Disclaimer: Power Rangers Time Force and all related logos are property of Disney and/or Saban Entertainment. I am using them without permission. KJ Sheldon, Lt. James Emery, Trinity Oliver, Camille Summers, Amanda "Mandy" Scott, Mr. & Mrs. Mathew Scott, Leo Claw and the "Omega Project" are property of yours truly.
A/N: This fic takes place about a week after the end of Future Shock II.
Please take a moment to review. I live for reviews!!
~~
"I'm tellin' you, it all seemed so real," Katie said, pacing back and forth in her quarters. Ever since waking up from her coma, she'd been having recurring dreams. "Its always the same, I wake up twenty years in the future. Tommy is an Admiral, you're a Commander, Jen is dead, and then sometimes Lucas is there… but then he isn't," she told her.
"Please elaborate. What do you mean Lucas is there, but then he isn't?"
"Well, when I first wake up, he's there. But later, when I talk to Tommy in his office, he tells me that Lucas is dead. I don't know what it's suppose to mean," she said.
"Perhaps it isn't supposed to mean anything. The human mind is fragile and erratic; your sub-conscious can create almost anything while in REM sleep. I have read over 28 literary works in the past 12 hours and they all come to the same conclusion: the human mind has no real rhyme or reason in a dream state," she pointed out.
"I can't help but feel that the dream was trying to tell me something. There's another part where Tommy told me Jen went to the Fikus section to help with a plague, but is infected. He told me that it was about a year after I went into the coma, but considering that Jen is almost three months pregnant now, she should have had the baby long before that mission," she pointed out.
"Again, you are attempting to bring order to chaos. Your dream was only meant to keep your mind stimulated until your body could be healed,"
"I don't know KJ, something tells me its more than that," she grabbed a set of star charts, laying them out on the table in front of her. "As of right now, Time Force hasn't even launched a probe into the Fikus sector. Don't you find it strange that I'd be able to have a dream not only about a region of space we've never explored, but an entire a race of people from a planet we've never been to?" she asked her.
"It is no doubt an enigma, but you have no conclusive evidence that there is a race of beings known as the Katerrians. If you feel so strongly about this, why not go to Counsel member Collins and request a shuttle to the Fikus sector. If you knew conclusively if the Katerrians were there, perhaps you would feel better about it," KJ suggested.
"I've checked the logs, a regular ship wouldn't make it to the Fikus sector. There's something about a large buildup of Barrion particles in that sector, it makes it almost impossible to fly a shuttle through it,"
"Then perhaps what you need is something a little bigger than a shuttle,"
"What do you suggest?"
"You should have a conversation with Lt. Summers or Lt. Trip, surely one of them knows how to modify a shuttle that will allow you to pilot a shuttle through the Barrion particles," she said.
"Yeah, but…" she paused. "This is silly, I'm sure there's nothing out there. Like you said, dreams don't always make sense, I'm just being silly," Katie told her.
"Still, seeking the truth is what Time Force was founded on. Whether or not this race of people is there, or if they have a plague is irrelevant. Your desire to know should be enough," she said.
Katie paused. "I have some leave coming up in a few weeks. Maybe I'll take a trip to the Fikus sector and see what's there," she said.
"Very well," KJ stood up. "I must leave. I have pre-arranged plans to meet Ensign Clark," she said.
"Is this a date?"
"He has reserved time for the holographic simulator and is taking me to a 21st movie theater. I believe our feature presentation is Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure," she told her.
"There was nothing excellent about that adventure, trust me," Katie sighed.
"I will return at 1830 hours to check on you," KJ said, making her way out the room.
*
Alex sat behind his desk in his office, waiting for her. When she originally put in her request for a personal day for the holiday, he knew right away where she were going. 'I can't believe she took him to meet the parents,' he sighed inwardly. If he needed any more indication that he and Jen were never going to get together, that was it.
Then again, that wasn't exactly a secret.
