians said.

"I want it down to point zero one," Alex replied. "I don't want a repeat of what happened last time."

"Yes sir," the technician replied.

Alex walked away from the monitoring station into a corridor that ringed around the center of a large spherical chamber. Alex gazed out one of the windows at a hole nearly three meters in diameter in the center of the floor opposite an identical hole in the ceiling. Arrays protruded from the blackened walls like hideous teeth.

"The Devlin Sphere," Alex muttered under his breath.

The device had seemed simple when Doctor Devlin had proposed it, but its execution had proved far more difficult. After construction of the first prototype in three thousand four they had discovered that the Quantum Space between dimensions was increasingly unstable and prone to, what had been dubbed, Quantum Storms, fierce explosions as Quantum Energy continually underwent a process of convergence and divergence, the smallest of these releasing more power than a quasar. They lost the first three probes that they had sent while retrieving minimal data about the phenomena.

While the scientists viewed this limitless power as beneficial, to Alex it was only an obstacle to overcome. After several more failed attempts the use of Tachyons had been employed successfully to create and sustain a more stable conduit for travel. After two successful tests sending probes they tried to move a larger vessel through the gate. This had resulted in the destruction of the first gate and most of the Antarctic continent along with many members of the research team, including Devlin. The smaller gate built deep under Time Force had been constructed eight months later with the mass restrictions in mind.

When a physical object entered into Quantum Space the organized energy acted as a beacon for the concentration of Quantum Energy. In retrospect it had indeed been fortunate that the resulting destruction of the Time Shadow Mark Two had destabilized the Tachyon field closing the gate, otherwise the surge might have obliterated the entire planet. It was also fortunate that the Tachyon Bore had not pierced the dimensional fabric of the alternate universe prior to the explosion.

Future tests had been more successful, but there had still been incidents of Quantum backlash. It seemed at this stage that anything they sent through the gate still needed an element of luck to survive the journey. He would have liked to better understand the nature of the Quantum Storms, but they were out of time, even now he wished they had put this plan into effect a year ago, but the matter had been tied up with the counsel until even the strongest opponents no longer felt that waiting was a prudent course of action.

"Eighteen hours," Alex sighed as he closed the blast door on the other side of the window and began walking down the corridor.

Jen pressed on the small green pad on the side of the door.

"Just a second," Josh's voice came through the door.

Hailey's ears perked up for a moment; still she remained seated at Jen's side. After a brief wait the door slid open as Josh stepped into the opening of the common area subtly smoothing his shirt.

"Sorry about… Hailey!" Josh exclaimed.

Hailey immediately jumped up and sprang across the short distance to her master, coming to a stop in front of him as he scratched her behind both her ears.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything," Jen replied stepping in enough to allow the door to close.

"Don't worry about it," Josh replied, his tone a little awkward.

Jen paused for a moment, not sure what to make of his comment. "I heard you wanted to talk to me?" she said brushing it off.

"Oh yeah," Josh replied. "We just wanted to let you know that we'll do it, we'll go to the other world."

"Thank you," Jen replied.

"So is there somewhere we can leave Hailey while we're gone?" Josh asked as he began to walk back toward the common area, the dog brushing passed him sniffing around the room.

"I'm sure I could find someone to watch her, or if you're okay with it we could always put her in cryo-sleep."

"You mean like freezing?" Kimberly's voice came from around the corner as she entered the common area.

"It's a little more sophisticated than that," Jen replied.

"Still," Josh replied. "I don't know, it might be normal in this time, but where, or I guess you can say 'when' we're from it's just strange."

"What do you think Hailey?" Kimberly asked kneeling down and scratching the sides of her head and neck. "You want to be frozen?" the disc on the collar flashed for a moment before Hailey barked.

"I don't think she likes the idea either." Josh said.

"What's this thing on her collar?" Kimberly asked looking at the small blinking disc.

"It's an Auditory Neural Transmitter," Jen replied. "It transforms words into brainwave patterns that allows an animal to understand the basic intent of your words."

"That would have helped during training her," Kimberly replied.

Josh nodded, "Concerning her care though, I suppose freezing could be a last resort, but if you can't find anyone to take her you could always leave her with my parents in Florida."

"I'll try," Jen replied. "But I don't know if they'll allow it given the effects of temporal contamination."

"That's all we can ask." Josh said.

"Well if you don't have anymore questions I should report to my superiors," Jen replied.

"I think that's it," Josh said turning to Kimberly with a quizzical look.

"We're good." She agreed.

"Alright," Jen said turning to go. "I imagine they'll want you for a briefing within the hour."

"Alright," Josh replied. "And thanks again for getting Hailey."

