Wes, Eric, Jen, Alex, Zaskin, Miller, and Mr. Collins belong to Disney/Saban.
Nightwing/Dick Grayson, Batman/Bruce Wayne, and Oracle/Barbara Gordon belong to DC Comics/Time Warner.
Tony Newman, Doug Phillips, and Ann MacGregor belong to Irwin Allen Productions.
I am using them without permission, however I have not and don't expect to make money from this.
Gaby, Rick, Norman, and any others you don't recognize are mine.

Rated PG-13 : Crude language; violence; sexual references.

Reviews are appreciated, please take a moment to leave one.

The Time Tunnel


Escape

"Time Force always monitors the timestream. We detected two unauthorized timeholes originating here. Initially thought it was someone from our time again, interfering with history. Command sent me to investigate. I was going to see what Jen, Wes, and Eric knew about it, but..." Alex paused to stare at them. "When I got here, I did a routine scan for mutant lifesigns. Picked one up. It was in that house, where I found you fighting those new cyclobots."

"Norman Ryder's house. There was no one else there," Nightwing said thoughtfully. "Are you saying Ryder's a mutant?"

"Could be. But that's not the immediate problem now." Alex shrugged. "Those six people shouldn't have been removed from this time, and I have to get them back. I've already traced the first timehole, it used more power and left a clear track. But unfortunately it covered the track of the second one. I don't think I can get an accurate fix on it."

He paced, stopped, and turned to face them again. They were in the Bio-Lab laboratory that had so recently been the scene of a battle, the place where six people had disappeared into nothing. Steve Miller also watched in alert silence, Alan Collins with barely repressed impatience and anxiety.

"Can you find them or not? Can you get them back?" the older man asked.

Alex's face softened. "As soon as I get back to my ship, I'll go for Jen, Dr. Zaskin, Rick, and Gaby. But Wes and Eric went through the second timehole. I haven't been able to find the exact destination."

"What? You can't find my son? And Eric?"

"Not at this time, but we have two possibilities. Rick may be able to tell us where they were sent. Or if we can get his timehole generator back, it might have the information we need." He paced a few steps again. "The first transport took them about sixty-five million years into the past."

There was a murmur of surprise. All of them stared in astonishment.

"Sixty-five million years?" Collins asked.

"You mean -- dinosaurs? Jesus, we've got to get them out of there!" Nightwing exclaimed. Then he glanced at Collins, realizing it wasn't a tactful thing to say.

"Jen's got her morpher. So do Wes and Eric. They can defend themselves."

"Do you think Wes and Eric were transported to the same time? Maybe you'll find them there, too?" Collins said.

Alex's face was grim. "The two destinations were close, but not the same. I think they're anywhere from a few hundred to a million years apart. Hopefully we'll know more when I find Jen and her group. I'll go back to my ship and leave immediately." Turning to Steve and Nightwing he continued, "You two, work on finding Norman Ryder. We need that generator."

"Yes, sir," Nightwing said, grinning as Alex threw him a scowl as he left.

"Well, you heard him," he said to Steve. "Let's keep working. I want to take another look at Ryder's house."


"It's beautiful," Zaskin said wistfully.

They were back in their cave, resting, all four of them sitting in the entrance and having a meal of nuts and seeds. They had been living on nuts, seeds, figs, and the occasional egg. Jen reflected that she could get tired of this very quickly. She followed Zaskin's gaze, out over the landscape spread before them from the height of their cave.

"Yes, it is beautiful. But I'd rather be back in Silver Hills." She sniffled and wiped her nose. Again.

"I'm with you," Gaby said. "A nice smoggy city street would look pretty beautiful to me right now."

"I have to admit, I just want to go home," Rick said. "I'm really sorry I got all of us stuck here."

"If you hadn't, those cyclobots would have gotten us."

"Anyway, it doesn't matter," Jen added. "We're here."

"And just think of the things we have the chance to see, how much we can learn," Zaskin said dreamily. "I can write a paper -- a series of papers -- once we get back… If we get back," he concluded, his expression fading into a frown.

"I miss television," Gaby said softly.

"Are you kidding? I miss sleeping in a nice warm, soft bed," Rick replied.

