"They're everything, there's nothing else we can do," Charles said as he stumbled into the science lab, holding his ribs in pain. His clothes were ripped horribly, and his face was covered in blood.
Carmen hurried over to him, helping him over to the control panel and sitting him down in the chair. "What happened to you?"
"A group of Harvengers breached our outer defenses, they came from out of nowhere. They got Anthony and Captain Emery," he told her.
"Where is Leo?"
"I don't know. He said something about going for the Omega Project, but I don't know if he made it,"
"We need to get you down to the infirmary, Dr. Young may be able to…" she was cut short.
"No, I'll be fine. Besides, you're going to need all the help you can get. We're the only rangers left," he sighed, coughing up blood as he tried to stand up.
Before she could respond, the doors on the science lab exploded, and a group of Harvengers stormed in. Carmen picked up a pipe, swinging and hitting one of the Harvengers in the side of the head. It was enough to bring it to its knees, and a sweep took another down. A Harvenger grabbed her from behind, but she ducked, and Charles fired his disrupter, catching the Harvenger in the chest. That was enough to knock it up against the wall, but the wound seemed to heal itself as it stood up.
"PINK RANGER CHRONO ARMOR," Carmen called out, replacing his clothes with her ranger uniform. She called for her Chrono saber, swinging and slicing one of the Harvenger's arms off. She spun around, stabbing another Harvenger in the stomach, then snatched the saber up, slicing the Harvenger in half. With the last of them down, she turned to Charles.
"We have to…" she paused as a Harvenger bit Charles in the back of the neck. Without a word, she swung her chrono saber, cutting off the Harvenger's head. Charles' body fell to the ground, and she leaned over him. "We're going to get you to the infirmary," she sighed.
He shook his head. "No…its too late for me…" he began to cough up blood again. "I've been infected. You have to kill me," he groaned.
She dropped her saber. "No, I can't," she screamed.
"You have to. I can feel that thing's blood inside me, changing me. You have to kill me before I change," he told her.
"I can't do it Charles, I just can't," she cried.
With the last of his strength, he picked up her chrono saber, putting the tip of the sword into his throat. "You do it, or I will," he said.
Carmen turned her back and covered her eyes, but could still hear the sound of the sword piercing his skin, and his lifeless body falling to ground…
Carmen opened her eyes, finding herself sitting in the back of the shuttlecraft in a cold sweat. She wiped the sweat away from her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to regain her composure. It was that moment; Charles' death convinced her that going back in time to prevent the Harvengers from coming was the only way to save him.
"You okay?" Tommy asked as he walked to the back of the ship, sitting down next to her.
She nodded. "I'm fine, just a bad dream," she sighed.
"According the sensors, we'll be at the Omaraian home world in about fifteen minutes," he mentioned.
"Good. Lets just get this done,"
"So what happened? That was a pretty intense dream you were having," he brought up.
"Harvengers broke into the science lab, killed my friends, killed the other rangers, killed my commanding officer. This has to work, we have to save them," Carmen said.
"We will,"
"Mom hasn't told you yet, but she's pregnant. She has been for a while. She wanted to tell you, but because she was cryogenically frozen, she was concerned about it. She didn't want to tell you until she was sure I'd be okay," she told him.
"I can understand that. How far along is she?"
"At this point, she should be about two months pregnant. When she does tell you, the two of you got married rather quickly. She got promoted to Admiral after Logan was killed, and you took control of the slipstream full time," she said.
"By telling me this, aren't you running the risk of changing things?" he asked.
"I'm telling you with the hope that you ensure it happens as it's suppose to. You can't tell mom you know, just let things progress normally," she said.
"I will," he paused. "You know I have another daughter, Trinity," he brought up.
She nodded. "Yes, your first daughter with Kimberly Hart in the past. You use to tell me how much it hurt you not to be a part of her life the way you wanted to," she said.
"I hope I didn't make the same mistake with you,"
"You didn't. You were always a good father. You were busy with work sometimes, but you always made time for me. I think that…" she was cut short.
"Guys, we have a problem," Adam called out.
Tommy and Carmen hurried into the cockpit, taking their seats in front of the controls. "What's going on?" Tommy asked.
"I just got an incoming transmission from the Omaraian home world. Admiral Logan told them we were coming and they were told to stop us by any means necessary. They've locked all weapons systems on us," he said.
"Stop us? Why?"
"Logan doesn't want us to get the sphere," Carmen said.
"Open a transmission to the Omaraians," he said.
"Opened," Adam said.
"Omaraians, I am Commander Tommy Oliver from Time Force, please deactivate all weapons systems," he said.
'Denied Commander. We have orders from your superiors to prevent your landing at any costs. If you remain at your present source and speed, we will open fire in 30 seconds,' a voice said.
