Gaby, Gunn, Kane, Klezmi, and Silva are mine.
Rated PG-13 : sexuality; harsh language, strong violence.
Eric grabbed his phone after the first ring and growled, "Hello."
"Mr. Myers?" The voice on the other end was unfamiliar, and cool.
"Yes."
"Mr. Myers, this is Mr. Morgan's secretary. From Morgan's Hideaway?"
"Right. The arson case."
"Yes. Mr. Morgan asked me to set up an appointment with you, to discuss the case. He thinks he may have some new information for you."
"What kind of information?"
"He didn't tell me. I'm sure he'd rather discuss it directly with you."
"All right. When and where?"
"How about two o'clock? At the restaurant?"
Eric glanced at his watch. "An hour from now. Fine."
"Good. He'll be there."
He put the phone down and turned to his computer to log in the call. Morgan's restaurant had been burned to the ground, and several fire fighters had been injured. Eric was anxious to find the arsonist. After completing the entry he got up. The site was outside the city, hidden in the woods, in a spot that had been beautiful before the fire. He would have just enough time to get there.
Wes frowned at the schedule displayed on his monitor. He'd have to hurry if he didn't want to be late. It was a fifteen minute trip out to the meeting place, an unused Bio-Lab storage building on the outskirts of town, unused since one of Ransik's attacks had almost demolished it. Now they were thinking of pulling it down and rebuilding, and in his father's absence, Wes had to make the decision.
He spent another minute staring blankly at the screen. All he really wanted to do was to concentrate on the search… But the fact that his father was gone had put more responsibilities on Wes's shoulders. He would have liked to ignore everything else, would have liked to take Kane up on his offer to handle everything, but somehow that would have been letting his father down. At the moment the best thing he could think of to help his father was to take care of the company he loved so much.
Running -- they were running through the corridors, people looking at them, eyes wide with fear -- "Hurry! Stop them before it's too late!" -- into the hangar, big, dark, echoes seeming to vibrate through the air, telling her to turn back -- they dashed toward the ship, part of her already screaming -- inside, into the seat in the back, fastening the straps, waiting for takeoff -- "Ready? Here we go!" -- flame, pain, screams she only half recognized as her own --
Jen gasped deeply, her arms striking out involuntarily. She froze for a moment, panting, curled up, gradually feeling the terror of the dream fade away. Looking around, she saw the lights and the television on. She was lying on the bed, fully dressed. Memory seeped back, she had been watching television, had lain down and closed her tired eyes, and must have fallen asleep.
Fear was still coiling inside her. She got up, stiffly, stretched, and walked into the bathroom. A pale face with staring eyes, a tense and fearful expression, and a mop of scraggly brown hair greeted her in the mirror. Enough to terrify anyone.
She washed her face, wandered back out to the room, stared at the television, and finally turned it off. The dream still haunted her. The images had seemed so vivid. Uneasily she remembered that her last set of dreams had turned out to be real. If this was also real -- what did it mean?
Restless, she paced for a few seconds, then returned to the bathroom to comb her hair and straighten her clothing. She had to do something, anything to get out of this tiny room. She remembered the way to Steve Miller's office. He would know where Wes was.
Eric parked his Guardian SUV in the restaurant's empty parking lot and got out. He walked closer to the burned-out building. He had never been there before the fire, but he could imagine it the way it had been, a graceful old wooden building, fitting naturally into the space in the forest it had occupied. Now it was a pile of burnt wood, brick, and ashes. He made a face at the smell, still strong a week later, and circled to get upwind.
For a moment he relaxed, looking away from the ruins into the woods, quiet and peaceful, cool in this spring afternoon. Sun slanted through the branches, reaching the ground in a pattern of shifting light and dark. He saw movement in the trees, and assumed for a moment that it was the shadows.
"Beautiful, isn't it?"
The voice startled him. Conwing seemed to materialize from between the tree trunks, and Eric realized he had been standing there all along, so still he had been almost invisible. He stepped slowly forward, white-skinned, tall and powerful, his head bald, his hands large and long-fingered, his black eyes cold with hate. Eric remembered how strong those hands were, and how those eyes had burned with the desire to kill him.
