Release

Lucas groaned as he looked over transcripts of the trial. Ten days it had been running. Tomorrow would see the final round of witness questioning, which would include Kimberly's testimony, then after that it would be summing up and then would come the verdict. And unless Kimberly's testimony was spectacular, that verdict was going to be guilty. Kerin was a pompous windbag, but he also had the whole case sewn up neatly and no matter what Carmen had tried -- and Carmen had tried plenty -- there were no holes in the case.

Of course, there are one or two bits of Kim's testimony that might pull this out of the fire, Lucas mused. Not least was the accusation that Eric had been the one to suggest Kimberly used the Quantum Morpher and subsequently Jen's chrono-morpher -- which Lucas knew Kimberly could, and would, disprove. But would it be enough to sway the judges?

Then there was the task force's hunt for the real Eric -- and Lucas was convinced now that the man who'd been in court every day of the trial so far wasn't really Eric. If they succeeded...well, that was the case voided and maybe this whole nonsense would be over. Or probably only just beginning.

He looked up, briefly, from the transcripts. Kimberly had curled up on the apartment's couch. She'd said she couldn't sleep, although she was currently making a lie of that statement, seeing as she was fast asleep. The case had taken a huge toll on her, though. She was only eating if he or Wes prompted her to. She was barely sleeping. God knows what it'll do to her if this verdict comes back as guilty. Lucas shuddered.

He turned back to the transcripts. Too many ifs. He sighed. Way too many ifs.

~*~

The globe. Everything kept coming back to the globe that displayed Ransik and Arachna's assorted holdings and hideouts. Everyone who'd looked at it was sure there was something to be seen in it, but no-one could put their fingers on what that something was. In the last two weeks, Alice had stared at the display so much she could practically draw it in her sleep. And still the answer eluded her.

"Staring until your eyes bleed isn't gonna get us closer to the answer," Rick commented gently. Looking up, she saw him standing in the doorway of the workroom, smiling sympathetically.

"I know." Alice offered him a wan smile in return.

"But it's your dad and time's running out," Rick filled in.

"Am I getting predictable?"

"Well it's what you've said every single night this week," Rick admitted. Alice winced. He shook his head. "It's OK."

Alice started to push away from the table, intending to call it a night. "Oh. My. God." Alice stared at the part of the globe facing her. Europe. The British Isles. "Rick, what do you see there?"

"I see about six red dots and five green dots." He frowned. "There are clusters like that all over. What's so special?"

Alice jabbed her finger at the globe. "They're in a perfect ring."

"That can't be the only place that happens."

For answer, Alice manipulated the display controls, asking the computer to just display instances of perfect circles of the hits.

"Holy shit..." Rick breathed as the whole globe went dim apart from that one ring. "Ali, you're a genius."

~*~

Taylor looked around the office.

Ben's office.

Her office.

It had been hers for two weeks, and on the basis of the news from elsewhen, it looked as if she might be keeping this role.

She hoped not.

And not just because of what that meant as far as Eric was concerned.

Nor was it because she couldn't do the job. It had taken a few days for people to really believe she wasn't going to eat them for breakfast -- that she really could listen and be helpful -- but within the first week, they had stopped showing up expecting to be sautéed. As for the rosters, they were the expected cinch. No, she didn't want to keep this job because it would mean she stopped being an active guardian.

I'm not ready to retire from that side of things. But circumstances were conspiring against her. Patrolling was for the young. The fit. The not pregnant. She was thirty-five, coming up to thirty-six, and while that didn't make her old and while she was still as fit as she'd been at twenty-five, she was pregnant. She'd reached the deadline for active duty. She now couldn't patrol -- not until Dr Jackson cleared her to. After the baby's birth.

"Hey," said Ben from the doorway. "Not working late?"

Taylor managed a smile. "No -- ready to go when you are."

"OK?"

"Just thinking." She sighed. "Hormones." Sorta.