"I miss my laboratory." That was Zaskin.

"I miss pizza. And hamburgers."

"My wife. My daughter."

"I miss Wes…" Jen said, now becoming thoroughly depressed.

"Yeah," Gaby agreed. "I miss Eric. And a clean bathroom. Not necessarily in that order."

Jen laughed with the others, and then sat up abruptly, an electric thrill running through her as her morpher chirped. She raised her arm and opened her mouth, nothing coming out for a moment as her mind simply went blank with hope.

"Jen?" A familiar voice asked.

For an instant she thought it was Wes, but it was just a bit different… "Alex?"

"Jen. I'm here to get you."

"Oh, Alex, you don't know how glad I am to hear your voice."

"About as glad as I am to hear yours. Are all of you all right?"

"We're fine. Can't wait to go home."

"I've got a fix on your location."

"Look!" Rick shouted, pointing into the sky.

"We can see you!" Jen grinned, watching the ship circle overhead and swoop lower.

"There's no good place to land near you... I see a clearing, about a kilometer west of you."

"I know where it is."

"Good. Meet you there."

"Right. See you soon."

She lowered her arm, still smiling. The others stared at her with their faces alight with hope. "We're rescued," she said. "Come on, we should be able to get there before dark."


Eric woke with a gasp, his injuries coming to life at a careless shift in position. He stared around, disoriented, expecting his own familiar bedroom, or Gaby's, and finding himself looking at rocks, a dirt floor, and the dim interior of a cave stretching into the distance. After a few moments the pain subsided and he eased himself up, propped against a rock, cradling his arm on his knees. He rubbed his good hand over his face, recognizing the inner heat that meant his fever was worse.

"Does it hurt?" a voice asked. He looked, and recognized Tony on the other side of the fire.

"I'm fine. How long was I asleep?"

"A couple of hours, I guess. Hard to tell."

"Where's Wes?"

"He and Doug went out to scout around."

"Why didn't you go?"

"We thought someone should keep an eye on you."

"You thought wrong," Eric replied, annoyed. "I don't need a babysitter just because of a few scratches."

Tony smiled, then became serious. "Those are more than scratches. You lost a lot of blood. And they're infected."

Eric shrugged, and got to his feet. "How long have they been gone?"

"They left right after you fell asleep."

"Damn. Don't think we should split up." With a scowl, he headed toward where light shone into the cave.

"That's not a good idea. You're still weak."

Eric didn't bother to answer that. He walked to the small cave entrance, stooped to get out, and found it harder than he thought to get up again. Outside, he stopped to look out over the forest, colors deepening as the sun sank, realizing he had no idea where to look. The crunch of a footstep made him turn, to see Tony stepping up to stand beside him.

"I'm sure they're all right. Doug knows what he's doing, and Wes has his suit, and his weapon." Tony paused, eyeing him. "You should come back inside."

"I'm all right."

"Your friend told me you're a stubborn bastard."

Eric regarded him coldly. "I still think you two have something to do with us being here."

Tony bristled. "Why should you think that?"

"Out of billions of years of the past, we land in the same time as you. Seems like a big coincidence, doesn't it?"

"We certainly didn't bring you here, if that's what you're getting at."

"Why should I believe you?" Eric stepped closer aggressively.

"Why should we want you here?" Tony confronted him, just as angry. "Damn it, we risked our lives to save your neck! And you're not even grateful!"

He was right, not that Eric could bring himself to admit it. He realized he was being unreasonable, and why. He was worried about Gaby and the others, and in pain, and taking it out on someone else, as usual... They glared at each other for a few more seconds before Eric looked away uncomfortably, hunched a shoulder, and turned back to the cave. He led the way back in and to the fire, and sat, finding the warmth welcome. He was suddenly cold, and conscious of the other man's eyes on him as he shivered. Settled against his rock again, he watched as Tony leaned in to add another branch to the fire and poke it into renewed life.

"Thanks," he muttered, looking up long enough to see Tony smile, then staring into the flames.


"Hold up for a minute." Half a mile away, Wes stopped for a brief rest, finding a rock to sit on. He looked around. "Thought I loved the outdoors. It's only been a day, and I'm sick of trees."

