Chapter 10 – Can You Believe?
August 19 2001 – Silver Hills Beach
The ride down to the beach gave each of the ranger's time to reflect on the last few hours. Katie had finally accepted that her new home would be in 2001. She would miss her family greatly but she would have the friendship of her fellow rangers to help fill that void. For Wes and Jen they were in the tentative stage of a new relationship. There had been numerous obstacles in their way but all of them had evaporated in the last few days. The next few weeks would be crucial if their relationship was going to last, although most of them would probably be spent fighting Ransik.
Perhaps the most important thing that had come out of this was that all of them had reaffirmed their bond with each other. Most of the rangers from the future were leaving their family behind but they had found a new family in each other. There was the couple, Wes and Jen, the caring older sister, Katie, the often overlooked middle child, Lucas and the younger brother, Trip, that everyone looked out for. There was even an eccentric uncle in the form of Eric.
Speaking of the Quantum Ranger, he was pacing impatiently up and down the shore line. He pushed the sleeve of his Time Force uniform up to check the time, "Fifteen minutes late", he grumbled, "glad they're not in my unit". Even though he was wearing his uniform, he still wore his Silver Guardian's beret on his head. If he was going to be forced to join Time Force then he still wanted to show his independence at the same time.
Eric had mixed feeling over his appointment as a Cadet in Time Force. He was annoyed that Alex had signed him up without even asking for his input. He had made it perfectly clear that he preferred to work alone so he couldn't see Alex's logic behind the move. After thinking about it for a couple of days, perhaps this wouldn't be such a bad thing. The Quantum Ranger could make his mark in the history books as one of the pioneers of Time Force. Having Wes as his equal only made things that little bit sweeter for Eric. The pair were finally on an even footing so there would be no arguments when Eric showed everyone that he was better.
The sound of motorcycles caught Eric's attention and he turned towards the noise. He folded his arms across his chest and frowned, "You're late", he spat.
"Sorry we got held up", Lucas replied and handed over ten dollars to the Quantum Ranger.
"If I wasn't making money right now I would be really pissed off", Eric grumbled in response.
"So this is what happy Eric looks like then", Katie whispered to the others. The Quantum Ranger heard what she said but fortunately he wouldn't get a chance to respond.
Above their heads the sky began to ripple and change colour. Moments later a portal opened and a golden coloured ship blasted through the gap. It hovered overhead before firing it's landing rockets and settled down into the sand. The door to the ship opened and Alex stepped onto the beach. The rangers gave him a salute, although Wes wasn't aware of the protocol so he was a little late, "At ease", Alex stated and the team did as they were ordered, "surprised you saluted me Eric", he added.
"I respect your rank, despite my personal feelings towards Time Force", Eric shrugged.
"I see", Alex replied coolly, "I hope that you've all had a chance to digest the news and I'm here to answer any questions you might have. Unfortunately I'm only cleared to be here for a short period of time so just the one question each if you don't mind".
All of the ranger's frowned but chose not to say anything. After a silent debate amongst themselves, Katie asked the first question, "What have our families been told?"
"The truth", Alex began, "that you've been forced to remain in the twenty first century. That information won't be made public though so only your family knows what really happened". He paused to allow that piece of information to sink in before continuing, "The general public believes that the four of you died in a tragic accident and you will be given a ceremonial burial".
Trip nervously raised his hand, "Why?"
"I'm taking that as your question Cadet Regis", his commanding officer stated, "we believe that it'll help prevent unauthorised time travel. If highly trained officers can fall victim to an accident then they are more likely to suffer an accident as well". Wes snorted and muttered something underneath his breath, "Something to add Cadet Collins", Alex frowned.
"Not at this point", the red ranger replied, "Sir", he added sarcastically.
"We have no influence over Time Force policy", Lucas cut across an impending argument between Wes and Alex, "my family's deal", the blue ranger added, "how is affected by my supposed death?"
"No change", Alex stated, "in fact with your 'passing', this frees Amy from any obligation to join Time Force or the military". Lucas breathed a sigh of relief and nodded in appreciation.
"I've got a question", Eric began, "why make Wes and I Time Force officers? The organisation doesn't exist so surely we've got no one to answer to".
"On the contrary Cadet Myers", Eric grumbled at the use of his rank but Alex chose to ignore him, "the recent events regarding Hexagon have disturbed Time Force Command greatly, especially as all information between the years 2002 and 2015 has been Time Locked. We feel that this needs further investigation to ensure that nothing affects the future and who better to do that then our team already stationed in that time period".
"So essentially we report back our findings and you tell us what action needs to be taken?" Eric asked.
