Relief?

Alice said nothing as she, Rick and Namir headed out of the deserted TOI. What had happened proved to her, at least, that she wasn't up to field operations. What Namir had to say told her they needed to get to Central City ASAP. Someone needs to get in touch with Jen and everyone back in 2013, she mused. They need to know that. She sighed. And I guess I need to...

"Ali -- there's a comm. message for you," Rick called, having reached the transport first. "From your mom."

Suddenly all her other thoughts were irrelevant. She picked up her pace and called, "What does it say?"

Rick just smiled faintly and shook his head. "It's tagged private."

"Oh." Alice felt her heart clench. Bad news or worse news? She reached the transport and started to punch up the message.

Kimberly's image formed on the small comm. viewer, her expression tired but determined. Alice guessed from that alone that this couldn't be the worst news.

"Honey -- I know you're probably off doing something important, but I wanted you to know that Ven's found something that's given dad a real shot. I'll keep you updated. Be safe."

"Good news?" Namir asked softly.

"It's hope," Alice answered.

"Your dad's a fighter," said Rick, giving her shoulders a comforting squeeze. "If Ven's found something that might help him, you'll see; he'll make it work."

Alice opened her mouth to reply when the comm. terminal dinged, indicating someone was trying to contact them now. She punched the message up, and was both surprised and slightly alarmed to find herself looking at her mother again.

"Mom?"

Kimberly smiled faintly. "No news yet." Alice decided that was probably good news. "But Lucas would like you three to head to Central City -- seems they've found Wes and Katie."

"They have?" said Namir.

"Yup." Kimberly nodded. "You guys are going as the rescue team."

"Good," said Rick.

"I'll tell Lucas you're on your way," Kimberly finished. "Do you have anything else you want me to tell him?"

Alice glanced at Namir. "We've found something here -- Nam's got all the data."

"Something tells me," said Kimberly, "Lucas isn't going to like it."

"Nope."

Kimberly nodded. "OK -- I'll warn him. Good luck."

The comm. connection cut. Alice turned to Namir and Rick. "Well -- let's get going. The sooner we get there, the sooner we get Wes and Katie back."

~*~

Lucas cut the comm. connection with Kimberly feeling a leaden weight settle around his shoulders.

"More bad news?" suggested Hawking.

"Is it that obvious?" Lucas responded. Hawking just gave Lucas a look. "Right." He sighed. "Something tells me we've just found why The Master wanted us to be stuck here longer."

~*~

After dropping his little verbal bomb, Ben had directed Zordon to a location that turned out to be a huge, four-sided pyramid, deep in a jungle and overhung with moss. Wes raised his eyebrows. The place looked old, ancient even by this time's standards. Whew.

Ben had beguiled the travel time using Dimi's best scrambler codes to contact various rebel factions, calling a meeting so he could fill everyone in on whatever the Death Star was going to turn out to be. Wes himself was betting on some kind of doomsday machine, as an automatic orange juicer or a self-cleaning lawnmower would hardly seem to generate this level of concern, no matter how silly the timeline seemed to be. Still, you never knew.

Under the ancient structure everyone but Ben was astonished to find a veritable warren of slick and futuristic tunnels, meeting rooms, control rooms, and, in an impressive nod to the movie that had become the bane of Wes' existence, a large and fully-stocked landing bay, complete with X-wing fighters. He stood below one and looked up at the cockpit, musing to himself that if things stayed true to cinematic form, when Alpha got nailed in the back of Wes' X-wing Wes was going to eject the debris before he let them repair him.

Someone cleared his throat behind him; Wes turned to find a diffident Zordon. "I'm -- well, see you around, Babyface."

Wes nodded. "Got your reward?"

Zordon quirked a grin. "Your friend Ben or whatever his name is needs to work on his definition of 'exorbitant'. Besides, it looks like you guys are going to need it more than I do if you're taking on the Emperor."

Wes mentally debated giving the 'so you're just going to leave' speech, then shrugged. Luke was a whiner anyway, and Zordon had gone above and beyond, for a guy who was only in it for the money. "Thanks for the assist with Katie." He held out his hand.

