Chapter Five
What had really happened?
In the engine room, Ashley ran diagnostics. She didn't hear a door open or close; all she knew was that one minute she was alone and the next there was a red Ranger—whose suit was very cold—on top of her. She did not know where he came from, only that he was successfully holding her to the ground.
She struggled against him, trying to figure out how he got on board with out DECA knowing, and how it seemed she was the only one to get attacked by him. In the middle of this, she remembered Karone had said that her older brother held the red morpher, but that didn't answer her question of why he was lying on top of her in a cold power suit.
He kept calling out in a language she had heard Karone speak in a few times. The word she identified as "sister," as Karone had called her her sister in the tongue.
"Hey, hey," she cooed softly, "if you get off me I will get Karone. I think we are both very confused right now but if you keep screaming you will have TJ and Carlos down here and they are like my overprotective big brothers. You might not want to deal with them after messing with me." She realized if they came in they would find her in this very awkward position and would take it as a threat.
He didn't let up, though, so she tried again. "Please, I am Karone's friend. If you let me go I will get her. I know where she is and I think she will want to see you, so could you get off of me? I can't exactly reach my communicator with you lying on me in this fashion."
It worked, somewhat. He at least took the pressure off of her upper body and only pinned her legs down. Ashley brought her morpher up and beeped Karone's morpher. When there was no answer, the red Ranger growled, "You must be a liar as well as a trespasser."
"No please, trust me here on this one. Karone usually does this when she is out, it's not safe to answer. She is among civilians that don't know that we are Rangers. We planned that if any of us were in town we would beep three times before we had to answer, that way we could have time to get away from civilians."
He stared at her as she beeped Karone's morpher a second time. "I don't recognize you; what part of the colony are you from that you would be chosen to hold onto the morphers?"
He was taken with her, she could tell, even though she could hardly make eye contact with him, but the only thing Ashley could think of was getting him off of her legs. He shook his head. "Did you say she was down with civilians that didn't know she was a Ranger? You actually let her hang out with people she very likely did not know? How could you be so irresponsible; she is barely fourteen! It's bad enough that the colony was partially against her getting her morpher when she did because of the war."
"One question at a time, please." Ashley paused, trying to smile at him. "I am not from anywhere on the colonies. I'm from Earth. You know, I believe Karone told us that KO-35 is a transplant colony from Earth." She beeped again and this time after a few seconds Karone's voice answered. Ashley told her just to hurry up and get her butt to the engine room.
That is what Karone did and before Ashley could count to three, Karone was running in the door. She stopped cold when she saw who was sitting on top of her friends lap.
"Andros!" she gasped, more shocked than anything. "You're awake… and sitting on top of Ashley…
"Could you get off her? I sort of need her to be able to use her legs if we ever had to fight today." Karone knelt down with a smile and carefully undid his helmet, and then planted a soft kiss on his cheek. "I have waited the last two years for this, brother."
"Karone… two years?" he gasped, his deep brown eyes flicking to meet hers.
"Yes, Andros. I am not fourteen anymore. I turned sixteen about four months ago. It was just before Zordon was captured and the Earth Rangers joined me and have been my companions."
Andros got off of Ashley's legs slowly. "There is a ton that you are going to have to fill me in on but first need to change. Is my room still—"
"Your room is exactly as you left it, brother. You go to your room and I'll bring up a new uniform for you and we can talk in privacy there." Karone stood up and offered her hand to her brother and he stood up. Ashley smiled and stood up as well.
"I'm sorry I scared you, Andros. My name is Ashley and I am now the yellow Ranger." She found him quite handsome when she was able to look at him face to face, eye to eye, and not through a Ranger mask.
He nodded and smiled a slight smile. "Ashley of Earth, is that how I should address you?"
"Uhh, you can if you really want to. My name is Ashley Hammond and you can just call me Ashley, or Ash if you want; everyone does." She blushed looking at him.
"Alright, I will keep that in mind." He walked out after Karone. When Karone turned left to go to the supply closet, he turned right towards the living deck. As he walked along still in his Ranger suit, he looked but never saw one of the other three he had been told were onboard.
Once in his room, he looked around. It was all as Karone had said; his room was exactly as it had been left before being called down to the fight… the fight that evidently put his life on hold. He tried to remember what would have injured him so much that the only way to treat his injuries was cryogenic freezing, but only drew a blank.
What caught his eye was what sat behind the picture of the three children on his desk. It was a picture of him and Zhane holding onto Karone as she screamed in surprise. That night he had taken the Digimorpher out of storage. It was the one thing that helped him think about the positives of finding Zhane again. He set it down again. Karone knew he had had it in here; she should have at least put it back into its place in storage.