Doug dropped to sit on the ground cross-legged, and looked up at him with a smile. "Yeah, so are we. Love to see a building again, or a car."

Wes looked at his face, catching the tone of longing. "Must have been pretty rough for you guys."

A sigh, as Doug looked down at his hands. "It hasn't been easy. A struggle every day, just to stay alive. Between trying to figure out what's safe for us to eat, and trying to avoid being eaten…" He smiled again, without any real happiness. "Tony and I are both city boys. Scientists. I guess we led sheltered lives. We were totally unprepared for all this. Jumping around through time, always in danger…"

He sighed. "Sometimes I'm amazed we've survived this long. Disasters, wars, now this... The things we've seen -- some of it's pretty amazing. If we ever get back, we could write a book. Sure to be a best-seller. Then we could retire, and just sit in our backyards the rest of our lives."

"Wouldn't you get bored?"

He laughed. "We've had enough excitement to last a couple of lifetimes."

"I guess. Eric and I have had a pretty exciting time, too. I guess we could use some boredom. Maybe we'll come over and sit in your backyard with you." He smiled at the image of all of them sitting in lawn chairs behind some suburban house, talking... Tony and Doug, him and Eric. Jen and Gaby... The smile faded.

"Sounds good." Doug's expression became serious again. "Once we realized the Time Tunnel wasn't going to find us again, we got pretty hopeless, I guess. The worst part was knowing we were all alone." He looked up again. "It's great to have someone else to talk to, but I'm sorry you and Eric got stuck here too."

"Don't give up. I haven't. We have friends looking for us."

"But how would they get us back, even if they figure out what happened?"

"There's people we know who could do it."

Doug looked away again. "Gives us something to hope for, anyway."


"Dr. Zaskin, we need to stay together," Jen said. Again. "It's starting to get dark, I want to get to the timeship."

"Right. Sorry." He backed away from the small, unfamiliar flowers he had been examining with a regretful look. "It's just that we have such an opportunity here. It's a shame to waste it."

"I understand. But I'm more concerned about keeping us alive."

"But no one has ever seen these things before, and probably never will again, at least in our time. The value to science is -- is unimaginable! And this is our last chance!"

Jen looked at his face, glowing with scientific zeal, and smiled. "I suppose we could take a few minutes to explore, as long as it's on the way. Just make it fast."

"Wonderful! Let me get Rick!"

"Don't wander off by yourselves!" Jen called after him. With a sigh she watched him talk to Rick, both of them waving their arms and pointing in several directions. Then they set out for a clump of uninspiring-looking ferns. She and Gaby trailed behind.

"Can't blame him, you know. Being in this time really is exciting, even to me," Gaby said.

"Me, too. Now that I know we're getting out of here, I can almost enjoy this." Jen smiled, watching Dr. Zaskin pick part of the plant and add it to the seed cone, flowers, and the dead giant dragonfly he was carrying as souvenirs.

"The first thing I'm going to do is take a nice long shower. That's before I go out for a big dinner. Can't wait to see Eric, I'll bet he's going crazy."

"I know what you mean, I wish Alex had brought Wes, but those timeships are small… What's he got now?" A few more steps brought them to where Zaskin and Rick were bending over a nest of large dinosaur eggs, engaged in a heated debate.

"Dr. Zaskin, this nest is out in the open. The mother must be taking care of it, protecting it."

"But most dinosaurs just laid their eggs and abandoned them, just like modern reptiles."

"We don't know that. Maybe most of them stayed with their nests. Anyway, I think this mother is probably around here somewhere."

"You have no evidence for that. We have to assume they behave like their closest relatives, the reptiles."

"But their closest relatives may have been birds, and they take care of their eggs."

"Um, guys, I think Rick's right," Gaby said, laying a hand on Jen's arm.

They all looked up at the sound of a footstep. A very large, heavy footstep. What they saw was a very large, heavy creature emerging from the trees surrounding them. It stopped, and stared at them. It was big, about twenty feet long and close to ten feet high, covered in scaly light brown skin, walking on two powerful legs, with short arms and fingers ending in long claws, jaws that looked almost big enough to swallow a person whole, filled with rows of long, sharp teeth. And they were getting an excellent view of those teeth as the creature opened its mouth in a low, rumbling roar.

