Rachel, Lorent, Alcott, Klezmi, Silva, and a few others in minor roles are mine.
Rated PG : language; sexuality; violence; some mature concepts.
This chapter shares events and some dialogue with 'Force from the Future, Part 1'.
Please review, it keeps me going.
I got my chance only two months later, months filled with training. By that time I knew that suit inside and out. I was ready, or thought I was. Jen and the others were in training too, their morphers weren't ready yet, but they learned as much as they could in the classroom, and by watching me. Those were good times, filled with promise and anticipation.
Then everything was put to the test. I faced my first real challenge, and what a challenge it was. Ransik had struck again, invading a Time Force research facility outside of our main headquarters. I was home, with Jen, when I got an urgent summons to the Rangers project lab.
Logan and Rachel were waiting, looking both impatient and anxious, when I came through the door. They came to meet me. Logan didn't waste any words.
"Alex. You know the situation?"
"All I know is Ransik was spotted at the Temporal Research lab."
"He's taken over the building. Threw the scientists out. No fatalities, fortunately. Barricaded himself inside. Got a bunch of his robots with him."
"What could he want there?"
Logan sighed. "They're working on portable timehole generators. That must be what he's after."
All three of us exchanged an apprehensive look. This was back when most of the generators were still big enough to fill a small room, and before we had reliable timehole detection systems. A timehole generator small enough to be portable would be extremely dangerous in the wrong hands. If Ransik got it, it would disappear into his underground network, until he was ready to use it. He would be able to escape from us through time, and, more importantly, he would be able to disrupt the timestream. Change history, if he wanted to. And sooner or later, that's what he would decide to do.
Rachel broke the silence. "This is it, Alex. We need you to go after him, with the suit."
"We have the building surrounded, he can't get away," Logan continued. "But we want to send you in alone. Avoid risking other lives. But -- it's on a volunteer basis."
There was no real choice, of course. This was what the Ranger program was all about, this was what I was there for. I nodded. "I volunteer. Let's go."
Rachel handed me the morpher with a smile that was only slightly shaky. I put it on. Logan and I headed out at a run.
I don't think I ever saw so many Time Force officers in one place. There was a sea of us around that building. Spotlights were trained on the entrances, as if Ransik might slip out unseen. Logan and I passed through, his authority -- and his size -- opening a path for us. We stopped just outside a side door.
"Good luck," he said. He held out his hand.
"Thanks." I smiled confidently as we shook hands, wishing that was how I felt on the inside.
I morphed just inside the door, where Logan could still see me. As the flash of light faded, I took a last look back, seeing him and a mass of officers watching. Then I was on my own, in a large, empty building, dark now that the power had been cut off, alone with a powerful madman and a pack of homicidal robots.
No problem, I said to myself. Logan knows I can do it. He must be right. At least I hoped so. Quietly, I started deeper into the building, listening for any sign of my opponent. Even with the suit's sound detection, I couldn't hear anything until I was on the stairs.
Then I heard him, all right. He must have seen a few too many bad movies. He was laughing manically. Really. Not very loudly, just this deep chuckle that managed to sound evil. What he found to laugh about when he was surrounded by Time Force, I couldn't imagine.
I reached the top of the stairs and crept closer, grateful that the suit made it easy to move silently. This floor was apparently some kind of storage space, it was cluttered with crates, boxes, and various pieces of equipment, making it easy for me to find cover. I got as close as I dared, and peered between two large boxes. There he was.
I'd seen pictures, of course, but there's nothing like the real thing. Ransik was tall, and big, and he seemed to be all muscle. His hair was long and black, hanging over his shoulders. His face, when he turned in my direction, was lined and no longer young, but would have been handsome if he wasn't disfigured by several scars crisscrossing one side. I just stared for a moment, scars are unusual, since they're so easy to remove. Even a fugitive like Ransik would be able to get that level of medical care. Perhaps he liked the look. Or maybe he figured there was no point. Several gleaming, metallic spikes protruded from various places on his body, ensuring that he would never look human.
There were maybe a dozen of his robots moving around him. The name he called them came back to me. Cyclobots. They were very humanoid, even moving in an almost human way, but their heads were just round helmets and their bodies were silvery and metallic.
