Part 6

Summary: Preparations before the big day.

Rating/Disclaimer: Same as before.

Author's Notes: Sorry this took so long, I hope it's worth the wait!

Thanks to: DevDev, White Tiger, Didi, Ozmandayus, Jessi, Morgan, StarryNights and everyone that has reviewed me but I can't remember because I can't get into my statistics file! Sorry. And Chapters 7 and 8 will be coming after I get my exam results tomorrow.


"This is our technical support room," Agent Perry explained, noticing the shocked faces, and the somewhat amused expression of Cresswell. "This is where the heart of the action takes place, you could say. Here is where everything's controlled."

The room held about twenty agents, either hunched over computer terminals, or talking intently on telephones. None of them so much as batted an eyelid when the five made their appearance, except for one woman who looked to be slightly younger than Emma Cresswell, who made her way over to them as soon as the door opened.

"This the Michigan team?" she asked.

"Yes, Oliver, Hilliard and Hart," Cresswell replied. "Has there been any feedback on Kyle Hicks's prefernce on women yet?"

A swift yet subtle glance at Kim convinced Tommy that she was petrified of what would be said.

Even though they still didn't know where they stood with each other, Tommy would do anything to prevent Kim from harm.

And as for Kat? He didn't want to see her hurt, that much he knew. They had shared something special once upon a time, and had been friends both before and after. Kat was a reassuring presence in his life.

But was she the one?

He managed to tear himself away from the inner workings of his mind just in time to realise that it seemed brunettes were Kyle Hicks's order of choice.

"Oh, fantastic," Kim said despondently.

"Kim, this isn't as risky as it may sound at first," Agent Cresswell said in an annoying cajoling tone, dismissing the lesser agent with a flick of her wrist. "All you'll have to do is approach him -in a public place, of course- flirt, and see what you can get out of him."

"And then he realises why I am doing that, becomes homicidal and kills me," Kim continued. "All in a days' work."

"As long as you pay attention when we prep you, you'll have nothing to worry about," Agent Perry said. Kim merely scowled and said nothing.

"Let's get out of here, I just wanted to show you this place and check in with Agent Florizan. We'll move to a room where we can sort out the particluars. Agent Perry, any ideas?"

The yound agent pulled a worn, folded piece of paper out of his pocket and consulted it before declaring, "Room 146 is free. Do we need any extra equipment?"

Kat couldn't take her eyes off him. Why didn't he become a model instead of devoting his life to the FBI? He certainly had the cheekbones for it.

Kat was also very glad that she wasn't in Kim's position right now. She must be scared out of her mind, but doing a good job of hiding it as they backtracked along the same characterless corridors.

Agent Cresswell had taken Tommy's place beside Kim as they walked through the huge building, which displeased both of them.

"Kim, I can completely understand you're apprehensive, but there really isn't anything to be overly concerned about. You'll approach him at the cafe he always visits on his lunch break, flirt, and ask him a few questions."

"What is she supposed to ask, 'Hi, I'm Betty, and by the way, were you on personal terms with Rita Repulsa and Lord Zedd before they became human?' " Tommy asked from behind them. "Talk about a conversation stopper."

"None of you need to worry. We've come up with a list of questions for you to ask that are in no way obvious. If by any chance he sees through you, we'll have plain clothed agents surrounding the building and in the cafe itself, to get you out of there asap."

Room 146 arrived, but it was by no means as impressive as the room they had just left. All it contained was a large table and numerous plastic chairs. A solitary clock perched on the wall, telling them the time was 8.15 am.

Peery and Cresswell took their rightful place as superior agents at the head of the table, with Kim, Kat and Tommy assembled opposite. Then Agent Perry jumped up, saying,

"Where is the list of questions?"

"Wiltord has them. Room 336."

Peery nodded and exited the room.

"Okay, Tommy and Kat, your job will be as two of the backup agents. Depending on how well Hicks responds, we may decide to move in and take him into FBI custody during Kim's interview, then track down his wife also, or we may get them at home once they finish work.

"Once we do get them back here to the colony, we'll interview them thoroughly and then most likely hand them over to the police to be charged."

"What exactly can you pin against them though? They haven't done anything, just talked about stuff a lot," Tommy pointed out.

"We can easily get them for plotting crimes against humanity," Cresswell replied, "Possibly more, depending on how they react once we approach them, and also whether they choose to reveal anything."