Zordon looked at him, surprised, then took the proffered hand and gave it a healthy shake. "No sweat... Wes."

Wes grinned. "Nice knowing you, 'Don. Come on, I'll walk you to your ship."

Zordon fell in step next to him. "I should give the old girl a name, huh?"

Wes couldn't help it. "How about the 'Millennium Falcon'?"

"'Millennium Falcon'?" Zordon thought about it, frowning. "What the hell's that mean?"

Wes shrugged. "Damned if I know."

Zordon snorted. "Leave it to you to come up with a name like that."

Wes chuckled. "Okay. How about the 'Falconzord'?"

Zordon's face lit up. "Now you're talking."

They turned the corner to find Ben in quiet conversation with Dimi and Katie. Ben chuckled, scratching his beard. "And then what?"

"Would you believe he asked how they were?" Dimi laughed along with the other two.

"Okay, Dimi, we're ready to -- " A frown creased Zordon's forehead. "Hey! Are you talking about me?"

"What makes you think that, the gleeful laughter or the general atmosphere of derision?" said Wes dryly.

Zordon put his hands on his hips and grinned. "Anytime, anywhere, Babyface. I can take you."

"Wes!" Katie hissed, pulling him away from the group. "You can't talk to him like that! Don't you know who he is?"

Wes looked at her. "I know who he's supposed to become, Kate, but he ain't him yet, not by a long shot, trust me on that." He led her back, turning his attention to Ben. "So, Ben-Steve-Frank-Purvis-Theodore-Jimmy-Joe-Bob, you won't tell us what this big meeting you're pulling together is all about, how 'bout you fill us in on the George thing?"

"I already told you," said Ben truculently. "I don't like the name George. And besides, that's not how I'm known around here."

Wes tilted his head. "Around here? You mean around here Tantalis, or around here Earth?" Ben/George mumbled something. Wes cupped his hand around his ear. "Sorry, come again?"

"Not from Earth, okay? Not like it's a crime or anything. They're not from Earth either," Ben jerked a thumb at Zordon and Dimi.

"Hey, I'm hardly in a position to criticize." Wes rubbed his nose. "So where do you hail from then, George?"

Ben sent him an aggravated look. "You wouldn't have heard of it."

"Try me." Wes folded his arms.

"Gulumpharoo," muttered Ben into his sleeve. Wes just rolled his eyes. "Okay, okay. I'm from Gallifrey, all right?

Dimi, Katie, and Zordon exchanged blank looks while Wes nodded, satisfied. "Never heard of it," the pilot said, mystified. "You're not a member of the Alliance, are you?"

"No," said Ben airily, and clamped his lips shut. The silence became thick enough to wade through; Ben looked back at Wes nervously.

"And your friend in the police box?" prompted Wes.

"My mentor," said Ben grumpily. "I'm on my last assignment before getting my own TARDIS."

"Uh huh," said Wes smugly. Mad as it was, things were at last beginning to come clear. He supposed it wasn't really all that surprising that Gallifrey existed; certainly time travel was more than possible, and if somebody wanted to create a blind to fool an inherently suspicious planet, making a television program out of their reality would more than put people off the scent. After all, if it was fiction, there couldn't be any truth in it, right? And the special effects were so very bad. Believability went right out the window.

Katie was watching him. "Wes?" she said in a too-sweet voice, putting him on his guard.

"Yeah?" he said, warily.

"You need to tell me what's going on, now, or I am going to put you through the wall."

"Right." Wes cleared his throat. "Sorry about that." He opened his mouth to begin, and a small alarm went off.

"Oops!" said Ben brightly. "Our colleagues have arrived. No time to waste. Zordon, Dimi," he shook hands industriously, "it's been lovely. Wes, Katie, after you."

Zordon grudgingly gave the older man an approving look. "That was pretty smooth."

Ben grinned, showing all his teeth. "It was, wasn't it? Buh-bye, now." He waggled his fingers at the bemused duo, and then Wes found himself and Katie being hustled down the corridor.

~*~

Hawking watched as the breathless trio of Vengeance Rangers entered Lucas' office.

"What did you do, run from transport parking?" Lucas enquired.