From the moment he decided to bring Tommy out of his Cryogenic suspension, he knew the two of them would end up together. 'Jen always did have a thing for 21st century men,' he thought, but he knew it was more than that. There was something about Tommy Oliver that commanded respect, that exuded authority. He knew Jen would be drawn to him, and sure enough, it didn't long before the two of them were together.
Part of him knew from the moment she returned from the 21st century head over heels in love with Wesley Collins that things would never be the same between he and Jen, but he was happy with the way things were.
His thoughts were interrupted as she stepped in the doorway. "You wanted to see me Alex?" she inquired.
"Yes, I did. Come on in, have a seat," as he instructed, she sat down in the chair in front of the desk. "I spoke to Lt. Summers this morning. She told me that in your condition, you can't use the pink Chrono Morpher," he brought up.
"I know. I'd been meaning to come to you and…" she was cut short.
"I'm didn't call you in here to come down on you, I'm here to offer you a new position. I was looking over the new cadets list from this semester, and I noticed Amanda on the top of the list. Apparently she did very well in the written exams, and her knowledge of temporal mechanics are… well, lets just say I haven't seen scores that high since I took the exam myself," he told her.
"Nice to know my little sister knows her stuff,"
"As I recall, you had a double major, and Temporal Mechanics were one of them. You graduated top of your class in every subject, but TM was your strongest suit," he paused. "I've decided to offer you a position as TM instructor for the new cadets. I think they could benefit from what you have to offer them," Alex said.
"You want me to be a teacher?"
"You think you're up to it?" he asked her.
"I think so," Jen said.
"Excellent. I'll have a conversation with Commander Oliver later on today and put him in command of the Slipstream project. After you've had your child and you're fit to return to duty, we'll talk about putting you back on the project," he said.
"Thank you Alex," she said.
*
"What have you got there?" Tommy asked as he walked into the science lab.
As usual, Camille and Trip were busy at the controls, going over calculations. "We're working on a way to detect instabilities in the space/time continuum. If we can, we'll be able to monitor when and where a temporal incursion happens and correct it," she said, never taking her eyes off her work.
"How will that help us?"
It was Trip who turned around. "Ever since our division started, we've been jumping from reality to reality completely at random. Some times there were incursions for us to deal with, on others there weren't. There was no rhyme or reason to it at all. If we can get detect temporal incursions, we'll be able to go to a specific reality and correct whatever the problem is," he explained.
"The two of you never cease to amaze me, you know that?"
"We try," they said in unison, looking at one another with smiles in their faces, then returned to their work.
"How long before we'll be able to bring the detection system on line?"
"At least another 36 hours. We're having a problem with the internal sensor array. The detection system overloads them every time we attempt to lock down an incursion. We'll have to run another spectro…" she was cut short.
"Even if you explained it to me, I wouldn't understand it. Just do you best," Tommy said.
The doors to the science lab hissed open, and Alex walked in, making his way over to the group. "Tommy, can I have a word with you?" he asked.
"Sure," he turned to Trip and Camille. "Keep me posted guys, I'll be right back," he followed Alex towards the door, walking into the hallway. "What's going on?"
"I just offered Jen a position teaching position in the TM department, she accepted it," he said.
"That's great, but what about the Slipstream project? We're going to need a pink ranger," Tommy brought up.
"Until further notice, you are in command of the Slipstream project. Steps are being taken to recruit a new pink ranger, but for the time being Lt. Emery and Nadira will be brought in to assist you. I know you'll do well…" he was cut short when the two of them heard an explosion in the science lab.
Tommy and Alex rushed in, only to find Camille and Trip laid out on the floor and the workstation they were working on destroyed. Tommy helped Trip back to his feet while Alex helped Camille.
"Report," he said.
"The detection system overloaded again," Trip said.
"But I thought it would only overload if it detected an incursion," he brought up.
"It did detect one," Camille said.
"Where?"
