Disclaimer: SOTPR, but not the goldfish jingle. "The snack that smiles back, goldfish!" Thanks to Amanda and Jared for the inspiration, not that I'm implying anything, and to Travler for telling me what's going to happen next. Couldn't do it without you.
by Starhawk
Kerone woke up tired. She never considered that a good sign. She also woke up mad, which was second on her list of bad ways to start the day. Of course, since the former almost always led to the latter--this instance being no exception--she supposed she should just be grateful that she hadn't woken up hungry, too.
She rolled over on her side to complain to Ashley, and only then remembered that the other girl had left for Earth several days before. That only made her madder, and she sat up with a scowl on her face. "Andros," she said to the air. "I swear, if you find any more ways to ruin this day before it even begins, I'm leaving too."
The air didn't answer, but her eye fell on the single pair of skates left by the door. She swung her legs over the side of the bed with a renewed determination. She was getting out of Keyota for the day, and heaven help anyone who stood in her way.
She was emerging from the room's tiny bathroom when she heard a knock on the door. She frowned at it, putting her hands on her hips as though whoever was on the other side could see her. "That better not be Andros with another list of things to accomplish," she told the door.
The person on the other side took that as an invitation, and Andros poked his head inside. "Me, yes," he agreed. "List, no. But there's a council meeting this morning, and Kinwon asked if we could all attend."
Kerone stared at him incredulously. "I hope you told him no! This is our first real day off in weeks."
"Of course I didn't tell him no." Andros looked taken aback at the thought, but behind his surprise there was a weariness that had lingered in his eyes for days. "Kerovan Rangers should be at the council meetings, day off or not."
"No, they shouldn't," she said firmly. "That's what a day off means, Andros. It means you take a day for yourself and remember how to be human instead of some sort of super-powered legend."
Andros sighed. He looked like he'd had this argument already--probably with more than one person. "It's not about being a legend. I'm just trying to do my job."
He looked more tired than she felt, and she felt a flare of anger. He was doing this to himself, and he pretended not to even realize it. If she and Zhane didn't fight him every step of the way, dragging him away from work and forcing him to slow down, he would just keep going until he burned out.
"If it were a job, you'd take a day off every now and then," she informed him. "If you didn't let it eat up every part of your life, you would have remembered to say good morning when you came in just now. This is more than a job; it's an obsession. None of us signed up for this, Andros."
His expression closed up, and she frowned irritably. Ashley was good at this. She wasn't. Ashley would have been able to make him see reason. But then, Ashley had left because making Andros see reason had become a full-time job. Trying to fight what he wanted all the time could burn a person out as surely as letting him go would burn Andros out.
"This is what being a Ranger is about, Kerone," he said coldly. "We can't just blow up our problems. We have to try to fix them."
Shocked past her anger for a moment, she could only stare at him. The more rational side of her said that he must be far more worn out than he was letting on to make a comment like that. The other side complained bitterly about the allusion to her past and was sorely tempted to throw him out of her room.
"Go to your council meeting," she said at last, trying to keep her voice even. "I'm not Ashley, Andros, and if you want to work until you collapse then that's your decision. But I'm taking my day off."
"Fine." Without another word, Andros turned and left.
She was half tempted to yell "Fine!" after him, but she contented herself with slamming the door. What was *wrong* with him? Couldn't he see what was happening? He was trying to rebuild a planet all by himself, and as long as he did anything people asked they would just keep asking.
"Delegate," she muttered. It was the first rule of authority: use it and pass it on.
After another moment of fuming, she forced herself to draw in a deep breath. She wasn't going to change Andros; that much was clear. But she needed this day to herself, to get away from the constant demands of an undergoverned planet, and that she could do.
The former princess of evil gave a casual wave of her hand and her pajamas vanished, replaced by clothes suitable more for morning. They were inconspicuous only in the fact that they didn't sport the Astro Ranger logo, but she didn't intend to be around many people today anyway. Kerone grabbed her skates and her hover license and headed for the door.
***
Andros heard the door slam behind him, but he didn't pause. He knew his sister blamed him for Ashley's departure, and she had been short with him ever since her friend left. No matter how much he tried to make her see where their true responsibilities lay, Kerone had been on her own for too long to start putting the greater good ahead of her own wishes now.
He scowled as he pulled the door of his room open and found Zhane still in bed. Kerone wasn't the only one who didn't see the necessity of keeping up with KO-35's rapidly shifting government. Zhane's more laid-back attitude led him to support whatever decisions Andros made without really considering the consequences. It was nice to have that sort of ally in council meetings, but sometimes he got the feeling the Silver Ranger just didn't care.
"Zhane," he said aloud. "It's the middle of the morning, you know."
There was no answer save for the flick of a brown tail from underneath the edge of the comforter. One of the kittens must have relocated when Andros got up, seeking out a new warm body to cuddle up against. He was tempted to go over and yank the covers off of both of them.
"Zhane," he repeated more sternly. He knew the other was awake.
Zhane's mental voice was slow when he finally deigned to reply. *Sunrise is *not* the middle of the morning.* There was still no movement from the lump on the bed.