"Just back away slowly," Jen said.

They did, retreating as the dinosaur eyed them. It took a step toward them and stopped. They moved a little faster. Just as they reached a stand of trees, it roared again and charged.

The group of humans broke and ran. Jen went last, keeping the other three in front of her as they fled. For a moment she hoped that the dinosaur would be slow and lumbering, but it wasn't, it came after them with surprising speed, brushing trees aside on its way. A glance behind her showed it catching up rapidly.

There was no choice, she stopped, raised her morpher and pressed the button, a flash of light flowing over her as she morphed into the Pink Ranger, as always the sensation of power and energy making her feel momentarily invincible. That impression disappeared as soon as the light faded and she saw the monster towering over her.

Summoning her blaster, she backed away, firing at its head, catching it with a solid hit on the snout. It slowed, shaking its head and roaring with pain or anger, or both. But it kept coming. Jen ran, stopping every few steps to turn and fire. The creature barely slowed down, it only seemed to get angrier. Jen raised the power of her blaster and tried again. This time, it stopped and roared, clawing at the air, then started after her again

"Doesn't anything stop this thing?" Jen exclaimed to herself as she concentrated on running. The others were a distance ahead now, she could hear them crashing through the underbrush. Then she heard screams.

Bursting through a last clump of bushes, she saw them. Zaskin, Rick, and Gaby were huddled together back to back in a small clearing, surrounded by perhaps a dozen dinosaurs about three feet high, probably weighing as much as a small woman. Not big, as dinosaurs went, but armed with vicious-looking teeth and impressive claws on both feet and long-fingered hands. They were hunting as a pack, circling their human prey, dashing in to strike. Gaby was clutching her shoulder, blood running down her arm. Even as Jen stopped and aimed her blaster, one of the creatures darted close and ripped at Zaskin, slashing his leg.

She fired, and blinked as she saw another energy beam coming from the other side of the clearing. In another moment, she felt a dizzying wave of relief as the Black Ranger came running out. Alex aimed and shot several times, picking off the animals, leaving them stunned and twitching. Their companions turned to stare at him, snarling, and then seemed to melt away into the trees.

But it wasn't over. Her friend was still chasing them; the larger dinosaur crashed through the trees into the open. After a pause for another roar, it charged at them.

"This way! Run!" Alex shouted. Gaby, Zaskin, and Rick ran towards him, he ran towards Jen, passing them. At Jen's side, he stopped and added his blaster to hers. They fired several shots, stopping the creature, but not putting it out.

"It's no good, Alex!" she cried. "It's too strong to knock out. We're just slowing it down!"

"Come on!"

He took her arm. They ran, dodging between the trees, using their Ranger-enhanced speed to gain a little ground on their pursuer. The heavy thud of dinosaur footsteps pounded behind them. The others came into sight, fortunately running in the right direction. A moment later they were in a larger clearing, a timeship visible in the middle.

"Head for the ship!"

They were already running for it. Alex and Jen stopped again, both turning to fire repeatedly. The dinosaur slowed and stopped again, shaking its head and roaring. It staggered slightly, the first sign of weakness. Encouraged, they fired a few more rounds before running again.

The footsteps behind them started again as they dashed for the ship. Alex fumbled to key the door open and shoved the others in roughly, including Jen, before stepping in himself and sealing the entrance. Jen felt herself sag with relief, leaning against the wall, seeing the others slump in exhaustion and reaction. Then Alex straightened again as they heard a crash reverberate through the ship.

"It's trying to get in!" Jen cried, her voice quivering just a little.

"It'll never get through the hull. But we'd better get out of here before it damages something." Alex quickly stepped around the others, demorphed, and sat in the pilot's seat. He touched the controls, bringing the little ship to life. Perhaps the sound of the engines scared the dinosaur off, as the viewscreen activated they could see it backing away.

"There's not enough seats for all of you," he said. "Jen, take the co-pilot's seat. The rest of you, sit on the deck and hang on to something." He smiled at their frightened faces. "Don't worry. You'll be back in Silver Hills in twenty minutes."


TBC...