Chapter 2 turbulence
"And we have lift off." Heath grinned as the thrusters fired and the ship began to take off.
"What's happening?" Ryan asked seeing Devon's frown.
"We got three bogies!" The opal ranger called and she was checking the weapon logs.
"Alright Sarah, fire proton lasers on my mark." The ruby ranger called following the situation on his control panel. They should have known they'd never get away unharmed. He then waited "Now!"
"Later!" Sarah grinned as she blasted the space trash into ash.
"Ok, take her to hyper warp." Ryan announced but Hollie shook her head.
"We can't." When she said that all eyes but Joe's went to hers. "We're not clear enough."
"Just do it." Ryan ordered in annoyance. He was in charge here.
"No." Hollie argued looking him right in the eye.
"I gave you a…" Ryan was cut off when he was thrown backward by a blast.
"More trouble on the rise." Devon announced and Hollie smirked.
"Five bogies!" Heath called and noticed Hollie was doing something on her control panel.
"Line up lasers, then when they shift fire plasma cannon!" Ryan called to Sarah.
"On it!" The opal clad ranger was preparing to do just that.
"They got us in lock!" Devon called.
"Not if I can help it." Hollie called and she typed as fast as she could.
"Hollie damn it what are you doing!?" Ryan shouted at the gold ranger as the ship dove.
"Taking them to school!" Devon grinned as he adjusted their angle.
"Nice flying red." Heath grinned at his friend.
"Ok Sarah take those puppies out!" Hollie then called as all five came at them, two on either side and one head on.
"Fire!" Ryan called.
***
"What's happening?" Captain Grayson asked back in the Aquabase.
"The Somit Leaders sent a going away party." Angela informed the captain.
"Can you raise them?" Captain Grayson asked.
***
"What now?" Ryan asked when there was a beeping. They'd just pulverized the SAR fighters and were quickly sweeping for more.
"It's the captain." Sarah called.
"We're a little busy here." Hollie called as three more ships appeared.
"What's happening?" Captain Grayson's voice asked as he appeared on the main viewing consul.
"We're…" Ryan began as Hollie locked into Sarah's unit and blasted two of the enemy ships.
"Damn girl you got it!" Heath grinned.
"Better believe it." Hollie grinned as Sarah then took out the last ship.
"The hotdog's saving our butts." Devon called as Ryan was tossed backwards by a new blast.
"Maintain radio contact." Captain Grayson told them as Ryan regained his footing.
"Right." Ryan said in his station again.
"Sir are you alright?" Hollie asked and Ryan looked at her, not sure if he wanted to shake or hug her. She was crazy.
"I'm fine but I want to see you in my quarters when things settle down." Ryan said grimly.
"Sir, I…" What could she say?
"You directly disobeyed an order in front of the rest of the crew and…" he managed to look at her with a modicum of civility. What the hell had she been thinking?
"I saved our butts." She said answering his question.
"Um we're shifting to hyper rush." Sarah called to them.
"Fine." Ryan said and the others on the bridge thought they could see smoke pouring from the captain's skin as he looked to the gold clad girl. "Hollie, now, Follow me."
Hollie just rolled her eyes as they left the bridge.
"I'd hate to be her." Heath said looking after them.
"Why's that?" Sarah asked looking over at the boy in blue.
"He's going to chew her out for the next week." Devon put in from where he'd silently watched the byplay between the gold and ruby rangers.
"Naw, he's to controlled for that, he'll just growl." Sarah replied thoughtfully.
***
"Well?" Carter asked his wife as they left rescue ops, Brian and Marie monitoring the ship. Carter knew of his wife's plan and also knew that she wouldn't have been things to be working out so soon.
"Hm?"
"You ok?"
"Yeah, I was just wondering if this was the right thing to do."
"Well, "He said pulling her a little closer to his side, by wrapping an arm about her shoulders. "At least you know that you were right about them being in the same boat." He pointed out as they neared his office.
"Yeah, I just wish I could see what is going on in Ryan's quarters."
"Dana, why would you want to do that? Think about it if you're right about this you might be about the rest of it too." The captain of Lightspeed rescue pushed his wife into a chair.
"I hope so." Dana said worrying her lower lip. God, he didn't know how it had happened but in the last eight months she'd gotten even deeper under his skin.
"How about some tea?" He asked moving to the pot he kept for just such occasions.
***
"What the hell were you thinking?" Ryan rounded on her, gone was the ranger face and now he was every bit the leader as he glared at the gold ranger across the room.
"I was doing what had to be done sir. If we'd gone to rush they'd have followed us, blasting all the way and for that split second we'd have been defenseless." She replied leaning back against the wall near the door.
"No!" he slammed a fist down on the table. "You were doing what you always do, you were showing off."
"You know what, I am so sick of this. I HATE THIS I'M SMARTER THAN YOU ARE THING." She glared at him.
"If you didn't sign up who picked you?" He demanded angrily, why was she acting like this hadn't been what she'd wanted? He knew she'd been excited.
"I don't know but why would I want to go into space with a total control freak who had less people skills than a king snake when it's about to shed?" She asked a fiery brow arched in annoyance. He was just so aggravating.
"A snake?" He asked and one blonde brow arched in amusement of his own.