"Morning began at midnight," Andros retorted, pleased to find a use for Ashley's favorite explanation. His smile faded a little then and he added, "Come on, Zhane. We're going to be late to the council meeting."
Without waiting for an answer, he went over to the blank screen set into the wall. He intended to let Kinwon know that Kerone wouldn't be joining them, but the comm didn't activate when he spoke to it. Frowning, he tried again. When it still refused to respond, he tried manually keying in his authorization code and was greeted with the message, "Access denied."
"What's wrong with the comm?" he inquired irritably.
*Nothing,* Zhane mumbled in his mind.
"Well, it's not working." Andros glared at the screen, then turned back toward the door to find whoever was slated for hostel maintenance this morning. He almost bumped into the door when it didn't open at his approach.
"Did we lose power again?" Andros demanded, glancing back at the screen. It still read "Access denied," proving that the generators hadn't failed completely. "What's going on?"
*Andros, go back to bed,* Zhane told him. *It's too early for this.*
"If there's a problem, we need to find it," Andros insisted, punching his override into the door's locking mechanism. If there was any power at all in the system it would open for his code, but the door didn't budge.
*There's no problem.* The comforter on the bed finally moved, and Zhane's blue eyes peered sleepily out at him. Silver-grey fur by his right shoulder proved that both kittens were actually under the blankets with him. *I locked you out of the computer.*
Andros stared at him, his brain refusing to comprehend the words. "You... what?"
*I used our Ranger codes to lock you out of the computer,* Zhane repeated. *It's your day off and you shouldn't even be up this early, let alone running around trying to organize council attendance.*
Torn between hurt and the anger born of helplessness, Andros sputtered, "It's none of your business how I spend my day off! You have no right to tell me what to do!"
Zhane gave him a one-shouldered shrug and rolled over, his back to Andros as he pulled the comforter up over his head again. *I'm sorry you feel that way.*
Stunned, Andros sank onto the other bed and stared at the lump that was his friend. Zhane had effectively trapped him here in this room with no access to the outside world, and the implications of that were only just beginning to sink in. Was everyone conspiring against him now?
"Zhane," he whispered, hearing the betrayal in his voice.
Zhane heard it too, and the Silver Ranger threw back the covers once more. He pushed himself up on his elbows but said nothing, gazing over at Andros and ignoring the mewing protests of dislodged kittens. Your move, his expression said.
Andros looked away, not sure he could account for himself in the face of such intensity. Zhane had never questioned, never protested except in the most innocuous of ways, and he had taken for granted that his friend would always be there to back him up. Losing Ashley had hurt, but in the back of his mind he had always known she might leave. Zhane's actions took him completely by surprise.
"We're not deserting you, Andros," Zhane said quietly. "It just feels like you're deserting us, sometimes."
His head jerked up, and he knew Zhane saw the question in his eyes without him having to voice it.
The other boy climbed out of bed, sunlight catching in tousled hair that had more white highlights than it used to. His pajamas were rumpled but his expression was solemn as he made his way over to Andros' bed. "Stand up," he said, taking Andros' arm as he obeyed.
Zhane led him over to the mirror on the back of the door and they gazed at their reflection for a moment: Zhane barefoot in the same silver clothes he had slept in and Andros wearing his Astro flightsuit and boots. For just a moment Zhane looked far older than he did, but then Andros blinked and the illusion vanished.
"Who are you?" Zhane asked at last.
Surprised, Andros answered without thinking. "The Red Ranger."
Zhane put a hand over his heart, covering up the Astro logo on Andros' flightsuit. "Who are you?" he repeated more quietly.
Andros studied his reflection, ignoring the impeccable uniform and neat ponytail. Instead he saw shadowed eyes and a worried expression, and a face that belonged to a person he thought he had left behind. It was the face of someone who had lost his entire world and was afraid it could still happen again.
He let his gaze slide toward Zhane's. "I'm your best friend," he said softly, well aware that the words had come out as a question.
Zhane smiled at that. "Anyone can be the Red Ranger, Andros. But I only have one best friend, and you're it." There was a pause, and he added, "Trust me, all right?
"Here," he said, pulling Andros toward the window. "Look out there."
There was a little girl in the hostel gardens, playing with the sap set out for the flutterbies. She was the first one Andros noticed, sticky stuff running down her fingers and catching in her hair as she tried to shake it off her hands. But there were others: an older woman who might have been her mother seated by the garden path with her eyes closed, two people leaving through the gates with backpacks and a foreign lilt to the way they walked, a boy about their own age twirling a hover pass on his finger as he sauntered down the road in the opposite direction. It was early, but the city of Keyota was already stirring.
"Look at that," Zhane repeated. "There they go, off into their lives... without any help from you."
Andros gave him a sharp look. "Why should they need help from me?"
Zhane turned innocent blue eyes on him. "You tell me. What were you planning to do today, again?"
Andros sighed. "Zhane, the council meeting is important."
"No," Zhane insisted. "What were you planning to do before that came up?"
"I--" Andros hesitated. "We weren't planning anything... I was just going to hang out with you and Kerone."
"The council meeting will happen whether you're there or not," Zhane reminded him. "But Kerone's already gone, isn't she."