Agent Perry returned to the room, and handed a sheet of paper to Kim. "Memorise these, or at least get a basic idea of what they say. Don't stray off these questions, it'll cause too much suspicion if you do."

All three of the novice agents pored over the paper, and Kim let a few of her suspicions go. "Okay, I see what you mean now."

"That's good. Now, we'll see if any of the training agents are free to gte all of you up to speed on what to do if you're confronted."



*Room 336, 9.31 am*

"It feels as though we've been up for hours," Aisha complained as she, Jason and Rocky stood examining all kinds of weapons. "And yet I still don't want tomorrow to come."

"These are the kinds of weapons that you'll be dealing with," Agent Evans said, "and obviously we'll provide you with protection. The Conners won't hesitate to use their stored ammunition to protect themselves."

"What is the actual plan for tomorrow?" Rocky asked.

"We catch a plane - a private one of course - to California. Then we link up with the agents who are already stationed there and stake the house froma distance. As soon as it's empty we'll move in, detonate the weapons and most likely hang around to arrest them."

"wow," Jason muttered. Agent Wiltord grinned despite himself, and said,

"It's all in a day's work for us agents, although these people pose more of a threat to us than a lot of the vermin we normally deal with."

"Do we get to go home after we turn these guys in?" Rocky asked. "No-one made any explanations about where we were, and friends and family are going to get worried sooner or later."

"Especially me, Zack, Trini and Billy because we enrolled in AGU. We basically disappeared from two places," Jason added. "And Kim was staying with her brother, he's going to be worried too."

"It all depends on how effectively these three missions are carried out," Agent Evans said. "But excuses have been mae for all of you, no matter where you disappeared from. Keep in mind that most of you have been MIA for less than a day, and even you, Mr Scott, have been gone for less than a fortnight. It can all be explained away by a simple impromptu road trip."

"But are you planning on keeping us here for a long time?" Aisha sked desperately, wishing he would get to the point.

"As I said before, Ms Campbell, it all depends on the outcomes of the missions. Besides, that is not my decision to make. Agent Cresswell is the agent in charge of this operation, and she is the one who will make the ultimate decision," Evans said, slightly infuriated with their persistent questioning. He was used to working with experienced agents. Those who did what they were told without asking why. "We do have a lot of work to get though before allow you to break at 12.30, so I beg you, please cut the questioning for the moment. Wiltord-" turning to his junior. "Let's start them on the self-defense now instead of after lunch. Maybe it will wake them up a bit."

Jason, Rocky and Aisha shared apprehensive looks. Self-defense?

"I'll go and gett he targets and BPV's, sir," Wiltord informed him, and practically scurried out of the room. Evans moved to put the display ammunition away, leaving the three friends with time to confer about what had just happened.

"I thought he said we'd wait til they left the place before going in to detonate," Rocky hissed, moving closer to reduce the risk of Evans overhearing their conversation. "Now he's talking about self-defense?"

"Come on Rocky, do you really think they'd send us in there with no way of protecting ourselves?" Jason reminded him. "It shouldn't be as difficult as when we were Rangers, so try not to worry about it."

"Jason, we had the Power to protect us though," Aisha reminded him. "And we were killing things that...weren't human. But now, we're killing people if we kill anyone. Humans. People who once upon a time, had a conscience. They have people around them relying on them. And no person with even a tiny shred of conscience can do that without feeling guilty."

Jason sighed, as out of the corner of his eye he observed Wiltord and another man enter the room, loaded with targets for practise and what looked to be bullet-proof vests. "I'm not trying to be flippant about this. But there's no other option available to us, at least not one that I can see. These people pose a threat to the earth. We owe it to Zordon, everyone we couldn't save before, and to ourselves, to stop them. No matter what"

Agent Evans chose them to interrupt Jason's pep talk. "If you're done gossiping, Agent Taylor is here to finetune your shooting skills."

"It's just another day," Aisha muttered as their pow-wow broke up.


*Room 43, 10.31 am*

Since Zack, Trini, Adam and Tany had arrived in Room 43 almost 3 hours ago, they'd learned a lot more about the different ways to destroy technology than they thought were possible.

Agent Devon Williams had started them on work straight away, sitting each of them in front of a computer terminal and asking them to delete all information that was stored in it permanently.

