Captain Logan stood in the doorway, simply watching as Jen and Lucas worked on the ion charges. They looked so determined, so focused. He couldn't help but admire that. Being as quiet as he could, he snuck past the door, making his way down the hall and into the elevator.
"Deck nine," he said.
The elevator headed upwards, eventually stopping at deck nine. As soon as he stepped off the elevator, he made his way to the communications room.
It took him a second to bi-pass the security lock out, but quickly stepped inside, closing the door behind him. He hurried over to the control panel and input a series of numbers. 'Code accepted,' the computer announced.
The screen blinked on, and a mutant appeared. He wore a metal plate on the side of his face and had long, dark hair. There were spikes coming out his arms and shoulders, and his skin seemed to be deformed somehow.
"Master Ransorg," he said.
"What do you have for me Logan?" the mutant asked him.
"Our plan is going according to schedule. The rangers are planning to flood the reactor plant with ion radiation to close the rift," he said.
"And they have no idea that the ion charges will actually open the rift further?" he replied.
"No my Lord."
"Excellent work Logan. When victory is mine, there will be a place for you at my side," Ransorg told him.
"Thank you my Lord."
"Contact me again when phase three of the plan is complete. I will personally come to witness the destruction for myself," he ordered.
"As you wish sire," Captain Logan told him, and then turned off the screen.
Before he left, he input another set of codes into the control panel. 'Code accepted. Message logs deleted,' the computer announced.
With a sinister smile on his face, Captain Logan walked out the room.
(*)
It had taken them a while to even find the place, much less get inside. Considering that the Nexus had been sealed for one thousand years, it still seemed to be in good condition. Being trapped under layers of rock for centuries seemed to have preserved most of it, but there were still indications of a battle taking place.
There were stone statues up against the walls, but the majority of them had been destroyed a long time ago, no doubt during an avalanche of some sort.
"This place is disgusting," Trip chimed in, breaking the silence between the three of them.
"We're not here for decorating tips. We're here to find the staff," Ransik pointed out, then continued his search.
It didn't take long for Alex to notice something was wrong. "If this place has been sealed off for almost one thousand years, where are the cobwebs? Where's the dust? Why the place looked almost like……" he paused as he heard something in the distance. "You guys hear that?"
They nodded, remaining silent.
Just then, Ransik was attacked from behind. A wooden beam hit him across the back, just enough to knock him over.
"Who are you and what do you want?" they heard a voice say.
Trip and Alex helped Ransik up, and then turned to see their attacker. He looked to be a clown of some sort, with multicolored pants and a mask on.
"Who are you?"
"I'm asking the questions here green haired guy. Remember, you broke into my place," he reminded them.
"You mean, you live here?"
"I gave my interior decorator the day off. Now enough with the small talk, who are you are why are you here?" he inquired.
It was Ransik who took a step forward. "You're an org, aren't you?"
"Duke Org to be exact, the master of blades," he told him with a certain pride in his voice.
"Jindrax," he said.
"You know me?"
"I'm Ransik," he introduced.
"You don't smell human," he noticed.
"I use to be a mutant."
"That explains the bad hair style," Jindrax pointed out.
"We don't have time for this, we have to….." Alex was cut short as Ransik put his hand up, signaling him to be quite.
"How long have you been down here?"
"About four hundred years now. After Toxica died, I didn't have any place else to go. I came here because I knew I would be left in peace," he said.
"I'm sorry for your lose."
"Now explain to me why a use to be mutant, a human and a green haired guy broke into a place that's been sealed away for over one thousand years," Jindrax said.
"Do you remember the mutorgs?"
"Of course I do."
"In the year 2002, when the rangers defeat them, their mutant halves along with my own were sucked through a rift in the space/time continuum, where they combined to make the ultimate mutant, Ransorg. We're here to find Master Org's staff so that we can capture the spirits before they have a chance to make it through the rift," Trip explained.