Then I saw what he was holding. It was a piece of machinery, just small enough for him to carry in his hands. I recognized it immediately, a miniature timehole generator, one of the newest, smallest ones. Ransik had already found what he was looking for. As he lifted the machine level with his face, examining it, I stepped out from concealment.
He saw me and lowered the generator, watching me intently as I took a few more steps. I took my Time Force badge from my belt and held it out. "I'm placing you under arrest, Ransik," I said. To my surprise, my voice was steady.
He grinned and laughed again, a little. "You don't know what you're up against," he said.
"Neither do you." I wondered just how much he knew about the Ranger program. He must at least suspect what I could do, but he seemed absolutely confident. We both began to walk, slowly, circling each other, waiting for the first move.
I started for him, and he grabbed the nearest carton and shoved it at me. His strength was incredible, I could see it was heavy but it came at me fast. I leaped up, used the carton as a springboard, and landed on Ransik, feet first, kicking him as hard as I could. He didn't seem to feel it, just swatted me off. I hit the floor and rolled back to my feet. The suit was incredible, too. I hardly felt the impact, and my strength and speed were almost a match for one of the most powerful mutants around. It was exhilarating. I told myself not to get overconfident, but it wasn't easy.
He had put the generator down on a box to fight me, and I jumped for it. With that mutant speed he leaped to intercept me and a moment later we were wrestling for it. I believe I mentioned how strong he was. Even with the suit I was losing. I needed to beat him with skill, or weaponry, and quickly pulled away. We faced each other again, circling.
"I've heard about those suits," he said, his voice deep and growling.
"Does it live up to your expectations?"
"And more. Time Force has outdone itself. I see I'll have to do something about it."
"You won't get the chance."
He grinned again. "Typical Time Force arrogance. With all your technology you're not as strong as I am, yet you boast as if you'd beaten me already."
"Strength isn't all that counts in a fight."
"Perhaps." He sprang forward, trying to grab me.
We both knew his best chance was to get a hold on me, and use that superior strength to crush me. And my best chance was to stay out of his reach and hit him fast and hard. I danced away. Time was against me, I saw him glance around at the cyclobots surrounding us like an audience, and knew what he was thinking.
I charged even as he took a breath to order them to attack, leaping into the air to hit him with a kick again, bouncing back and spinning away, summoning my blaster. I fired, hitting him at full force, had to take the chance it would kill him. But I needn't have worried, he staggered but seemed not to be hurt. Then he had pulled his own blaster, and I was dodging the beam, throwing myself to the floor, jumping back to my feet, whirling to blast the nearest robots.
"Cyclobots!" he roared, and the remaining ones started to move in.
I blasted at them, and vaulted over a stack of crates as I saw Ransik aiming for me again. As I landed I saw the labeling and knew what was in them. "No, don't shoot!" I screamed as he aimed again, then all I could do was take a running start and jump as far as I could, landing behind the largest piece of discarded machinery I could reach in the split-seconds I had before the next shot set off the explosive solid fuel stored in those crates.
The blast flattened me, even shielded behind a few tons of metal. Flames shot past me, I could feel the shock waves. The suit did its job magnificently, I was shaken up and felt bruised, but that was all. After a few seconds, I cautiously stepped out and took a look.
The cyclobots were trash. Everything flammable was going up in smoke. The windows had all been blown out. Unbelievably, Ransik was still alive, lying on the floor, trying to push himself to his hands and knees. I made my way over to him. His blaster was nowhere in sight, and he seemed dazed and weakened. The timehole generator was only a few steps away, I retrieved it and went back to Ransik.
I grabbed him and pulled him to his feet, dragging him along to the stairs. We staggered down to the first floor, which was filling with smoke; only the sensors in my helmet let me navigate toward the door. There were more, smaller explosions behind us. Finally we were stumbling out, seeing the spotlights and the crowds of TF officers, me pushing Ransik ahead, still clutching the generator.
I'll never forget the look on Logan's face when he saw us, relief, pride, perhaps joy. He motioned, and a squad moved in on Ransik. He struggled, but in his weakened state they had no trouble with him. In a few moments he was in shackles, being led away. With that taken care of, I looked around.
That's when I saw Jen. She was standing, watching, with Lucas, Trip, and Katie, all of them smiling, their faces practically glowing, especially Jen's. As she started towards me I raised the morpher, pressed the control button, and demorphed in another flash of light. Jen stepped up to face me, that big warm grin on her face, and then her arms were around me, and I was holding her tight. Sometimes I wish that moment could have lasted forever, it was so filled with perfect triumph, pride, and love.
