"I'm sending you on a mission. What happens in the next few minutes is completely classifieds. No one must know what we're going here, it's imperative to maintain the continuity of the time stream. Not even your fellow rangers can know," Alex explained.

"I understand,"

Alex walked over to the controls and pushed a button, opening a door at the back of the room, revealing a time ship. "When you get inside, you'll see that the coordinates have already been set and the auto pilot is engaged. The parameters of your mission will be explained in the files you find in the ship, and after you read them, they must be destroyed. Follow out the instructions to the letter, then return here for de-briefing and memory adaptation," Alex instructed.

"Memory adaptation?"

"It's a standard procedure. When you return, memories of the mission will be erased from your memory to preserve the timeline," he said.

"Understood," he said as he nodded slightly, heading towards the time ship……

Tommy woke up in a cold sweat, only to find himself in the medical bay. He wiped the sweat away from his eyes, taking deep breaths to calm down. 'Another dream,' he sighed, but this one had been different. The previous dreams were always fuzzy and inconclusive. When he woke up, he could never remember much of it, but this time, he was able to remember a little more.

'There was a mission' he thought to himself, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't recall talking to Alex about that mission. 'What was I suppose to do? Did I do it? Where did I go in a time ship?' he wondered. As he began to calm down, he felt his memory slipping away. Suddenly, he wasn't able to remember as much as he once did.

He stumbled off the examining table and headed to the bathroom, splashing some cold water on his face. He glanced at himself in the mirror, not realizing how bad he looked until that moment. There were bags under his eyes, and his eyes were red, probably from not sleeping as much as he should. Then, in the distance, he heard a voice. It was muffled, so he didn't recognize it offhand, so he quickly walked out the bathroom where he saw her.

"Who are you talking to?" he asked.

She glanced up and saw Tommy walking towards her. "Where did you come from?" she inquired.

"I was in the bathroom," he noticed the gash on her side. "What happened to you?" he replied.

"You don't know?"

"How would I, I've been in here all day," he pointed out.

"Oh yeah, that's right," she sighed in an unconvincing tone.

"I'll find the doctor so you can get cleaned up," he said, walking out the room.

He hurried into the hallway, stopping the first doctor he saw. "What is it Tommy?" the doctor asked, sounding concerned.

"It's Jen, theres something wrong with her," he said, motioning for him to follow.

The doctor headed into the medical bay with Tommy, getting a good look at Jen. "Looks like you broke a few ribs, and there may be some internal bleeding," he mentioned.

"What happened?"

"We got into it with some creatures on another world. Nothing we couldn't handle," Jen told them.

"Are any of the others hurt?"

"No, they're fine. Thanks to the black ranger," she said.

He paused. "Who?"

"The black ranger. He seems to come just in the nick of time to save us," she said.

"Who is he?"

"We don't know, that's what I was trying to find out," she said.

Just then, Admiral Logan walked into the medical bay with a serious look on his face. Tommy noticed him, nodding slightly.

"How you feeling Lt. Oliver?" he inquired.

"Just fine sir. I'll be out of here in no time," he said eagerly.

"Good to hear. I need you to give the Captain and I a moment alone," he said.

"Of course," he turned to Jen. "I hope you feel better," he said, then walked out the room.

The Admiral waited until Tommy was gone, then walked over to Jen. "I read Katie's report. What the hell were trying to prove back there?" he snapped.

"I was attempting to find out the identity of the black ranger sir," she said.

"By getting yourself and the best of your team killed? You knew that prison planet was a hostile environment, yet you led your team there and engaged a group of creatures for no reason at all. You put yourself on the line, the lives of your team mates, and makes me seriously consider stripping you of your rank and position," he snapped.

Jen stood up, shoving the doctor aside. "I took the others to prison planet because I knew the black ranger would show up and save us. We were never in any serious danger, and just as I expected, he showed up just in time to make the save. I did what I felt was necessary to gather the information I needed. If you want to suspend me, fine. You do what you feel you have to. Sir," she said coldly.

"Damn it Jennifer, these are trying times for Time Force. We need everyone at 100%, especially you and your unit. If you're going to run off half cocked the next time you want to prove a point, I'll demote you and have your ass handing out parking tickets in front of the academy. Do I make myself clear?" he snapped at her.