To Hawking's amusement, the trio looked slightly embarrassed.

"We were in a hurry," said Rick slightly defensively.

"They're not even in uniform!" objected Kerin at that moment.

Hawking groaned, and rolled his eyes. Kerin really was an anally retentive idiot sometimes.

Lucas glared at Kerin. "Right at this moment, I don't care what they're wearing -- just that they're here and we can get underway. Kids," he added, "take a seat. Hawking?"

Dismissing Kerin from his mind, Hawking cleared his throat. "I've tracked the temporal trace I was able to take in the immediate aftermath of Captain Collins and Mrs Drake's abduction and, after breaking through three layers of interference -- whoever is behind this certainly didn't want me to do this too quickly -- pinned it down to an exact temporal coordinate." He looked around the room. "That coordinate corresponds with a date roughly ten millennia ago."

"Ten thousand years?!" Rick whistled. "Wow."

"It gets better," said Hawking. "The trace leads to a continent that flat out isn't there any more."

This was news to Lucas and Kerin too, who both choked as much as the kids did.

"What?!" Kerin finally spluttered. "Don't be ridiculous. How can a continent not be there any more?"

"Many reasons," said Hawking tartly. "Earth is not the stable planet it appears -- and if you don't believe me," he added, "look up a much more recent geophysical disappearance; namely Alta California in 2436." Kerin opened his mouth to object further. "The other thing," Hawking continued, ignoring him, "that piqued my curiosity is the complete lack of a Destiny Force backlash. And frankly, that interests me more than whether or not the continent is still there." Kerin's mouth closed with a mutinous snap.

"What do you mean no Destiny Force?" queried Namir. "I know I don't know much about temporal mechanics but..."

"But if they're that far in the past," Hawking finished, "there should be something showing. Some sort of temporal ripple. You're absolutely right."

"What does that lack mean?" asked Lucas.

"Essentially," said Hawking, "that Captain Collins and Mrs Drake, and, I hasten to add, Namir, Rick and Alice, are supposed to spend some time in that particular time."

That little revelation provoked a stunned silence.

"Whoa!" Rick breathed.

"Do you think the Master knew that?" Lucas wondered.

"Unlikely," said Hawking. "I suspect that the destination wasn't planned -- just the abduction and the interference. And if Captain Collins and Mrs Drake are supposed to be there, at least some of the interference may not have been planned." Hawking smiled wryly. "Try to use the time stream to do your dirty work for you and the chances are it will rebound against you." Turning to the Vengeance trio, he said, "You three will be leaving in the next five minutes."

"Ah, correction," said Alice. "Rick and Namir will be."

Hawking lifted his eyebrows, though he wasn't entirely surprised. "I've just said..."

"Dad's...dad's sick," said Alice a little self-consciously. "I know I should..."

"You want to wait for firm news," said Lucas gently. "Kim's explained."

"You're not just going to..." began Kerin.

Hawking had to cover his mouth to hide the sudden grin as he watched Lucas turn a force ten glare on the Temporal Investigations director. "Yes, Director, I am 'just going to'. Don't make me go into the legalities of Captain Myers' condition and your role in same, because I can assure you, you'll lose on that front." Again Kerin's mouth closed with a snap.

"From a temporal stand point," Hawking put in gently, "you will have to go at some point, Alice -- your father's health notwithstanding. But," he smiled reassuringly, "there is no reason why we can't delay your departure and see how Ven gets on. It's been nearly four hours since she began -- there should be news soon."

Alice nodded. "Thanks."

"If that's all right, Lucas," Hawking continued.

Lucas nodded. "Of course. You're the expert."

Hawking smiled. "Rick -- Namir; time to go."

~*~

The meeting room was a lot more crowded than Wes expected, though given that Ransik was this time's equivalent of Darth Vader he wasn't surprised that there should be emphatic opposition. He scanned the room, pleased at the sense of organization and camaraderie that permeated the atmosphere. Whatever it was Ben had found, the thought of getting rid of it sure seemed to cheer everyone up.

"People, quiet, please." Katie nudged Wes, whose eyebrows raised off his forehead at the sight of the speaker. Good lord, it was the fish guy. Serves me right for getting all complacent about alien life, he thought to himself, schooling his expression when he caught Ben staring.