Andros folded his arms, not wanting to admit the truth of that. He suspected she had left as soon as he was gone and would not be seen again for the rest of the day.
"Red Ranger or best friend, Andros," Zhane said quietly. "Which one is more important?"
He sighed. "Best friend, of course. But--"
"But?" Zhane repeated.
Andros hesitated. "Nothing," he said at last, glancing at the comm screen. Its last words hadn't faded, and suddenly he saw them in a new light. So he couldn't reach Kinwon. His life wasn't over. But what if he couldn't reach Zhane? What if there came a day when Ashley didn't answer, or Kerone?
He raised his gaze to Zhane's again. "Do you really feel like I've deserted you?" he asked at last, searching his friend's expression. "I'm just trying to make things better..."
"And you are," Zhane said firmly. "Those people out there in the garden wouldn't even be there if it hadn't been for the Astro Rangers. KO-35 would be just another deserted colony world, and its people would be scattered across the galaxy doing their best to lay low until Dark Spectre got bored with looking for them. But anything you owe to them, you owe to yourself too.
"You have your home back, Andros." Zhane looked wistful for just a moment, but he corrected himself before Andros could say anything. "We have our home back. If we don't enjoy that, then what was the point?
"Sure," he said without waiting for an answer. "Things are better because of you. So don't kill yourself trying to do things that other people can do just as well, because if you do then you won't be around to do what only you can do when it's needed."
Andros just looked at him for a moment. The remark that had made Zhane's face cloud over hadn't been lost on him, but now he was the same irreverent yet strangely insightful friend Andros had always known. His expression was expectant, not distressed.
"I don't think there will be too many more Dark Spectres for us to get rid of," Andros said at last. "So if I'm supposed to sit around waiting to do that again--"
Zhane narrowed his eyes, and Andros bit his lip in an effort to keep from smiling. His friend hadn't taken the bait, and he finally conceded defeat. "All right, all right. Point taken."
"No council meeting?"
"No council meeting," Andros agreed.
*Astrea!* Zhane's mental shout was deafening, and Andros winced in protest. *Stop sulking and get back here!*
Andros was tempted to ask whether the volume had been strictly necessary, but instead he waited to see if she would answer. When there was only silence, he exchanged glances with Zhane. The Silver Ranger shrugged as though it didn't matter one way or the other.
"She must be really mad," he said cheerfully, scooping up one of the kittens from his bed and handing it to Andros. "Here, hold this."
"What are you doing?" Andros watched him set the other ball of fluff on the floor before yanking all the covers off of his bed and pulling the mattress away from the wall.
"Looking for my shirt," Zhane replied, his voice muffled as he stuck his head down behind the bed.
Andros patted the brown kitten in his arms absently. Katana had always preferred Ashley, but she hadn't been able to take pets back to school with her. "The shirt you wore yesterday? Don't you think it'll be a little wrinkled by now?"
"I'm not going to *wear* it." Zhane searched under his pillow before getting down on his knees to look under the bed. "I'm looking for the schedule Cestria gave me."
"What schedule?" Andros asked, bemused.
Zhane pulled a silver vest out from under the bed triumphantly. "Aha!" Extracting a small data chip from the pocket, he tossed it to Andros who just barely managed to stop it with his mind before it would have clipped Katana's ear.
Giving the chip a telekinetic shove, he watched it fly across the room and settle in the disc reader by the comm screen. A list of times appeared on the screen, and he frowned. "What's that for?"
"The Aquitian asteroid hop," Zhane answered, pulling another shirt that might or might not have been clean out from underneath his bed. "Kerone and I were going to surprise you with the registration, but since you managed to tick her off already--not hard these days, I might add--I figure we might as well keep our slot."
Andros squirmed guiltily. "I should go after her," he muttered.
"No," Zhane disagreed. "You know how hard she is to find when she decides to disappear. She'll be back tonight and she'll either yell at you some more or ignore you until tomorrow. Either way, there's nothing we can do about it now."
*Kerone?* Andros couldn't help trying anyway. She wouldn't have taken her communicator with her; he knew that from past experience. She had stormed out on Zhane often enough that they knew what to expect when she vanished now.
There was no answer, not that he had really expected one. Neither of them had dared to ask whether she truly blocked them during times like these, or if she still heard them but chose to pretend otherwise. *I'm sorry,* he thought, just in case. *Zhane talked some sense into me. We're going to Aquitar, if you want to come with.*
An Ashley-ism, he realized even as he thought it. Want to come with? had become standard slang between her and Kerone over the last few months, but he hadn't had enough contact with Earth to know whether it was original or not.
"Well, you gave it a try," Zhane said, breaking the silence as he changed. "We can leave a message on her comm, too, in case she comes back early."
***
Her old room was dark and silent save for the nearly inaudible whistle of relay static coming over the comm. It took a few seconds for the setup to connect, but she hadn't realized how irritating the delay was before she'd gotten used to the instantaneous Kerovan equipment. She wrapped her arms around herself and leaned forward, willing Andros' face to appear on the little screen.
The Astro Ranger symbol flashed across the screen at last, and she held her breath. It lingered too long, but she told herself that was just the comm--until Andros' recorded message answered instead of a live image. She sighed, watching him tell her to leave her link number so he could get in touch when he got back.
