Striker - Yeah, the "death of me" line was one of those things that kind of came to me, and was too funny to leave out :). Thanks for the feedback peeps. I'm glad you liked the cameos from Andros and the Megaship. Hold onto your hats ... more continuity bombs being dropped the next couple of chapters :). Oh, and here, I'm starting to introduce my original characters. Enjoy :).


11:58 AM

"Zordon," came Alpha's voice urgently, indicating one of the consoles closest to my energy tube. A light was flashing. This was the console specifically for communication with the Rangers. If any member of the team called us directly, it was usually for something urgent, dangerous, or both. Today, the light was flashing orange. "It's a call from Peter."

I nodded. "Thank you Alpha," I replied, and from my position high above the room, I opened the communication channel. "Peter, are you there?" I asked. "What's the emergency?"

There was a second of silence on the other end. I imagined Peter glancing around to make sure nobody was eavesdropping. "Sorry, it's not an emergency, not really," the Orange Ranger's voice echoed into the central chamber. "I didn't know who else to call. A friend of ours is missing. David Corbett is his name. He's tall with dark curly hair. Nobody can find him, and his parents haven't seen him since last night."

"A missing person?" Alpha asked. "Have you tried calling the police? I'm sure Ian's father would…"

"You're right," Peter said. "But Dave's been so withdrawn and sad lately. We all figured something was bothering him and he'd bounce out of it by himself. But his parents called this morning and nobody can find him." There was another pause. I could hear the uncertainty in Peter's voice. "I'm really worried, Zordon. We all are. Can you, I don't know, keep an ear out? Listen in on the police radio frequencies? I know you guys are probably busy, but…"

"But we'll monitor the situation," I replied. For Peter to even ask told me how serious he thought things were. "I can't promise anything, but we'll do our best. Alpha will call you if there's any news."

"Thanks. I mean it, thank you. We'll keep looking here."

I know some of the Rangers have wondered why I picked Peter as the leader of the Junior Team. He and Jason have such different styles of leadership. While Jason has that burning fire deep within, Peter is more cautious and conservative in his approach. Words are his weapon of choice, and I've seen him use them very well. But I always have reasons for every move I make. I hope one day he understands them.

"Good luck," I said. "Let us know if you need any further assistance," and the line fell dead. "Now Alpha, where were we?"

"We'd just translated an ancient Roman tablet," Alpha replied. "From there, we'd found a lead on DaiShi."

Oh yes. One of the last things Rita did, before trapping me in this time warp, was to unleash one of her pets on Earth to keep my allies here busy. The beast's name was DaiShi. We never did find out what happened to him, though. Just one more mystery we devote what spare time we have to solving.

But something in Peter's tone stayed with me. I hesitated for a second, then glanced down to the Alpha.

"Alpha," I began, "can you keep an eye on the police band in the city? Just in case Peter's fears prove warranted…"

To be continued.