"I am Admiral Ackbar," he said, only his lower lip moving. Of course you are, thought Wes. This also serves me right for thinking how cheesy this particular costume looked. "As you all know," continued the fish, "our faithful ally Ben recently was able to penetrate the defences of the compound at Tyr Tantalis Prime, at great personal risk." Wes raised an eyebrow at Ben, who looked smug. "At that time he was able to obtain the specifications for the Emperor's doomsday device."

Wes nearly swallowed his tongue; that was the nearly same phrase he'd used rather sarcastically to himself earlier. The back of his neck prickled. It was easy to forget where he was, but now he wondered how interested these Joes would be to learn that Atlantis ultimately would take a permanent nose-dive? And, more uncomfortably, Wes began to wonder just how far off that particular cataclysm was... "Boy," he muttered to Katie. "This whole 'prime directive' thing is a lot harder than it looks on TV."

She stared at him. "Did you hit your head again?"

He opened his mouth to reply again; this time a klaxon sounded.

"What is it?" barked Ackbar.

Someone officious at a nearby control panel swivelled around in his chair. "Intruders, Admiral."

"Put them on holo."

The holographic projector in the middle of the floor flickered to life; silhouetted in the confines of the image were two very familiar figures, sneaking through the underbrush. "Inside the pyramid, Hawking says," said one of them, clearly annoyed. "Hah!"

Ackbar made a burbling noise. "Enable defences. We can't take any chances, not with victory so close."

"WAIT! Don't!" hollered Wes, Katie jumping to her feet just a beat behind him. "That's my son!"

"And mine," added Katie for good measure.

Ackbar burbled some more, but Wes didn't wait around to hear what it was in reference to. He was already sprinting for the door.

The jungle air hit him like water on the hot rocks in a sauna, with a wet sizzle. "Rick! Nam! Over here!"

A more welcome pair of Rangers Wes had never seen, as he grabbed his tall son in a bear hug. "You okay, son?"

Rick chuckled. "I'm supposed to be asking you that, Dad."

"Mostly just glad to see you." Wes held his son off a bit to have a good look at him. Both Rick and Namir were wearing some kind of fatigues, iron gray with trim colour-coded to their Ranger uniforms. And fatigues was certainly the word, Wes thought. Both boys looked like they'd been through the wash cycle and left in a pile to dry. "Come on, let's get you both inside."

Katie, for her part, all but had Namir tucked under her arm like a football. Not quite, but she had an air about her that said she'd like to. "So the morpher worked all right for you? You're not hurt? How's Eric?"

The look Rick and Namir exchanged at the last question stopped Wes in his tracks outside the pyramid. He focused on his son. "Rick? Why didn't Ali come with you?"

Rick huffed out a breath. "When we left, Dad, things were a bit rocky with Eric. Ali wanted to stay and -- and see if -- see how things turned -- I mean -- " he faltered, finally dwindling to a stop.

Wes stared at him. "No."

"They're doing everything they can, Dad -- " Rick began.

Fury welled up, tearing through Wes like erupting lava. "When I get my hands on the Master," he gritted through his teeth, "I swear to God I am going to kill him for this."

Katie put a gentle hand on his shoulder. "It'll be okay, Wes," she said quietly.

"Dammit, Katie," Wes made no attempt to check the rage that had him shaking, "I should be there! Eric's facing -- he might be -- I should be there, with him!" He turned and drew back his fist, intending to punch the stone face of the pyramid.

Except he found his hand enclosed in a stronger brown one that refused to let him. "You'll have a rough time killing anybody if your hand is jelly," his old friend reproved him.

"All right." Wes nodded, suddenly exhausted. "Let's just go home, okay?" Rick and Namir exchanged glances again. "What now?" Wes asked, his temper rising again.

"Well, uh, the thing is, you can't." Namir was biting his lip nervously, as though anticipating another outburst.

"WHAT?" Wes managed, then found himself speechless.

"The thing is," Namir said rapidly, "that you're supposed to be here and whatever it is you're supposed to do you haven't done it yet so you can't leave until you do or you'll screw up the timeline, okay?"