She glanced down at the watch Kerone had given her. It was almost noon on KO-35, and this was to have been their day off. She had to admit that she was a little surprised he had taken it without her there to force him into it, but she supposed Zhane and Kerone could be counted on to keep him sane in her absence.
"Hi," she said quietly, when the "recording" message flashed on the screen. "It's Ashley. I just wanted to make sure you weren't working through your day off. Call me when you get a chance. Bye."
She wanted to say more. She wanted to say, "It's two a.m. and I can't sleep. Stay up with me and make me laugh." She wanted to say, "I just had the worst dream in the history of the world, and I need someone to tell me it wasn't real." She wanted to say, "Why are you off having fun without me when I'm stuck here being miserable and all I want is to know that you're miserable too!"
She couldn't say that, though, and she had had no reason to expect him to be around when she called at such an odd hour. He had a watch ticking off the minutes in California the same as she had one running on Keyota time, and if there were any time when he would assume hearing from her was impossible, it would be now.
With a sigh, she turned off her parents' comm set and stared around the room. It hadn't changed much while she'd been gone, except that her mom had piled a couple of storage crates in one corner and there was a basket of hangers by the door. She supposed she could forgive those minor intrusions, considering the way she had left at the beginning of the summer. She had thought then that she might not come back at all, and she had told her parents as much. A few boxes weren't such a surprise, really.
Had they known? She wondered about that as she got to her feet. She walked quietly down the hall toward the kitchen, ghosting through the old familiar house and marveling at how easily it had let her back in. KO-35 seemed far away right now, and she couldn't help feeling--trapped. By the past, by her surroundings... she didn't know by what, exactly. The feeling faded a little as she let herself out the front door, but when she looked up at the sky she didn't feel any closer to where she wanted to be.
"Why did you come back if you didn't want to?" Jeff had asked.
Staring out at the street in front of her, she remembered her cryptic answer. "I didn't want to stay just because I didn't want to leave."
She sighed, starting down the sidewalk to the place where she'd parked her car. Had her parents expected her back this fall? It seemed almost foolish in hindsight, leaving for a planet she'd never stayed more than a few nights on with someone she knew cared more about his home than he did about her...
Or was that unfair? She didn't really believe that, after all. She knew Andros loved her, and if forced to choose she believed in her heart that he would choose her over KO-35. But he didn't have to choose, and that was what made it difficult. As selfish as it seemed, she knew it was competing with KO-35 for Andros' attentions that had exhausted her while she was there.
She fished her keys out of her pocket and unlocked the driver's side door, pausing before she climbed in to glance up at the sky once more. She didn't like this feeling of being confined to a single planet. She missed the shuttle lights crisscrossing the sky, and the hum of the skyport down the road. She missed looking up at KO-35's sister planet in the sky and knowing that someone on that planet was probably looking back at her.
She missed the hover Kerone had taught her to drive, if it came to that. She missed the food. She missed the antigravs Zhane had installed in their skates, and the way the gates at the hostel swung silently on their false hinges.
"I miss you," she whispered to the sky. She wasn't sure if she meant Andros or his planet.
Finally, she settled into the driver's seat and closed the door. Flipping her headlights on, she started the engine and pulled out into the road. She hadn't wanted to wake her parents, but the nightmare of a world gone horribly wrong had driven her out of bed to seek solace in Andros' voice. She wasn't sure if seeing the recorded image of him had eased or encouraged her loneliness.
***
The two-seater slammed into the rock outcropping and lifted off in the same breath--or it would have been the same breath, if Zhane had had any left to spare. All Andros ever needed was an excuse to throw caution to the wind and he tossed it away like so much recycled air. There was only one asteroid between them and the finish line, and the Red Astro Ranger was intent on catching up to the sole winged pod in front of them.
"We're not going to make it," Zhane advised over the headset. "They're worse than you are."
"Or better," Andros shot back, and though they sat back to back Zhane could almost see the look of intense concentration on his friend's face. "But we can still catch them."
Zhane watched the tactical display with half his attention and filtered Andros' nav corrections with the other half. Andros' flying was instinctive; he could have gone without a copilot but the rules of the competition said it was a full two-seater or nothing. So Zhane rode backup and tried to keep from flinching when his friend flung their little ship too close to a hurtling piece of rock for comfort.
The ship ahead of them bounced off the last asteroid and headed for the finish line, its victory unofficial but indisputable at this point. As soon as the two-seater's sensors registered that last impact their ID number would have been logged by the judges; there would be no catching them now.
The bottom of the craft scraped hard against the rock below, but not hard enough. Zhane braced himself as Andros slammed the ship down once more, and the confirmation code flashed across tactical. "Man," he heard Andros mutter. "We were that close!"
Zhane grinned to himself. Andros' obsessive nature might be hard to break through, but once his attention was diverted it was fully diverted. He had completely forgotten about KO-35, and if Zhane knew his friend Andros was right now fuming over the identity of the pilot who had beaten him.
"Who *are* those guys?" Andros demanded right on cue as their ship shot out of the asteroid belt and trailed the winners to the finish line. "Did you get a copy of the contestant list?"
