"Okay, lets go over this one more time," he paused, going over the readings on the control panel. "Secondary processors are properly aligned, the primary systems are active, and the auxiliary power has been restored. That should be it," Lucas said proudly, going over his work one final time.
"Did it work?" Nadira asked him.
"I think so," he paused. "Computer, what is the status of the targeting censors?"
'Targeting censors are operating at 100% efficiency,' the computer answered.
"Excellent," he pressed a button on the control panel. "Lucas to Katie. I've got the targeting sensors back on line," he said.
'Great. Lock onto Camille and Trip, teleport them to the coordinates I left in the computer main frame,' a voice responded.
Lucas quickly pulled up the coordinates Katie left in the computer, but was confused about them. "I have the coordinates, but that will put them in…"
'I know where it is Lucas, just trust me,'
"Stand by," he turned to the opposite control panel, getting a lock on Camille and Trip's bodies with the censors. "What the…" he paused.
"What is it?" Nadira asked.
"There's something in Camille's bio-reading. Something I've never seen before,"
"What?"
"I don't know, some kind of implant. I wonder why the censors never picked it up before," he said. "According to this, it wasn't inserted recently. It must have always been there," he said.
"We'll debate about it later, just teleport them,"
Lucas nodded, activating the teleportation sequence, and then reopened the channel to Katie. "Alright, now what?"
'I have three to teleport directly to the science lab,' she said.
Lucas and Nadira looked at one another. "Three?"'Like I said, you'll have to trust me,' "You got it Katie. Standby," he activated the teleportation sequence, and moments later, Katie, Jen and Ensign Claw materialized in the science lab.
"Whoa! That was sweet," Ensign Claw said, staring around the science lab.
"You get use to it," she turned to Lucas. "The Harvengers are already here," Jen told him.
"What?"
"We saw it ourselves. Admiral Logan, and Lt. Carey, Lt. Montgomery, Ensign Shaefer and Lt. Commander Steward were all turned into Harvengers," she said.
"But how? When?"
"I don't know, but I do know that sooner or later, they'll be able to get through these force fields. When they do, there won't be anything we can do to stop them,"
"But there's only four of them, we can handle that. Right?" Nadira asked. "I mean, hello, power rangers," he mentioned, pointing to her morpher.
"We could handle it if there were only four, but the three security guards weren't Harvengers until Logan got to them. At this rate, they can convert officers and civilians within seconds. If one Harvenger can convert three officers, the four of them can convert…"
"We don't need to go over the math, we need to find ways to stop them," Katie brought up.
"We know stabbing them through the chest with sharp, pointy things is out," Ensign Claw said.
"If we can't kill them, how do we stop them?"
"How did Logan infect the others?" Jen asked.
"Can you pull up the surveillance footage from the holding cells? Maybe we can see how and when he infected them,"
Without a second thought, Lucas turned back to the computer. Moments later, surveillance cameras from the holding cells appeared on the screen. "Got it,"
"Okay, now go back about an hour. Whatever he did, it had to happen there,"
All of them reviewed the footage, until finally, they saw it. "Look, he punched through the wall and deactivated the force field, then knocked out security," Katie said.
"Yuck, his arm got snatched off,"
"And he put on Lt. Steward's arm like it was a ring,"
"See," he paused the tape. "It's the blood. Something about the blood infects people," Lucas mentioned, pointing to the screen.
"We need to get a sample of the blood, maybe we can come up with an anti-toxin," she turned to Nadira. "Dira, you and Katie try to corner one of them and contain them. Once we…" she was cut short.
"That's suicide Jen, I refuse to let any of us go out there for…" this time, Katie was cut short.
"This isn't up for discussion. I gave you…"
"What? An order? You quit, remember? I know you were emotional when you decided to quit, and I know your resignation isn't official, but until you get a hold of your own emotions, you're in no condition to give orders. I'm assuming control," Katie told her, holding her ground.
"Damn it Katie we don't have time for this,"
"You're right, we don't," she turned to Lucas. "Can you track one of those Harvengers?" she asked.
"I think so,"
"Isolate one of them and corner them with a force field. After you have one trapped, use the environmental controls to pump Enestasene into the air. That should be knock'em out," she said.
"Enestasene?" Ensign Claw asked, hoping someone would elaborate.
"It's a gas. In large amounts, it would be enough to kill the average human, but in this case, it may be just what we need to take one of these things out," Katie said.
"I've got one. Its on it's way to the lab,"
"Lock him down,"
"Do you really think this'll work?" Jen asked.