Ben nodded, smiling knowingly. "Hormones, or just annoyed you can't go hit things?" Taylor stared at him. "C'mon -- there's a hot dinner with your name on it, followed by a foot-rub and a hot bath."

Taylor found herself chuckling. "OK. OK. That sounds good." She shook her head.

She mightn't want to retire, but maybe it wouldn't be so bad.

~*~

Kimberly stood at the apartment window and looked out across the still-alien skyline of Central City. Behind her, Lucas was snoring softly, slumped amid his datapads. She smiled faintly. Wish I could sleep like that. But she couldn't. Hadn't been able to since Bunton and Chisholm had started this nightmare two weeks earlier.

Eric... She shuddered as she recalled the state he'd been in when she'd visited the TOI. Had it been him or had that been the clone? She wasn't sure. She'd been too shocked to take note of any clues there might have been. Part of her hoped that it had been the clone she'd seen -- as Wes had said, she didn't want it to really be Eric that was suffering like this -- but on the other hand, if it had been the clone, what did that mean for Eric?

Nothing good.

"Kim?" Wes' voice was soft.

She glanced over her shoulder to see him standing in the doorway of the living room. "You OK?"

In the dim light, she couldn't see his expression, but from the soft snort, she guessed he was probably faintly amused. "I should be asking you that."

Kimberly turned back to the view. Dawn was breaking over Central City. Today was the day. "He's your friend."

"He's your husband."

Touché. "I can't be 'OK'. Not until I know where he is. How he is." I may never be OK.

"We'll find him, Kim. He's going to be all right." But the words sounded tired. Trite.

"Two weeks is a long time," Kimberly answered.

"He's come through worse," Wes reminded her.

"Kosovo left him shattered. It took him years to put the bits back together."

"He's got you, and Alice and John to help him this time."

"Only if he wants the help, Wes." And that was what it boiled down to; what she was most afraid of. That when they found him he'd be too far gone. Too lost.

"He will." But Wes didn't sound as certain as perhaps he'd have liked.

~*~

Rick yawned. His eyes burned from a combination of too much caffeine, too long spent under harsh lighting staring at a computer screen and no sleep, but the burn had never felt so good.

"Done it," he murmured. "Ali!"

The sound of running footsteps told him she was on her way from the kitchen where she'd been brewing yet more coffee. "What've you found?" she asked.

Rick span around in his seat to face her and smiled. "Pay dirt."

Alice looked as if she didn't quite dare to believe him. "What is it?"

Rick turned back to the screen. "The ring of hits circles the Temporal Offenders Institute, right?"

"Right."

That had been the first piece of data they'd uncovered. "Well, give you three guesses what Time Force asset was recently -- as in last twelve months -- sold to a private company."

"The TOI," said Alice promptly, coming to peer over his shoulder at the screen.

"Got it in one." Rick nodded. "I traced the private company, Era Management. They proved to be just a shell, purporting to be run by one Jack Scotts."

"Biocon." Alice shivered. "I remember the name."

"You were six," observed Rick, looking surprised.

"I got around," Alice retorted. "Go on."

"Well, he's dead. We know he is. We have five different witness testimonies to that, plus Alex Collins' close-up of the case. So what's a dead man doing running a company? Answer, he's not. Era Management is one of Arachna's former holdings."

"The Master bought the TOI."

"Yup." Rick entered a command and data streamed across the screen. "But it gets better. Give you three guesses which department got the windfall of cash from the sale."

"Temporal Investigations." The data stream stopped to display a roll call of five names. "What's that?"

"That," said Rick, "is the entire TI department -- at least," he amended, "the ones on Time Force's books. Director Kerin, his deputy, Major Schmitt, Lieutenant Bunton -- one of the two who picked up your father and who's been strangely MIA since; Lieutenant Chisholm -- the other guy who arrested your father and who's also been MIA since; and this guy." He jabbed at the screen. "No rank, no serial number, just a name: Hordak."

"Small department."