Zhane rolled his eyes. "Yeah, hang on, I have that in my pocket. We'll find out at the finish line, like everyone else!"
Andros muttered something that the headset didn't pick up, and Zhane suppressed a snicker. For all that a Ranger leader was supposed to be about teamwork and fair play, Andros was as competitive as anyone else when challenged. More competitive, most of the time.
The "finish line" was actually the same place they had started from: an old mining dome in synchronous orbit with the debris field that separated the Aquitian system's fourth and fifth planets. The domed facility was long outdated now, and it had been converted into a tour base and recreation center years ago. Its old survey pods had been retrofitted for asteroid hopping, and it was the old unloading dock that offered returning racers a haven from the void of space.
The pod that had sailed through the atmospheric containment ahead of them was already hunkered down in its berth, but the pilot and copilot who had brought it in were invisible from above. Andros set their pod down in its designated space sedately, proving that he was capable of saner flying than he had just demonstrated, and Zhane craned his neck in an effort to see who might be standing just outside the landing area.
As Andros hit the canopy release, Zhane sprung his harness and pulled himself out of the copilot's chair. He saw a third pod settling down nearby and a fourth coming in hard on their heels, but at that moment a group of local media leaving the landing area distracted him. Leaving?
Then he caught a glimpse of the winning pod's pilot, and he began to understand. They weren't leaving; they were simply looking for the "real" winner. Rangers were welcome in all Aquitian-sponsored events, but in contests that involved reflex, strength, or reaction time, they were automatically disqualified from the top five spots.
"Congratulations," Andros was saying as Zhane came around the pod to greet Aquitar's Black Ranger. "That was some nice flying out there."
"Yeah, he can say that now that he knows it was another Ranger," Zhane put in, coming to stand by Andros' shoulder. "You should have heard him before we knew who it was!"
"I confess that I'm somewhat mollified as well," Delphinius said, though there was no visible trace of relief on his face. "You were a serious threat to our victory. I feared I might be out of practice."
"Who was your copilot?" Zhane asked curiously.
"Copilot?" Delphinius repeated, deadpan. He said it so seriously that for a moment Zhane wondered if he had found some way around that rule.
"Another Ranger," Andros surmised aloud. "Or those reporters wouldn't have left so quickly."
Delphinius pretended to consider the remark. "The problem I am having is only one of semantics, I think. 'Copilot' implies some degree of assistance on the part of the person you are flying with."
"The same way 'pilot' implies a degree of skill," a voice replied acerbically. "You work on your job and I'll work on mine."
Every time Zhane came to Aquitar, he told himself he wouldn't let the relationship between the White and Black Aquitian Rangers surprise him. And every time he came, the mere fact that Cetaci and Delphinius were still together would make him break his word. So he wasn't overly startled to look up and see Cetaci leaning over the edge of the pod's cockpit, watching the conversation with an unreadable expression on her face.
"Although 'copilot' may not be exactly the right word," Dephinius said, as though she hadn't interrupted, "I believe you do have an equivalent in your language. I am only trying to remember it."
It was one of the few times Zhane had seen an Aquitian Ranger at a loss for words, and he couldn't help but think Delphinius was exaggerating his difficulty. He was sure of it when the Black Ranger said suddenly, "Handicap... Yes, that's it. I had a handicap, not a copilot."
"It hasn't impaired his ability to rationalize," Cetaci said, to no one in particular. "If only making excuses were a more respected profession."
"There is no need to rationalize victory." Delphinius' tone was mild. He was still looking at Zhane, but he was clearly addressing his teammate. "As anyone acquainted with the feeling of being victorious knows."
"Strange that you're so good at it, then," Cetaci retorted.
Zhane might not have noticed the abrupt change in Andros' expression if he hadn't picked that moment to exchange glances with his friend. Andros went from detached amusement to wide-eyed confusion in the blink of an eye, and Zhane frowned in concern. "Andros? Are you all right?"
Andros actually started at the sound of his voice, and Zhane's frown deepened. Cetaci had fallen silent and Delphinius was watching the Red Ranger with careful curiosity. Zhane couldn't tell whether they had actually noticed something amiss or were just reacting to his question, but he appreciated the moral support.
"I'm--fine." Andros waved a hand at them, but the brief hesitation in his reply hadn't escaped Zhane.
"Are you sure?" he pressed. "You look like you've seen a ghost."
Andros glanced around, and the mere fact that he didn't reply immediately set off warning bells inside Zhane's head. Finally he began, "I thought..."
"You thought what?" Zhane prompted, when Andros didn't seem inclined to finish.
Andros frowned, looking around once more. He looked a little sheepish when he admitted, "I thought I saw Ashley."
"Here?" Zhane knew it was a ridiculous question as soon as he said it, but he couldn't help taking a quick look around himself. What would she be doing at the asteroid hop? She didn't know about the tickets; he and Kerone had gotten them after she left.
"Right--right where you're standing, actually." Andros looked almost as disconcerted as Zhane felt at that remark. "For a moment... I thought she was the one who flew with me."
"She wasn't," Zhane said with a frown.
Andros gave his head an impatient shake. "I know!" Out of the corner of his eye Zhane saw Delphinius glance up at Cetaci. "It was just this feeling I had," his friend continued. "I don't know where it came from. But just for a second I could have sworn it was her standing there instead of you."