Jindrax scratched his head. "Now where have I seen that thing? I swore I saw it when I was cleaning up a few hundred years ago," he mentioned.
"Jindrax, the fate of the entire universe depends on us finding that staff and trapping the spirits before it's too late," Alex said.
"Why should I care if the universe is destroyed? I live in a cave surrounded by org generals who were destroyed before they even had a chance to be reborn, my best friend is gone and I haven't had a decent meal in centuries. If the universe is destroyed, it has to be better than this," he said.
"You can stay down here and feel sorry for yourself all you want, just stay out our way while we look for the staff," Ransik snapped as he pushed Jindrax aside, then continued his search.
Trip and Alex went off in a different direction, but wasn't having very much luck either. It was Jindrax who cleared his throat, getting their attention.
"It's in a chamber not far from here. Come on, I'll take you to it," he sighed.
"Why the change of heart?"
"It's what Toxica would have wanted," he told them.
(*)
"They should have been back by now," Jen pointed out as she paced back and forth in the briefing room.
Tommy, Katie and Lucas sat at the table itself, watching Jen as she paced nervously around the room.
"Everything is under control Jen; the ion charges are ready to go, the time ship is operating at 100% and our plan is carefully thought out. As soon as Ransik and the others get back, we'll be ready," Tommy pointed out, trying to comfort her.
"He's right. The Nexus isn't exactly near by, and they still have to actually find the staff they're looking for. Everything is going according to plan Jen, just relax," Katie added.
"I guess you're right, it's just that….." she paused, glancing around the room. "Where is Logan?" she inquired.
"He should be in his quarters."
"Computer, locate Logan," Jen called out.
'Logan is deck 9, section 4,' the computer announced.
"The communications deck," Lucas mentioned.
"Who could he be trying to contact….." her sentence trailed off as all four of them realized it at once.
"Ransorg," Tommy sighed, speaking for the group.
Without another word, the four of them rushed out the room, down the hall and into the elevator.
"Deck nine," Jen said.
The elevator headed upwards, but as soon as they got off the elevator, Captain Logan was standing there.
"Hi," he said cheerfully, stepping onto the elevator. "Where you guys headed?" he inquired, pushing the button on the control panel.
"What are you doing up here? This is a restricted area," Lucas said.
"I know, Lt. CaSteel pointed that out to me and told me I had to leave, so I did," he told them as the elevator headed down.
"What were you looking for?"
"Nothing. I got bored; I thought I would have a look around the place. It's just so much different here than it was in my Time Force," he said. "So, did you guys finish the ion charge things?"
"Yeah, we did." Tommy said.
"Good, the sooner we can close the rift, the better," he sighed. Just then, the elevator stopped and the doors opened. "This is my stop, I'll see you guys later," he said, stepping off the elevator.
"He's up to something. Katie, go back to the communication's deck and see if he tried to contact anyone. Lucas, go through the computer systems and see what you can find about ion charges and cross reference it with rifts in the continuum," she instructed.
"What am I looking for?"
"I don't know. Something. Anything. There was something about the way he asked about the charges, like he was looking forward to it. If there's something going on, I want to know about it," she said.
"You got it," Lucas told her, stepping off the elevator.
(*)
"Here it is," Jindrax said, handing them the staff.
Ransik took a second to admire it. Something about the design intrigued him as he glanced over it with a smirk on his face. "This is it my friends," he told them.
"Good, now lets get back to Jen so we can stop Ransorg once and for all," Alex said.
"Not so fast hot shot, the staff comes with a price," the org mentioned.
"A price?"
"Yup. If you want that staff, you're going to have to take me with you," he said.
"What do you mean?"
"Anything has to be better than sitting around here for another thousand years. You want the staff, I get to come with you," Jindrax said.
Trip and Alex looked at one another, then at Ransik. "Fine with us. We can use all the help we can get," Trip said.
"Well what are we waiting for, let's go," he said as the four of them walked away.
TBC………..