The next weeks were busy, as we prepared for Ransik's trial. That involved the lawyers and Logan mostly, but I had to go over my planned testimony. I also had to go through a few detailed debriefings. Rachel and Logan wanted to know every detail of how the suit had performed. After only two more sessions my training period was declared at an end, and the morpher was officially issued to me, which meant I was expected to wear it all the time, something I was happy to do. I also became something of a celebrity, was interviewed by the news services and vidzines, and started to catch people staring at me.
Jen, Lucas, Trip, and Katie were busy, too, as they started more intensive training. Each of us would be a different color. Jen was assigned pink, a choice she found rather amusing, if a little irritating. Several modifications had been made to my morpher, and as soon as theirs were adjusted also and tested, they would be ready to morph for the first time. I wanted to be there when she had that experience, wished I would be able to see her face through the helmet. Both of us couldn't wait for her to join me as a Ranger, for all of us to be a team.
Then the trial started. All of us attended, of course, along with everyone who could find a way to get a pass into the courtroom. Everyone's seen the vids of that first day, Ransik being brought in, chained to contain his mutant strength, standing in the middle of the floor under that bright white light. He stood straight and proud, and stared at the judges defiantly. I could almost admire him.
"Ransik's going down this time, for sure," Katie said. She was sitting next to me in the viewers' section, Trip and Lucas on her other side, Jen on my other side, her hand in mine.
"Nothing's for sure," Lucas answered.
"No," I said. "With all the evidence against him -- there's no way he's getting out of this."
"Ready to testify?" Jen asked me, her fingers squeezing my hand.
"Ready as I'll ever be." To tell the truth, I didn't relish the idea of getting up in that witness box, in front of everyone, with all that light glaring down on me. But it was necessary.
"Come on, smile, this is a good thing," Katie said to Trip, nudging him. I noticed that he was frowning.
"I don't know. I just don't have a good feeling about this," he said.
"You and your feelings," Katie said with a laugh. Trip glanced at her, his frown deepening.
I returned my attention to the trial as the court announcer called for attention and began to read the charges. Ransik raised his chin and turned his head, his eyes moving over the audience until they stopped on one person. Following his gaze, I saw a young woman, pretty, with bright pink hair.
"Nadira," I heard Jen murmur beside me.
"Yes."
"Why did they let her in here?"
"She's not charged with anything, Ransik never involved her, at least not so we could prove it. And she is his daughter. She has the right to see her father's trial."
"She's up to something. Just look at her."
It was true, I was as sure as Jen. Nadira and her father exchanged a nod. She smiled, not a smile meant to reassure and comfort, a smile that was full of confidence and malice.
The trial only lasted three days. The testimony went quickly, including mine, for which I was grateful. Ransik had opted for a juryless trial, and with only the judges hearing evidence things moved fast. The defense didn't even bother to present a case, as if Ransik and his lawyers had given up. Or didn't care. At the end of the third day the judges retired to consider their verdict.
As the audience broke up and started to leave, I took Jen's hand and led her out to a balcony I had found on an upper floor earlier. It was small, and private, and offered a spectacular view of downtown Silver City. The perfect setting for what I was planning. We gazed at the view for a few minutes, but I preferred looking at Jen. I turned to face her.
"With Ransik put away, we'll have some time to spend together," I said.
Jen smiled at me and laughed lightly. "That would be a nice change. Having an actual date with my boyfriend."
"Actually, I was thinking of something a little more permanent." I already had the box in my hand. I lifted it and showed it to her, opening it to reveal the engagement ring inside before I went on. "Jen, will you marry me?"
She stared at the ring, and then at my face, that big grin coming at me again. Then she put her arms around my neck and hugged me.
"Hey, does that mean 'yes'?" I asked.
"Yes! Alex…"
I moved back just long enough to slip the ring on her finger, and then kissed her. It was a wonderful moment, under the sky, the city lights gleaming around us. "From now on, it's you and me…" I said softly.
"Forever." Her eyes sparkled. Perfect.
As promised, the judges delivered their verdict the next day. Jen had just finished showing her ring to the others, even Logan, who had joined us for the announcement. Ransik was brought in, to take up his place on the floor. We saw Nadira in her seat. The courtroom hushed as the judges came in.