Katie frowned. "What do you mean, we're supposed to be --"

Wes interrupted. "How in the hell can we be supposed to be here if we're not from this friggin' time?" he howled.

Namir shrugged. "I didn't really get everything Dr. Hawking was saying --"

"Yeah, well, who does?" Wes growled.

"--but I do know there's something here you're supposed to do, and we can't go until you've done it."

"Fine." Wes stalked into the pyramid. "I'll get into the damn X-wing and destroy the damn Death Star with one damn lucky shot, and then we can all go home." He was aware of Rick staring after him dumfounded, but he didn't give a rat's patoot.

~*~

Al wanted to pound the wall in frustration. He settled for pacing the antechamber outside Lucas' office. Carmen had been almost apologetic in interrogation, answering each and every question in such a way that Al knew the man was telling the truth, and yet there was nothing in what he was saying that was remotely useful. He was just another victim in The Master's plans -- which meant Al was no nearer having his hands wrapped firmly around The Master's throat for what he'd done to Al's family.

The only light in the present situation was that at least they knew where Katie was. But she's not safe yet.

~*~

Ven sank into the nearest available chair. It was done. She had done everything she could -- it was now a matter of letting the last of the dialysis run through and hoping that the strain on Eric's body hadn't been too great. It had been touch and go during the procedures. Twice, she'd needed to restart his heart. That didn't bode well. Going in his favour was the fact that he was a fit, active, healthy individual. Of course, that would count for more if this wasn't coming on the back of a three week stay in the TOI on starvation rations.

Ven shook her head. It was out of her hands now. And at least I've been able to do more for Eric than I could do for Martin.

~*~

Rick caught up to him. "Um, Dad, are you okay?"

Wes sighed and groped around for his self-control. "No, Rick, I am not okay, but I'm also done taking it out on you and Nam."

His son looked at him doubtfully. "Okay, but I meant -- well, that last speech you sounded like Luke," Wes ushered him into the meeting room, "Sky... walker... on a bad... day..." The words drifted away as the young Ranger scanned the room. Rick turned to his father, astonishment writ large on his face. "Dad? Is this what it looks like -- hey, is that the fish guy?"

Despite his worry for Eric, Wes grinned. "Live and in tuna," he said.

"Oh my God, it really is," breathed Rick. "Ali is going to have a fit." Then he clearly remembered what Wes had said earlier. "Wait, so you're supposed to be Luke?" Wes blushed. "Ohhh, maaan," said his son with a grin that echoed his father's, "Mom is going to have a field day."

Wes' eyes widened. He hadn't thought about that.

"Gentlemen," said an exasperated Ackbar, "if we may continue?" A general harrumphing went around the room, Rick and Wes exchanged glances, and then everyone settled down. A hologram blipped into view. "This is the Emperor's ultimate weapon. As we see from these specifications, the Death Tower is located at the very heart of Tyr Tantalis Prime."

"The Death Tower?" Rick snorted, but quietly. Not quietly enough to avoid a glare from Katie, though.

Ackbar walked around the holo, fins behind his back. "The Death Tower is heavily fortified, as one might expect; but, thanks to our offensive strategists, we have found a weakness that we believe the Emperor and his forces are as yet unaware of." The holo did a zoom, focusing on a small, blinking square at the base of the tower. "We believe that a single, low-concussion charge placed here will be enough to topple the tower, and thus remove the threat."

Wes bit his lip. He shouldn't, he really shouldn't. Probably create a time loop or something. Eric would do it if he were here. But Eric was in trouble, and Wes could do no less for his fallen comrade. He got to his feet.

"It'll be like shooting womp rats in Beggar's Canyon back home!" Wes hollered, and felt immeasurably better.

The entire room turned to stare at him; Ben in particular had an air of acute interest on his face. Rick silently dissolved into laughter beside him, his face in his hands. Katie clearly thought he'd lost his mind; Wes mouthed 'sorry' and shrugged. Namir merely looked bewildered at this fresh evidence of one of his elders having gone round the bend.

A small commotion occurred at the far end of the room. "I guess the only thing for me to say is, 'You can count me in'," came a fresh voice, and there was Alice, a huge grin on her face.