"Its better than your suicide plan," she mentioned.
"Force fields in place. I'm releasing the gas… now," he paused. "Okay, I've got it. Its in the main hallway right outside the lab," Lucas said.
"Good work,"
At that moment, someone punched through the wall. Within seconds, Admiral Logan ripped his way through the wall, losing an arm in the process.
"Oh great, I just got that arm. Oh well, I guess I'll have to borrow one of yours," he groaned, rushing towards them.
"TIME FOR, TIME FORCE," Katie and Nadira said in uniform, replacing their clothes with their ranger uniforms. Each of them called for their sabers, standing in front of Logan.
"Your time is up Logan," Nadira said.
"Geez, you guys really need to come up with a new catch phrase," he said, cocking back and hitting Nadira, knocking her half way across the room. She collided with the slipstream, falling the ground as she powered down.
Katie swung with her saber, slicing his head off. His severed head fell to the ground, and Katie gave him a sabat kick, taking his body down. All of them watched in amazement as Logan's body picked up the head, putting it back on his shoulders.
"You have any idea how much that hurt?" he asked. Katie swung again, but Logan caught the sword in his hand, then gave Katie a backhand, knocking her through the hole in the wall. "Now, which one of you are going to be nice enough to show me out the slipstream works?"
"Computer, lock out all command functions. Authorization Kendal, Beta 65," Lucas said.
'All command functions disabled,' the computer responded.
"I see we're going to have to do this the hard way," Logan sighed, grabbing Lucas by the throat and lifted him off the ground. "One of you tell me how to operate the slipstream, or he dies,"
"If we tell you, you'll kill him anyway," Jen said.
"Well, you're right," he said, snapping Lucas' neck, then let him go as Lucas' body fell to the floor with a sickening thud.
Ensign Claw rushed over to Lucas, checking on him. "Oh God, he's dead," he sighed.
*
The sand creatures lunged itself at Tommy, pinning him down to the ground. One of the tentacles reached out for him, but Tommy got his footing, kicking the creature off him, knocking him into the second one. As it got back to his feet, the third creature wrapped its tentacle around his neck, lifting him off the ground.
"Anytime now Carmen," Tommy mumbled, struggling to breath.
"I'm working on it," she screamed, never taking her eyes off the engravings in the wall.
Tommy called for his saber, cutting the tentacle and falling to the ground. As he got back to his feet, two of the creatures went after him, but Tommy ducked, and the two of them collided. As they fell to the ground, Tommy cocked back and threw his saber at the third one, stabbing it in the throat. Finally, Tommy let out a sigh of relief as he fell to his knees, but another group of sand creatures rose from under the sand, making their way towards him.
"Oh great," he mumbled.
"Alright, I think I've got it," she paused, reading over it again. "I think… something," she groaned.
"Can you be a little more specific?"
"I'm working on it here," she snapped, turning back to the temple. "Fore… fore something. I think for something…" she paused. "We're running out of time," she sighed.
"You don't have to tell me twice,"
"I just did,"
"Quite, you have to let me think…"
Two of the sand creatures attacked Tommy, wrapping their tentacles around his neck. The others used their claws, ripping at his uniform. It was enough to make him power down as the creatures began tearing into his chest.
"I got it," she cleared her throat. "I think, therefore I am," Carmen said.
At that moment, a wave of light shot out the temple wall, vaporizing the sand creatures instantly. Tommy fell to the ground, holding his chest in pain. Carmen shielded her eyes from the light, but when it died down, she hurried over to Tommy.
"You okay?"
"Did it work?" he mumbled.
The two of them glanced over at the temple wall, only to see a small opening of light. "It's a… doorway," she said. "Can you walk?"
Tommy stumbled to his feet, still holding his ribs in pain. "I'll manage, just come on,"
They headed for the temple, making their way into temple.
~~
"General, we've picked up something interesting," one of the Omaraians said.
"What is it?"
"An ion trail," he said.
"Whats so interesting about an ion trail?"
"Normally nothing, if it were coming from a ship. These ion trails are simply appearing, which suggests that it might be…"
"A cloaked ship,"
"Yes sir. I think the Time Force is still here, and based on these readings, is near the sacred temple," he said.
"Lock phaser cannons on the source of the ion trail and open fire," he said.
~~
The entire shuttle shook, knocking Adam out of his seat. He quickly regrouped, getting back to his feet and rushing over to the controls.
'Hull breach in aft section. Impulse engines are off line,' the computer told him.