Eric took a step forward and stopped. He saw the blaster in Conwing's hand, already aimed at him. He wouldn't even have the chance to morph. "Where's Mr. Morgan? Did he really call me?" he asked. "Or was the whole thing a trap?"
"The phone call was a fake." Conwing smiled. "I'm good at voices. As you know. Morgan knows nothing about this. I don't particularly like to involve innocent people."
Eric sneered. "You didn't used to be so particular."
"Perhaps I've learned something in the last year. Ransik's crusade killed many people whose only crime was being human. It would have been worth it if we had accomplished our purpose. But it was all for nothing." His tone was surprisingly bitter.
"So why are you going to kill me?"
Conwing smiled again. "I have a purpose in killing you, and the Red Ranger."
"And Mr. Collins?"
"Him too. You are all… necessary casualties."
Eric stared into his face. "Then why are we talking? What are you waiting for?"
"Aren't you afraid?" Conwing asked softly.
Eric was proud of the way his voice only shook slightly. "You want me to be afraid, don't you? You want me to beg for my life."
Conwing's white face was smiling gently. "Yes. You're the only human who ever defeated me. But you were too soft-hearted to kill me. Instead you humiliated me by showing mercy." He took another step forward.
Eric stiffened, eyes widening. "I don't want to die," he heard himself say, very quietly. "Not without a chance to fight back."
The mutant took another step, raised his blaster, and hesitated. "Strange. I've waited so long for this. And now I almost regret that it will all be... over," he said.
"Then don't do it. You're on the wrong side now, too. Klezmi isn't helping the mutants of your time. He's working against them."
Conwing smiled scornfully. "That's ridiculous. You'd say anything to save your own life."
"Maybe I would. But I'm not lying. Jen came here from the future you created, by killing us. Time Force is stronger than ever, in that world. Mutants are kept in camps, kept down, discriminated against. You're not helping your people by doing this, you're hurting them."
"Impossible. Klezmi told us our people would triumph over the humans if we destroy you."
"Klezmi's the one running Time Force in the future!" Eric cried. "He's using a war against the mutants as a way to get more power. And you're helping him do it!"
"Why would he betray his own people?"
Eric stared at him, too surprised to answer for a moment. "You mean... Klezmi's a mutant?"
"Of course. Do you think I'd work for a human? Now... I've wasted enough time on you." Conwing raised the blaster again, and again seemed to hesitate.
No. Eric tensed. He refused to accept it, refused to die like this without a fight. Fear stabbed through him, not so much of dying itself as of losing all the things he had struggled for, all the things he finally had won. His house, his job, a future. But more important, the friends he had made, the people who showed signs of caring about him. Wes and Alan Collins, who had become like family. Maybe even a chance for love, and a family of his own, someday.
There was nothing to lose. In desperation and defiance, Eric threw himself to the ground, rolling as he snapped his arm up and shouted into his morpher. The flash of transformation and Conwing's blast struck him at the same time. He screamed in shock and pain as they combined in a burst of radiant energy, burning through him, then fading and leaving him gasping on the ground, unable to move.
He was still unmorphed, helpless, lying on his back, looking up. Conwing appeared above him, blaster in hand. He stared down, his face cold.
"We'll have to tear all of this out. Right down to the foundations. A shame, but the building's not safe like this."
Wes listened silently as they walked around the old storage depot. It had been only half constructed when it had been damaged by Ransik and Frax's doomsday machine. It still showed the marks of destruction from over a year ago, several of the walls scorched and crumbling in places. It was too unstable to repair. Now it would never be completed.
Strangely, the thought of the final destruction of this building made him sad. It was just one more loss, insignificant compared to the others. His father might be gone forever. He would almost certainly lose Jen again. The depression which had been lurking over him settled in firmly.
"I'll need official permission to start."
