*-* New Silver Hills, California * 3000 AD *-*

It was the first time she'd been to her quarters in a few weeks. On one hand, she was looking forward to it. After being stuck in the infirmary for weeks, she welcomed a change of scenery. Then again, on the other hand, her quarters were full of memories.

"Lights," she said as she stepped in, making her way through the living room and into her bedroom.

As soon as she walked in, emotions overwhelmed her. She missed him. There was still part of her that was waiting for him to walk through the door, part of her that was still convinced that it was all a dream. The past few weeks for her had been very confusing, slipping in and out of consciousness, it was hard for her to remember what was a dream and what was real.

She remembered how it happened though. 'We were on Zedd's ship, and there was a hull breach. Ransik tried to seal the hole and was sucked through,' she recalled.

She'd dreamt about that incident over and over, being forced to relive it countless times. That was enough to drive her insane, but somehow, she was able to get through it.

She flopped down on the bed face first, letting out a sigh of frustration. If the thought of losing Ransik wasn't enough for her, even before she was able to get out the hospital, Adam told her Jen gave her life to save the team. Now she was forced to deal with Jen's death as well, and she was beginning to wonder if it was too much for her.

"I can't deal with this," she moaned.

"Now that doesn't sound like my baby sister," a voice said.

She sat up, only to see him standing in the doorway. He looked different from what she remembered; a little taller, and he had a beard and mustache.

"Khalil?" she mumbled.

"Don't act like you ain't glad to see me," he said.

She stood up, staring at him for a minute. It was almost as if she wasn't sure if it was really him or not. "I am, its just…" he cut her short as he wrapped his arms around him, holding her.

Without question, she simply melted into his arms. It was the first thing that felt real to her the last few weeks. She took comfort in her brother's arm as tears rolled down her face. "It's been terrible Khalil. Ransik is gone, Jen is gone. I don't know what I'm doing to do," she cried.

"You're going to get on with your life, its what Jen would want for you. It's what Ransik would want from you too. They did what you would have done, give their lives to save the people they care about," he told her.

"I know, but it hurts," she sighed.

"I know Katie, I know," Khalil said.

(*)

Lt. Emery sat across from Tommy in the science lab, unsure of what to say to him. It didn't pretend to know what Tommy was going through, but isn't hard to imagine. First, he was snatched out of his own time and forced to adjust to life 1000 years in the future, then once he and Jen finally admitted their feelings for one another, she dies.

He remembered reading about Tommy in the academy; most of his missions were required courses at Time Force academy. His role in history was well documented; one of the original Earth-bound rangers, the leader of the Zeo rangers and Turbo rangers, not to mention his mission to the moon to defeat the Machine Empire. Tommy Oliver was a living legend, and it was an honor to simply be in the same room with him.

"Is there something I can do for you Lt?" Tommy snapped.

That was enough to break Lt. Emery's concentration as he realized he'd been staring at Tommy the entire time.

"Oh, um, is there anything I can do for you sir?" he inquired.

"You can leave," he snapped.

He understood Tommy's frustration, and without question, he stood up and headed for the exit. He was about three feet away from the door when Tommy stopped him.

"Hey James," he called out, getting his attention.

James turned around. "Sir?"

"Listen James, I didn't mean to…"

"I understand sir, I do," he sighed.

"No, I don't think you do," he walked over to James, putting his hand on his shoulder. "I'm beginning to wonder if I'm cut out to be a ranger at all. It seems like everyone I care about is hurt, or worse, and I don't want that on my conscious. Its more than I can handle," he said.

"Permission to speak freely sir,"

"Granted,"

"That's bullshit and you know it. I grew up hearing about the great Tommy Oliver; how you were the green ranger, the white ranger, the red ranger, how you were instrumental in defeating Lord Zedd, Rita, the Machine Empire, how you put your life on the line every time you went out there it had to be done. Jen knew what she had to do, and she did it. If that had been you, can you really say you wouldn't have made the same decision?" he asked him.

"I don't know,"

"Yes you do. You would have saved the civilians and gave your life just like she did. This has nothing to do with you; none of this is your fault. Your ability to be a ranger isn't in question; your ability to lead this team isn't in question either. If you want to walk away from this, that's your decision, but you can't use Jen's death as an excuse," James told him.

Tommy paused. "Dismissed Lt.," he said, turning his back to him.