"Its here. There was an unstable temporal vortex that opened here, in Silver Hills," she said.
"Can we track it?" Tommy asked her.
"I suppose we could modify one of the scanning devices to detect a…" she was cut short.
"Again, don't explain it. Just get it working," he said.
"We're on it," Trip and Camille said in unison, heading for the opposite control panel.
Tommy reached for his Morpher. "Commander Oliver to Lt. Commander Taylor," he said.
'Katie here. Go-ahead chief?' a voice responded.
"I need you to assemble the rangers and have them meet me in the science lab in ten minutes. We have a situation here," he said.
'Consider it done chief. Katie out,' she said.
"I'll just get out of your way," Alex said as he turned to leave.
"You know, we're still not sure what's out there, we could use your help on this one," he said.
Alex stopped in his tracks. "Really?"
"Always room for one more," he said, extending his hand to him.
"Lets do it," Alex said, accepting his hand.
~~
Tommy stood at the head of the table as the others sat on either side. Alex, trying not to get in the way, stood off to the side.
"Alright, heres what we know: about ten minutes ago, Camille and Trip were able to detect a temporal incursion somewhere in Silver Hills. Though we're not sure what the cause is yet, we have been able to come up with tracking devices to find whatever it is. We'll be splitting up into three teams: Adam and Katie, I want the two of you to head over to the west side of town and do a sweep. Scan every abandoned building, every warehouse, all of it. Trip and James, head over to the east side of the city. Alex and I will take the Vector cycles and patrol for anything unusual. Camille, I want you to stay here and monitor the systems. You're our eyes and ears; we'll need you to give us the heads up if anything else is coming our way. Any questions?" Tommy asked them.
"What are we looking for exactly?" Adam inquired.
"As far as we can tell, there has been an unauthorized time jump. Someone from another period in time has come here, but we don't know for sure who it is or why they're here," he said.
"And how are we able to scan for them?"
Camille stood up. "Everything in our universe has a unique genetic signature. Each of you have been given a standard scanning device, but they've been modified to scan for temporal anomalies. They should lead you right to whoever or whatever is out there," she said.
"We'll all report in every fifteen minutes. If you find anything, do not move in without backup. Are you clear?" Tommy asked.
"We got it," Lt. Emery said, speaking for the group.
Nadira, who had been quite up until this point, raised her hand. "What about me? What's my assignment?" she asked.
Tommy paused, trying to come up with the right thing to say. "I need you to stay here. Camille will be scanning the city, and just in case whatever it is we're looking for comes here, we'll need a ranger to back her up," he said.
"Yes sir," she said proudly.
"Alright guys, lets move out,"
*
Adam and Katie drove aimlessly down the street on their Vector Cycles, searching for something. Although Trip and Camille had given them both tracking devices, neither of them were sure what to look for.
Katie stopped her Vector Cycle, quickly getting off and heading towards a building. Following suit, Adam parked his cycle and went after her.
"You find something?"
She shook her head. "Not really, just feeling nostalgic," she sighed, staring up at what was left of the clock tower. "After our battle in 2001, Bio-Lab paid a pretty penny to rebuild it, and it was declared a landmark by the state in 2015," she told him.
"What's up special about this dusty old clock tower?"
"This is where we stayed during our mission in the 2001. Wes found this place for us, and we cleaned it up and reopened the odd job shop to make some extra money. It was drafty and practically falling apart, but it was our home," she sighed.
"I understand,"
Just then, their scanning devices began to beep. Katie reached for hers, trying to pin point a location. "According to this thing, it says whatever we're looking for is right here," she said, taking a step toward the clock tower.
The door to the clock tower opened, and he stepped out.
"Tommy? What are you doing here?" Adam asked.
Tommy glanced down at Katie's scanning device, then back at Adam. "Searching. What about you?" he replied.
"But I thought you ordered Katie and I to patrol this side of town,"
"I did? I mean, of course I did. I thought you two could use some help," he said.
