A/N – wow…50 chapters. I remember thinking I wouldn't even be able to get 20 chapters. Thank you all for your support, your reviews, especially you two, JasonScottLeeFan and JuseaPeterson. This is a long chapter, just for you guys. As always, feel free to request things (except slash).

Jusea – the traitor will be revealed in future chapters. Not in 10 chapters, but within five chapters.

Recently, I watched a clip of Farscape, and I got a little inspiration from that. I might try to apply it to the fic.


The Megaship whizzed by the stars and planets in between Earth and Renosar. The ship was out of Earth's solar system, and in another area of the galaxy, en route to Renosar.

"Carlos, what's our ETA?" asked Zhane.

"Estimated Time of Arrival is eleven hours, twenty-six minutes." Carlos reported.

"Okay. I guess now is a good to review the plan." Said Zhane.


Andros was tired. The room was dark, perfect for sleeping, but the pain in the arms from being suspended in the air would not let him rest. The lights turned on and the door opened again. It was Darkonda.

"Good morning Andros." Said Darkonda.

Andros didn't respond. He was too tired. He felt as if all the energy in his body had been drained from him.

Darkonda smirked. He enjoyed seeing Andros in his weakened state. Andros had not slept in two days, and was tortured for hours during those two days.

Andros's head on was down. He just wanted to rest. He wanted to die so that he wouldn't have to suffer so much.

"So I heard from the bounty hunters that you were with a girl when you were captured on Onyx." Said Darkonda. "Let's take a look at that."

Darkond pressed a button on the work pad, but it was not the same button he used to torture Andros with. There was a view screen left of Andros, and right of Darkonda. It began to display Andros's capture on Onyx through his perspective. Darkonda watched as Andros tried to fight off the Piranhatrons. Darkonda skipped to the scene where Andros was face to face with the hunter that shot Azel.

Andros cringed when he heard the shot again. Darkonda enjoyed Andros's suffering.

"This device also allows me to extract memories, which is why I was able to display that memory you just watched. By the looks of it, her death was your fault." Said Darkonda.

Andros didn't respond in any way. He did not speak, nor did he nod or shake his head.

"You killed her." Darkonda added, trying to anger Andros.

Again, there was no response. This upset Darkonda, so he pushed the button on the workpad, causing Andros to scream in pain.

Darkonda knew he would not get his desired response. He pressed a few buttons on the workpad, and Andros dropped onto the ground. Darkonda had deactivated the magnetic force in Andros's restraints.

"Maybe tomorrow will be more fun." Said Darkonda as he walked out of the room, leaving Andros on the cold floor to rest.

Andros curled up on his side and rested his head on the cold floor. He closed his eyes and fell asleep, hoping all this would end, whether he was rescued or killed.


Zhane was in the cargo ship in the hangar bay, doing a final systems check. "Deca, run a final diagnostic on the shields and hyperrush engines." Zhane ordered.

Within moments, the diagnostic was complete, and displayed on Zhane's workpad.

"Okay. Looks like all systems are in working order." Said Zhane.

The door opened and Ashley came in. "Hi." She said.

"Hi." Said Zhane.

Ashley slowly walked towards the pilot's console.

"What is it?" asked Zhane.

"I've just been curious about what you guys have been up to. I haven't heard from you guys for over a month."

"After you and Andros ended your relationship, Andros left. I spent all this time searching the known worlds for him. He was a complete mess when I found him. I had never seen him that way before, not even when he thought Zel died. He was drinking and miserable back then too, but, it still wasn't as bad as this time." Zhane informed her.

Ashley felt bad for Andros. She didn't know why, but she couldn't help but feel a little bad for indirectly causing this. On the other hand, she tried to tell herself that it wasn't her fault; that she was only reacting to Andros's actions.

"Ashley, why did you choose to help us out?" Zhane asked.

Ashley didn't know how to answer. She didn't even know the answer herself. "I-"

The door opened and Karone came in. "I'm sorry, was I interrupting?" she asked.

