'I'm not doing anything wrong; I deserve to know as much as I can about history. After all, its part of the job,' she told herself, trying to convince herself that she wasn't breaking protocol.
She would have gone through the history logs herself, but she knew it would arouse suspicions, so she came to the conclusion that Trip was better suited for the job. 'After all, hes the computer wiz,' she reminded herself.
Time was having it's way with her as she stared at the clock, amazed that only a few minutes had gone by since the last time she'd check. Jen tried to make herself comfortable; lying down on the couch, sitting in her favorite chair, but nothing was working. She wanted the information, she needed the information, and she wouldn't be able to rest until she did.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity of waiting, someone knocked on the door. She recognized the knock right away. "Come on in Trip," she said.
The door opened and Trip walked in with a folder in his hand. After closing the door behind himself, who headed for the living room, where Jen was sitting nervously.
"I got the information you requested, but I don't understand why you'd want the history logs on Kimberly Hart," he said.
"Thanks Trip," she said, snatching the folder away from him and began to slim through it.
He remained silent as Jen glanced through the papers, stopping at a picture of Kim he'd printed from the history logs. Her facial expression didn't change in the slightest as she put the picture aside, then continued to read through the files.
"From what I could find, there isn't much about her after she went to the Pan Globals. We know that she eventually came back shortly after the Zeo rangers switched to the turbo technology, and a few months afterward, she and Tommy were engaged. After Tommy passed his powers to TJ, he and Kim married. That's as far as the logs go for her, did you want me to put together some information about their daughter?" he asked.
"Daughter?" she inquired.
"Kimberly was three months pregnant when Tommy, Wes and the other red rangers battled the Machine Empire. A day or so after the battle, Tommy's condition caught up with him, which is when TJ and Andros took him to Bio-Lab to be treated. The rest is history, kinda," he explained.
"Are you saying he didn't even know he had a daughter?" she replied.
"From what I can tell, no," Trip said.
"Thanks Trip, for everything," Jen sighed.
"You still didn't tell me what all this was about. This isn't exactly classified information, but why would you want to go over these files?" he asked her.
She closed the folder, but kept the picture out. "I wanted to see what she was like, why Tommy loved her so much," she admitted.
Trip sat down next to her. "We all see the way you look at him Jen. If you have feelings for Tommy, there's nothing wrong with exploring those feelings," he said.
"Yes there is. He still loves her, he clings to her memory. Even after 1000 years I can't compete with Kimberly. And even if I could, I'm not sure I'm ready to explore anything. I still have feelings for Wes," she told him.
"The only difference is you actually have a chance to be with Tommy, here and now. I say you take the chance before you lose it," he advised.
'Jen, this is Captain Logan. Do you read me?' they heard a voice ask.
Jen reached for her morpher. "I read you Captain. What's up?"
'Can you report to the science lab?' he asked.
"I have Trip with me. We're on our way," she said.
(*)
Jen and Trip walked into the science lab, where Captain Logan and Camille were waiting for them.
"What's up?" Trip asked.
"Tommy and Katie are still recovering from their injuries and won't be able to join you on your next mission. Do you think that the three of you can handle it on your own?" he inquired.
"I don't see why not, as long as there aren't any mutated creatures waiting for us. I think we can handle it," Camille said.
Jen nodded. "She's right, we can do it," she said.
"The clock is set for thirty minutes this time. Just find out what you can, and then get back here in one piece. I don't need the three of you on the injured list right now," Captain Logan mentioned.
"Why only thirty minutes?"
"We've detected an energy flux in the portal. Its nothing major, but I want to get it repaired before I send the three of you out for too long," he said.
"Understood,"
Captain Logan walked over to the control panel and activated the portal. "Good luck rangers," he told them.
Jen was the first to step through the swirling vortex first, followed by Camille and Trip. Once the three of them were gone, Captain Logan deactivated the portal.
(*)
Jen stepped through the other side of the portal, getting a good look around. There was a field of some sort, full of trees and bushes. But, in the distance, there was one building standing. She put her hands over her eyes and stepped on a boulder to get a better look.
"It's a temple," she sighed.
Trip and Camille stepped through the portal as he disappeared, walking over to Jen. "This is beautiful," Camille said, admiring her surroundings.
"Whatever happened it, the entire city seems to have no technology at all. It almost looks like the ruins of a city," Trip added.
"Well, whatever is going on here, we'll find our answers in that temple over there," she said, jumping off the boulder and walking towards the temple.
The three of them only got about six feet before a group of people jumped from out the trees, each of them holding a spear. Trip quickly noticed the face paint each of them were wearing, and the small piece of fabric that covered them.
Camille reached for her morpher. 'TIME FOR, TIME……' Jen stopped her.
"No, we don't want to seem hostile," she said.
"Us? Hostile? We're not the ones with the long pointy things," Camille said.
Jen took a step forward, putting her arms up to show she wasn't carrying a weapon. "We mean you no harm, we only want to……." She was interrupted when they dropped their spears and bowed in front of Jen.
"The Anointed One," they said in unison, bowing at her feet.
Trip and Camille watched on in confusion, but with no more confusion than Jen, who wasn't sure how to react to them. "Get up, all of you," she said.
The four men rose to their feet, still bowing their heads slightly. "The prophecy foretold you coming. We are your humble servants," one of them said.
"But I'm not……"
"The Anointed One wishes to travel to the temple. Take us there," Camille said.
"As you wish Anointed One," another said, leading them towards the temple.
"I'm not sure that was a good idea. I'm not anointed to do anything," Jen whispered as they walked, keeping their distance from the others.
"It was the best way to save our butts and get to the temple. We're only here for another 22 minutes, so it won't happen who they think you are after we leave," she said.