"You're welcome," Jen said with a nod as she walked out of the room.

"Is the mood killed?" Josh asked as the door shut.

"For now," Kimberly replied with a smile. "I'm sure we'll have more time after the briefing."

Jen walked down the hall lifting her Morpher and opening a link. An image of Director Westcott appeared on the display.

"What do you have to report Officer Buer?" he asked.

"The Raines have agreed to help us," Jen replied. "I told them they should expect to be picked up for a briefing within the hour."

"Excellent," Westcott replied. "I'll assemble the staff and notify you when we're ready for them."

"Yes sir," Jen replied ending the transmission.

"… and that's why you can't use your Morphers prior to crossing the Quantum Barrier." Doctor Jeor said concluding his lengthy explanation.

"Yeah," Kimberly mumbled to Josh. "That clears everything up."

Josh smirked as he continued to listen to the briefing. They had been seated in the main conference room around the central table for the last three hours going over a lot of technical data from Alex and the Doctor only to have things restated in a few simplified sentences by Jen or the Director.

What Josh had understood so far was that once they crossed into the parallel Earth they had roughly seven years to determine the source of the split and construct a temporal beacon and a time ship, apparently the schematics for all this were stored in their Morphers, and travel to the point of divergence and prevent it.

The problems were numerous, the biggest being, of course, the lack of information from the other side. No one was even sure that the team of Rangers that had contacted them from nineteen ninety-six were still alive. Part of the meeting had even been spent with some deliberation as to whether or not there was even a means of getting off the planet once they had arrived. Josh was finding the bulk of this briefing to be little more than speculation and conjecture.

They knew that Scorpius' insect army seemed to have a hold on the area that they would be dropping into, but they had no information regarding the strange attack at the end of the transmission, though the general consensus had been that it was the Machine Empire, a long since extinct race of machines that tried to conquer Earth on more than one occasion. What no one could seem to agree on was how the Earth had reached the state it was in and how the Green Ranger and the mysterious White Ranger played into it.

Josh ran his right hand over the silver brace on his left forearm tracing his fingers over the sea-green dragon, with patches of black, green, and blue, etched into the surface. The image was curled around itself in half of what appeared to be the symbol for Yin and Yang. The icon on Kimberly's brace seemed to complete it, a fiery phoenix etched much more lively in fiery reds, oranges, yellows, and pinks. He had been hoping to have some time to adjust to his new powers, but Doctor Jeor said this would be impossible since using the power would leave some residual energy on them which could cause problems when they made the trip to the other dimension.

Josh noticed Kimberly yawn as Alex continued to talk about possible means of getting into space once they were on Earth.

"You realize we're not mechanically inclined in any way," Josh interrupted. "No matter how many scenarios you create, I still can't make a plasmatic, whatever you just called it. I can carve," he offered. "But unless we can build a rocket with carved wood and stone the only realistic scenario I've heard tonight is the one where we scout out the area, and, in the event we can't hook up with the Rangers there, we establish a safe zone and contact you for more personnel."

Alex was about to protest, but he was cut off by the Director. "While I don't appreciate your tone," he said as Josh nodded apologetically. "I do agree with Joshua, these two were not selected for their technical expertise, but as the best candidates to secure a safe zone for further exploration by qualified Time Force staff. And since the operation is scheduled to commence in just under fourteen hours, I think for these two the time would be best spent resting and preparing for tomorrow in their own way."

"Yes sir," Alex replied. "Well then, wake up is at o-seven hundred, final preparations and checks will begin at o-eight hundred. Dismissed."

"Finally," Kimberly sighed sluggishly pushing herself up from her seat.

"Dinner and a movie?" Josh suggested as he got up.

"Sure," Kimberly replied smiling. "I'm sure something's come out in the last thousand years worth watching." She added, lacing her fingers through his as they began to walk toward the exit.

Alex watched the couple walk out hand in hand, a subtle scowl crossing his normally calm features. As the door shut behind them he turned toward Doctor Jeor.

"Are you positive those two are the best candidates?" Alex asked.

"Quiet certain," the Doctor replied. "I am almost completely convinced they will bring this crisis to an end without anymore of our help, and long before we reach our deadline."

"And what makes you so confident?" Alex asked.

"Nothing that would set your mind at ease," Jeor replied. "Just an old legend,"

"And how long will you cling to your superstitions for guidance?" Alex asked.

"Though you don't agree with it, have I ever been wrong?" the Doctor replied as he turned heading back for the lab.

Alex watched him go as his mind rifled through everything he had learned from Jeor, every invention he had created and the advancements he had brought to Time Force.

"No," he half whispered, realizing the Doctor was correct.

