Kimberly finished her post-routine stretching and reached for her towel and water only to find them handed to her. Looking up, she saw a tall woman dressed jeans and a blouse smiling at her. The stranger had coal black hair, dark eyes, and an olive complexion. Kim was supposed to be alone in the gym now. Originally she was to meet Kyle this evening for some pointers on a couple of tumbling routines they were trying to develop, but the Yellow Ranger had cancelled saying he'd try to make it but not to expect him. "Thank you," she said cautiously.

"You are very good," the woman said with a slight European accent.

"Thank you," she smiled, "again."

"You are Kimberly Hart?" it was as much a statement as a question. The woman had an air of power and command about her and Kimberly got the impression she was not accustomed to having to ask anything.

Kim nodded and stood before saying, "Yes, I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage."

The woman smiled, "Yes."

Kimberly glanced around wondering how the woman got into the gym, and realizing that she was all alone with her. Finally turning back, she asked again, "And you are?"

The woman smiled and answered, "Lyta Michaels, I would like to talk to you Kimberly. I have an offer that we would both find beneficial."

Kimberly asked warily, "what kind of offer?" She had a bad feeling about this. When the woman looked at her, she felt like rabbit under the gaze of a hawk.

Smiling she said, "Why don't we sit down over here," she gestured toward a series of low benches at the edge of practice mats.

Kimberly nodded and warily followed the woman to the benches. Some dry part of her mind kept telling her that she should be wary, while the logical part told her that she was being silly. Besides, she was a Power Ranger. There was little that she couldn't handle on her own, and if she did encounter trouble, the boys were just a quick call away. "What kind of offer?" she asked. "Are you from one of the gymnastic scouts?"

The woman smiled as she sat and said, "Actually it has more to do with your other team, Ms. Hart." Leaning back against the bench she continued, "I am here on behalf of a party that does not appreciate a certain upstart Time Lord interfering in your world."

Kimberly remembered Ms. Stone telling her that Ms. Hayes was something of a rogue Time Lord, one the others felt didn't play by their rules. Personally, she was glad the woman didn't, she and her friends wouldn't be alive today if she did. However, she wasn't about to give this woman the satisfaction of knowing that. Besides, if she played along she might be able to gain some more information. "Go on," she told the woman neutrally.

"This world will eventually fall the Kregar. So far, very few worlds have been able to resist the forces of the Council of the Umbra. Hayes' world is an anomaly, one where there are just the right amount of stubborn women and men who try to shove their brand of morality down the throats of the population. Covenant was a mistake on the Council's part in choosing the wrong assassin, and target, but for the most part, worlds fall the Kregar very easily. You really don't stand a chance against them, no matter what successes you've had so far."

Kimberly felt her hackles rise. How dare this woman suggest that they shouldn't even try to defend the Earth? However, that logical part of her mind kept telling her that this kind of thing Jason, Tommy, and Stone would want to know about. With an almost super-human effort, she forced her reaction down and feigned interest. "If that's the case, what kind of offer are you making me?" She raised an eyebrow.

The woman leaned back and seemed to consider something. Finally she asked, "No protests of giving it a try anyway- fighting the good fight no matter what?"

Kimberly shrugged, "A few years ago, maybe, but not anymore. I'm older, a little wiser, and don't see the world through quite the same rose- colored glasses. I died once. I'd really like to avoid that again."

The woman smiled, "You might do after all Ms. Hart."

"What's your offer?" Kimberly asked.

"Convince your friends to join the Kregar instead of fighting them. I have it on good authority that if you do that, then they will limit their attacks to military targets and spare the general population," the woman told her. She leaned forward and her voice took an inspirational tone, "For once, take your destiny into your own hands. You be the one to lead the Rangers and this world into a new era of peace and prosperity." She leaned back and smiled, "Life in the Empire is actually rather pleasant. There would be no more insane monsters attacking the populace. There would be access to advance medical technology, and much more. You could end poverty on this world, make sure everyone had enough to eat, see to it that social change would occur that would bring an era of prosperity to the whole world. " She chuckled, "You would go far in the Empire, Kimberly. You're strong, talented, more intelligent than others would give you credit for, and you are a wielder of the Power. You would probably one day even make it to the Imperial Council."