"She's right. We'll find out what we can and get out of there," Trip added.
It didn't take them long to arrive at the temple, where the four men escorted them inside. Everyone Jen passed bowed in front of her, until they finally came to what looked like the main chamber. One of them men hurried over to a figure wearing a cloak, whispering something to him.
"Leave us," the cloaked figure proclaimed.
The four men rushed out the chamber, closing the doors behind them. The cloaked figure walked over to Jen, pulling back his hood. "I am Galen, Prime Minister of New Earth," he introduced.
"New Earth?"
"Yes, it is what our master calls it," he said.
"Who is the master?" Trip asked.
"He is a being of superior size and strength. He comes to us at the end of each rising and demands a sacrifice to spare our land from destruction. For years now, he has kept us at peace, but we also live in fear," he told them.
"Where is the master now?"
"No one knows for sure, but the prophecy tells that he comes from a mystical gateway between realms," he said.
"It sounds like the Slipstream portal," Trip mentioned.
Jen nodded. "You said the master comes every rising. What is a rising?" she asked.
"After the sun has set 29 times, on the 30th rising, he appears to us," Galen said.
"Once a month this master comes and forces one of these people to kill themselves in the name of preserving the peace?" Camille whispered. "That's sick."
"Your people called me the Anointed One. What does that mean?" Jen asked.
"The prophecy foretold of a chosen warrior and her two companions that would travel to our world in the same manner that the master travels, and she was deliver us from his tyranny," he said.
"I don't know what the prophecy is or who wrote it, but……." Trip was cut short.
"I'll do it. I'll help you," Jen said.
"Just as the prophecy foretold," he said proudly.
"When is the next rising?" she asked.
"Tonight, just before the sun sets, the master will appear to us," he said.
Camille looked out the window. "Looks like the sun will be setting soon, but not soon enough," she said. Trip and Jen gathered around Camille. "Prophecy or not, the portal will open again in about 12 minutes. We can't stay here," she said.
"If the master travels the same way we do, the means that hes perfected the Slipstream portal and has found a way to open a stable portal to same point. That gives him the ability to come to this world every time," Trip said.
"That means they've found a way to open the portal from this side," she added.
"If we can get our hands on whatever device he has to open the portal, I may be able to modify it to work with our Slipstream, but it would take some time," he said.
"That isn't an option. When the portal opens, we have to go," Camille said.
"I'm not going," Jen said.
"What?"
"I said I'm not going. These people think I'm their Anointed One, and even if the prophecy is wrong, it's my responsibility to do whatever I can to help them. When the portal opens, the two of you go back, but I'm not leaving until the master is stopped," she explained.
(*)
Galen led them back to the field where the ceremony was supposed to take place. While Jen and Galen went over the plan, Trip contacted Captain Logan.
"She says she's not coming back with us sir," he said.
'You know how strong willed Jennifer can be. We can't force her to come back, but I hope that when the time comes, she makes the right call,' he said.
"Same here sir,"
"So what can you tell us about this world?" Camille asked.
'There are no records of this world. The last recorded document was in the 21st century, the year 2000 to be exact. The rangers at the time were Lightspeed Rescue, and they were apparently destroyed while trying to close a gateway to the Shadow World. One can only assume that darkness ruled the planet up until a few years ago when the master appeared and defeated whatever was there. Now, as the cost for peace, they have to sacrifice one of their people and hand over their wealth once a month,' he explained.
"That's just sick. What kind of savior would want the people he saved to kill themselves?" she asked.
'Heres where it get worse rangers. The planet itself is in grave danger. There's an instability in the core, and in a matter of two years, the planet will destroy itself,' he said.
"How many people are here?"
"Could be anywhere from a few dozen to a few thousand," Trip said.
"Is there anyway we can bring some of the people here back to our world to save them?" she asked.
'A process like that would take months. Besides, the portal itself couldn't take the strain, there would be an overload in the sub processors and the portal would collapse,' the Captain said.
"Not if we had something that could take the added pressure and re-disperse it evenly through out the portal. That in itself would make the portal stronger," Trip said.
'We've had our top science teams looking into that, but there isn't anything we can find that can take that kind of pressure. I'm sorry, but there's nothing we can do for these people, but if Jen thinks she can stop the master and ensure them peace, I support her decision,' he said.
At that moment, a portal opened a few feet away from them. Trip got a good look at it, quickly noticing something different about it. It seemed larger, and instead of blue, there was a type of green light coming from it. Before he had a chance to examine it, another portal opened.
"Time to go Trip," Camille said.
"I won't leave Jen here," he said, walking towards her.
Jen turned around. "Just go, I can handle it," she told him.
"No, I won't let……." He was cut short as Jen pushed him, knocking him through the portal.
"Take care of him Camille," Jen said.
"Don't I always?" she commented as she went through the portal as well. It began to get smaller until finally, it disappeared.
Jen stood in front of the green swirling vortex, awaiting the master. She didn't have to wait long as a figure stepped through the portal. As soon as they came through, Jen got a good look at him.
"Oh my God," she sighed in amazement.
(*)
Trip and Camille arrived on the other side of the portal, quickly rushing over to the control panel. "We have to find a way to reopen that portal and get Jen out of there," he said.
"I'll try to reconfigure the phase alignment sequencers, we'll see what that gets us," Camille said, going over calculations.
Captain Logan and Tommy simply watched on.
"Trip," Tommy called out, trying to get his attention.
"Not now Tommy, I have to make sure these variances are in sync with one another. Camille, run a diagnostic on the flux regulators," he said.
"Already on it," she said.
"Jen knew what she was doing when she decided to stay. There's nothing we can do for her now," the Captain said.
"There's always a way," Trip snapped.
Captain Logan sighed, walking away slowly.
TBC…………