Rick was across the room in about a second and a half, and his response on reaching Ali was such that even the most suspicious smiled at one another and holstered any weapons.

Wes cleared his throat as the liplock went on. "Um, kids, break it up now or I'm going to get a hose," he said dryly.

Ackbar burbled benignly. "But after all, my friend, what is it but this that we fight for?" He made another noise that Wes realized after a second was fishy laughter. "Now then, you seemed to feel that this target would present little problem. Therefore I shall appoint you Red team leader. Assemble your team."

Wes chuckled. Red team, how appropriate. "First things first, Admiral, no offence. Ali...?"

The pretty blonde hugged Wes, hard. "He's going to be okay," she whispered in his ear.

Wes gave a whoop and grasped the girl around the waist, lifting her up and spinning around. "Katie, did you hear? Eric's okay!"

Katie was trying to hug both Rick and Namir at the same time. "I heard," she managed, laughing.

"Okay, then," said Wes. "Rick, you're my point man; Ali, you and Nam on port and starboard flank. Kate, you're with me. We're gonna shove that tower right down that Emperor's throat."

Ben coughed softly, off to the side. "I applaud your enthusiasm, but it won't be quite that easy, you know."

Rick raised an interrogative eyebrow at his father, who mouthed 'Obi-wan' immediately before Alice shrieked. "OH MY GOD!" She pointed at Ben, who immediately glanced around to see what she was shrieking at. "It's -- it can't be -- it IS! George Lucas!"

"What?" said Wes, flabbergasted.

"How?" said Rick, astounded.

"Who?" said Katie, confused.

"Nuts," said Ben, crestfallen.

~*~

These X-wings weren't so different from the Zords Wes was used to, he thought. Which made a certain amount of sense as Zordon had based his creations on just this technology.

Wes had rather baldly volunteered the three kids to fly in his squadron, assuming they had enough future-tech dumped into their head to be able to handle it. He'd sort of planned for Katie to stay on the ground, be his control; but then Admiral Ackbar had shown him the one ship in the rebel fleet capable of the exacting sort of targeting they'd need to take down the tower. It had two gunner pits, one aft and one forward, and both completely separate from the cockpit. So Katie was sitting beside him, concentration writ large on her face as she got used to flying the craft.

Wes himself was manning the forward gunner pit, on the theory (which he'd been reluctant to voice) that since Luke Skywalker made the shot that took the Death Star down… well, he couldn't even finish it to himself. Though there was some sincere irony in the fact that as Luke had depended on the Force, so was Wes depending on a Force of his own: Destiny Force. He was fated to make this shot.

Wasn't he?

Katie's voice interrupted his thoughts. "Funny how things work out, isn't it?"

Wes thought back over the last couple of days and grinned. "You don't know the half of it."

She chuckled. "No thanks to you. I do know, courtesy of your lovely son, that all this is familiar to you from a motion picture."

"Made by our friend Ben," Wes added. "Apparently he decides to record Earth's hidden history. Equally apparently he makes it roughly as accurate as history usually is recorded, which is to say, only just recognizable. I become a whiny twenty-something, Zordon a dashing con man, and you a princess with cinnamon buns on your head."

She shot him a look. "Excuse me?"

Wes grinned. "You heard me. And we all fall in love with you."

Katie's attention returned to the controls, but not before Wes caught a glimpse of a smile. "Well, at least that bit's accurate."

Movement overhead caught his attention as Rick glided smoothly into position in front of them. The comm. crackled to life. "Red Two in position, Red Leader," Rick said, and Wes could hear the grin in his son's voice.

Katie shook her head. "I know we're all having fun, but try to stay focused, Red Two."

"Red Three, on your port wing," came another voice. Wes looked left to see Alice give him a nod.

"Red Four, in position," said Namir. Wes and Katie grinned as Namir gave them a gloved salute through his cockpit shield.

Gold and Blue squadrons checked in, confirming that they were in position for the Tantalis approach: Gold from the south and Blue from the west. "Okay," said Wes, taking a deep breath. "Let's do this."

TO BE CONTINUED...