"Is it possible this is a natural mental aberration?" Delphinius inquired, when the silence lengthened.
"You mean am I stressed out to the point of imagining things?" There was a hint of irritation that Andros was clearly trying to hide in his tone. "I don't know. Maybe."
"I am only asking whether you think this is likely," Delphinius said, tilting his head. "If you believe there may be another explanation, we should investigate."
"Like what?" Andros demanded, and this time his frustration was clear. "Telepathic intrusion? Cross-dimensional vortexes? The Psycho Rangers? What other explanation could there be?"
"Any of those are valid suggestions," Cetaci remarked. Still perched above them on the edge of the pod, she looked perfectly serious. "While Rangers are not immune to hallucinations, they certainly cannot afford to overlook alternative explanations when such a thing occurs."
Andros frowned up at her, and for a moment Zhane thought he was about to contradict her. Instead all he said was, "I thought you were wearing blue."
Cetaci blinked. "Excuse me?"
The same look of confusion flitted across Andros' face, and he shook his head. "Never mind."
Cetaci gave Delphinius a decidedly odd look, which he returned in kind. "Andros," she said slowly. "Perhaps you should tell us exactly what you just saw."
"I didn't see anything," he insisted. "I just--had this weird feeling for a second. I thought I saw Ashley, but obviously I didn't. It's not a big deal."
"Still." Cetaci seemed unwilling to let the subject drop. "I will return to the Ranger dome and conduct some scans, just to be certain. Will you consent to accompany me?"
Andros shot Zhane a look that was as good as a sigh, but Zhane just shrugged. *You know how much I like Aquitar, but now I'm curious. It won't take long, anyway.*
"All right," Andros agreed at last. "At least maybe I'll listen next time you tell me to get some sleep," he added more quietly, the remark directed at Zhane as Delphinius reached up to help Cetaci out of the two-seater pod.
"If that was true," Zhane informed him, "Ashley really would be here today."
Andros flinched, and Zhane felt instantly guilty. "Sorry," he murmured. "That was low."
Andros shook his head, not meeting his gaze. "That was true," he corrected softly.
There were no more words while they waited for Delphinius and Cetaci to join them.
***
The ceiling seemed farther away than usual. Perhaps the grey metal generated some sort of optical illusion to which she was no longer accustomed. Perhaps the hostel rooms had low ceilings and she'd never noticed until now. Or maybe she'd just been staring up at it for too long.
"DECA," Kerone said aloud. "What time is it?"
"ETA is 34 minutes," DECA replied, answering the question she'd meant to ask rather than the one that had actually come out of her mouth.
With a sigh, she swung one hand over the edge of her bunk and fumbled for Andros' telekinesis ball. Clearly, she wasn't going to fall asleep, so she might as well entertain herself. She'd swiped the toy from Andros' quarters several weeks ago, but it was a testament to how wrapped up he'd been in their work that he had yet to notice.
She tossed the multicolored sphere into the air and watched it expand. It hovered between her and the too-high ceiling, and she stared at it with as much concentration as she could muster. She imagined it floating away from her, bobbing gently toward the far wall the way it did when Ashley looked at it.
Nothing happened, of course, but she couldn't resist trying. She had tried almost every day since stealing the forgotten but fateful leftover from her childhood on KO-35, and each time the results had been the same. The harder she willed the ball to move, the more firmly it remained in place.
It hadn't always been that way. Kerone could remember moving the ball with her mind; she could even imagine it drifting away from her in her mind's eye. But she couldn't make it happen. Andros could do it. Zhane could do it. Even Ashley could do it... but not her.
She lifted one hand and pushed the ball away. Sitting up, she glanced up at DECA's camera. "DECA?" she asked the computer impulsively. "Who am I?"
The camera's red light blinked on, and she thought she could feel a hint of DECA's exasperation in that familiar gaze. "You are Kerone of KO-35," the computer answered. "Sorceress, Power Ranger, and Kerovan Council member."
It wasn't the first time she had asked that question aloud. She had asked it of herself, of Andros and Zhane, and of DECA several times. Last week she had even asked Ashley, and once upon a time she had asked Saryn. The Phantom Ranger was the only one who hadn't had an answer, but she'd had the feeling that he'd given it more thought than the rest of them combined.
She had an answer. It just wasn't an answer she was particularly satisfied with. She supposed she didn't want to know who she was as much as who she should be. But then, Ashley liked to tell her, "You don't choose what to be. You become what you are," and that had always seemed like good advice.
Kerone got to her feet and reached for the telekinesis ball. "DECA?" she asked again, letting the toy collapse in on itself. "Do you have access to the Keyota security logs?"
DECA seemed to hesitate, but it was such a brief pause that Kerone wondered if she'd imagined it. "KOSN's files are routinely uploaded to my mainframe as a matter of system fleet procedure," the computer told her.
Surprised, Kerone set Andros' telekinesis ball aside and made her way over to the computer terminal. "Can you show me the files from the day Darkonda kidnapped me?" she wanted to know.