"Yep." Rick typed another command. "Next thing was to track down Bunton and Chisholm. Which proved to be easier than I'd figured. Bunton's body showed up a day or so after we hit this time." So saying, he displayed the death record. "It's just taking Civ-ad the usual delays to update his personnel record."

"OK, what about Chisholm?"

"More interesting still." Rick punched up another death record. "According to this, Evan Chisholm, lieutenant of Time Force Crime, was killed in the line of duty, ten months ago."

"So either we have a zombie, or we've got more replicants," Alice judged.

"More replicants," Rick replied. "Given what your mom told Lucas."

"OK. Schmitt checks out?"

"Yep -- as does Kerin, unfortunately. But," Rick continued typing in another command, "Hordak is another kettle of fish."

Alice whistled as the data on Hordak slowly scrolled across the screen. "Listed as an employee of three different Time Force departments, known explosives expert... What's the betting he blew up Jackie's lab?"

"I don't bet on certainties. I came across a chunk of extremely well buried witness statement from someone who said that they'd seen Hordak walk into Jackie's lab about ten minutes before the explosion." Rick turned to face Alice. "I'm betting he's the one in charge of the TOI."

Alice lifted her eyebrows. "What makes you say that?" For answer, Rick displayed a final screen of data, and Alice's eyes widened. "Former lover of Arachna and sometime associate of Ransik..." She shook her head.

"It's almost enough," said Rick, "to make you think we've found The Master himself."

"Or if not," Alice answered, "he's one really, really big link in the chain to getting The Master." She met his gaze. "Looks like we'll be paying Merry Old England a visit."

~*~

John rolled his wrist. It was so good to finally be rid of the plaster.

"Any pain?" Jackson enquired, putting away the plaster cutter.

"No -- it's fine. Bit stiff."

"That'll wear off." Jackson smiled. "I won't sign you straight back for active duty -- I want you to take it easy for another couple of days."

John nodded and sighed. Returning to active duty was something he was viewing with mixed feelings. On the one hand, he'd feel like he was able and ready to help his father -- if the need arose -- on the other hand, it would be harder to avoid JJ and Lexia.

"No growls of complaint?" Jackson almost sounded disappointed. John smiled faintly. "Wonders will never cease. I'll see you on Friday." There was a pause, then Jackson added, "Mini-me."

John rolled his eyes at the nickname, but somehow it wasn't as irritating anymore. Maybe I'll be able to earn it properly...

~*~

Rick finished his explanations for a second time and waited for comments.

"Wow." Ven shook her head. "And not in a good way."

"I wasn't entirely sure I believed all this conspiracy theory stuff -- thought it was Lucas being paranoid," Hawking commented.

"Nope -- it's real all right," Rick answered.

"Impressive work," Rob commented, offering a faint smile.

"Very impressive work," Al agreed.

"What now?" Katie asked.

"First things first," said Rob. "Rick -- you need to package up all the evidence. Download it, file it, print it...whatever you need to do so that we've got it all ready to hand over to Lucas."

Rick waved a hand at the bulging folder beside him. "Already done."

"Second, we need to figure out a plan of action. The TOI's not going to be an easy target to hit. Third, Alice, Rick, you two need to catch some rack time. The rest of us can do the planning." He offered them a smile. "We won't be going without you, but we need you as fit as possible."

~*~

Kimberly waited nervously in the witness' waiting room. She was scheduled to be the day's second -- and last -- witness, but the cross-examination of the day's first witness, yet another temporal expert, could take hours.

"Mrs Myers?"

Or then again, it could be over in five minutes, Kimberly mused as she stood up.

"This way please."

The court attendant led her out of the waiting room, into the main courtroom and over to the witness box. Part of her felt intimidated to be stood in front of so many people, and despite the tedious way the case had played out, there hadn't yet been a day when the public galleries had been less than packed and today was no different. Part of her was nervous at the prospect of facing Kerin's questioning. But any doubts and fears melted as her eyes fell on the occupant of the dock.

Just because it wasn't truly Eric standing in the dock -- and she knew with certainty that it wasn't -- it didn't mean that her husband wasn't in trouble and it didn't mean that he didn't need her to do this.