"And my teammates?" Kimberly asked. "What about them?"

The woman leaned back, "What about them? You could make the one called Tommy your consort, ensure his fidelity by binding him to yourself." She shrugged, "A place could be found for the others, or at least most of them." She shook her head, "I won't lie to you, Kimberly. Their options are somewhat more limited. There are really few places in the Empire for a man who wields the Power."

Kimberly threw on her best mall rat persona, "Tommy as my consort huh?" She smiled to herself, "That could have interesting possibilities."

"Don't limit yourself to a single male, Kimberly. As one of the rank you would no doubt receive for your loyal service, you could have your pick of men throughout the galaxy," she told her.

"There is that of course," Kimberly borrowed one of Billy's favorite phrased. She turned and looked at the woman, "Tell you what, give me twenty-four hours to think about it and I'll give you my answer then."

The woman thought about her request and smiled, "Okay. I'll relay your message to the Kregar." Rising from the bench, she headed across the floor at a brisk walk as she literally faded from view, leaving Kimberly with a bad feeling about the whole encounter.

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"She offered you what?!" Tommy asked jumping up to sit on the low wall surrounding the now infamous ornamental pond in Jason's backyard. Billy thought he detected a certain amount of outrage in the Green Ranger's voice.

They were discussing what Kimberly had told them about her meeting with the mysterious Lyta Michaels. Kimberly gave him a vapid look, "She offered me my pick of men throughout the galaxy if I'd convince you guys to not fight the Kregar." Billy watched her smile mischievously at Tommy, "You know that's a rather tempting thought. Let's see, there's Leonardo DiCaprio, Nick Carter. . . hmmm, I could have several. . . ,"

"Kimberly!" Tommy protested, and everybody laughed at the Green Ranger's discomfort. He looked around, "You wouldn't?" In a brief flash of insight, Billy suddenly understood that in some ways Tommy was even more insecure about Kim than he was about Jase. He deduced that it was probably left over from his days before he became the Green Ranger.

Billy knew that Tommy had been shuffled around among different foster homes before he finally settled with the Oliver's three years ago. It took the formerly troubled teen a long time realize that they weren't going to give up on him or abandon him like his biological family did, like all those other foster families did. The idea of Kimberly even considering such an offer must have been Tommy' worst nightmare. Coming to his friend's defense Billy said, "I believe she's engaging in a bit of feminine subterfuge in an attempt to good naturedly, put you ill at ease, Tom."

"Huh?" the long-haired boy asked.

"He said that she's teasing you, Bro," Jason told him.

"Why didn't you just say so then?" Tommy asked with a smile that let Billy know he knew exactly what the Blue Ranger was doing.

"I did," Billy gave him an innocent look.

"Anyway, what are we going to do about this woman who's offering Kimberly the world if she convinces us to roll over and not do our job?" Jason asked.

"I don't like this guys," Adam told them. "I mean, there's something about this whole set up that's setting off all kinds of alarms in my head. There's something important we're missing." He leaned back, and closed his eyes. Billy new the Black Ranger well enough to know that he was trying make sense of something that he felt should be obvious.

"Personally I've no desire to be anybody's bed warmer," Jason remarked to nobody in particular.

"Really?" Kim asked raising an eyebrow as she looked over at Billy. He felt the heat rise in his face. He was still more than just a little uncomfortable about what happened with the teleporter. He and Jase had yet to share much more than holding hands or a kiss since Alpha had managed to expose a lot more of them to their friends than he felt comfortable with.

Suddenly, Kyle snapped his fingers, "I've got it! Kim, why come after you?"

"Duh?" she asked and pulled at the front of her bloused, "The Kregar ARE a matriarchy. I'm the only female here."

Kyle smiled, "But the Kregar are also a star-faring race that has to have encountered more male dominated worlds than female. I think there's more to it than that." He began to pace back and forth, as if to force an idea to coalesce in his mind. He looked over at Jase, "You're team leader, why not come to you? Take you out, and although we're not quite beaten, we're just severely crippled." He smiled over at Tommy, "After all, we've got a spare leader standing in the wings ready to take over."