"What happened?" Before the computer could answer, the shuttle shook again. "I'm under attack," he said.
'Drive system has been compromised. Core breach in 60 seconds,' the computer said.
"Oh great," he paused. "Disengage the cloak and set a course for the source of the attack," he ordered.
The cloak disengaged, and the ship began to move towards the Omaraian fleet.
~~
"General, our readings indicate that the core of the shuttle has been breached and will explode in 45 seconds," the soldier said.
"Good work,"
"But sir, the ship is on a collision course with our fleet. If it explodes, it'll take most of our fleet with it," he said.
"Order the fleet to raise their shields and pull back,"
~~
"They're backing off. Good, that'll buy me some time," Adam said. "Computer, is there enough power to teleport me out of here?"
'Affirmative. Sufficient power is available,' the computer said.
Adam snatched Carmen's Morpher off the control panel, tearing the wires off the panel. "Get me outta here," he said.
~~
"Sir, our readings say one line form has teleported off the shuttle," the soldier said.
"Is the shuttle still on a collision course?"
"Yes sir. The human is attempting to teleport off the shuttle"
"Emmit a thorolon pulse, that will block the teleportation process. Have the rest of the fleet pull back to avoid the explosion. If that shuttle does explode, so will the human," he said.
"Yes sir,"
~~
'Unable to teleport,' the computer told him.
"What? Why not?"
'Thorolon radiation is interfering with teleportation,' the computer said. 'Core breach in 10 seconds,'
"Just great. The end to an already perfect day," Adam sighed.
~~
In the distance, there was an explosion. It was enough to shake the entire temple, and Carmen, who was holding Tommy up, fell to the ground.
"What was that?" she asked.
"I'm not sure," he struggled to get back to his feet. "Lets just get the sphere and get out of here," Tommy told her.
The entire temple was pitch black, except for a spotlight in the middle of the room. As they got closer to the spotlight, a hooded figure stepped into the light.
"Welcome," the figure sighed.
"Who are you?"
"I am an Elder, keeper of the Sphere of Omara. I must congratulate you, many try to solve the riddle, but only a select few beings have succeeded," he told them.
"The riddle. I was able to figure it out, but what did it mean?" Carmen asked.
"I think, therefore I am. So many beings believe that the only way to acquire the sphere is to send a being that was not meant to exist. The riddle is to reaffirm the circumstances of ones existence isn't important, its what you do with that existence that gives it meaning," he explained. "Why do you seek the power of the sphere?"
"Some of my friends were killed in the past, we need the sphere to revive them," Tommy said, holding his ribs in pain.
The Elder chuckled. "The past. I'm always tickled by you corporeal beings and your concepts of linear time," he sighed.
"We don't have time for this. Please, we need to bring our friends back," he said.
"You misunderstand. The sphere does not give life, it merely restores what was wrongfully taken away," the Elder said.
"I don't understand,"
"For every life that is taken, one of given. Thus is the cycle for the entire universe and it cannot be altered," he said.
"All this is fascinating, but we're running out of time. We need the sphere," Carmen said.
The Elder reached behind his back, revealing the sphere. "Remember, the sphere has no control over the cycle of the universe. Life and death are both aspects of the known universe and cannot be changed," he said.
"Thank you Elder," she said as the Elder handed her the sphere.
~~
The two of them walked out the temple, and just as quickly as the entrance appeared, it disappeared.
"That was intense," Tommy mumbled, still holding his ribs in pain.
"Come on, we need to get you back to the shuttle," she said.
"You mean that shuttle?" he inquired, pointing to debris scattered through out the sand.
"Oh God, Adam!"
Tommy reached for his Morpher. "Adam. Come in," he said.
But there was nothing.
"Oh God no. It wasn't his time," Carmen cried.
At that moment, Adam materialized in front of them, but his ranger uniform had been badly damaged. The second he decloaked, he fell to his knees. "Nice to know you guys care about me," he sighed.
"You're alright," she squealed, rushing over to him and wrapping her arms around him.
"I'm okay, but the shuttle was destroyed. There was a core breach and I was trapped inside when it exploded, but I managed to switch on the phased cloak and get out of there," he noticed the sphere in her hand. "Great, you got it,"
"Yeah, but now we don't a way back home," he said.
"Um, guys," Tommy called out. "That's the least of our problems,"
The two of them turned around only to see an armada of Omaraian troops making their way towards them, all of them with weapons in hand.
"Oh great," Adam sighed.