Chapter 3

Fingers snapped in front of her face and she turned her head back from the Juice Bar floor to the person sitting in front of her.

'What?'

'You're not going to pick up that history grade by day dreaming,' Carlos grinned.

'History sucks. Who cares about what a bunch of dead people did anyway?'

'The teachers do.'

Ashley glared at him, but focused on her book again. She hated history with a passion, but when Carlos had offered to help her study to get a passing grade, she wasn't about to complain. Since the day she'd arrived at Angel Grove High, he'd helped her out where needed. She'd been in town for three months now and he would always invite her to hang out with his friends, making sure she was included by people.

His hand on hers snapped her out of her thoughts. She caught his eye and he grinned at her again. 'Less tapping that pen, more reading the pages,' he winked.

She made a face and stuck out her tongue. Again turning her attention back to the pages of her book. She tried to concentrate, but the words were starting to blur together. Her frustration quickly rose. Eventually, she couldn't take it anymore and slammed the book closed.

Carlos nearly jumped out of his chair and looked at her surprised. 'Where are you going?' he asked.

'Away,' she grumbled and stuffed her book back in her bag. 'I'm fed up with this. What's the use knowing the 16th president was Abraham Lincoln or that Nixon was forced to retire because of some scandal? What use will that knowledge be in the future?'

'But know you know and it might get you a passing grade on that history test tomorrow. That might be a use for the immediate future.' Carlos's voice stopped her in her tracks as she was leaving. 'At least you are improving.'

She turned back around, a small smile on her lips. 'It's still useless.'

'So is geometry.'

'Thanks.'

'What are friends for?' Carlos smiled broadly.

'Right.'

'Speaking of which, a bunch of us are going to the movies this weekend. Do you want to join us?'

Ashley hesitated for a moment, but shook her head. 'I've already got other plans.'

'Oh.' Carlos's face fell a little.

'Maybe some other time?'

'Yeah, maybe.'

His blade sliced another Quantron to pieces. The ranger grunted when a Q-blade struck his back and he stumbled. His weapon pierced a Quantron whom happened to get in the way.

The things weren't programmed to be smart, he reflected as he caught himself and threw himself back into the fight. They weren't particularly good fighters either, but overwhelmed by sheer numbers their opponents would be defeated when exhaustion started taking its toll.

Normally Deca would be giving him air support with the Megaship's lasers, but right now it was under attack by the Dark Fortress. A new strategy that was far too effective. He felt his limbs grow heavy and his breath turned laborious. It this didn't end soon even the Power wouldn't be able to help him go on.

Suddenly the Quantros disappeared and he was hit by a blast of magic from behind. It was more than his beaten body would handle and it crashed onto the ground. Certain his end was near, footsteps sounded, coming closer. He felt the owners stop next to him and turned his head too look at the two pair of feet. One person crouched down and moved their face close to his helmet.

'We will meet again, Silver Ranger. This isn't over yet,' the malevolent voice hissed near his ear. Raising to their feet again, they turned to their companion and ordered. 'Come, Ecliptor.'

The two disappeared and moments later the ranger himself disappeared in a shower of sparkles.

The metal floor that appeared beneath him was vibrating. He knew the feeling all too well. The Megaship was entering hyper rush, taking him far away from the site of battle. Allowing himself a few minutes to catch his breath, he finally pushed off the floor and demorphed. His body was aching all over, but that was a concern for later.

'Damage report, Deca.'

'Damage sustained to Megadecks 4 to 6, engines are running on their auxiliary power and systems are failing throughout the ship,' the AI replied.

'How much longer can we maintain hyper rush velocity?'

'Five minutes and twenty-three seconds.'

'I'll check the engines first. Are any of the other failing systems strictly necessary for the ship to fly?'

'Negative.'

He nodded and made his way to the engine room. The lights in the room were low and sparks were flying from several panels and severed wires. Multiple wiring tubes at the top of the main engine had come loose. Telepathically he reached out and the tubes reattached themselves into their proper slots. The sounds around him changed and vibrations stopped, alerting him the ship had dropped out of hyper rush. They were now just floating in space. All auxiliary power for the engines had been spend getting as much distance between them and the Dark Fortress as was currently possible.

With a sigh he pried open a panel and set to temporarily taping wires back together until he had the time to completely replace them. Time crept by unnoticed and repairs progressed slowly, but finally the main engine hummed back to life.

'Deca, get us moving again. I don't care where to or how fast.'

'Affirmative, Zhane.'

The silver ranger gave her eye a small smile and turned to leave when a small gap in the wall caught his attention. He'd been so focused on the engine repair before that he hadn't noticed it.

A cold shiver ran up his spine. His feet carried him over, fingers digging into the gap. The door gave way much easier than it should've. The cold of the room seeped out and seemed to wrap itself around his heart. It was blatantly obvious something was wrong. The beep of the heart monitor came less frequent than it should and it was slowing down further as he stood there.

In two quick strides Zhane stood next to the cryotube, staring down at the peaceful looking, frozen face inside.

'Don't do this to me,' he pleaded. 'Please? Not now. You're my best friend.'

A flat line was his only answer.

He slammed his fists onto the cover and fell to his knees. The pain was overwhelming, constricting around his chest and squeezing out the air.

'You can't leave me,' he sobbed. 'I can't do this without you! Deca, why didn't you warn me?'

'The systems in the cryogenic chamber are not necessary for the ship to fly.'

'It's my fault…'

The knowledge weighed too heavy on him. His eyes rolled back as darkness consumed his world.