Tommy smirked at him, as if to make it clear he understood what the raven-haired boy meant without taking offence. "I still think it's because she the female on the team."

Kyle shook his head, "No think about it. You and Jase are our leaders. You'd never give up. You're hard wired to fight to the bitter- end. To take you guys out, all they'd have to do is throw several armies at you until somebody got lucky. You're our King and Rook." He gestured over at Adam and then himself, "As for us two, we're the knights. We're the good little soldiers who're always there to back up the rest of you guys and occasionally pull an unexpected save out of the situation." He pointed to Kimberly and Billy, "But these two are our real power pieces, our Queen and Bishop."

Jason smiled at Billy, "I thought you said you had no plans for the priesthood?" He reminded Billy of their discussion in his living room about the Three Musketeers.

Ignoring the remark, he turned to Kyle, "I don't quite follow your logic," Billy told him. The analogy didn't quite fit.

Kyle ran a hand through his hair, and looked up at the sky, trying to find words for what he was saying. He sighed and then looked around him, "Jase and Tommy are our warriors, our chew-bubblegum-and-kick-ass-take- names-later squad. Adam and I are the second line of defense. We keep the extras off their backs while they plow through the enemy." He stopped and looked at Billy and Kimberly, "But you two. You're the heart and soul of the team." He spun on Kimberly, "If somebody on the team is upset, who do they usually come to for help getting their emotions sorted out?"

She shrugged and said, "Well, I guess I do tend to do a lot of listening."

"Exactly," he said. "You're our sounding board, our rudder. You're what binds us all together." He turned and faced Billy, "And you, you're the one who always pulls the neat device out of his hat to save the day. You figure out how to kill the big baddie of the day, and then let one of the rest of us loose on them."

"I still don't understand why that would make them go after Kimberly," Tommy protested.

"Because who do we go to for advice? Who can influence us more subtly and yet more effectively than anybody else?" He pointed to the Pink Ranger, "Kimberly." He walked over to Tommy, "Tell me you wouldn't cut off your right arm if she asked you to." He let his gaze pass over each of them, "All of us would. We trust her more than ourselves."

As Kyle's gaze swept over to him, Billy knew the Yellow Ranger was right. If Kimberly told him something was the right thing to do, he realized that he very well might find himself doing it before he even thought about it. "As for you," he pointed to Billy this time. "If you told us that something was the logical way to do something, then we'd all pretty much let you have your way on it."

He stopped and looked at the sky, "I'm not saying this very well." Dropping his gaze he turned and looked at them, his hands out in supplication. "Think of the six of us as a living being. Jason is our heart, Tommy the body, Adam and I are the arms and legs, but Billy and Kim are our Mind and Soul. The quickest way to defeat something is to attack its mind or its soul."

"For someone who can't quite find the words for something, you seem to have found quite a few analogies," Billy chided his new friend.

Kyle shrugged, "I want to be writer someday."

"I'm not sure I believe it, but it is at least a working theory," Billy told him.

Tommy jumped down from the wall, "But it does make a certain amount of sense." He looked over at Jason and smiled, "You and I would charge the Gates of Hell, if we thought it was the right thing to do. We see a problem we want to fix it right away. Action is our middle names." He grinned over at where Kyle had settled back against Adam's chest, "These two aren't much better. They stop and reconsider the situation a little more than we do, but not much." He winked at Kyle, "Remember Farmboy and his stunt with his deflector shields." Billy knew that Tommy was trying to make Kyle understand that it was all right to make mistakes, as long as he learned from them, and we all got the right to tease him about them. "But Kim and Billy are different. They're endurance fighters. They keep plugging away long after the rest of us are ready to give up. They never give up hope. Subvert that quality and we're beaten before we ever start."

"So what do we do about this woman?" Adam asked.

"I'm not sure." Tommy said, "Maybe we should ask Ms. Hayes." He smiled, "After all it was her that Michaels called an Upstart Time Lord.'

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