(*)

"Check the pulse resonators. Make sure the isolation frequency isn't in a state of flux. The last thing we want to do is bring Jen back in a pile of goop," Camille mentioned as she went over the final details.

The two of them had been working non-stop for hours, making sure that everything was in working order. It had taken them a little longer to repair to the pink Morpher than they anticipated, and configuring the instruments to scan for Jen had proven a little more difficult that they originally hoped, but they were finally ready.

"All systems are functioning within normal specifications. I think we're in business," Trip told her.

Without turning away from the controls, she nodded. "Activate the pulse resonator," she said.

"Active,"

"Bring the isotronic scanner on line,"

"Isotronic scanner active,"

"Lets do it," Camille said, activating the scanning equipment.

The control panel seemed to hum as it worked, scanning through different time periods for Jen's temporal signature. Trip was beginning to believe that it was more of a long shot than anything else, that they're efforts would prove unsuccessful. He wanted nothing more than to find Jen and bring her home, but he doubted that she had been able to survive an explosion of that size. 'A cobolt device is enough to take out a city block, there's no way a person could survive the blast,' he thought to himself. He wanted to be wrong, he wanted Camille's theory to be true, but somehow, he didn't think…

"I've got something," she said.

"What?"

"Its very faint, but its something. The configuration matches Jen's temporal signature," she paused, going over the readings. "Confirmed, it's Jen," she said eagerly.

"Where is she? When is she?" he inquired.

"I'm still trying to localize the readings, there seems to be a radiation signature present that I can't account for, but it looks like it's coming from the 21st century," she said.

"Makes sense. If a rift were opened, it wouldn't be powerful enough to send her back or forth through time. It was more of a rift in the space continuum, acting as a teleportation signal," he said.

"I don't think Jen ever left the year 2015. Based on these readings, she's there, but her signal is very faint. Her vitals would have to be pretty low for them to show up as faintly as they're doing," she told him.

"Maybe the radiation you're picking up is blocking her vitals,"

"Maybe, "

"So we hop in the time ship and go back there. We go get Jen," he said.

"I'm afraid it's not that simple. If we go back in the time ship, a vortex will open. If it does, it may counteract with the rift already opened in that time. With that much of a signal boost, the time ship could end up in the future, the past, another dimension, another reality, anywhere. Its not safe," she said.

"So what do we do? Chalk Jen up as a lose and keep going? If she's there, we have to go back for her," he said.

"But at what cost Trip? I know she's your friend, she's mine too, but she wouldn't want us to risk our lives and potentially alter the course of history to save her. Besides, even if we could go back, her molecular structure would be so damaged from the explosion that trying to bring her back through a vortex would kill her," Camille said.

He paused. "Dr. Young can treat her for that, can't he?"

"Yes, but to take such sensitive equipment and supplies through a vortex would alter it on the molecular level. By the time it got to where it was going, it would be useless," she said.

"Can we contact Wes and Eric? Tell them how to make the antidote?"

"We should talk to Dr. Young. Maybe he can give us a list of chemicals needed to synthesize the antidote in the 21st century," she paused. "But you still have to consider that none of us can do back for her. To do it would risk a temporal incursion that rift the fabric of the entire space/time continuum and destroy the universe," she said.

"Must you be so melodramatic about it?"

"It isn't melodrama, its fact. The barriers that divide parallel universes would merge, and the space/time continuum wouldn't be able to handle the strain. Worlds would spill into one another, causing a chain reaction that would unravel the tapestry of the universe," she paused. "Wow, that was melodramatic," she sighed.

"But it sounds like the best chance we've got. I'll go talk to Dr. Young and see what he has to say about it. You should check in with Tommy, I know he's worried," Trip said.

"Meet me here in thirty minutes," she said.

Without a word, the two of them went their separate ways.

(*)

Alex walked into Admiral Logan's office, where he was sitting behind his desk. There was a monotone expression on the Admiral's face as he stared up at Alex with an unwavering look in his eyes.

"Alexander," he said dryly.

"You wanted to see me sir?" Alex inquired, taking a seat in front of the desk.

"I've known you for a long time now Commander. In fact, I remember when you graduated from the academy," he cracked a smile. "You were so eager, so wet behind the ears, so naïve to think that you'd be running the place within a year," he said.

"It took me two years to get promoted," he mentioned.

"None the less, though you've learned a lot from Time Force, I still feel as though you still have a lot more to learn," he told him.

