Power Rangers:

All grown up

Chapter 10

Dominic went out from the storage room, shutting the door behind him. He left Sophie whimpering, and writhing, on the floor, in pain. He felt that his message had gotten through to her. He was about to return to his quarters when Alaine came around the corner.

"Oh! Dom! I didn't see you there."

"No problem."

"Have you seen Sophie? I have something to tell her."

"I haven't. Right now, you have to come with me."

"Oh?"

"Yes. I have something to show you."

"Well...OK. Let's go."

He led her to the upper launch bay. Alaine had recognized this from the schematics Sophie showed her from the training days. This was the main shuttle bay; where the final piece of what would have been the megazord was stored: a small space shuttle that would have been the head. Now, it was mostly empty and had become something of a storage area. It was still usable in case of emergencies though.

Dom flipped a couple of levers. All the way down the bay, lights came on one by one with muffled thumps. Alaine gasped at the sight of a gigantic round bomb taking up most of the space.

"What the fu-"

"May I present...The Tsar Bomb."

"It's big!"

"It's Russian." He smiles at her.

"The nuclear warhead alone is 300 megatons. Also included is enough antimatter to disintegrate an entire planet."

"Wait...why?"

"Commander Russell...'donated' this masterpiece to NASADA after finding out about the mission. Should anything go wrong, this would be the back-up plan."

"I just hope we never have to use it."

He chuckles at her. "I hope we do."

Drake wanders into the common area, and sees Kai and Jack engrossed in a tense game of holographic chess. Kai wipes a drop of sweat from his brow, then retreats his knight.

"Hey, have you guys seen-"

"Um, excuse me. Please don't interrupt. We are playing for title of champion of the universe."

"Sorry."

Jack advances his queen.

"CHECKMATE, BRO!"

"Damn."

"Sorry, Drake, you were saying?"

"Yeah. have either seen Sophie?"

"I think she said something about inventorying the food. Just to make sure we had enough for the next few days."

"Cool, thanks."

"No problem. What say you, Kai: white or black, this time?"

"White, please!"

"Sure."

The pieces zip back into place. Drake continues on his way.

He marches towards the storage area, when he hears a crash!

He breaks into a full sprint, and mashes the door open button.

"Help! HELP!"

"Sophie!"

He finds her leg trapped under a heavy crate!

"Drake!"

"Don't move! I'll get this!"

"Hurry!"

Drake gets his arms under the crate. Straining, he lifts it up high enough for Sophie to scoot out. He drops the crate, and it breaks open, spilling food packets all over the place. She leans up against a wall, cradling her left leg.

"Are you OK?"

"I think it's broken!"

"I'll get you to the medbay. Come on."

He picks her up, and practically carries her to the medbay. He sets her on a bed; his head covered in beads of sweat from the effort.

"Thank you so much, Drake. You saved my life!"

"Aww..."

"You did! Who else was going to rescue me?"

"Well...OK. If you say so!"

"I'll be alright now. Can a girl have a little privacy, please?" She smiles ever so sweetly at him.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I do have a background in medicine."

"If you need anything, let me know."

"Will do."

Back in his quarters, Dominic converses with a shadowy figure.

"How did it go, Dominic?"

"Very well. She doesn't suspect a thing."

"Excellent. And Sophie?"

"She won't pose a problem."

"Everything is happening as I have planned. Soon, Sophie will be out of the way, and Alaine will be one of us. Dominic, be mindful."

"Yes, sir."

Sophie came from the medbay with a couple of bandages wrapped around her leg, and a brace to keep her leg stiff. She hobbled down the hallway, putting all her weight on a cane. She went out to the common area, then plopped into one of the big, soft, white chairs.

Tired from the effort she took out a flash drive, and plugged it into the table. The surface lit up. Seconds later, a 3 dimensional hologram appeared, displaying a list of contents. She double tapped on the file containing the schematics. A fully realized model of the ship popped up, along with the notes she made.

She spins the model around, zooming in and out, taking a mental checklist of the work that still needed to be done to this ship. She made a note of a few minor stress fractures that had appeared in the hull.

"Hey!"

She's snaps her head up.

"Hey, Alaine."

"Oh my goodness! You're leg!"

"It's OK. Really. Just a little accident."

"Doesn't look little. What happened?"

"I-"

"If you tell anyone what happened...I will end you!" Dominic's words flashed in her mind. After that encounter, she tried to pull herself up, but the crate fell on her.

"I Tried to get a crate down, and it fell. I guess I underestimated its weight."

"You should've asked for help."

"I was going to, but it was too late. Besides, it's not broken or anything. I'll be fine by the time we get there."

"Good. Whatcha got there?" Alaine points to the ship, slowly rotating in mid air.

"Here, take a look."

Alaine sits down next to her.

"This is the ship's schematics. I've been thinking about adding a few upgrades when this mission is over."

"Like what?"

"Well...-"

"Hey, girls. Studying?"

"Hey, Drake."

"Sophie was showing me some things she has planned for this ship."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, it's really cool!"
"You'll have to show me sometime."

"Have you seen Kai or Jake?"

"They went to work out. I just got back from there, actually."

"Sounds like fun. I think I'll go do that too. Have fun now."

"See you later then."

Alaine moves past them to the turbolift. After getting in, the door closes, then the sound of air whooshing echoes in the chamber. Sophie shuts the table off, and gets up, putting all her weight on her good leg.

"Um...thanks."

"For what?"

Her eyes go slightly wide. Also, her breathing noticeably changes.

"You know...for...just...you know what?"

"What?"

Sophie reaches up, locking her hands behind his neck. She pulls him close, putting her lips to his, gently massaging them. He returns the kiss. He wrapped his arms her, holding her against him. He drowned in the moment.

Her scent.

The taste of her lips.

The smoothness of her fingers on his face.

An absolutely perfect moment.

She pulled away. She gazed into his eyes. He stared back.

She looked past him, and gasped.

Drake turned.

Standing there, was Dominic.

He glared at them angrily.

"You, girl...you will pay for this!"