"No, not at all." Said Ashley.

Karone walked towards the pilot's console. "Everything is prepped, and we'll be out of hyerrush in five minutes." Karone reported.

Zhane hit a button on the console. "Carlos, we're in position and ready to go. How about you?" he asked over the com.

"Everything is ready to go." Carlos replied over the com.

"Good." Zhane activated the ship. "Get that deflector ready." He ordered Karone.

"Don't worry, it's ready. We'll just look like a drifting rock to them." Said Karone.

Zhane strapped himself into the pilot's chair and pressed the com again. "We're ready on this end." He said.


Carlos was alone on the bridge, in the pilot's chair. He took a deep, nervous breath, and put his hands on the controls.

"Exiting Hyperrush in ten seconds." Deca reported.

"Good luck guys." Carlos said to Zhane, Karone, and Ashley.

"Five, four, three, two, one."

The Megaship dropped out just behind the moon orbiting Renosar. The ship opened its bay doors, and Zhane piloted the cargo ship out.

"We're clear." Zhane reported.

Carlos closed the bay doors and turned the ship around. "Good luck." He said before speeding away from the area before being detected.


"Sensors." asked Zhane.

"One ship, twelve velocifighters, on the other side of the planet." Ashley reported.

"How's the deflector?" asked Zhane.

"it's working fine." Karone reported.

"Okay. I'm slowing us down to one quarter thruster power." Said Zhane.

The ship began to rumble. "We've entered the atmosphere. Touchdown in ten minutes." Said Zhane.

Karone pressed a few buttons to modify the deflector to shield the ship from the enemy's sensors.

"I've found a good landing spot. It's about a kilometer from the facility." Ashley reported.

"Karone, do you think they'll see us coming?" asked Zhane.

"It's an underground facility, so we should be fine." Karone answered.

Zhane carefully landed the ship in the area found by Ashley. All three rangers morphed before leaving the ship.

Karone had been to the facility before during her time as Astronema. She was also more familiar with the terrain than the other two, so, she led the way towards the facility.

Karone led the rangers to a secondary entrance, which was a downward shaft leading down to the underground facility. She got out a workpad and attached it to a little console on the side, as if she was attaching a memory card to a camera. She pressed a few buttons, disabling the security on the hatch, removed the workpad, then blasted the door open with her blaster and led the way down.

"This was designed as a secondary exit in case the primary entrance was unavailable." Karone explained the rangers climbed down the ladders.

They had climbed down to the eigth level. Karone opened the door and entered the corridor. Ashley and Zhane followed. They snuck around, avoiding patrols, until they managed to a terminal.

Karone accessed the terminal to find Andros's location.

"Looks like he's one level above us. Section Gamma Five." Said Karone. The rangers made their way back to the shaft and went to the seventh level.

Once in the seventh level, they made their way to section Gamma five, avoiding patrols. Once they arrived, Karone tried to hack the lock while Zhane and Ashley kept watch.

"Damnit." Karone cursed.

"What is it?" asked Zhane.

"I can't open the lock." Answered Karone.

"Can't we just shoot it open?" asked Ashley.

"That will alert the guards, and we don't know what state Andros is in." Karone explained.

Zhane took a moment to think. "Shoot it open. We'll just have to take the chance."

Karone complied. She drew her blaster and shot the lock, opening the door. The lights turned on. Karone and Zhane went in while Ashley kept watch.

Zhane and Karone saw Andros on the ground on the side, shirtless and restrained. Karone was shocked by the scars on Andros's body; it was the first time she saw them. Zhane however, had seen them once before. They also saw a metallic device on Andros's temple. They didn't know what it was, so they decided to leave it on for the time being.

"Andros." Said Zhane as he tried to wake his friend.

"Andros." Said Karone, also trying to wake him.

Andros slowly opened his eyes and slowly sat up. "Karone? Zhane?"

