Chapter 3

It had been an honest mistake. Justin hadn't meant to find the chamber, he'd just been reinforcing all the locks on the megaship DECA had let him in so that Justin could fix the lock and update the computer's in the room. Andros had told Alpha and DECA that he had full access to anywhere on the ship. He had learned the basics of Kerovian technology, and mastered it in a few short days. The security system on the ship was in shambles. It was embarrassing really. There was no doubt in his mind the reason why the Ninja Turtles had so easily managed to break into the megaship.

…but this room.

Andros had been keeping secrets from the rest of the team. Justin did not know what happened to his first team, but he had a better idea now.

The room was an infirmary. That much was clear. With equipment keeping a person alive to go with it. A ranger. A silver space ranger, to be exact. Something had happened on KO-35 to turn Andros into a spacer. He had a feeling there was a reason why he kept this ranger in a coma on his ship.

Justin fixed the door, and made sure that he would come and make sure that all the equipment was properly working. If the state of the ship was any indication, it would need some work. And he would need to do it soon, if someone's life was possibly at risk. He needed to pay a visit to Billy and then talk to Andros.

Andros clearly wanted to keep this a secret. The rest of the team didn't know. Justin wasn't a snitch. Right now the secrets his red held would have to stay that way. Justin would talk to him as soon as he had a good idea of what he wanted to do and make of the situation.

So he left a note with Alpha and DECA. Justin and Blaster were going to go on an excursion to Aquitar.

Getting to Aquitar, and through the planetary customs was easier than going from country to country on Earth. It was surprising really. You would think that planets would be more wary of actual illegal aliens than people moving from country to country on Earth. But, Justin guessed part of that was because he was a ranger with more than one set of powers under his belt, and that he was acquaintances with one of their own citizens.

Billy was waiting for him with a few of the Aqutarian Rangers, and who he assumed was his girlfriend. They were all wearing their respective colors. Justin spotted Billy easily because he was the only human in the area. The rest were humanoid, but they were clearly of a different species.

"Hey, Billy!" Justin said to the ranger, shaking the elder's hand.

"Salutations, Justin, it is nice to finally meet you in person," Billy responded.

"I agree. It's nice to meet the person who I had to live up to. Do you think I managed to uphold your legacy?" Justin asked. This was a meeting he never expected to get to have, yet was having it.

Billy grinned. "Of course. Adam and Rocky never could speak anything less than praise of you and your rangering. I was very glad to hear you got to be a part of another team. Having your team move on without you is a very difficult thing to go through."

"I know. I actually had a few things I wanted to ask you and your friends about my team. I've stumbled upon something's that are concerning. I need to know what happened in the last few years with the former space rangers. These are my friends and colleagues, Cestro, Aurico and Delphine. The rest of the team and my fiancée are busy today."

"It's nice to meet you," Justin said. He nodded to each of them. "I'm Justin Stewart, third generation Blue Ranger of Earth, and the new Gold Space Ranger."

"It's nice to meet you," Delphine replied. Justin assumed that she was the white ranger based on the colors of the uniform she wore. "Billy, let's take this back to your lab. I feel like this conversation is a bit too sensitive for the public."

"Agreed. It's not far, if you don't mind a bit of a walk."

"Not at all," Justin replied. He then turned and grinned at Billy. "Your lab?"

"Of course. I thought you'd be more comfortable there than at my home," Billy said, adjusting his glasses. "If what I have heard from interplanetary communications from my friends, you would most likely really enjoy being there."

Justin had no reply other than a shit eating grin.

Billy's lab had not only exceeded Justin's expectation, but it had blown all of his fantasies out of the water. Everything that he had dreamed about had come true in Billy's lab. Not that the lab was a lab. It was more like a zord garage filled with every technology known the universe.

"This is heaven!" Justin breathed.

"I thought you think that," Billy said. "That is why I offered you a job here if you ever needed one. The offer still stands if you ever decided to give up being a ranger."

Justin couldn't help but fawn over the lab as a whole. "I will take you up with that offer at some point in time."

"Good," Aurico said. "He needs someone to bounce ideas off of, and someone that can keep up with Billy's pace. He's advanced our planet's technology to a whole other level. The entire galaxy has advanced with his technology. Well. Except for Earth."

"How's that for irony, huh?" Justin said.

"You mentioned in your email that you needed to talk about something?" Cestro asked. "About your team?"

"What happened to the rangers before my team took the morphers? There isn't much of a ranger database that we have access to on the megaship. Andros is okay with maintenance, but the ship has been falling apart. I've spent the last few weeks putting it back to where it needs to be for top operating condition."

