"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.

She tried to retrieve the data that was erased, but couldn't find any signs of it. Katie let out a sigh of frustration as she sat down in front of the control panel, trying to think of something… anything. 'If he deleted everything, including the audio from Jen's morpher, there's nothing I can do,' she thought to herself. Then it occurred to her. 'The files from their first search may still be in the mainframe,' she remembered.

"Computer, show all search parameters initiated within the last thirty five minutes," she said.

'Working,' the computer announced.

A few moments later, a list of searches appeared on the screen. "Alex managed to delete file 1784 beta," she mumbled. "Computer, open file 1784 alpha," she ordered.

The file opened, and Katie read over it quickly. "All right computer, I need you analyze the voice sample on file and cross check it with all ranger profiles," she said.

'There is no voice sample on file,' the computer told her.

She paused. "Okay," she sighed. "Computer, use the search parameters from file 1784 alpha and extend that search to all ranger profiles and search for a positive match," she said.

'Working,' the computer announced.

While she waited, she tried to understand why Alex would purposely try to withhold information from them. 'You'd think he want us to know who the black ranger is,' she thought. 'Then again, Alex has a history of keeping us in the dark,' she recalled.

When Alex had critical information about their mission to the 21st century to capture Ransik, he deceieved them by allowing them to believe he was dead. Then, he withheld information about the shifts in the time line, which may have helped them capture Ransik quicker.

"Well, whatever you're up to Commander Collins, your time is up," Katie said.

~

Trip and Camille stepped off the elevator on deck eight, where Admiral Logan greeted them in the hallway.

"You wanted to see us sir?" Camille asked.

"I'm sorry, both of you," he sighed.

"Sir?" Trip inquired, unsure what the Admiral was trying to say.

Just then, a group of Time Force officers grabbed Trip and Camille from behind, forcing their arms behind their backs. Another officer pulled out a needle, injecting both of them with something. Soon, both Trip and Camille were unconscious.

The Admiral looked on with a heavy heart as the two of them fell to the ground. "Get both of them to memory adaptation at once," he sighed.

"Yes admiral," one of the officers said as they helped Camille and Trip up, taking them away.

(*)

"To you believe in self-fulfilling prophecies?" Alex asked him.

"What do you mean?"

"Didn't it seem strange to you that the history logs didn't give exact details about how Shin Getti was stopped in the 21st century? These types of events are carefully worded to avoid any confusion, to ensure that things don't become too complicated. Truth is, outside influence was necessary for the timeline to progress naturally. If you and the others hadn't traveled to that point in time, Operation: Lightspeed would have never gotten off the ground. Shin Getti would have taken over the world, and history would have been changed. That's why Time Force is important, especially the Slipstream division. You and your unit are the missing links in the timeline; ensure that things flow according to plan. The mission I'm offering you now is a chance to ensure that history once again flows smoothly," he told him.

"How?"

Alex walked behind his desk again, opening a drawer and pulling out a small white sphere, tossing it to Tommy. Tommy quickly caught it, getting a good look at it.

"What is this?" Tommy asked.

"It's a second chance," he sighed

Tommy opened his eyes again, only to find himself in the medical bay, but it wasn't the one he'd been in the last few days. This one was different, much different, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. There were doctors across the room going through papers along with a Time Force officer. Tommy's vision was a bit blurry, but thanks to the trademark sunglasses, he recognized Alex. They were talking about something, and judging by the tones in their voices, it was something important. Tommy closed his eyes as one of the doctors glanced towards him.

One of the doctors walked over to Tommy with a clipboard in hand. "We've examined him again. The only thing we can think of it that his DNA was altered by the radiation over exposure. Because of that radiation, the memory adaptation wasn't as effective as we hoped for," he said.

"What do you mean?" Alex inquired.

"He constantly comes into the medical bay complaining about headaches. Because of his condition, the adaptation procedure was only about 65% effective. He has dreams that his dismisses as re-occurring dreams, but are actually suppressed memories. It is only a matter of time before his memory returns fully," he said.

"What are the risks to him if we gave him the procedure again?"

"It isn't recommended for anyone to receive the memory adaptation procedure more than once every six months to a year. Lt. Oliver was given the procedure less than a week ago; to give him another this soon could result in permanent brain damage. Then, considering his unique condition, another procedure could kill him," he explained.

"Our options are very limited here,"

"Yes sir," the doctor said.

"The information Tommy has cannot fall into the wrong hands. If it did, the balance of power in the universe would shift, and the world as we know it would come to an end. It may become necessary to give him the procedure again, regardless of the risks to him," Alex said.

"Are you saying you want us to kill him?"

"Only as a last resort," he sighed.

"I understand your position commander, but I'm a doctor. I'm sworn to do no harm. I speak for my entire medical staff when I say none of us will approve this procedure, and if it means going against your direct orders, so be it," he told him.

Alex took off his sunglasses. "I can appreciate your position in this doctor, but if you or any of your staff refuse one of my orders, you will leave me with no choice but to relieve you of your duties here," he explained.

"Do what you feel is necessary commander, but we will not allow you or anyone to do bodily harm to one of our patients,"

"The ends justify the means,"

"Not from where I stand. If you didn't want such sensitive information to fall into the wrong hands, you shouldn't have entrusted it to my patient. And I assure you commander, if you try to relieve me or any of my staff for refusing to give our patient a procedure that is potentially life threatening, we won't be the only ones out of a job, sir," he said with a tone of distain in his voice.

Without a word, Alex put his sunglasses back on, walking out the room.