It was Carmen who shut down the transmission, then turned to Tommy. "These guys mean business, and even at this point in time, they're systems are enough to completely destroy the shuttle with the first round of fire," she said.
"I'm not leaving without that sphere," Tommy told her.
"And I plan to make sure that you get it," she stood up, walking over to Adam. "Excuse me," she said.
Adam quickly stood up, allowing her to take his seat. "What's your plan?" he asked.
Carmen took off her Morpher, opening a small panel in the back. Next, she snatched a panel off the side of the shuttle, reaching in and pulling out a series of wires. "The Omaraians won't stop until we're destroyed, so we're going to give them what they want," she said.
~~
"Sir, the Time Force shuttle is increasing speed,"
The Omaraian commander walked over to the control panel, watching the shuttle on the screen in front of him. "Can you open a transmission to them?" he asked.
"No sir, transmissions have been cut off from within the shuttle,"
"Arm the phaser banks, adjust targeting for their new course and speed, then open fire," he said.
"But sir, they're from Time Force. They…"
"I am aware of who they are, but our orders are clear. Admiral Logan informed us that the people on that shuttle pose a threat this not only our world, but the entire space/time continuum. They have to be stopped here and now," he said. "Now, open fire,"
Without another word, they opened fire. The two of them watched on the screen as the phaser banks fired… and there was an explosion.
"The shuttle has been destroyed,"
"Very good. Contact Admiral Logan and inform him that the situation has been taken care of," he said.
"Right away sir,"
*
"Computer, compile a list of temporal incursions within the last 8 months," Alex said he sat down behind his desk, removing his sunglasses and tossing them on the desk.
'Working,' the computer announced.
It amazed him that he hadn't thought of it sooner. He recalled when Admiral Logan originally told him about the Sphere of Omara, about the power it had to revive the dead. Logan told him that by using the sphere, they ran the risk of altering the time line, and in every instance that he was aware of, the time line had been changed. 'He had to know that bringing Adam back would change the time line, so why did he authorize it?' he asked himself. At the time, he didn't think anything of it. He simply followed his orders.
His thoughts were interrupted as the computer pulled up the information he was looking for. Alex leaned forward, going through the information.
"Computer, in the four incidents listed, how many of them were ordered by Admiral Logan?" he inquired.
'All temporal incursions were authorized and verified by Admiral Logan,' the computer answered.
"But that isn't right, why did the counsel allow him to authorize them?" he asked.
'Insufficient information,'
"The Admiral should have had the counsel approve these incursions before he gave us authorization to use the sphere," he said. "Computer, how many of these incursions were authorized before the counsel was killed?"
'Three,'
He read over the material. "It says here that Admiral Logan was aware of the consequences of reviving Adam in the 21st century, and even though it went against the orders of the counsel, he approved it," he continued to read. "Isn't it funny that a few days later, the counsel was killed?"
'Please re-state the question,'
He paused. "Computer, what is the fifth file?" he asked.
'Classified,' the computer shot back.
"Over ride security lock out authorization Collins, Beta 64," he said.
'Security lock disabled,'
Alex glanced through the material, and the more he read, the wider his eyes got. "Oh my God," he sighed. "Computer, what is Admiral Logan's location?"
'Admiral Logan in the main science lab,'
Without a word, Alex stood up, rushing out his office.
*
"You did what?" Jen snapped, standing eye to eye with Admiral Logan.
"I did what needed to be done. Tommy and Adam were ordered to stand down and return to Earth, but they refused. The Omaraians were authorized to do whatever necessary to ensure they shuttle didn't land," he told her.
"Even kill them?"
"Yes, even kill them. It had to be done, to ensure that future history wasn't altered," he said.
"What gives you the right to decide who lives and who dies? That uniform? Your rank? With all due respect sir, that's bullsh…" she was cut short.
"What gives Tommy the right to decide who lives and who dies? What I've done is no different than what Tommy is trying to do right now," he brought up.
"So to prevent Tommy from changing the future, you changed the future and had him killed? Your logic is flawed Admiral, and I intent to take this all the way to…" she was interrupted again.
"To who? The counsel? I am the counsel Captain, and if you're unhappy with my decisions as Admiral, you're…" this time, she interrupted him.
"What? I'm fired? You can't fire me Admiral, because I…" she was interrupted this time Alex, who walked into the lab, grabbing her wrist before she could remove her badge.
"Think about this Jennifer, think about what this means. Walking away from Time Force won't do you any good," he sighed.
She snatched away from him. "If this is what Time Force stands for – killing people and justifying it by hiding behind rules and regulations – I don't want any part of it," she said, snatching off her badge and throwing it to the ground. "I quit," she said, walking out the room.