This time, the hesitation was obvious. "No," DECA said, with every indication of regret. "I can not display those files on this terminal. They have been buried by Ranger request, and I am not authorized to override the encryption code."
She frowned, but she hadn't missed the precise wording of DECA's remark. "You can't display them on this terminal? What about Andros' terminal? Is he the one who asked you to encrypt them?"
"That information is classified," DECA answered. She sounded downright apologetic. "I am unable to answer your questions."
Kerone didn't waste another moment in heading for the door. "That's all right. I know my brother's guilt complex as well as you do."
DECA's cameras lit up like sequential Christmas lights as they followed her down the corridor toward Andros' room. "That," the computer responded with a touch of humor, "I doubt very much."
Andros' door opened at her approach, and she frowned a little. It was strange that he'd left the privacy lock off after their last trip to Eltare, but maybe they'd all been a little bit... disconcerted, after that meeting. She settled down in front of his terminal and put in the code she'd memorized over his shoulder, fully expecting to be given the files without further difficulty.
She wasn't disappointed. The logs were there in their entirety, but she was distracted by a second encryption below the first. "DECA?" she asked curiously. "Did Andros do this, too?"
DECA did not answer immediately. When she did, it was clear that she did not relish withholding information. "Andros is not the only Ranger who might wish to forget something in his past," she said at last. "Or to have others forget."
"Saryn," Kerone murmured, staring at the screen thoughtfully. "Or Zhane." There wouldn't be much on the others in the computer anyway, even if they did have the technical expertise to encode data this thoroughly.
"ETA is 12 minutes," DECA reminded her.
Whether it was a diversion or not, the announcement was welcome news. Kerone sent the encryption key to her own terminal before shutting Andros' down and getting to her feet. She made her way back to her own room, verified receipt of the key, and set about locating the kittens.
It was truly amazing how easily they could hide in a room so small, she reflected several minutes later. She had brought them along because she knew Ashley would want to see them, but after hauling one out from under her bed and the other from behind the bottom drawer of her desk she wondered if they were worth the trouble. They seemed to sense the most convenient option in any given situation and then instinctively do the opposite.
They settled into their cat backpack with surprisingly little fuss, though, and she wondered if they knew where she was taking them. "What time is it in Angel Grove, DECA?" Kerone asked, tightening the shoulder straps a little. Ashley was the one who usually wore the kittens' pack.
"Angel Grove time is 6:07 am," the computer answered. "Do you require new coordinates?"
"Yes," Kerone admitted, "but I'll get them from the surface. I think Ashley has a roommate, and I don't want to startle her."
She had never seen the place where Ashley was now living, but luckily she did know someone who could direct her. They had visited Ashley's brother twice over the summer, and there was a secluded spot behind his building that she had filed away for future reference. It was to that space that she teleported now, noting absently that the sun was up but there didn't seem to be much activity on the streets yet.
She knocked on the door, but there was no answer. Kerone waited, wondering if everyone could already be up and gone. She knocked again, glancing around at the vehicles parked outside the combined housing units. There were an awful lot of them for a place that seemed deserted, but Ashley had said that a lot of people at the university didn't drive. Maybe they had all walked to their destinations.
She knocked once more and was just about to turn away when she heard something click on the other side of the door. Finally the door swung open, and an extremely disheveled looking girl squinted out at her. "Yeah?" she asked groggily.
"Hello," Kerone said politely. "I'm looking for Jeff Hammond."
The girl just stared at her for a moment. Kerone looked back, taking in the tousled hair, pajama-like clothes, and non-comprehending expression. Finally, the other girl muttered, "He's still in bed."
When she didn't seem inclined to add anything else, Kerone prompted, "Could you get him for me?"
The girl frowned, her gaze focusing on something over Kerone's shoulder. "It's six o'clock in the morning," she mumbled, as though Kerone might not have known that. "He's asleep."
Kerone raised an eyebrow. "Then wake him up. Tell him that Kerone wants to talk to him, and if he doesn't get down here right now I'll use my magic powers to turn him into a frog."
The girl just sighed, mumbling to herself as she turned away and shuffled off into the darkness. She left the door ajar behind her, though, and Kerone assumed that she was actually doing as she was told instead of demonstrating an incredible bout of laziness. Was it possible that everyone in this complex was actually sleeping instead of being off on daily errands?
It was a few minutes before Jeff pulled the door open for her, and she contemplated his appearance in light of this new thought. He did indeed look as though he had been roused unexpectedly from sleep, though his disposition was considerably friendlier than the girl's had been.
"Morning," he greeted her amiably. "I hear you're threatening to turn me into a frog."
She shrugged. "It always works on Zhane."
"Could you really do that?" he asked, genuine curiosity on his face. "Turn someone into a frog, I mean?"
"Probably not," she admitted. "I never tried it."
"Well, let me know," he said, a smile warring with a yawn. "I have a few people I'd like taken care off, if you want some test subjects."
The corners of her mouth quirked in response. "I'll remember that. Does everyone around here sleep through sunrise?"
He eyed her. "This coming from Andros' sister? The boy who can't drag himself out of bed before ten in the morning?"
"He's used to Kerovan time," she said defensively. "KO-35's days are shorter than yours."