"That's a king snake and yes." She shrugged. "When they shed they will snap at anything in the world."
"Look," Ryan ran a hand through his hair. I have no clue who sent you or why but I do know that you can't just jump into situations like you just did." He said quietly.
"I just saved our buts!" She exploded slamming her own fist into the wall in anger. Why was he so capricious? She forced herself to take a steadying breath. Losing her temper wouldn't help either of them just then. "L look, if we'd gone to warp we'd have vulnerable to those three fighters." Hollie argued.
"True but if you'd been wrong…" He retorted wanly. Why did she always have to fight every order he gave her?
"I wasn't" she snapped and there it was the waspishness that he always saw in her. He wondered why all of the others liked her? He knew she was different with them but for some reason he always got her back up and she his.
"I may no longer be a commander but you know very well had you been wrong we could have all died." He said, forcing himself not to either get mad or pull out his hair in frustration.
"You like playing the what if game don't you?" She asked d tilting her head to one side to study him. He looked as boyish as ever; his hair a little passed his nape, his silver gaze, which she'd thought so striking were glittering almost dangerously and she thought he'd never looked more alive. It was much better than the way he looked in training, cool and detached. She really hated people who could go through life like that. But when he was mad she saw Ryan Mitchell the person not the droid.
"I have to." He shrugged as now he felt they were on firmer ground. He honestly didn't know why she could drive him so nuts.
"Yeah well, I can't." She was saying and he watched as she paced to the door.
"And why's that?" He asked and Hollie noticed the hostility and stiffness was gone, and yet he still had the authority in his tone.
"That's my reason." She said and Ryan saw the way her eyes went to an emerald darker than any he'd ever seen. He knew there lay ghosts, phantoms of the past which both haunted and drove her. Again he saw the red head that first day.
"You know I've been thinking, it sounds as if she is just right for the yellow morpher." Dana was saying as they climbed from the car and he spotted the bright yellow shoot coming down. Ryan wondered if it's owner would be as wild as Kelsey, as open and friendly as they previous gold ranger and he realized that Dana had an odd look in her face just as she motioned to the girl saying,
"I dare you." he didn't have to ask, she wanted him to talk to the girl, he wandered if she was playing match maker or if she was testing his skills.
"Not bad." Ryan murmured as he spotted the yellow skydiving helmet and pretty girl and she was pretty, her face slightly dotted with freckles even as they were covered by the shoot as she came down. Still he'd seen and she'd not been a bad looker, with the coppery hair and…
What was he thinking? They were there for a job? They were trying to recruit her, not get him a date.
"Miss Marsh?" He asked when it was clear she had made the safe landing.
"Hold up will you I'm just..." he didn't think just moved forward, lifting the shoot for her and when their eyes met… they were so green, like a spring lawn, like the hills of Ireland…
"You know I could have gotten out of the shoot myself." Miss Hollie Marsh grumped up at him and he wondered for a second if he could talk, if there were words but then he remembered why they were there and so when he spoke at last his words were even more clipped than he'd meant them.
"Miss Marsh, we need you to come with us."
"I'm not going anywhere until you tell me who you are and what you want with me." Mulish?
Well, it wasn't the first time he'd met a stubborn woman, he thought riley, thinking of his little sister.
"I'm sorry my brother can be a little blunt." The same sister who'd just taken over. He didn't really listen though as she spoke to Hollie, his mind trying to put the image of the girl with what he knew of her and knew he was in for it.
Now, Ryan wondered how she'd made it this long as a ranger. Now, Ryan wondered how she'd made it this long as a ranger. It was true she had a reason to want the enemy destroyed; there weren't many who knew of her past as she'd asked it be kept confidential when she'd joined the organization but he was of the few. She'd been lucky to date; he knew all too well how the drive of vengeance could be destructive. He'd gotten careless just before that last battle when he'd been trying to find the key to the tomb. Because of that both he and Carter had nearly died. There was no way he'd let that happen to her or any of the others. In the last eight months he'd not only thought of them as his responsibilities but as friends.
"I know the reason," he relaxed slightly, God, he knew the reason. "Hollie, I've even felt that same fury and raging fire to destroy the enemy, I know that need for vengeance and I know if you don't use your head and think first it will get you and the others killed one of these days.
"I lost my family sir, I'm not about to lose my friends." She said and he wondered about that. She was friends with everyone and yet sometimes there was a strain about her eyes, a weariness as if it were not but a mask, one too hard to continually hold up.
Ryan wondered just how Carter would handle this situation with out making it worse; he was so good with them all. He himself was still not much of a people person. Then it hit him.
"You know there's a program for the Simudeck that you might enjoy."
"There is?" Hollie asked wondering just what her leader was up to now.
"Yes, it's sun1152." Said and then headed for the door adding. "Use it when ever you'd like.'
Hollie frowned after Ryan, what had just happened? It was almost as if heed just done a total 360, going from criticizing to offering her a program? It was totally unlike the man. Then it hit her, it was Ryan's idea of a peace offering. Well, she knew this was a new mission and they shouldn't really start off on the wrong foot so she decided to take it and maybe later give him one of her own.
TBC
***
Ok two's redone. PLZ let me know what you think, I wanted some more tension between Ryan and Hollie.