Karone walked in a few minutes later with the new uniform. "DECA has been keeping track of everything while you were in Cryo. She kept a record of every time you grew, even if it was only a micro millimeter. You know how precise she can be."
He accepted the clothes from her. She turned around as he demorphed and changed into the new uniform. "So fill me in on everything that has happened in the last two years," he said as he pulled the red shirt on over his head and straightened it.
"Well, how about I tell you the big things for now? We'll be talking about this till dinner." She paused and he nodded. "Alright, well… I guess I should start with the battle. That battle that placed you into cryo," she clarified. "We lost. Not completely, but enough that our people wouldn't be free if we remained on KO-35."
Andros sat quietly and listened to his sister's stories for several hours. By dinnertime, he learned that parts of Eltar had been conquered and that the Earth Rangers had lost their powers when Divatox destroyed their base. He also learned about how Ciarán Bevan had come of age and was now in charge of the Dark Fortress.
"Wow…" He blinked, taking another few moments to process that. "It sounds like quite a show has been going on. How have you been holding up?"
"I've been alright. I have had Ashley and Cassie supporting me; we have made a real girl power team, but I think having you here will be good for the guys," she said. She conveniently left Shawn out of the conversation; she knew he wouldn't be happy to know she was dating someone, even in a highly informal way.
They talked for a while until Karone glanced at the clock and realized what time it was. "Oh, Andros, we have to go—it's almost dinner time. We have been trying to make a habit of eating dinner together, seeing as the others have activities during the day. Everyone will be there, and I know they'll be glad to meet you."
Ashley stood up and greeted Andros as they walked into the mess hall. "Hi, Andros, I'd like to welcome you to dinner and would also like the pleasure, if your sister will allow me, to introduce you to the team."
Karone nodded and gave a little grin. "Sure, go ahead, Ashley. But where is Carlos?"
"Oh, he had a soccer game. I think he is showering and changing." She then turned her attention to Andros. "Over at the table is Cassie; she is totally awesome and I think you'll enjoy having her around. Over there in the kitchen with blue towel on his shoulder trying to look professional is TJ. He is the blue Ranger, and what he doesn't want you to know is that he didn't really cook what he is dishing into the serving bowls."
Cassie stood up and greeted Andros. "It's great to have you here, Andros."
TJ walked over and set the dishes on the table. "Ash, I don't know what you're talking about." He turned to Andros, "Great to see you've finally returned—now maybe Karone won't be so mopey."
Karone looked at TJ. "Whatever. I don't get mopey, and if I remember correctly—and I do—it was you and Carlos that cried your first night here." She laughed as she pushed past him and took her seat at the table.
Cassie agreed and sat in her seat across from Karone. Ashley sat down next to Cassie, and TJ took a seat next to Cassie and whispered something in her ear that caused her to punch him in the shoulder.
Karone turned around and grabbed Andros's arm. "You are sitting next to me tonight, Andros."
Ashley reached across to a bowl and dished some of the brown rice onto her plate, glaring at TJ as she started to eat. Cassie followed suit, minus the glare to TJ. After taking her share she passed it back up the table.
It was then that Carlos walked in. "Hey Karone, how did your day—"
Cassie jumped up from her seat and placed her hand over his mouth, cutting him off. "Carlos, be quiet, you know that no one is supposed to know about the secret project that you and I are helping her with." She pointed at Andros as she walked back to the table.
Andros was looking at the bowl that had been passed to him, debating whether or not he should try it. "What is it?"
Karone took the spoon from her brother and put a scoop on his plate before putting some on hers. "Andros, don't worry. You'll like this, as well as some of the other stuff TJ picked up. Just be happy that this meal doesn't include chop sticks." She passed the bowl down to Carlos, who took some before passing it to TJ. The other bowls were making their way around and people were being more selective.
Carlos looked at Andros, then at everyone else. "Hey, so, who exactly is the new guy?"
Andros turned towards him, trying to figure him out but he didn't say anything. He had always been the silent, observant type, and right now he was observing his sister's choice in teammates.
Carlos went on to say a few more things and Karone stiffened. "Carlos, do you mind? This my brother Andros, so you better shape up—it's actually his ship."
Carlos shut up quickly and went back to eating his dinner until he thought to mention to the others that Adam was in town for the holidays. He'd stopped by the gym where the indoor soccer game had been to say hi to the team.
Andros just observed the rest of the meal and when it was over, he retired to his quarters to rest and look over all the reports that had been filed since his fall. It was apparent that other than Ashley, no one knew where he had really been. One thing that surprised him was that the reports the filed were undisciplined; evidently on Earth there was no need to file progress reports, which was just automatic for a Kerovian Ranger.
After a few hours of report reading, he lay down on his bed and fell asleep with thoughts of Ashley and her laying underneath him in shock.