"When you get to North Dakota, we want two of you to get into the building where Charlie Kenward works, specifically his office, and delete all information on the computers you'll find in there. The other two, you'll be involved in a mass raid on their home, where we need to confiscate any technological information that has a memory-store capacity," Agent Williams had informed them. "There's unlikely to be anything good in his office, so that's why we're deleting it, plus if they escape and go back there all the information they need will be lost."

"Why did they decide to leave Billy here, and not get him involved in thid deleting lark?" Zack had asked Trini as they worked futilely on their computers. "He knows twice as much as all of us put together about all this kind of stuff."

"I'm sure they have their reasons, "Trini said, pulling back from the monitor as it emitted an alarming beeping sound, "but I have to say I agree with you."

Adam and Tanya had no luck with deleting all information on their computers either. Everytime either of them believed they had finished, all it took was for Williams to press a few more keys, and yet more reams of information flashed up before them.

Finally, she had taken pity on them, and guided them all through it step-by-step.

"It really is simple once you've got the hang of it," she informed them with a smile on her face. "I didn't expect you to get anywhere near on your first attempt."

So she restored all of the information and made them try again. Luckily, Agent Williams was pretty easy going for an FBI agent at least, and was doing her best to answer all questions thrown at her.

"What do we do with Mr and Mrs Kenward if they walk in on any of us?" had been Adam's first pessimistic question.

"You'll be armed, so if you feel threatened by them, shoot. Try to go for the more humane option of a citizen's arrest, though. We need them alive."

"Do you know yet who will go where?" Tanya asked, hoping that she and Adam would be placed together. She didn't want to have to spend all her time worrying that he was in danger, and Adam felt the same way about her.

"Not yet. I will decide that before we leave tomorrow morning."

"What time will we leave tomorrow?" Zack asked, bashing at the computer keys in a vain attempt to delete a main folder.

"Our plane is scheduled to leave after the California one. Probably about 7.15."

"Can we really get all of this pulled off in a day? Destroy all their stored information at work, find all of their stuff at home, and bring them back here?" Trini asked doubtfully. "Shouldn't there be more to it than that?"

"Don't forget that we have other agents out there in North Dakota. We've just been brought in to help with the carrying out of the mission. Any follow up work, like destroying any paperwork they've been foolish enough to keep, will be taken care of by those agents based in ND," Agent Williams explained.

"And that will be it for us? We delete a few computers, bring in two people and that's all we're needed for?" Adam asked, still unsure as to why the FBI had needed their help on this one. None of them seemed to be doing anything as of yet that an ordinary FBI agent couldn't have done better. It seemed as though there was some sort of hidden agenda or ulterior motive behind all of this.

Or maybe he'd been watching too many black and white spy movies in between classes.

"You'd have to bring that up with Agent Cresswell, I'm afraid," Agent Willaims cleverly deflected. "I'm only here to teach you how to delete computerized information and to bring in a couple of errant citizens tomorrow morning."

Adam returned his attention to the computer screen before him, pausing only to share a meaningful glance with Tanya.

Both were positive that there was more to them being brought in than met the eye.

"Will we get to see our friends at lunchtime?" Trini asked, an innocent question, but everyone read into it that she wanted to check that Billy was coping alright on his own.

"I expect so, Ms Kwan. You'll break for lunch at 12.30, whether the other members of your elite will be there or not is up to your agents in charge."

The still working clock on his computer told Zack that the time was now 10.43 am. Only an hour and three quarters left before he could check in on Aisha and make sure that she and everyone else was doing okay.

One other thing that he had picked up on was the fact that the good kid/bad kid routine seemed to have disappeared overnight. Hopefully some light would be shed on this at lunchtime, if anyone else would be there when they were.

This event was getting stranger by the minute.


*Sitka Bau dining room, 12.35*

Thankfully, when Agent Williams's group walked through the double doors to the dining room, everyone else was already assembled there and eating as slowly as they could, to draw out the time spent together as a group.

After having procured a bowl of soup from the counter, Trini sat down next to Billy. "How are you holding up on your own, sweetie?"

Billy greeted her with a kiss before replying. "It's not too bad up there in Technology Tower. I've spent most of my time trying to get one of the detonators Jason's group needs to work."

"I thought Cresswell said that everything was falling apart? From that, I gathered that it would be panic stations," she said, taking a first spoonful of soup.