"Mrs Myers," Carmen began, "for the record, can you state how long you've known the defendant."

"I've known him twelve years," Kimberly answered.

"At the time when the first offence is alleged to have taken place," Carmen said, "you had known each other...?"

"Nine months."

"At that point in your relationship, how well would you suggest he knew you?"

"Objection!" Kerin bounded to his feet as he spoke.

The chairman of the tribunal panel lifted his eyebrows. "On what grounds?"

"Supposition."

There was a pause while the three judges exchanged looks. "Sustained. Mr Carmen, please rephrase."

Kimberly ground her teeth as Carmen nodded. "Yes, Tribunal. Mrs Myers, could you tell the court what exactly the circumstances were of the first offence."

"Eric and I were on our way home after a hospital appointment when he was called to go into the SGHQ to attend to something. Because of the circumstances..."

"Which were?" Carmen prompted. "What had the hospital appointment been relating to?"

"Objection!"

Kimberly wasn't entirely surprised this time.

"On what grounds?" asked the chairman.

"Relevancy."

"Overruled," the chairman responded, not needing to confer with his colleagues this time. "The crux of this charge is the circumstances in which the offence was committed. Please continue, Mrs Myers."

~*~

Al looked at the holograph of the TOI and winced.

"It's fucking impregnable," he muttered.

"Nothing's impregnable," Rob retorted.

Al gestured to the lines of fencing and the lie of the land. "Two fences, APMs between 'em; it's in a valley... We approach that; we get our asses blown off. If by some miracle we don't get shot up on the approach, we get done between the two fences...and while all that's kicking off, they have more than plenty of time to hide anything we might have come for."

"There's other ways of getting in places than the obvious," said a new voice.

Al looked around to find Alice in the work room doorway. "You should be..." he began.

"Tried. Can't," Alice answered. "I'll catch some more en route."

"What did you have in mind, Alice?" Rob asked.

~*~

Kimberly took a moment to collect her thoughts, then continued, "Eric had suffered a broken leg four weeks earlier. We had been to the hospital that morning so that he could have the plaster removed. The rest of the Silver Guardian hierarchy knew that, so I knew that if they had phoned Eric, something very serious had to be going on.

"When we got to SGHQ, we were met by Gina -- the Silver Guardian receptionist -- who told us what had happened, or what she knew about what had happened during the first Mutorgs' attack..."

"Which was?" prompted Carmen.

"Which was that the Silver Guardians' weaponry was completely useless against the Mutorgs and the battle had been a near disaster."

"Objection!"

"On what grounds?" came the inevitable response.

"Hyperbole."

"Mr Carmen..." began the chairman.

"I submit to the court historical documentation from our archives about the mentioned attack. In it, it clearly states that of the twelve man team dispatched to deal with the Mutorgs during that first attack, eight out of the team were injured, three of them critically." So saying, Carmen placed the datapad he was holding on the tribunal panel's bench.

The triad of judges looked over it and nodded in unison. "Objection overruled," said the chairman. "Please continue, Mrs Myers."

~*~

Namir watched as preparations were made and sighed. He felt useless now. Not a Ranger and not experienced at fighting, there was no way he was going to be included in the party. The only non-fighting member of the team would be Ven -- and she was going only on the basis that an assault like this was unlikely to pass off without any injuries at all.

"Nam?"

He blinked. His mother was standing in front of him, looking hesitant. "Mom?"

For answer, she produced a small, cube-shaped box and held it out. "Lucas gave this to me, to give to you if necessary."

Namir frowned and accepted the box. "What is it?"

"Well if you open it, you'll see," Katie responded, trying to smile. The smile didn't quite work.

Wondering what on earth it was, Namir opened the box, and found a morpher of the same shape and style as the ones both Rick and Alice wore. "This is...?"

"The fifth morpher of the set," Katie answered. "It's yours."

"I...I'm gonna be a part of this?" Katie nodded. Namir found his stomach suddenly filled with nervous anticipation and excitement. "Really?"