"And I suppose the covienient fact that this gets us out the Hexagon contract didn't come up in discussions", Jen raised an eyebrow at her former fiancée
"Yes but that's only part of it", he replied inpatiently, "we need data to fill in our records. We can't afford to wait fourteen years for everything to be revealed". He reached into his pocket and pulled out a golden Time Force badge with a pink edge, "That brings me nicely onto your ranks". He looked towards Katie, Trip and Lucas, "All three of you are now full Time Force Officers and will be lead by your new Captain". He walked towards Jen and handed her the badge, "Congratulations Captain Scotts". The pink ranger looked down at the badge and then at Alex. She gave him a stiff nod and salute before pocketing the badge. Alex's face fell, clearly he was expecting more of a reaction from Jen.
"My turn", Wes called out, a little creeped out by Alex's close proximity to Jen, "why did you save my father's life?"
Alex kept his eyes on Jen for a few moments longer than she would've liked. "If your father died then you would've been placed in charge of BioLab. With you in that position then you would not have been able to complete our assignment".
"And I thought you did it out the kindness of your heart", Wes spat. He was about to walk away when Lucas grabbed him by the arm. The blue ranger shook his head and Wes reluctantly fell back into line.
"I'm many things", Alex began, "however, I'm not an idiot. I know that I'm not the easiest person to get along with. I hope that everyone can push that aside so we can at least work together". There was a general murmuring of agreement from the others. Alex then turned back towards Jen, "Anything you want to ask Jennifer?"
"Not in front of everyone", the pink ranger said with a cool tone.
The commanding officer of Time Force nodded stiffly and turned his attention back to everyone else, "That's all the information I need to give you", he began, "once Ransik is secured we will make arrangement to collect him and the other captured mutants. If there's nothing else then you're all dismissed, except for Captain Scotts".
"We'll be over there Jen", Trip pointed towards the parked Vector Cycles.
Jen nodded in response and followed Alex in the direction of the Time Ship, "I've recorded my message, all I need now is my Captain's authorisation codes to apply the appropriate Time Lock".
"I'll instruct Circuit to create your codes once I've updated your rank", Alex paused and folded his arms, "I don't think that's all you want to say though".
"I'm not sure what you mean", Jen frowned.
"Come on Jennifer, how long have I known you for?" Alex looked over her shoulder and saw Wes glaring in his direction, "How long has it been going on, you and Wes?"
The pink ranger glanced towards the ground, "Honestly about an hour but I've been in love with him for a while". She looked back up at Alex, "I thought you were dead and I hated myself for loving someone that shared your face. Then I find out you were alive all this time and the only reason you give is that Time Force Command thought it was in the best interests of the mission". She bit her lip and looked just over Alex's shoulder, "Did you ever love me Alex?"
"I did and I still do", he replied, "but your time in the twenty first century has changed you. The Jennifer I knew a few months ago wouldn't act this way".
She shrugged in response, "I like the person I am now and Wes makes me happier than I've ever felt". She reached into her pocket and pulled out her engagement ring, "Even if I was able to return to the future, I don't think I could marry you Alex, not anymore". She pressed the ring into Alex's hand and walked away. A couple of tears threatened to fall from her eyes but she was able to wipe them away in time.
"Jen", he called out and the pink ranger paused, "I have to warn you, in the future you will meet someone by the name of Brandon. He will be a great asset in the future, so keep him close at all times". Inwardly Jen groaned, even now Alex was thinking about the job and not his emotions. She didn't turn around to acknowledge him and continued to walk away.
"Hey are you alright?" Wes asked and wrapped an arm around her shoulder.
"Yeah I'm fine", Jen replied, "as it's been a long couple of weeks, how about we abandon tonight's training and order pizza?"
"Yes Captain Sir", Trip smiled, "I mean Ma'am".
"What about you Cadet Myers", Wes smirked, "fancy an evening in with your Time Force colleagues".
Eric paused and turned to walk away but moments later he stopped, "Why not, after all I've suddenly come into some money".
"Me too", Katie smiled, "looks like we're going to have to bail them out doesn't it Eric", if anyone was looking closing at the Quantum Ranger, they would've seen the smallest smile on his face.
In the Time Ship, Alex looked on the monitor and watched the rangers climbed onto their bikes and rode away. Being a commanding officer wasn't easy and to cope with it, he had developed this cold image. Jen's word had stung but he could see that she was happy with Wes, in fact he knew they would be happy together.
After watching Jen's message, he immediately looked her personal record but he couldn't find one for her, or any of the other Time Force Rangers. Everything was timelocked up to the end of 2015 and the first entry was dated 1 January 2016. All it said was 'Brandon – Must Meet Time Force'. Alex had no idea what it meant but he passed it on anyway. Time Force were used to having all the answers about the past but this gap worried him, however, he trusted Jen and the others to handle it correctly. The Time Ship suddenly fired into life and Alex was heading back to his life in the year 3000, leaving his squad behind and facing the unknown.
A/N - Who is Brandon and why is he important. You don't have long to wait because he arrives in the next (and final) chapter.