"You mean he hasn't told you?" Delphine asked. She was shocked, but she wasn't entirely surprised. She'd met Andros a few times in her life. He was very reserved, and didn't seem like he would tell people much about his life. "Dark Spector took out the last ranger team, and then he invaded KO-35. Aquitar was one of the planets that took in many of the refugees. The colony has been abandoned for about two years."

"I had just moved here when it all happened," Billy said. "Most of the Kerovians were still in shock at the event. Most didn't know what to make of it."

"Andros team was killed, then," Justin, his enthusiasm from before was nowhere to be found. He knew what it was like to lose someone. "It explains a lot more. He's been searching for Zordon like a madman. When he isn't looking for Zordon, he's following any lead he can get on his sister."

Billy sent him a questioning look. "Didn't Andros's sister vanish almost ten years ago?"

"He's been clinging to the hope that Karone is still alive. I haven't been in the mood to try and reason with the last of his hope," Justin said. "I know the feeling, waiting for my father to come back for me. I also know now that I would have been better off with him never coming back."

"Rocky did mention that he never wanted to see your father's face again when he visited you a few months ago. He ranted to me for an hour because Adam sent him to go complain to someone else," Billy mentioned.

"That sounds about right," Justin said. "What can you tell me about the silver ranger?"

The other three rangers gave him looks of shock. "Zhane? What about him? I thought he had died?" Cestro exclaimed.

Justin blinked. "I don't think he is dead if he is in a life support chamber on the megaship. Back to the state that the ship is in, I'm not sure how much longer the unit will keep him alive."

"The silver ranger is alive, then," Aurico said. "We'd all thought he had died. Why wouldn't Andros find professional medical help for his friend?"

"Andros doesn't trust lightly, it seems. He probably didn't think that doctors could help. I need to know how to keep the system working," Justin said. "Honestly, if he's still in a coma at this point, the ranger is either going to die soon, or wake up. But I don't have a clue as to which it may be."

"Did you bring the blueprints?" Billy asked.

"Of course. What do you take me for?" Justin handed them over to Billy and the other rangers.

"Zhane is still alive. I can't get over that fact," Aurico mentioned again. Billy looked immersed in the spec as soon as he saw them.

"I don't know if there is much that you can do except wait to see if it breaks before you fix it. The machine is self-operating and updating," Billy said. "If something does happen, give me a call and we will figure out how to rebuild it together, okay?"

"That helps, just to know that I can count on you," Justin said. "I never really clicked with my second team. Part of it was because Zordon had no control over them, and they didn't take the code seriously."

"Do you and Andros get along?" Billy asked.

"I think he is the only one that really respects me."

The next day, Justin was not in school. His school was on an institute day, (a school day for teachers without students), and the rest of the team was not. He was working on different things when, Andros came in from his daily work out. He didn't notice Justin or Alpha working on the computers.

"Hey, Andros, can I talk to you?" Justin asked. Andros jumped nearly out of his chair. He had not expected him to be here.

"You scared me. What are you doing here Justin? Don't you have school?" Andros asked.

"We had a day off. No classes. It's nice. There were things that I needed to get done here, so I decided I would get that done while it was quiet," Justin said. "I wanted to discuss some things with you without the others around."

"Sure, what's up?" Andros asked. He hadn't really talked to the younger ranger very much. Andros normally helped him when Justin needed a tool to fix something.

"We need to talk about Zhane," Justin said. He stated it so blatantly it didn't even register with the red ranger right away.

"What do you want to-wait. What?"

"Exactly what I just said. I need to talk to you about Zhane."

Andros stared at the younger ranger. "How did you even?"

"You gave me full access to the megaship. I ran across him when I was reinforcing the locks and the security system. I wanted to make sure that he was alive, so I checked his vitals. The system was in okay shape, but it needs eventually to be worked on," Justin said. "But I wasn't confident with the technology. Billy was helpful in analyzing the blueprints-and with telling me who the Silver Ranger was and why he was in a coma."

Andros didn't even look Justin in the eye. "You are here to yell at me, aren't you? You are mad that I didn't tell you or the team."

"Not at all. You are allowed your secrets, and I hold more respect for you than the rest of your team," Justin said. He turned from his project and sat on top of the main console. "That being said, my first team never kept anything from me. I never understood why until they left. Secrets hurt the team more than they help."

"I don't know how to tell them, Justin."

"I don't know how to tell you to do that, Andros. But don't let them find out for themselves. If you let them stumble upon Zhane, it may have consequences you aren't prepared to face." Justin looked him in the eye. "If the time comes, Billy and I can fix the stasis device. I won't tell the others, I am not a snitch."

"I know. I am sorry you had to find out like that," Andros sighed.

"Don't apologize, just try to follow my advice, okay?"

Justin went back to his work, and Andros left the room. Justin could only hope that he had gotten slightly through to his leader.