"We find the defendant guilty of all charges. He is sentenced to confinement for life."
There was more, but it was drowned out by the commotion. A buzz of excited talk rose, applause broke out, we all turned to each other, smiling, patting backs. I shook hands with Logan. In the midst of this, the guards began to take Ransik out. He resisted, making them drag him. I saw him exchange another look with his daughter, who seemed quite angry at the celebration surrounding her, although she must have been expecting it.
Then he was passing in front of us, his face turning to us, full of hate and arrogance. He stood there for a moment, staring at us, the guards unable to move him. He smiled, and there was something savage in that smile that went through me like an icy current. I felt Jen tense and stiffen next to me, her hand tightening on mine. Then they were pulling him away, and he was disappearing through the door into the detention area. I glanced at the others, seeing their smiles gone.
It was the next day when we moved him. Ransik had been assigned to the Special Prisoners Center, the prison designed especially for mutants, who tended to be hard to control. Transporting him was a problem, considering that many of his followers were still loose, and likely to make an attempt to rescue him. After some deliberation, we came up with a plan.
As the only active Power Ranger, and the man who had captured Ransik, I was the obvious choice to escort him. For precisely that reason, I was assigned to accompany a fake transport, while the rest of the team -- Jen, Lucas, Katie, and Trip -- would guard Ransik in what appeared to be an ordinary freight trailer. Presumably Ransik's allies would attack in the wrong place, and I would be there to fight them. It was a good plan, and it should have worked.
Jen and I had a few minutes to ourselves, just before they left. Together, we watched as Ransik was brought out, wrestled into the trailer, where we knew he would be fastened into a highly reinforced set of manacles.
"Worried?" I asked Jen.
"A little," she said. "Can't help it."
"I wish all of you had your morphers." Their morphers were ready, but they still had to begin hands-on training with them.
"So do I. But we'll be fine." She smiled at me. "What could happen?"
"I can think of a few things."
"You're more likely to be attacked than us." Her head bowed.
I took her hands gently. "Don't worry. With the suit, nothing's going to hurt me."
We looked up as Lucas called to us. Everything was ready. Lucas swung himself up into the trailer cab and settled himself behind the wheel. Katie and Trip put on their helmets, ready to mount their vectorcycles and ride escort.
"Well, this is it. Good luck," Jen said.
"Stay safe." I leaned in to kiss her, and watched her run to the back of the trailer. She would sit inside, with Ransik. My stomach clenched at the thought of her alone with that monster. But she was doing her job. She could handle it.
It was only perhaps an hour later when the call came. My duty had gone uneventfully; the official prison transport vehicle I was escorting had made the trip safely and arrived at the prison. I had taken a ground car back. It came over the car's communicator, Logan's voice, calling me, trouble obvious in his voice.
"Alex, we have an emergency. Nadira and Frax knew about the transport somehow. They ambushed it. Ransik has escaped. We have word he's broken into the Mobile Containment ship."
"He escaped?" My heart froze. "Jen?"
"She and the others are fine. Just shaken up. You've got to get to the prison ship. Alex -- that ship is equipped for time travel, with one of the ship-sized generators we've been experimenting with. Ransik may be after it."
"Right. I'm on my way."
I turned around and headed for the Mobile Containment prison, a prison built into a large ship capable of flight. It was very close, in fact I would probably get there before any reinforcements. On the way, I wondered what Ransik wanted with it, besides access to a timehole generator. Then it came to me, three of his closest followers were imprisoned there. Conwing, Brickneck, and Steelix. Mutant soldiers, all of them, all strong and deadly. He intended to free them, and he probably intended to use a timehole to escape. And it was up to me to stop him.
In the minutes it took me to get there, I called Jen on her personal phone, against regulations, of course, to use TF communications for what was really a personal reason, but I didn't care. Her voice answered, sounding breathless and upset.
"Jen, are you all right?"
"Alex!" A slight pause. "You heard." Now there was defeat in her tone.
"Yes. I'm sure it wasn't your fault. Is everyone okay?"
"We're fine. Any sign of Ransik?"
"He's broken into the Mobile prison. I'm heading there now."
"Alex -- wait for us, we'll meet you…"
"I've got to stop him before he frees the prisoners."