"Perfectly clear," she sighed.

"Now, what were you able to find out?" he asked, shifting gears.

"I was able to record the black ranger's voice with my morpher, and I have Trip and Camille analyzing it now. Its only a matter of time before we know who he is," she told him.

"Although I question your methods, you did good work. Until the doctor gives you a clean bill of health, you are confined to this medical bay," he said.

"What?" she snapped.

"Like I said, I need everyone at 100%, and right now you're not. I will assign someone to command your unit until you are on your feet again," he said.

"Who did you have in mind?"

"Commander Collins," the Admiral said.

"You're giving my team to Alex? That's unacceptable," she said.

"No, those are my orders. Now get some rest," he said, walking out the room.

"Yes sir," she mumbled with distain.

(*)

"I'll make the necessary repairs, but the rest of you better get back to the lab. If any of those creatures did make it through the dome, I'll take care of them too,"          

"Computer. Analyze voice and cross reference it with all known voice identifications within Time Force," Camille said, sitting down in front of the computer.

'Working,' the computer answered.

"Do you think this will work?" Trip asked, walking over to her.

"It has to. I don't agree with how she did it, but it was an excellent idea to record his voice and has us analyze it. If its anyone in Time Force, we'll find out in a minute," she said.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said.

"You sure?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" she asked him.

"Well," he paused. "I'm still a little upset that I wasn't able to help you back there," he sighed.

She turned around, looking him in the eyes. "You did what you could honey, I don't blame you for what happened. Besides, I'm okay," she assured him.

"You're sure?"

"Trip, if something were wrong, I'd tell you," she said.

'Analysis complete,' the computer announced.

The two of them turned their attention to the screen, going over the readings. "According to this, whoever the black ranger is, he isn't from Time Force," Trip said.

"Could the black ranger be masking his voice?"

"I doubt it. A voiceprint is like a fingerprint, and it can't be altered. Whoever this guy is, it isn't anyone from Time Force," he told her.

"Maybe we're going about this the wrong way," she said.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean we're thinking small. We're assuming that the black ranger is from Time Force, and that is limiting our search parameters," she turned to the control panel. "Computer. Extend search parameters to all former rangers in file," she said.

'Working,' the computer announced.

"What are you up to Cammy?" he asked her.

"I think that the black ranger is a former ranger, maybe someone from the past or even another reality. If that's the case, the computer should be able to access the files we have available on former rangers and come up with a positive ID," she said.

"Theres a flaw there. The computer doesn't have a complete account of every ranger. Voice logs weren't kept until the formation of the Lightspeed rangers. If the black ranger is anyone before that time, the computer wouldn't have a clue," Trip pointed out.

"Now you're thinking too big. If we can rule out every ranger prior to Operation: Lightspeed, it will be reasonable to assume that the black ranger is from one of the original Earth-bound ranger teams," she said.

"That only leaves the Mighty Morphin' rangers, the Zeo rangers, the Turbo rangers, the astro rangers and the lost galaxy rangers," he said.

"Considering that Tommy and the original five rangers were part of the original ranger teams, Zeo and turbo, we should be able to narrow it down until we find out who this guy is," Camille told him.

"Good work boo,"

"I try," she sighed.

Just then, Alex walked into the science lab, making his way over to the control panels. "What are you two doing?" he asked.

"Running a search," they turned to him. "What can we do for you sir?" Trip asked.

"Jen has been injured, and Admiral Logan has put me in control of this unit until she is able to return. The admiral is waiting for the both of you in deck eight," he told them.

"Why?"

"I didn't question the admiral's order, and neither should you," Alex said coldly.

"Yes sir," Camille said as the two of them walked away. Alex watched as the two of them exited the lab, then turned to the control panel.

'Analysis complete, voice match found,' the computer announced.

Alex stared at the screen in disbelief. "I can't believe they did it," he paused. "Computer, delete all files pertaining to search parameters and delete all audio files recorded by pink morpher," he instructed.

'Authorization required,' the computer said.

"Authorization Collins Omega 615 beta," he said.

'Files deleted,' the computer told him.

Alex pulled a disc out of the drive, sliding it until his back pocket as he walked out the lab. Just then, Katie peeked her head around the corner. She waited until the doors to the lab closed before she walked over to the controls.

"That bastard," she sighed.