"Doesn't seem to bother you," Jeff observed, leaning against the doorframe and stifling another yawn.
"I didn't grow up on KO-35," she reminded him. "I'm sorry to wake you up, but I'm looking for Ashley. I need directions so I don't teleport into the middle of... civilians."
"You're going to turn me into a frog, but you don't want to freak out Ashley's friends by appearing out of thin air?" he teased. "Thanks; I know where I stand in the pecking order."
"Rather close to the bottom," she told him frankly.
His smile widened, and he gave her a devilish grin that reminded her of Zhane. "You mean there's someone below me now? I'm flattered!"
"DECA likes you," she said matter-of-factly. "That moves you up."
He blinked, but his grin didn't waver. "DECA likes me, huh? Well, now I know I'm getting somewhere in the world. That puts me, what--second from the bottom?"
"Fourteenth from the top," Kerone corrected, trying to hide a smirk. "Are you going to tell me how to find Ashley, or should I start randomly kidnapping people until I find someone else who can do it?"
Jeff's smile faded a little at that, and he gave her a look of wary amusement. "I'm never sure when you're serious," he said at last. "So to spare the early morning pedestrians, let me draw you a map."
His map was as comprehensive as she could have asked for, even to someone unfamiliar with the city. Ladd Hall was locked, which Jeff had both warned her about and suggested would pose no problem for her sorcery. She let herself in and made her way up to the third floor, reminding the kittens to be silent as she moved soundlessly through the deserted hallway.
Room 314 was at the far end of the hall, and it was already brightly covered with two names and an assortment of suns and rainbows. Kerone smiled to herself, studying the second name carefully. It seemed that whoever she was, at least this "Missy" shared Ashley's taste in absurdedly cheerful decorations.
She knocked quietly, remembering the number of sleeping inhabitants in Jeff's apartment. To her surprise, though, an answer came almost immediately. A voice that didn't sound quite like Ashley's called, "Come in," and she twisted the doorknob hesitantly before pushing the door open.
A girl with long blonde hair puddled around her head perched upside down against the far wall. "Namaste," she said, as though she greeted visitors this way all the time. "My roommate's asleep."
Kerone glanced over at the other bed. Ashley was stirring at the sound of the voice, low though it was, and Kerone walked over to stand beside her. "I brought some friends to see you," she said quietly, reaching over one shoulder to pat the top of the kitty pack. The brown kitten climbed out onto her shoulder obediently, and she picked him up and set him on Ashley's stomach.
Ashley's eyes opened at that, her hands searching instinctively for the bundle of fur that was climbing over her and trying to investigate the space below the covers. "Hi, Katana," she mumbled, pulling the kitten clumsily toward her face. "Hi Kerone."
"Hello," Kerone answered, smiling down at her. "We missed you, so we came to see how you're doing."
"I missed you, too," Ashley murmured, struggling to sit up. She seemed to remember where she was as she glanced around the room, and her eyes lit upon her roommate as she snuggled Katana up to her cheek.
The other girl was still standing on her head, braced against the wall under the windows, watching the scene with a sort of detached interest. "Morning, Missy," Ashley said, giving her a sleepy smile through a faceful of kitten. "Kerone, this is my roommate Missy. Missy, this is Kerone, a friend of mine."
Prompted by the reaction from Jeff's roommate, Kerone added, "I'm a sorceress from another planet, but I can't turn people into frogs."
"That's too bad," Missy said, without batting an eye. "Frogs take up less space. It's nice to meet you, Kerone."
"Nice to meet you too," Kerone agreed. "Do you mind if I kidnap your roommate for a while?"
"Did the cats tell you to do that?" Missy asked, not moving from her position against the wall.
Kerone blinked. "The cats?"
Missy gave a credible impression of a shrug. "I've heard that cats are messengers from the spirit world, and Ashley looks like she's been waiting for a message."
"No," Kerone said, glancing at Ashley. "The cats didn't tell me to kidnap her."
"Ah." Missy continued to watch them, but she said nothing else.
Ashley was already pulling some clothes out of a bureau by the end of her bed, her movements slow but deliberate. "Give me just a minute," she said over her shoulder, tossing a brush on top of the clothes she'd accumulated and pulling her hair away from her face. "I'll be right there."
"Do you have classes this morning?" Kerone asked, trying to remember the schedule Ashley had described so hastily days before.
"Not till tomorrow." Ashley deftly removed her t-shirt from Katana's inquisitive grasp and pulled it on over her head. "Did you guys actually take your day off today?"
"I did," Kerone said with a frown. "Andros wasn't planning to, but I think Zhane convinced him. He's more patient than I am."
Ashley finished buttoning her shorts and sat down to pull on her sneakers. "Patience probably didn't have anything to do with it. Zhane's more audacious than we are; I bet he locked Andros in their room and went back to sleep."
"Are you saying that I'm not audacious?" Kerone demanded. "I think Dark Spectre might have disagreed with you."
Ashley shot a look in her roommate's direction as she stood up and grabbed Katana off the bed. "Let's go for a walk," she suggested, heading toward the door. "I'll see you later, Missy."
"See you," the other girl agreed, from her upside-down position. "Don't forget to tell me what the cats say."
fin