"Yeah. We're here to rescue you." Said Zhane.

Zhane drew his blaster and shot off the restraints on Andros's wrists and ankles. Zhane and Karone stood up and helped Andros get up. Andros took the torture device off his temple and tossed it across the room.

Ashley looked right and left for enemy patrols. Ashley was surprised that there was no alarm. She quickly glanced over to get a look at Andros. Karone was in the way, but Ashley managed to get a small view of Andros, shirtless. She also saw a beard on him. His face looked as if he was extremely tired. She tried to deny the fact that she cared about him still.

"He's severely dehydrated." Said Karone.

"Ashley, help me carry Andros. Karone, lead the way out." Zhane ordered.

Karone led the way, while occasionally checking their rear for patrols. They made their way to the main elevator and made their way to the second floor. Surprisingly, they still had not run into any patrols.

Karone turned the corner and saw Piranhatrons coming towards her. They spotted her and started firing. Karone jumped back.

"Piranhatrons. Three of them." Karone reported. She drew her blaster, and rolled back into the corner and fired at the Piranhatrons. Karone and the Piranhatrons exchanged fire until finally, she was vicvtorious.

"We're clear." Said Karone. She led the way once more back to the shaft. She opened the shaft door.

"Ashley, you go first." Said Karone.

"Okay." She replied. She entered the shaft and moved up the ladder. Zhane followed with Andros on his back. Karone closed the shaft door and followed the other rangers.

"Are you doing okay?" Karone asked Zhane.

"Yeah, I'm doing fine, but I think Andros is going to have to lose some weight after this." Said Zhane.

"I heard that." Andros barely managed to say.

The rangers managed to get out of the shaft undetected. "Something's not right. We're only run into one patrol of Piranhatrans." Said Karone in a worried tone.

"In any case, we need to get moving, now." Said Zhane. Ashley helped Zhane carry Andros.


Darkonda was back on the Dark Fortress. He wanted to let Andros rest so that he could have a full day with Andros.

"Master! We are receiving a transmission from the facility on Renosar!" Ecliptor reported.

"Put it through." Darkonda ordered.

"Sir, we've had a breach of security!" reported a grey skinned alien on the screen.

"Secure the facility! And the planet! I'll send what I can! Make sure Section Gamma Five is secure!" Darkonda ordered.

"Ecliptor! Set a course for Renosar!"


The rangers managed to make it to the cargo ship undetected. Karone took the pilot's seat and activated the ship's systems. "Carlos, this is Karone. We're ready to depart. How is everything on your end?"

"So far so good." Said Carlos. "Ready to pick you up when you're ready."

"Ok, we-" the console beeped, interrupting Karone. She took a look at the scanners.

"Oh no. We've got lots of velocifighters coming towards us. Carlos, get ready, we're going to need some cover. Hang on guys, this is going to be rough."

Ashley set Andros down in the cargo hold and stayed with him while Karone flew the ship with Zhane's assistance.

The ship took off and flew into space with two squadrons of velocifighters behind them. "Hold on." Said Karone as she maneuvered the ship to avoid fire from the velocifighers.

The ship left the planet and entered space, but they were trapped. Countless velocifighters, as well as one large ship the size of the Megaship, as well as the Dark Fortress, were waiting for the cargo ship.

"Oh no." said Karone.

"Carlos, we need you, now!" said Zhane.

All of the enemy ships began tiring at the cargo ship. Karone tried to doge them all, but a couple of them hit the ship.

"Shields are down! We've lost hyperrush." Zhane reported.

The sensor beeped. "It's Carlos!" Zhane reported.

The Megaship suddenly arrived, out of hyperrush and fired every weapon it had. Most of the velocifighters were destroyed, and the large ship sustained minimal damage.

"This is Carlos, let's hurry up and get out of here." He said over the com.

The Megaship flew in and scooped up the cargo ship. As soon as the ship was in, Zhane and Karone headed to the bridge while Ashley took Andros to the infirmary.