"Are you nervous about tomorrow?" Kimberly asked softly.

"No," Josh replied as his finger traced out the strokes of a kanji character on Kimberly's stomach.

The couple was curled up together in their bed under a light blanket, Kimberly's back pressed against Josh's chest; his arms wrapped around her body as her head nestled beneath his chin. Hailey sat on the floor at the foot of the bed sleeping, her ears perking up slightly at the sudden conversation.

"Are you starting to have second thoughts?" he asked.

"No, but I am a little nervous," she replied as his finger finished the character's strokes. "What does that one mean?" she asked in a whisper.

"Beautiful," he replied.

Kimberly smiled; her body shifted, rubbing against his.

"You're not even a little nervous?" she asked after a moment of silence.

"As long as we're together I'll be just fine," he said beginning to trace another character.

Kimberly sat quietly as his finger glided lightly over her skin slowly completing the pictograph.

"And what does that one mean?" she asked.

"Courageous, but it can also mean 'cheer up'" he replied with a smile.

All around them Time Force personnel were racing around completing the final preparations as Josh and Kimberly received some last minute instructions from Doctor Jeor. Alex paced the room in his normal demeanor barking orders and demanding status updates on various systems and equipment.

The morning had been a hectic one. Kimberly could still feel the mild queasiness in her stomach from their quick breakfast. Josh was a little out of sorts as well having had his Tai Chi interrupted at seven when Jen had arrived with a change of clothes and requesting their Morphers.

The suits they now wore were similar in appearance to the uniform Doctor Jeor wore, though the plating was of a much stronger material and had a high collar. The outer layer shifted in color based on the surroundings giving them a degree of stealth. The suits themselves were the latest nano-machine based environmental suits, designed to be completely self contained, capable of filtering water from perspiration and waste and purifying it for use, a feature Kimberly was hoping to not have to use. Any other remaining waste was broken down by the nano-machines into useful base elements. According to the Doctor the suit's nano-machines were even capable of collecting hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon from the air and water to form simple sugars for food if necessary.

They had also each been given a standard plasma pistol with two replacement charges giving them roughly five hundred rounds of ammunition to use apart from their Ranger powers. Josh would have also liked to have something more substantial like a sword, but their suits did offer a degree of muscle amplification, and combined with his marital arts prowess it was almost as good.

"Now there is one last thing you need to be aware of," the Doctor replied. "Both of your Morphers have an enhanced mode called Mode Omega. It is experimental and will augment your powers for up to three minutes and twenty seconds before shutting down."

"Why wasn't this in the briefing last night?" Josh asked.

"We just finished installing the system a moment ago," Doctor Jeor replied handing Josh and Kimberly their Morphers.

"You just develop this too?" Josh asked as he strapped the brace over his left forearm.

"No, but our other candidates could not have made use of Mode Omega, so it still wasn't installed, and it seems that the upgrades had been put into storage, so we only received them back a few hours ago."

"So how much of a power gain are we talking about here?" Josh asked.

"It's an exponential system, so I would say close to a one hundred fold gain."

"Wow," Josh replied.

"Is there a limit on its use?" Kimberly asked.

"I would try to avoid using it more than once or twice every twenty-four hours, and never within six hours of the last use."

"Alright," Alex shouted over the din in the launch bay causing the room to fall quiet. "Everything is ready, Joshua and Kimberly if you would please take you places."

Josh nodded as he and Kimberly began to walk toward two almond shaped frames sitting vertically on a track over a pit facing one another. As they each climbed into their respective sleds technicians began powering up the tachyon fields that surrounded the frail metal frames, bathing them in a pale magenta light.

"You'll want to put your helmets on," one of the technicians said.

Josh and Kimberly reached up to a small pad on the collar, as Josh pressed in on the pad he mouthed 'I love you' to Kimberly. 'I love you too' she mouthed as she activated her own pad. A thick mass of fluid seemed to crawl over their heads as the nano-machines interlaced into a solid protective helmet, leaving a transparent section over each eye like a lens. As the process completed the mass of tiny machines shifted in color to match their surroundings, the lenses also shifting in color.

"Everyone, start clearing out," Alex said as the staff began to file out of the room.

Alex walked over to the couple as the technicians finished prepping the sleds and exited.

"I appreciate your help," Alex replied. "Best of luck to you both,"

Josh and Kimberly nodded in response as Alex turned to leave the room. The countdown began to come over the com system.

"Ten, nine, eight, seven," the darkness below them burst into a turbulent mix of dark purples, pinks and red as the Tachyon Bore sprang to life.

"Six,"

"See you on the other side," Josh said as the count continued.

"Three,"

"Yeah," Kimberly replied with a nod.

"One,"