"Report," Captain Logan said as he sat down at the head of the conference table.
Jen, who was sitting on the right, stood up. "Lucas and Tommy were able to successfully find and remove the bomb from the plane engine without incident. However, it was necessary to sacrifice the Vector Cycle," she told him.
"I consider it an acceptable lose. The history logs indicate that Jason, Trini and Zach all made it to the peace conference and as a result, history has been corrected," he said.
"So why are things still so different?" Katie asked, injecting herself into the meeting.
"Preventing that plane from exploding was only one incursion of many. There are still infractions in the time line, each of them targeting a former ranger,"
"While we were there, one of the guards mentioned seeing someone in a uniform like mine, which suggests that it was someone from Time Force itself that planted the bomb in the first place," Lucas brought up.
The captain paused. "Any leads?"
"No, sir."
"Why are former rangers being targeted? If it is someone from Time Force, the fact that their morphers shield them from shifts in the time line would be pointless. They'll all be long since dead by the time Time Force is founded," Tommy mentioned.
"It has to be more than that. Rangers from the 21st century had very limited knowledge about time travel and parallel realities. There wouldn't be a need to eliminate them, unless….." Jen was cut short.
"….. unless someone wanted to eliminate the Power Rangers altogether," they heard a voice say.
They all turned around as Trip walked into the room wearing his Time Force uniform. "Trip," Katie called out, leaving the table and rushing over to him.
"Trip is here? But how?"
"When you repaired the time line, future history was restored," Captain Logan said.
"What do you mean someone wants to eliminate the Power Rangers?" Tommy asked, hoping he would give an explanation.
"Think about it; the Power Rangers have been the dominant force in the universe for over 1000 years, preserving peace and defending countless worlds. If all the rangers were eliminated, there would be no one to oppose the forces of evil. Evil would be the dominant force, and there would be no one to oppose it," Trip explained.
"But in a universe of total anarchy, how would you restore order? It would take a tremendous around of power to convince an entire universe to follow your every command," Lucas pointed out.
"If it is someone from Time Force, they would need security clearance to gain access to the time ship, and would need level four clearance to review the history logs," she turned to Katie. "Katie, search the data base for all personnel with level four clearance and all those who have has access to the time ship. Janitors, repair crews, anyone," she ordered.
"I'm on it," Katie said, rushing out the room.
"Trip, have you been able to determine where the next incursion is going to take place?" she asked.
"According to my readings, the infraction is in October of 1996. Jason is killed when he tries to stop someone from robbing a convenience store only a few blocks away from the peace conference in New York City," he said.
"1996? That's the year Jason got the gold ranger powers," Tommy mentioned.
"It seems like not only does the saboteur want to eliminate the rangers, he strikes at points in history when power levels are at their highest," Jen said.
"What do you mean?"
"Think about it; first was 1994 when the original three rangers transferred their powers to three new rangers. If memory serves me right, for a brief moment, there were 9 rangers just as the transfer completed," Tommy nodded, confirming her suspicions. "Now the saboteur is going after Jason just before he can get the golden ranger powers, which were said to have as much power as the entire zeo crystal itself," she explained.
"That doesn't make sense, why go after the rangers while they're strongest? Why not go after them as children? Or worse, go after their parents to prevent them from being born at all?" the Captain asked.
"I'm not sure. You can only guess that if he did, other rangers would be selected to control the powers, making all his efforts pointless," Lucas said.
"All of you should report to the time ship as soon as possible and correct this infraction. I'll keep Trip here with me so we can track down any more incursions in the time line," he said.
"Lucas, you should stay here too, Tommy and I can handle this one," Jen said.
"You sure?"
"Positive. We'll be back before you know it," she said.
(*)
Katie searched through the logs in the computer, trying to find something that gave her a clue as to who the saboteur was. She'd gone through over half the active roster of Time Force and had come up with nothing.
Her eyes were beginning to bother her. Staring at a computer screen for that long was taking its toll on her. Her neck stiffened, she could feel the muscles in her back tightening. 'I need a vacation,' she thought to herself.
Just then, someone came up from behind and began to massage her shoulders. Without questioning who it was, she allowed herself to relax, sinking down into the chair and letting out a sigh of relief. "You're too tense, you should relax a little," a voice said from behind.
"Keep this up and relaxing won't be a problem," she sighed.
"I heard about your mission, how did it go?"
"We're still stumped on who the saboteur is, but with Tommy and Jen here, we'll find out who it is soon enough," she said.
"No leads?"
"Lucas believes it's someone from Time Force, but that's all we know," Katie said, closing her eyes as they continued to massage her.
"Anything I can do?"
"Just don't stop doing what you're doing," she moaned.
For a moment, there was silence. "Have you told anyone about us yet?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"I just haven't found the right time. I don't think people would understand it," she admitted.
"People still don't trust me, do they?"
"That isn't it at all. I just don't think people are ready to deal with us as a couple. After all, you were a….." she was cut short.
"….criminal? Was that what you were going to say?"
"No, but it's true."
"I'm a different person now, you know that. I served my time, I paid to debt, and I even did my part to save the world. I deserve to have a normal life now, to settle down with you, to start a family,"
"I'm not ready to start a family yet, I still have my whole career ahead of me. Besides, you have your hands full with….." she was cut short.
"You're right, maybe one is enough for right now,"
"I promise I'll tell them about us soon. Right now, we have a universe to save and I have another 10,000 active files to…..," she paused, opening her eyes and sitting up in her chair. "That's it," she exclaimed.
"What? What is it?"
"I've been going through the active roster of Time Force, hoping to find a clue about who the saboteur is. It just occurred to me, I should look through the inactive files," she said.
"Why?"
"Come on, a disgruntle employee seeks the ultimate revenge on the company that gave him his walking papers. I bet our guy was fired from Time Force recently, and I'm willing to bet they have access to the history logs," Katie said.
"I'll let you get back to work. My place, 0900 hours. And I'm not taking no for an answer,"
"I'm not giving no for an answer. I'll be there," she smiled.
(*)
"Prepare for temporal displacement," Jen warned as she prepped the time ship for launch.
"Are you sure we can handle this one by ourselves?" Tommy asked as he took his seat at the control panel across from her.
"No, but there's something going on in Time Force and I need to have Lucas and Trip here just in case something happens," she said.
"What about Katie?"
"By the time we get back, she should know who our guy is and we'll be able to make the arrest. After that, it'll only be a matter of time before all the incursions are taken care of," she told him.
"You're right. Let's do it."
"Lift off in 5…4…3…2…" the engines fired up, and the time ship lifted off the launch pad. In the distance, a temporal vortex opened, and the time ship flew inside.