Copyright: Power Rangers, the name and characters are owned by Saban Entertainment.
***Tree-house courtyard***
Kim was spending the afternoon washing her clothes the old fashioned way, in a wooden basket filled with soap water. She though she heard someone's footsteps in the bushes, so she turned around.
"Well, don't you look like the cat that swallowed the canary." Kim told Jason, who had just walked out of the woods with a big smile on his face.
"You know…" he responded, with his grin still on his face. "…if you turn it around you will be right on the money."
"You are making even less sense than usual, Sergeant."
"I..." he said. "I was just out hunting."
"I should have recognized the look." She responded. "Kill anything interesting?"
"Yes, a small kitten."
"How brave of you!" Kim replied sarcastically.
"I think it wanted to eat me." Jason stated with pride.
"Poor animal doesn't know good taste either." She joked with him. "So, where is your trophy?"
"Oh, probably in the belly of a T-Rex."
"This gets even better!" she laughed. "So, you actually saw a T-Rex?"
"Oh yes! He was magnificent!" Jason proudly said. "He must have chased me for about 10 miles, before I lost him."
Kim looked at him skeptically. "But you are sure that you lost him?"
"Of course!" he said with a smile, when all of a sudden a very familiar roar echoed through the forest and Jason's smile suddenly disappeared.
"I think I will finish this later." She said as she stopped washing her clothes and directed herself towards the elevator.
"Yeah, good idea." he added and quickly joined her. Another roar was heard, this time even closer. Luckily they were already in the elevator and would soon be at a safe distance. As the elevator began to climb up, they both could see the T-Rex on the ground. The beast's roar was so powerful that it shook the ground. When the T-Rex could not find anything to eat it left. "Can you believe that such a magnificent beast could still exist?" Jason asked her.
"I believe it." Kim finally sighed in relief.
As the elevator was nearing the top, Jason turned to her.
"So, miss Kimberly…" Jason began. "…when are you going to come clean as to why you are really here?"
"Why does it matter so much to you?" she responded in an annoyed way.
"Because a little voice inside keeps telling me, that for the good of all, I should throw you to the wolves, first chance I get!"
Surprised by what she had heard, Kim looked him straight into his eyes. "Then, why didn't you do it when you had the chance?"
He smiled and responded. "Because another voice, inside me, tells me that you don't find a woman made of fire and steel very often… And that you don't want to waste her…" Jason moved in closer to her. "…when she is in the palm of your hands!" he said and proceeded to kiss her.
At that moment the elevator reached the top, where Tommy was hanging around the entrance. "Ah guys, good to see you…" Jason quickly released her, once he heard Tommy's voice. "…back…" he said, obliviously stunned by what he had seen. Tommy took a deep breath in an attempt to hide his disappointment. "I just wanted to tell you that I was gathering everyone at the dining room. I will see you there." Tommy mentioned and proceeded to the dining room.
"Thanks man!" Jason nodded and directed his attention back to Kimberly. "Now, where were we…"
However this time Kimberly stopped him. "I am NOT in your hands, Sergeant Scott!" She said bitterly and pushed him aside. "And any time you wish to throw me to the wolves, I would oblige you to do so! You might be surprised who gets eaten first."
The rest of the crew was assembled in the main room. While Billy was studying the various mineral samples that where in the house, Tanya and Adam where seated at the window.
"Dinosaurs…" Adam said while showing her the pictures he and Tommy took earlier. "I still can't believe it."
"I've gotten quite used to them actually." Tanya responded.
"You constantly amaze me, Tanya!" he told her. "To meet someone like you, who has survived along all this time is…"
They were about to continue, when they were interrupted by the familiar voices of Tommy and Kim, arguing.
"Tommy…" Kim tried to explain. "…about what you saw back there… it's not what you think."
"No, don't worry." He said, obviously trying to hide his anger. "…none of my business anyway!"
"I just want to say…"
"What is all the commotion about?" Billy interrupted them.
Tommy took a moment to cool down. He didn't want to get angry, thus did his best to remain professional. "We will talk later…" Tommy told her and Kim nodded in response. He then turned to Billy. "What is on your mind now, professor?"
"I want to know when we are leaving." Billy said. "I think it is time we went home and showed our work to the world."
"Tired of this lost world already, professor?" Adam asked.
"Don't get me wrong, I think this place is unbelievable." He explained. "But we can only do so much with out limited equipment. I think it is best that we surrendered our position to professionals on the matter."
"You are being premature!" Kim interrupted him. "Some of us haven't been fortunate enough to achieve our goals yet! I have just gathered enough samples to assume that there are valuable rocks here, but they are useless unless we know where they come from!"
"There are people out there, who place a higher value in knowledge, rather than jewelry." Billy told her.
"And most of them are flat broke!"
"We already have more evidence, than the balloon can carry." Adam interjected. "Unless you want to risk it."
"Tommy?"
"I am afraid that he is right, Kim." Tommy said. "Its worthless collecting if we can't transport them."
"If this is for…"
"IT'S NOT!" he then fell silent, as he didn't mean to raise his voice at her.
The room was filled with silence until someone dared to talk. "So…" Adam asked. "…how do we get out? Considering all the extra weight we will have, there is a good chance that the balloon will not make it."
"Miss Tanya…" Tommy directed his attention to her. "…you said you can help us make contact with one of the tribes here…"
"I can, and they will show you they way out."
"Heads up!" Jason said as he aimed his rifle out the window. "We got company!"
"No! Don't shoot!" Tanya stopped him, and forcefully pulled his rifle from his hands. "If you are looking for reason to fire your weapon, you will find plenty! You don't have to shoot my friends!"
"Your friend?"
"Her name is Madison. She is the daughter of chief Leanbow of Repulsa tribe!" Tanya explained. "They will help you get off this place."
Tanya led the girl up to the room to meet the outsiders. Tommy took the task and explained their situation to her, in hopes that they can get her to cooperate.
"So…" Tommy asked. "…if came to an understanding with the Repulsa chief, will he show us the way out?"
"My father doesn't trust strangers." Madison said.
"Maybe there is something we can offer him?" Adam suggested.
Madison reluctantly looked at Tanya. "There is only one thing in this house that my father wants." The words made Tanya feel very uncomfortable.
Realizing what she was hinting at, Adam went up to Tanya to calm her down. "It's no problem. We will just find the caves ourselves."
"Or maybe if we negotiated with him?" Kim interrupted and went up to Madison. She began to talk in a language that none of the others could understand. "I can be very convincing, and can get him to trust us."
"That's very good." An amazed Madison said.
"Your language isn't very hard." Kim proudly stated. "The most important thing is to convince him that he has nothing to fear from us."
"I will take you to him in the morning." Madison told her.
"Splendid!" Tommy snapped his hands together. "Adam, you and Billy escort her to the village tomorrow morning…" he then turned back to Kimberly. "If that is Ok with you, miss?"
"Yeah…" she sighed. "It's no problem."
"I think I should escort her!" Jason interjected. "This could get out of hand!"
"This is a diplomatic mission, Jason!" Tommy sternly told him. "Besides…" he resumed his calm tone and walked over to him. "I need you and Tanya elsewhere! There is one more thing that we need to collect…"
To be continued…