"Alex…"
"I have to go." I was there, at the prison ship. I hung up, stopped the car, and got out. There were a few guards outside the doors of the administration building adjoining the actual ship, some unconscious, all injured. They wouldn't be any help, and I couldn't spare any time for them. I ran inside.
Once inside the doors, I stopped long enough to morph, the light of transformation reflecting off the cold surfaces of the small reception room I was standing in. I was familiar with the layout. If I went up to the roof on the main stairs, I could cross over to the ship, and there was a hatch and a utility stairway that led back down to the prisoner area. They wouldn't know about it, they'd never see me coming.
Or that was what I thought. Too late, I saw a surveillance camera in the stairwell and realized Ransik might see me on the security monitors. But the plan was still good, he wasn't likely to be watching the monitors, not likely to be in the main control room. I continued up to the roof. When I stepped though the door into the open, I realized my luck had been bad. He was there, waiting for me, that rapacious smile on his face, ready to claim vengeance for his defeat at my hands. At least he was alone. I stiffened my spine and faced him.
"Red Ranger," he growled. "You're either very stubborn, or very foolish."
"Neither. I brought you in once, and I'll do it again."
"You're wrong." He started towards me.
We were in the open, no cover for me, nothing to use against him except the suit, its weapons, and my own abilities. And this time he knew what to expect. But so did I. We circled each other, slowly, in a repeat of the last time.
I attacked, leaping to kick him. He swung a fist at me. I evaded the blow, kicked him in the shoulder and got him with a punch, then jumped out of range as he grabbed at me. We went on like that for a few minutes. He was smiling the whole time. Finally I got tired of the game -- and realized I'd never beat him in hand-to-hand combat -- and held up my morpher to summon the blaster. I should have had it ready all along.
Ransik was too fast, he had his blaster out before I could press the morpher button, and shot me. It was a powerful blast at close range, it knocked me to my knees. He was on me just as fast, grabbing my arm, pulling me up, and driving a fist into my belly. I staggered back, but kept my feet and reached for the morpher again. He punched me in the stomach again, then kicked me in the head as I doubled over in pain. I saw stars. This time he grabbed me from behind, his arm around my neck in a choke hold, a hand holding my arm behind my back. I was helpless, unable to break his grip, even with the suit.
"You may beat me, but you'll never escape Time Force!" I gasped in approved heroic manner.
"Where I'm going, Time Force doesn't exist yet. And after I'm done, it never will."
I struggled harder. The threat was unmistakable. He intended to escape into the past, not only escape, but alter history somehow, to prevent Time Force from existing. This was precisely what we were supposed to prevent. What I had to prevent.
"No," I said. "You can't… you can't predict what will happen if you change history!"
"I know what I'm doing. My people will finally have the power we need to defeat you humans."
"It's too dangerous!"
I heard a voice scream my name. Jen's voice. Ransik turned, holding me in front of him as a shield. Jen, Lucas, Trip, and Katie were emerging from the main stairwell. I realized they must have been nearby when I called, and had somehow gotten here to help me. Again, I tried to pull away, in vain.
Ransik spoke softly, so only I could hear. "This is nothing personal, Ranger. I rather admire your courage. But I can't allow the Ranger program to be a success. And I can't have you coming after me."
The next instant, he loosened his grip. I felt his blaster press into my back, and then the pain as he shot me point-blank. The suit couldn't take it, a sensation like electricity ran through me as the morpher failed and I demorphed back into my uniform, almost paralyzed with the shock. Ransik released me and shot again. This time I screamed.
After a few moments of agony, I opened my eyes. I was lying on my back, Jen cradling my head in her lap. Even if I didn't know how badly I was hurt, her face would have told me. Above us, in the sky, I could see a swirl of black and violet. A timehole. Ransik must have escaped. I had just enough strength to raise my hands and remove my morpher.
"Take it," I said to Jen. "Take the other morphers. They're in the lab. You have to go after Ransik. He's going into the past, to change history… prevent Time Force from existing… you have to stop him…"
She was sobbing. "No, I can't…"
"You can. Promise… promise me!"
"All right. I promise." Her face twisted with grief.
I raised my hand to her cheek, trying to wipe away the tears. "You and me…" I whispered.
"Forever…" Her face was the last thing I saw as everything began to darken and I felt my eyes closing and my arm became too heavy to hold up.
And then... then I died.