"Either it died down or she was sorely exaggerating," Billy informed her. "I couldn't see any evidence of major problems there at all."

"At least you'll be out of the crossfire here," Trini said. "And you know that you're able to help, no matter what you're doing."

"Yeah, but I still won't be able to stop worrying about you," Billy reminded her. "I wish I could figure out what they're planning to do with us after we finish."

"You don't have a clue either," Jason asked from opposite him. "Evans was his old closemouthed self when we asked him."

"No. Agent Williams was really nice, but she said she didn't know what they were planning. Whether she was evading the truth or not, I don't know," Trini told them. "She said Cresswell would be the one to decide everything."

"I wonder if her group got told anything," Jason mused. Kat was engaged in conversation with Rocky, but a little further along the long table Kim and Tommy were sitting opposite each other in silence. "Tommy? Did Cresswell mention anything about letting us go after tomorrow?"

He looked up and shook his head. "Nope, not a word."

Jason shrugged and turned back to Billy and Trini, Adam and Tanya had now joined the table, and the conversation. "What's up with those two?" he mouthed almost silently.

"I don't know," Trini replied quietly. "Kat might, why don't you ask her?"

"It's not a matter of life and death, I just wondered," Jason said, but Tanya had already turned to Kat and was asking,

"What's up with the resident Romeo and Juliet?"

Kat looked puzzled for a moment, then her expression cleared. "Something was up before this, but Kim has to approach Kyle Cook and get information from him, and she's less than enthusiastic about it."

"Really?" Adam asked. "She must be the only one who has to approach one of the six personally. No wonder she's petrified."


"You know you'll be fine tomorrow," Tommy finally said after close to five minutes of silence. "Positive thinking and all that."

"Easy to say, harder to do," Kim mumbled, poking at her spaghetti with her fork. "I think this is alive."

"Cresswell said if anything happened everyone would be in like a shot," Tommy said, trying to reassure her. "You've got the questions, you'll be fine."

Kim met his eyes fo the first time since the 'revelation'. "I'm going to have a one-on-one with one of the most dangerous men in America, if not the world, armed with a handgun and a list of question. Excuse me if I'm still completely terrified."

Tommy sighed, and decided to leave it. There was no use in arguing with Kim when she was in one fo those moods, as he remembered.

"Sorry, I'm being a bitch," Kim said after a slight pause. "You've done nothing to deserve it."

"It's okay." Tommy said.

There was yet another awkward pause before Kim asked tentatively, "Um.. are _we_ okay? You know, after me telling you.... stuff."

"Yeah, we're fine," Tommy said. Kim opened her mouth as if to say something, but apparently thought better of it and closed her mouth again. "What?" he asked.

"Nothing," she said, and made another half-hearted stab at her spaghetti.

"Well, if we're fine, then you're going to tell me," Tommy half-teased, reaching over to take the fork out of her grip and putting it beside his own untouched plate. "Spill."

Kim sighed, but knew that it would be futile to resist. "I was only wondering if after all this is over, and we get out of this place, we... God, don't listen to me, I'm rambling."

"If we could have another chance?" Tommy asked, not wanting to get his hopes up. She nodded, and took her fork back. "That would be a more than likely possibility."

A grin spead over Kim's face, the first real smile he'd seen since they met up again two days ago. "That would be... interesting."

"You can count on it."

Now both of them were smiling at each other, and would have continued to do so had Agent Cresswell not made another unwelcome appearance in the dining room and called, "My group, come on! You'll see everyone else at dinner."

Kat reluctantly took her leave of Rocky, they had been talking about the best ways of self-defense, and even though it wasn't one of her chosen conversation subjects, she hadn't wanted to leave. Agent Perry was unapproachable, and it wasn't a good idea to be getting involved with him. Even if he did have cheekbones that could cut glass. Rocky was a good friend who was rapidly turning into something more, someone who could always be relied on to make her laugh in times of despair. Steve Perry was an FBI agent who would be here today, and gone tomorrow, and the next day, and the next. It was a lifethreatening job, never mind the fact that he was about five years older than she was.

And Rocky would be the one, she thought to herself as they exited the dining room, following behind Agent Cresswell and Tommy and Kim, who she took pleasure in noticing, were discreetly holding hands.

Maybe something good can come out of our project of ridding the world of evil, Kat though. But for now, it looks as though we're stuck in the dark end of the tunnel.