"Really." Katie sighed. "You take care, Nam. This isn't a game."

"I know, mom." He wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug. "And I'll make sure dad comes home in one piece, too!"

~*~

Kimberly took another moment to gather her thoughts. "I knew Eric well enough at this point to know that, doctor's orders to the contrary, he was going to step in and use the Quantum Morpher in the hopes that he would be able to make a difference."

"A difficult situation." Carmen started to pace. "When did the suggestion of someone else using the morpher come up?"

"There and then," Kimberly answered. "Gina was the first person to suggest it."

"What was Eric's reaction to that suggestion?"

Kimberly frowned for a second. What had Eric said? That was it: "It's not that simple. That was exactly what he said."

"What happened then?"

"Eric limped off towards his office. I promised Gina that he wouldn't do something 'silly', then I followed him. I knew that if Eric did it -- used the morpher and tried to fight the Mutorgs -- he was going to wind up seriously hurt." As Kerin twitched to object, she added, "All the training in the world doesn't make you a good fighter when you're injured, and Eric was facing six weeks of physical rehab at that point because of his broken leg. And the reason I know that is because the doctor spoke to us both before they took Eric to have the plaster removed." Object to that you son of a bitch.

Carmen's expression suggested he had a pretty good idea what she was thinking. "OK. Describe what happened in the office."

"Eric and I talked. I understood his point of view. At that point I didn't know that the Quantum Ranger's weaponry wouldn't be much better use against the Mutorgs than the Silver Guardian blasters, but anything had to be better than letting the Mutorgs trample Silverhills."

"When did the suggestion of you using the morpher instead of Eric come up?"

"During that conversation."

"Who made it?"

"I did."

~*~

Alice knocked on the door of the bunkroom before entering. She wasn't entirely surprised to see Rick wasn't asleep.

"Are we ready to go?" he asked.

Alice nodded. "We're off in fifteen minutes -- or however long it takes you to get ready."

Rick smiled faintly. "OK."

"Think we can really do this?" Alice asked as he rolled off his bed.

"I don't just think it," he answered. "I know it. We're gonna do this."

"Sure hope so, Rick," she replied softly.

He gently pulled her into an embrace. "It'll be OK -- trust me."

~*~

The revelation that she had been the one to suggest her usage of the Quantum Morpher provoked a muted gasp from the galleries.

"Not Eric?"

"Not Eric."

"What was Eric's reaction when you suggested it?"

Kimberly found herself smiling. "He said 'You've got to be kidding'."

"So it would be a fair assessment to say that he disliked the idea?"

"He hated it."

Another, less muted, gasp ran around the courtroom. Kimberly was well aware that her testimony was running completely contrary to virtually every word of the prosecution's case now. But I was actually there. Kerin wasn't.

"What made him change his mind?"

"I reminded him that it wouldn't be the first time I'd been a Ranger -- that I'd done it before, and that it wasn't something you forgot how to do."

There was a stunned hush at that. Not so untrained, was I, Kimberly thought, her gaze briefly coming to rest on the completely poleaxed Kerin.

"For the court," Carmen said, "could you clarify that last statement."

Carmen was enjoying this as much as she was.

"I was a Power Ranger."

"Objection!" Kerin finally managed.

"On what grounds?" enquired the chairman in a tone of voice that suggested Kerin was trying his patience now.

"Fabrication. There are no records of Mrs Myers ever having served as a Power Ranger beyond the two occasions being disputed."

"Fabrication is an inadmissible objection in this court," stated the chairman. "However," he continued, "Mrs Myers, I believe Mr Kerin is correct in saying there is no record of you having ever been a fully sanctioned Power Ranger, so perhaps you might like to offer further evidence?"

It might have been phrased as a suggestion, but Kimberly knew it was offer it or have to strike that information from the court record. "I grew up in Angel Grove, California. When Rita Repulsa escaped from her intergalactic dumpster, Zordon of Eltar," at that, a murmur ran around the room, "called five teens from Angel Grove to protect Earth from her. I was one of them. I served for two years before leaving Angel Grove for Florida."