Karone and Zhane were on their way to the bridge.

"Guys, hyperrush is offline!" Carlos reported.

"I'll go to engineering. You go to the bridge." Said Zhane.

Karone acknowledged his order with a nod and headed towards the bridge. Zhane ran towards engineering.

Once there, he rushed towards a console to see what was wrong.

"We've lost power to the engine. I'm going to try to reroute power, but it might blow the engine after." Zhane reported.

"Do it! We're taking heavy fire." Said Carlos.

"Deca, reroute power from secondary systems to the hyperrush engine." Zhane ordered.

The hyperrush engine lit up. "Bridge, hyperrush is back online! Go! Go! Go!"

Carlos set a course for Earth at hyperrush nine and activated the engine. The Megaship was taking heavy fire from the enemy ships, and had lost power. Just as the Megaship entered hyperrush, the ship was hit by a weapon from the fortress.

"Hull breach on deck five! Sealing!" Karone reported.

The ship was in hyperrush. Carlos and Karone breathed a sigh of relief.

"We're clear." Karone reported to Zhane over the com.


Zhane took his time getting up to the bridge. He thought there would be nothing to worry about until they got back to Earth.

"What took you so long?" Karone asked Zhane.

"We're in the clear. I didn't think there was any big emergency." Said Zhane.

"I'm going to check on Ashley." Said Carlos. As he began walking towards the exit, the ship rumbled.

"Report." Ordered Zhane.

Carlos rushed back to the pilot's seat. Karone took a look at the ship's systems. "We've dropped out of hyperrush." She reported.

"What's the problem?" asked Zhane.

"I'll have to take a look at the hyperrush drive, but it looks like the drive is offline."

"I'm going to go take a look. Keep an eye on the sensors for enemy ships." Said Zhane.


Zhane rushed over to engineering and took out the hyperrysh drive from the engine panel.

"This is bad." He said as he examined the drive. .


"Did you find out what was wrong with the drive?" Karone asked as soon as Zhane arrived back on the bridge.

Zhane returned to the bridge. "Deca, where is the nearest known world?" He asked.

"Tedosum." Deca answered.

"Distance?"

Karone and Carlos remained silent to see what was going on, but they both had a feeling they knew what the situation was.

"Three lightyears." Deca answered.

Zhane lowered his head with his hands on the console to support himself, and then raised it back up again. "The hyperrush drive is damaged beyond repair, so is the one from the cargo ship. At maximum impulse speed, it will take us fifteen years just to get to Tedosum."


A/N – Stuck in space! And you thought being stuck on the highway was bad. I ended the chapter this way because it was a setup for the next event in the fic.

I think I might be able to hook Ashley and Andros up earlier, but, we'll see. I need to think on this.

For the rescue mission, I had a little bit of difficulty trying to think of a rescue plan that would allow me to rescue Andros, not have a direct confrontation with Darkonda, and have the hyperrush drive get damaged.

Now, that Ashley/Zhane scene. You wanted it, and I teased it. I wanted Ashley to be conflicted, cause then, she can hate him, and she can care for him, and it'll still kinda be in character. I want Ashley to kind of go back and forth and try to figure out how she feels. But at the same time, its tough for me, cause I want her to get back with Andros, but it can't happen unless she forgives him. I mean, can you date a person that you can't forgive? As for Carlos, he still doesn't like Andros. Not sure if that would ever change.

In the last scene, where they find out they're screwed, I think back to the season 4 finale of Stargate SG-1. I think it also gave me the inspiration for the set up. You'll see why when you read the next chapter.

How badly do you guys want to see Andros and Ashley get back together?

Preview time.


"How many ships?" Andros asked. Karone was in the pilot's chair. Andros look weapons and Zhane took sensors.

"I'm reading seven ships. One of them is a warship, with heavy armaments. They're launching fighters." Zhane reported.