"Where is Alex?" Katie asked.
"Alex is around… somewhere," he said.
Katie took a step closer to Tommy, and her scanning device began to beep even faster. She reached for her Chrono blaster, aiming at him. "Stay where you are," she told him.
"Katie, what are you doing?" Adam asked.
"This isn't Tommy," she warned.
Adam quickly reached for his weapon as well, but Tommy caught Katie with a kick to the gut, forcing her to drop her weapon. He leaned down to get it, but Adam stepped on the blaster, pointing his at Tommy's head.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," he said.
Tommy lunged upwards, knocking Adam's blaster out of his with the back of his head, then did a back flip in mid air, catching Adam's blaster and aiming it at him. He landed on his feet, firing the blaster and connecting with Adam's shoulder.
"Alright, you asked for it," Adam reached for his morpher. "BLACK RANGER CHRONO…" he was cut short as Tommy kicked him in the stomach, followed by an elbow to the jaw, taking Adam down.
Katie picked up her blaster and aimed at Tommy, but Tommy tossed his blaster to her. On instinct, she caught it, and Tommy connected with a back heel kick to the face, knocking Katie out cold. With both Katie and Adam motionless, he leaned down, taking both their morphers, then walked away.
~~
'Why did I get stuck with Emery?' he thought to himself as he and Lt. Emery patrolled together. 'Tommy could have assigned me to Katie, or even Adam, but why James?'
There was just something about him that bothered him; he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Lt. Emery was much too eager to please, to willing to go out of his way to be accepted by the others. Little did he know that his efforts to be accepted in the group is what kept him separate from the group in the first place.
"My scanner is going crazy, we just be pretty close," James said, breaking his concentration.
Trip reached for his scanner, confirming what James had told him. "Looks like it's coming from," he paused to get an accurate reading. "That way, lets go," he said.
The two of them raced down the street, but Camille greeted them. "Hey guys," she said cheerfully.
"What are you doing here Cammy?" Trip asked, walking towards her to give her a kiss, but she backed away.
"I came out to see if you needed any backup," she paused, staring at Trip for a moment. "That's what good wives do, right?" she inquired.
"I guess so,"
"So, did you guys find anything yet?" she asked.
"This scanner you gave me says we should be right on top of whatever it is we're looking for, but I don't see anything," Lt. Emery said.
"Um, maybe it went underground. You know, like in the sewer systems or something. We should check it out," she said.
Trip nodded. "That's a good idea. Cammy, you and James head down there. I'll contact Tommy," he said, waiting to see her response.
"You got it," she motioned for Lt. Emery. "Come on James,"
Before she could move, Trip reached for his blaster, jabbing it into Camille's back. "I don't know who you are, but you're not my Camille," he said.
Camille kicked back, catching Trip between the legs, then swung around with an elbow to the face, knocking Trip out.
"TIME FOR, TIME FORCE," Lt. Emery called out, transforming into the Silver Ranger, quickly calling for his Chrono Saber. "Whoever you are, your time is up," he said.
"So, there's a silver ranger on this world, huh?" Camille asked, lunging after him. He sidestepped her, following up with a kick to the back of the leg. That forced Camille to fall to one knee, and Emery spun around, hitting a spin backside of the head. Camille was face down on the ground, and as he reached for her wrists to handcuff her, she rolled over, kicking him in the chest. Emery went almost ten feet in the air, smashing into the side of a building, powering down in the process.
With both Trip and Lt. Emery down, Camille grabbed their morphers, walking away with a smile.
~~
Tommy and Alex had remained silent throughout their search, neither of them really sure what to say to one another. Except for work, they hardly knew anything about one another.
'The last thing I want to do is rub it in his face that Jen doesn't want to be with him anymore by talking about the wedding,' Tommy thought.
It was beginning to get dark, but the two of them continued their search. It was Tommy who stopped his Strata Cycle, making his way towards what appeared to be a park of some kind. With his scanning device in hand, he continued to walk, hoping to pick up on something. Anything.