"I like to think that Time Force has something to learn from me," he mentioned.

"That's an attitude I've come to expect from a lot of my best officers," he paused, standing up. "You know that with the counsel gone, even if Time Force does get back on its feet, we're still crippled. The counsel were our law givers, maintaining order in an otherwise chaotic environment," he explained.

"I understand sir, but there were times when…" he paused, allowing his sentence to trail off.

"Speak freely commander,"

"There were times when I thought they were a little too absolute. While I believe that the rules and regulations have their place, I do not believe that it's simply a matter of right or wrong, black or white. The counsel never allowed for the gray area, taking a look at individual instead of seeing facts and figures," he explained.

"That's what I was expecting you to say," he paused. "My rank as admiral gives me the right to make this an order, but I'd rather you agree to do something for me," he said.

"What is it?"

"The members of the counsel were from Kronos, in the Delgata sector. Kronos was responsible for granting us a lot of the technology we have now, teaching us to harness power. In exchange for that technology, we were assigned three members of their race to watch over us, to ensure that the power was being used correctly. The people of Kronos have assigned us three new counsel members, I want you to go to Kronos and retrieve them," he said.

"With all due respect sir, the Kronoian people gave us their technology almost 800 years ago. Since then, we've far surpassed anything they've ever come up with. I know that Time Force signed an agreement with them saying that they'd be allowed to watch over us to ensure we didn't use their technology incorrectly, but with the advancements we've made with the morphers, the slipstream, the time ships, the Kronian people should have no say so in what we do anymore," he told him, then paused, awaiting the admiral's response.

"Something told me you'd feel that way," he stood up. "You've come a long way from that snot nosed know it all who came into my office for the first time and insisted he knew everything there was to know. Time has been good to you, and your experiences have made you a much better officer. We haven't already agreed with some of the rulings the counsel made, and I for one feel as though its time for a change," he handed Alex a vanilla folder. "I just came from a meeting with the other admirals, and we all agree its time to modify our deal with the Kronian race. What happened to the counsel was unfortunate, but now is time for a change," he said.

"Sir? Are you…"

He nodded. "Yes, I'm offering you a seat on the counsel, a seat by my side. Together, we'll be able to amend some of old rules, make changes in the best interest of Time Force,"

"With all due respect, what about Temporal Investigations?"

"That came up in the meeting today as well. With the slipstream project and such a highly decorated group of rangers, especially with the additions of Lucas, Lt. Emery, Nadira and Lt. Park, we felt as though they would be able to monitor the time stream and prevent any temporal incursions. Times are changing Alex, and its up to you whether or not you're going to change along with them or get left behind," the admiral told him.

Alex stood up, sighing slightly. "Do you mind if I take some time to think about this?" he inquired.

"Not at all, but I need your answer soon. After too long, the Kronian people will be wondering why we haven't sent a shuttle for them, and I need to know what to tell them," he said.

"Understood sir,"

(*)

"Dr. Young, do you have a minute?" Camille inquired as she walked into the medical bay.

"Of course Lt. What can I do for you?" he replied, walking over to her with a clipboard in hand.

"Are you aware of the situation with Captain Scott?"

"Yes. I heard about her death, it was unfortunate," he sighed.

She glanced around the room, ensuring no one else was around. "Trip and I have reason to believe that Jen is very much alive, but trapped in the 21st century. We believe that the cobolt device we used in combination with radiation from the generator was enough to open a rift in the space continuum, and that Jen was sucked through," she said.

"Excellent,"

"The problem is, as long as the rift is still open, we can't risk going back in the time ship without making things worse. Besides, after being exposed to that much radiation, the trip back through the vortex would kill Jen. We need to know if an antidote for the radiation exposure can be synthesized in the 21st century,"

"I don't believe so, some of the chemicals needed are far beyond anything ever conceived in the 21st century. And with the chemicals being as volatile as they are, sending them through the vortex would be impossible," he said.

"We thought of that,"

"Perhaps you should find a way to close the rift already opened in the past, then concentrate on getting Jen back," he said.

"Even if we did close the rift, we wouldn't be able to bring Jen back with us. Trip and I have looked at this from every angle, we can't find a way to get Jen back without either killing her or destroying the barriers of the space/time continuum," Camille said.

"Well Lt, you may have to consider that Jen can never return," he sighed.