Power Rangers Time Force and all related logos and characters are property of Saban and/or Disney. I am using them without permission, but promise to pay royalties when I make my first million. Camille Summers, Lt. James Emery, Carmen Oliver and the Sphere of Omara belong to me. Special thanks to Cmar (my editor and muse): I love you more than you know.
A/N: Sequel to the highly successful Parallels. It takes place only minutes after the Parallels finale.
Please take a minute to review, I live for reviews.
Future Shock IIJen sat in front of the control panels in the science lab, going over the readings on the screen. It was the first time she'd been in the lab since being released from the infirmary, but she wished it could have been under better circumstances.
'I still can't believe they're gone,' she thought to herself, trying to control her emotions. Eventually, they got the best of her, and tears began to roll down her face.
For as long as she could remember, Trip had been one of her closest friends. He was a valued member of their team, and always like a little brother to her. She recalled when Trip would come to her, asking for advice about his relationship with Camille. 'Oh yeah, like I was the relationship expert.' She chuckled inwardly. Despite how smart he was, Trip was like a child at heart, experiencing things on Earth for the first time. When he met Camille, his entire life changed; he was much more confident in his own abilities, much more secure within himself. 'The two of them deserved one another,' she thought to herself.
In the distance, she heard the doors to the science lab open, and someone walk into the lab. She turned around as Katie walked towards her with a bandage on her head. Jen quickly stood up, meeting Katie halfway and wrapping her arms around her.
The two of them stood there for a moment, holding one another. Finally, they backed away, each of them with tears in their eyes.
"How are you feeling?" Jen asked.
"Doc says I'll be okay in about a week. Until then, I've been relieved of duty," she said.
"Same here. I have a clean bill of health, but Dr. Young wants me to take a few weeks off before I use the Slipstream again," she said.
"So what are you doing here?"
"There's a problem with the targeting sensors and since Trip is…" she paused as she lost control of her emotions again.
"I know, Jen, I know," Katie sighed.
She wiped her eyes again, taking a deep breath. "Until the sensors are back on line, the Slipstream is off limits. I got bored sitting in my quarters so I thought I'd take a look at them,"
"Any luck?"
"I wouldn't know a targeting sensor if it walked up and bit me on the ass," Jen giggled.
Katie cracked an insincere smile. "It's going to be strange around here without them," she sighed.
"Yeah."
"Not if I can help it," a voice said. The two of them turned around as Tommy walked in the room with a look of determination in his eyes. He headed over to the control panel, pushing a button. "Computer, open an active com channel to Wesley Collins in the year 2007," he said.
'Working,' the computer announced.
"What are you doing?" Katie asked.
"I need to get in touch with TJ and Tanya, and Wes is my best bet," he said.
"TJ and Tanya, why?"
"Because I need their son to come with me to the Omarian home world," he told her.
"Omara? For what?" Jen paused. "You're going to get the Sphere of Omara?"
"Yes."
"Do you have any idea what you're doing?" she asked.
"I'm getting our friends back. Since TJ and Tanya were never supposed to be married, that means their son wasn't supposed to exist. I'll need him to read the summoning spell and get the sphere," he said.
"You can't just go around using the sphere to…" She was cut short.
"Save me the speech, I just heard it from Alex. If you aren't going to help me, you can leave," he snapped, turning back to the computer.
"I know you're hurt, Tommy, but this…"
"Help or leave," he snapped again.
'Unable to establish com channel,' the computer told him.
"Why not?"
"The targeting sensors are offline. Without them, we can't open a channel to anyone," Jen said.
"So I'll just have to go there and get him. Katie, set coordinates for the year…" He was cut short.
"Tommy, with the sensors down, we can't travel back in time either. It'll take weeks before they're back online," Katie said.
"I only have twelve hours," he screamed.
Jen walked over to him, wrapping her arms around him. "I know it hurts, Tommy, but going to get the Sphere of Omara will only make things worse. Please, you have to believe me," she sighed.
"I have to do this Jen. I owe it to them. All of this is my fault," he said.
"This isn't your fault, you had no way of knowing this was going to happen. You can't blame yourself," Katie said.
Tommy backed away from Jen, turning back to the computer. "Computer, give me a readout of all temporal incursions over the last six months and cross reference it to our present database. I need to find any inconsistencies," he said.
'Working,' the computer announced.
"What are you doing?"
"If the time line has shifted in the last six months, it may have resulted in someone being born that originally wasn't meant to be. If I can find someone, they can get the Sphere of Omara for me," he said.
"Tommy, have you been listening to anything I've said? The Sphere…"
"Help or leave," he snapped again, never taking his eyes off the screen.
Just then, the computer screen blinked off. The lights in the science lab began to flicker, eventually going out altogether. Secondary power came on line, but at that moment, the Slipstream portal activated.
"What's going on?" Jen asked.
Tommy hurried over to the opposite control panel, going over the readings. "It looks like someone is trying to establish a link between our Slipstream and theirs," he said.
"But who?"
Before he could answer, someone stepped through the portal. Once it was closed, the lights in the lab came back on, allowing them to get a good look at who had come through.
It was a woman, who looked to be in her early teens. She had long, honey-brown hair and a monotone look on her face. The uniform she was wearing was obviously from Time Force, but much different from the uniform Jen and the others were used to. It was black with white trim, and a pink shirt underneath. To top it off, she wore a pair of pink tinted glasses.
It was Tommy who reached for his disrupter, but didn't take it out of the holster as he approached her. "Who are you?" he asked.
The woman removed her glasses, tucking them nicely into the collar of her shirt. "Lt. Commander Carmen Oliver," she said calmly.
"What?"
"I'm from what you would consider the future. I'm here to help you," she said.
Jen took a step forward, getting a good look at her. "Oh my God, it can't be," she sighed, reaching out and touching Carmen's face lightly.
"Yes, Mother, it's me," she sighed.
Tommy looked at Jen, then back at Carmen, amazed that he didn't notice the resemblance sooner. "Oh my God, you're…"
"Your daughter, from the future," she said.
"But how?" Katie asked.
"If you allow me, I can explain everything," she said.
"Please do."
She cleared her throat. "I am from the year 3025. In my time, Time Force is in ruins, and according to my readings, it all started from this exact moment."
"What happened?"
"As far as I can tell, two of your officers died in the past defending the Peace Summit; Trip and Lt. Camille Summers. Because of their deaths, the time line is altered and future history is changed. I'm here to ensure that it doesn't happen," she said.
"What happened in the future?"
"You know I can't tell you, but what I will say is that anything is better than the world I live in. That's why I'm here," she said.
"How can you help?" Katie asked.
"Because my father wasn't meant to be in this point in time, and my mother was meant to die in the past, my birth is a temporal infraction. In essence, I'm not…"
"… you're not supposed to exist," Tommy sighed.
"Exactly. My theory is that if I assist you in saving Lt. Summers, my time line will return to its normal state," she said.
"What was Camille supposed to do that was so important to the future?" Jen asked.
"You know I can't tell you," she repeated.
"I suppose not,"
"It will take us almost 40 minutes by shuttle to get to the Omarian homeworld, we should get going if we're going to save your friends," Carmen told them.
Tommy nodded. "Jen, you stay here and try to get the sensors back online, we may need them. Katie, contact Adam and have him meet Carmen and me in shuttle bay four, something tells me we're going to need him."
"Yes sir."
"Come on, Carmen, we have a future to save," Tommy said.