(*)

Jen tried her best to get comfortable as she laid in the medical bay. Her ribs had been taped up and her injuries tended to, but that wasn't what was bothering her. 'I can't believe whats going on. Either Tommy is lying to us or Alex is brainwashing him so he can't tell us who the black ranger is, now Logan gives Alex my command. When I get out of here, I'm going to…' her thoughts were interrupted when the doors to the medical bay opened and Katie walked in.

"Jen, we have to go," she said, rushing over to her.

"I can't, I've been confined to the medical bay until the doctor gives me a clean bill of health," she told her.

"Trip and Camille ran a search on the voice pattern you recorded and they found out who the black ranger is, but before they could go over the readings Alex ordered them to report to deck eight," she said.

Jen sat up. "Memory adaptation," she mentioned.

Katie nodded. "After that, he deleted all the files pertaining the black ranger search. Well, at least he thought he did," she said.

"What do you mean thought he did?"

"He managed to erase one of the files, but I have the information from their preliminary search. I ran the search again, and I was able to find out a few things," Katie told her.

"What do you know?"

"All I know is that the voice pattern of the black ranger doesn't match any that we have on file," she said.

"That's not doing us any good Katie,"

"Yes, it is. Now we can narrow down our search. Voice ID wasn't started until Operation: Lightspeed, so we know it isn't anyone who was a ranger after that point. That narrows it down to former rangers before Lightspeed," she said.

"That's still a lot of rangers,"

"I know, but rule out that its Tommy, because his file is in the system. It's probably save to rule out the Astro rangers too, considering they were in space during most of their tenure as rangers. All we have to do now is figure out if it's a ranger from the Mighty Morphin team, the Zeo team, the Turbo team of the Lost Galaxy rangers," Katie said.

"We're back to square one then,"

"No, think about it: Tommy was a ranger during most of those eras, with the exception of Lost Galaxy. If Alex sent Tommy on a mission and erased his memory, it means…"

"… it means Alex sent him back in time to recruit one of his friends," Jen said.

"Exactly,"

"But who?"

"If we want to find that out, we need to get into Alex' office and go through some of his files. If nothing else, we may be able to find out to what point in time he sent Tommy," she told her.

"Do you have a plan?"

"Of course I do," Katie told her.

~

Trip and Camille walked into the science lab, glancing around the room. It was the same lab, everything was where it should be, but for some reason, something seemed wrong.

"I've got the strangest feeling…" he was cut short.

"I have it too. What's going on?" Camille asked.

"Maybe we're on a mission and this is an alternate reality," he suggested.

"I don't remember going on a mission. The last thing I remember is…" she paused, trying to gather her thoughts. "That's weird, I can't remember anything," she sighed.

Trip paused, but came up short as well. "Someone was here with us, and we were doing something, but that's all I know," he added.

"What's going on?"

"There's a lot going on you guys," Katie said as she walked into the room along with Jen.

"For the benefit of those who just tuned in, can we get a recap?" Camille asked.

"Tommy was given the memory adaptation procedure so he couldn't tell us who the black ranger was, but he keeps having nightmares. I suspect his sub-conscious is trying to remember whatever the procedure was suppose to block out. Do you guys remember going a search to find a voice match on the black ranger?" Jen inquired.

"No," Trip said.

"Well, you did, but you found out more than our superiors wanted you to know. You were sent to memory adaptation too," Katie said.

"That's why I can't remember the last few hours," she sighed.

"So what did our search for the black ranger turn up?" Trip asked them.

"Not much, but we did manage to narrow down our options. Alex erased most of the data, but I managed to reconstruct some of it. Tommy was sent on some sort of mission to recruit a new ranger, but Alex is doing everything he can to make sure we don't know who it is," Katie said.

"That doesn't make sense. He has to know that sooner or later we'll find out who the black ranger is, so why go through all the trouble of hiding his identity?" Camille asked.

"That isn't what he's trying to hide," they heard a voice say.

They turned around as Tommy walked into the room.

"What do you mean?"

"I overheard Alex talking to one of the doctors earlier. He said something about me having information that, if it fell into the wrong hands, would shift the balance of power in the universe. I doubt that the black ranger's identity is that important," he pointed out.

"Agreed, but Alex is going through an awful lot of trouble to make sure we don't know what's happening," Trip said.

"I have a plan to get into Alex' office and go through some of his files. Maybe I can find a clue as to what Tommy's mission was. If we can figure that out, we'll be a lot closer to solving this mystery," Katie said.

"I like mysteries. Can I be Shaggy?" Camille asked.

"Who?"

"Shaggy. You know, like Shaggy and Scooby," she elaborated, but the rest of them seemed to have no idea what she was talking about. "Oh, so I'm the only one who enjoys 21st century cartoons, right?"

"I liked Frankie Chan," Jen mentioned.

"I was always a sucker for musicals," Katie added.

"We're getting off track here. What's your plan Katie?" Tommy asked, changing the subject.

"All I need is a distraction. Someone get Alex' attention while I switch on the cloak and ramble through his files," she said.

"That's your plan?"

"Yes."

"Pretty simple," Trip said.

"Sorry it wasn't as complicated as you were hoping for," she said.

"I think I can find a way to occupy Alex' attention for a few minutes, just signal me when you're finished," Jen said.

"Got it,"

"Trip, you and Camille see if you can dig anything else up on the identity of the black ranger. Maybe go through some of the inactive members of Time Force and see what you come up with," Jen instructed as she picked her morpher up, putting it back on her wrist.

"We're on it," Camille and Trip said in unison.

"Tommy, you get back to the medical bay. If they know you're walking around, they might suspect something," she said.

"Right," he turned to walk away, but stopped a few feet away from the door, turning to Camille. "And for the record, the best cartoon back then was Dragonball Z," he told her, and then walked away.

Camille smiled.