"No luck?" Alex asked as he walked up behind him, finally breaking the silence between them.
"No. I'm beginning to think that Camille's new detection system has some glitches in it. We've been out here for at least an hour and I haven't…" he was cut short.
"Wait, what did you say?"
"I said I'm beginning to think Camille's new system has a glitch," he repeated.
Alex shook his head. "No, after that,"
He paused. "We've been out here an hour?" he asked him.
"Didn't you order everyone to check in every fifteen minutes?"
"Yeah, but no one has yet," he reached for his Morpher. "Tommy to Adam, come in,"
There was nothing.
"Tommy to Trip. Respond," he said.
Again, nothing.
"Something is wrong. Very wrong," Alex said.
"We should head back to the lab, see if…" he was cut short as Jen walked over to them.
"Hey guys, there you are. What the hell is going on?" she asked them.
Alex and Tommy looked at one another, then at Jen. "We were going to ask you the same thing," Tommy said.
"I've been trying to get in touch with the others but no one is responded. I was getting worried, but I'm glad I bumped into you two," she walked over to Alex, wrapping her arms around him. "Especially you," she said, kissing him warmly on the lips.
Alex quickly pushed away. "What the hell are you doing?" he snapped.
Before she could respond, a disrupter blast came from out of nowhere, hitting Jen in the chest. It was enough to knock her back, landing up against a tree.
Tommy and Alex turned around only to see who appeared to be Lt. Emery walking towards Jen with a disrupter in hand. It looked like James, but there were some major differences. The first thing Alex noticed was the all black Time Force uniform with yellow trim and an eye patch over his right eye.
"Stand down Lt. Emery," Tommy snapped, standing in between James and Jen.
James shoved Tommy aside, then leaned down to handcuff Jen, but Tommy gave him a kick to the gut, knocking him off his feet.
"I said stand down!" he snapped.
"We don't have time for this, now stand aside and let me do my job," James said firmly.
"What…" he was interrupted as Jen got back to her feet, hitting Tommy in the back of the head a branch that had fallen off the tree. Alex made a move, but Jen grabbed her blaster, shooting Alex's hand, forcing him to drop his weapon.
It was Emery who reached for the phaser riffle on his back, aiming it at her. "Time Force, you're under arrest," he said.
"You really think you can stop me?" she snapped.
"Lets find out," he said, firing the weapon.
She sidestepped the disrupter beam, rolling out the way just in time. "Told you, its going to take more than that to…" he cut her short as he stormed towards her, hitting her in the face with the riffle, taking her down.
Jen was face down on the ground, and Emery drove his knee into her back to keep her in place. "Looks like the party is over,"
Just then, it was Tommy who lunged at Emery, tackling him down to the ground. Both Emery and Tommy reached for their weapons, getting back to their feet and aiming their disrupters at one another.
"Stand down," Tommy snapped.
"You stand down,"
"I won't say it again,"
"Both of you stand down," Alex said, walking over to them. "Tommy, this obviously isn't our Emery, and whoever that was, it certainly wasn't Jen," he pointed out.
Tommy and Emery lowered their weapons slowly, and then turned around, only to see that Jen was gone. "Great, it got away. I've been tracking this thing for over a month and you let it get away," Emery snapped.
"How about starting from the beginning to telling me what the hell is going on? What happened to Jen?" Tommy snapped.
"That wasn't Jen, it was an Alassamorph," he said.
"I've heard of them. The Alassamorphs are a race of shape shifters, but I thought they were a peaceful race," Alex brought up.
"Normally, they are, but there are some who work as assassins. The one I'm tracking is a ranger killer. It assumes the identity of a ranger, or one of their friends, gains their trust and then destroys them. It killed most of my team, and I've dedicated my life to finding it and disposing of it once and for all," he explained.