Wes glanced at the Bio-Lab engineer who had given him this tour. He knew there was no real question of what to do. "All right. Just send me the forms. I'll take care of it."
"Great. I'd better head back. You coming?"
"I'm going to hang out for a few minutes. Thanks."
She shrugged with a smile and headed back to her car, undoubtedly wondering why anyone would want to 'hang out' around a broken down old building.
Wes turned back to look at it again. He was in front of a warehouse built into the first floor, parts of the walls gone, collapsed in the attack. He stared at it, memory suddenly overcoming him. This was the building where Eric had hidden with the Quantum morpher, when he had stolen it from Brickneck, and from the Rangers. Inside this warehouse, Wes had confronted him, and they had fought for their lives together against a mob of Ransik's robots.
He moved closer, and walked through the doorway, into the large, darkened room. It was even dustier and dirtier than he remembered, the floor now covered with soot, the air still carrying the faint smell of smoke.
"Why so gloomy, Ranger?"
The voice startled him. It was familiar. He whirled, seeing a form in the doorway. Gray skin, silvery scales.
"Steelix?" Wes gasped in surprise. He and Jen had defeated and captured Steelix almost two years ago, when he was one of Ransik's soldiers. "What are you doing here?"
"Keeping an appointment with you."
"You're working with Conwing!"
"That's right."
"Where's my father?"
Steelix smiled, that same vicious smile Wes remembered so well. "What, no words of greeting? No comment on the weather? How rude."
Wes stepped closer. "Where is he? Is he all right?"
"Your father is fine. So far."
"What do you want?"
Another smile. "What do I want... I want a lot of things. I want to rid the world of you, and your fellow Rangers. Especially the Pink Ranger. Where is she, by the way?"
He took another angry step forward. "You leave her alone!"
"You won't be around to stop me."
Wes calmed himself with an effort. "What do you want? What will it take to get my father back?"
"I'm afraid the price is very high... We didn't take your father for money. Not even for revenge. The price is your life, and Eric Myers' life."
"You'll kill him anyway, won't you? You're here to kill all of us. For Klezmi."
"So you know." Steelix smiled again. "I'll eliminate you. Conwing is taking care of your partner as we speak. Then we'll dispose of your father..."
Wes was standing next to a pile of dust-covered cartons. He dove behind them, raising his arm and pressing a button on his morpher in midair. In a quick blaze of light, he transformed, becoming the Red Ranger even as he hit the floor. Coming back to his feet in a quick roll, he summoned his blaster, seeing a flash and a small explosion as Steelix fired at him, hitting the cartons.
Jen recognized the buildings at once. It was here, among the half-constructed walls, that they had fought with Brickneck, another of Ransik's mutants, while Wes had gone inside the warehouse to find Eric. It was here that Eric had first become the Quantum Ranger, and defeated Brickneck for them.
Leaving her vectorcycle, she began to walk around the site. It had suffered heavy damage from Ransik's later attacks. Miller had told her it was going to be demolished, and that was why Wes was here. She had seen his car, parked by the road a few yards away, but there was no sign of Wes himself.
Then she heard a noise, coming from inside the warehouse. The unmistakable sound of blaster fire. Quietly she ran toward it, instinctively seeking cover, hugging the wall as she approached the door. A quick glance inside told her the situation.
A man with gray skin, his head covered in silvery scales and wearing metallic gray body armor, crouched behind a crate just inside the door. She recognized Steelix at once. He was exchanging fire with someone behind a pile of cartons farther inside. She had glimpsed red and knew it must be Wes. Judging from its effects on the cartons, Steelix was using an unusually powerful blaster. Wes was in trouble, and she would have to be careful.
Edging away from the door, she raised her morpher and tapped it, a flash of brilliance transforming her into the Pink Ranger. She moved back toward the door, easing herself down to crawl the last few feet, summoned her blaster and took careful aim.