"It is true that the very first Earth Rangers are, even to this day, anonymous in our databanks," said the chairman.

"I have one other piece of evidence to offer," Kimberly continued. From her pocket she produced the Pterodactyl power coin. "May I?"

"You may approach the bench."

Nervously, Kimberly stepped up to the bench and handed the coin over. "I'm told you have the others in a museum, but that the pink one vanished. This is it."

The tribunal panel all studied the coin while Kimberly returned to the witness box.

"I have a feeling," said the chairman, "that historians may very well wish to interview you at this trial's conclusion, Mrs Myers. Objection overruled. Please continue, Mr Carmen."

Kerin looked livid. Carmen offered her a smile. "So. You reminded Eric that you'd been a Power Ranger before; that, in essence, you knew what you would be doing. What was his reaction?"

"He agreed to turn the morpher over to me for the duration of the crisis."

"No further questions at this time." Carmen took his seat, only barely managing to swallow back his grin.

"You have the witness, Mr Kerin," said the chairman.

"No questions at this time," Kerin bit out.

The chairman nodded. "Witness is released. Thank you Mrs Myers. The court will now adjourn for lunch."

~*~

Alice lay just on the crest of the hill, hidden behind some spiky bushes, and looked down on the TOI. It had sounded formidable when planning this raid in the relative comfort of the task force HQ. It looked worse now that she was actually there. Just with the naked eye, she could see the warty protrusions on the perimeter fencing that indicated laser emplacements, the armed guards patrolling just beyond that, then another fence, watch towers... And that was just the defences she could see. There were other, invisible defences too, like infrared sensors, motion sensors, APMs buried in the yard and between the outer and inner fences, not to mention the permanent teleportation dampening field that all thirty-first century prisons were equipped with.

"Whoever heard of breaking into a jail?" she muttered, wriggling backwards until she was well hidden by the rise of the hill.

"How's it looking?" asked Rob.

"Tight," Alice answered. "This ain't gonna be easy." She sighed. "But easy is not the way of the Jedi, huh?" Rob looked blank. "Right. Star Wars isn't big here."

A few moments later, Al and Namir returned. Their expressions told Alice they'd had no luck in spotting any weaknesses. Alice felt her heart sink. There's got to be a way in. Somewhere.

The final member of the team, Rick, returned soon after. Unlike Al and Namir, though, he was grinning.

"You found something?"

"A way in," Rick replied. "But it's going to be Rangers only."

"Tell me it's not the ever clichéd garbage chute," Al groaned.

"It's not the garbage chute."

"It's the sewage pipe," Alice guessed.

"Got it in one, Ali," said Rick. "It's gross, but it comes out the other side of the far hill, so you haven't got to worry about being visible as you approach."

"OK." Alice looked around the group. "We're going to need to find another way out -- can't bring Eric back through that."

"Once we're ready," said Rick, "just give me five minutes with the computer systems and that's not an issue."

Alice nodded. "OK."

"What about finding Eric in that heap of bricks?" Rob asked.

"My first task," said Rick.

"When we know what cell he's in, it's going to be a snap to get there and get him out," Alice put in. I hope.

"What do you want Al and me to do?" Rob asked.

"No point in a distraction," said Al thoughtfully before Alice could say a word. "That would just alert them that someone was coming."

Alice gave him a speculative look. Here and now was the wrong time to raise her suspicions but the moment they were back to the task force headquarters... Aloud, she said, "Right. Definitely no distractions." She glanced at her watch. Eighteen hundred hours. Night would be falling in a couple of hours. They had to be out of the TOI by then or lose the cover of darkness to get out of the area. "If we're not back in two hours, get going. Get back to Central City and hand all of this information over to Lucas." Rob looked as if he wanted to argue that point, but Al was already agreeing. "'Kay -- Rick, Nam, show time."

TO BE CONTINUED...