She fired, hitting Steelix in the back. His body jerked, falling backwards, his weapon falling from his hand. As he rolled over and started to stagger to his feet, she fired again, knocking him back against the crate he had been using for cover. He stayed upright, and started to bend for his blaster. Another shot hit him, from inside the warehouse, as Wes ran forward to fire at him.
Steelix fell to his knees. "Careful, Rangers!" he shouted. "If anything happens to me, your father dies!" Wes stopped and Jen hesitated. Steelix rose to his feet, smiling triumphantly, then reached to his belt, and promptly disappeared in a sparkling flash of light. Wes ran forward as Jen climbed to her feet.
"Transporters again! It doesn't matter if we beat them, they just get away!"
"Are you all right?" she asked anxiously.
"I'm fine. Thanks. That was a powerful blaster he was using, I would have been in trouble without you." He demorphed in another flash of light. "What are you doing here?" he asked.
She demorphed also. "I… got lonely. Steve Miller told me where you were."
"Good thing." He turned back to where Steelix had disappeared. "If only we had some way to follow him! Damn!"
"You're all right. That's what's important."
He faced her again, looking alarmed. "Steelix said something about Conwing taking care of Eric." He raised his morpher and called Eric's name into it. A minute later he lowered it again. "No answer. We have to find him."
It was an hour later by the time they returned to Bio-Lab, found out where Eric had gone from his computer activity log, and traveled to the burned-out restaurant where it said he was. They spotted Eric's Guardian SUV at once. As they passed it, Wes glanced inside.
"Eric!"
He was there, slumped against the driver's door. When Wes called him again he stirred and straightened, blinking at them in surprise and confusion, looking dazed and pale. With a deep breath of relief, Wes pulled the door open. Eric started to get out, then sank back on the seat, a hand to his head.
"Are you all right? What happened?" Wes demanded.
"It was Conwing. He set me up… got me out here. He was waiting for me."
"Where is he?"
"Don't know. He held a blaster on me… I didn't get a chance to morph." Eric rubbed his face and shook his head. "We talked a little. He seemed almost sorry to be doing this. It was weird."
"So… what happened?" Jen asked.
"He was going to kill me. I tried morphing anyway, but he shot me at the same time. I remember lying on the ground -- he was looking down at me. Then I must have passed out." Eric looked up at them. "I don't understand why he didn't kill me."
As Wes and Jen exchanged a look, he went on. "When I woke up he was gone. I came back to the car -- wasn't in any shape to drive so I sat here -- must have fallen asleep, or passed out again."
"Steelix tried to kill me too, at the same time," Wes said.
"Steelix? You okay?"
"Yeah. Jen showed up just in time."
"So Steelix is Conwing's partner. From what you've told me about him, he's bad news."
"Yeah. He's almost as tough as Conwing, and just as nasty."
Eric was quiet for a moment. "I wonder how they got their information. How did they know about my case? And where you would be?"
"Don't know."
"I don't understand why Conwing would have left you alive," Jen said slowly. "He's a killer. Has he suddenly developed a conscience?"
"Don't count on it," Eric muttered. Then he looked into Jen's face. "He told me something. I tried to tell him he's working on the wrong side. That Klezmi's turned Time Force against the mutants of your time. He told me Klezmi himself is a mutant."
"What?" Jen stared, her brows contracting.
"How could that be?" Wes asked.
"Wait," Jen said. "I remember something. Silva -- his partner. She was as strong as Katie. There's no way a human could be that strong. She's got to be a mutant. And if she is…"
"It makes sense that Klezmi is too," Wes finished.
"But why would he set up a society where his own people are oppressed?" Eric asked.
"It gives him power. He can pass for human. So can Silva. They've used mutants as a stepping stone, to get where they want to be." Jen took a breath. "They're the worst kind of traitors. They've climbed to the top on the bodies of their own people."
"If we could convince Conwing and Steelix we're telling the truth, we can turn them against Klezmi," Wes said. "Maybe they'd let Dad go."
"Maybe. It's something to try." Jen turned back to Eric. "Maybe Conwing did believe you. Something stopped him from killing you. And I doubt it was the kindness of his heart."