"Damn it, and I let it escape. I didn't know man," Tommy sighed.
"There was no way you could have. Do you have a science lab of some kind here?" he asked.
"Yeah, back at headquarters,"
"We should go there and use your equipment to track the Alassamorph," he said.
"We have our own scanning devices here," Tommy reached for his scanner, but Emery stopped him.
"No, by now the Alassamorph has found a way to adapt to that and you won't be able to track it. We should use the scanners at your lab, they'll be much more effective," he said.
"Alright, lets get moving,"
"You guys go on ahead. I'll catch up with you in a second," Alex said.
"You sure?"
"Yeah, I'll be right behind you,"
*
The three of them walked into the science lab, where Camille and Nadira were waiting for them. Camille rushed over to them. "What the hell is going on? I've been trying to contact Trip and the others for over an hour and no one is responding," she said.
"Camille, this is Emery," he introduced.
"I already know James, I…" she paused, getting a good look at him. "Oh wait, this isn't our Emery, is it?" she asked.
"No, he's a bounty hunter. He's after an Alassamorph that escaped here from another reality. It assumes the identity of rangers then kills them," he said.
"I need your help in tracking down the assassin so I can dispose of it," Emery said.
It was Nadira who walked over to him. "What happened to your eye?"
"The Alassamorph injured me a few months ago, it managed to do some serious damage before it escaped," he told her.
A few moments later, Katie and Adam walked into the lab, aiming their weapons at Tommy. "Everybody stand back, that isn't Tommy," Katie said.
"Of course I'm me Katie. Who else would I be?" he asked.
"Shut up! I don't want to hear it,"
"No doubt the Alassamorph assumed the form of Tommy and attacked them," Emery said.
"What's an Alassamorph?" Adam asked.
"It's a long story," Alex sighed.
It was Tommy who reached for his disrupter, aiming it at Emery. "I thought you said Alassamorphs killed rangers," he said.
"What are you doing Tommy, of course they do," he told him.
"So why aren't Katie and Adam dead?"
"It may be weak from coming through the portal. Geez Tommy, put the weapon down," Emery snapped.
Without warning, Tommy pulled the trigger, blasting Emery in the head, and Emery's body fell to the floor.
"Why did you…" Camille was cut short as Emery's body stood up on its own, picking up its head and putting it back on his shoulders.
"Okay, now I'm angry," Emery groaned, cocking back and hitting Tommy, knocking him across the room. Nadira rushed over to Tommy to check on him. "Lets just get this over with," he said.
He aimed the phaser riffle at Camille's head, but another Tommy rushed into the lab, attacking Emery. Behind him was Camille, and the two of them put Emery's arms behind his back, cuffing him. Camille pulled a small device off her belt buckle, putting it on Emery's back. A small surge of power went through Emery's body, leaving him lifeless.
"Okay, will someone please tell me what the hell is going on?" Camille asked as stared at herself.
"I think I can answer that," they all turned around as Jen walked into the room. "Captain Oliver, Lt. Commander Oliver and myself were sent here to track down and bring in the Alassamorph. We attacked Katie and the others mistaking them for the Alassmorph, but…"
"You mean Emery was playing us the entire time?" Tommy asked, getting back to his feet and coming face to face with his other self.
"Unfortunately. There was no way you could have known," he said.
"But our scanning devices said that you guys were the Alassamorph," Adam pointed out.
"The scanning devices are designed to pick up any being that is not indigenous to this reality, not Alassamorphs," the other Camille said.
"Wait a sec, did you say Captain Oliver and Lt. Commander Oliver?" Tommy asked, walking over to Jen.
"Yes. You and Camille aren't married on this world?" she replied.
Tommy and Camille looked at one another. "No!" they snapped in unison.
"And I take it the two of us aren't together on this world?" Jen asked, turning to Alex.
He shook his head. "We haven't been in a long time,"
"On my world, you were killed when Ransik escaped to the past. I'm sorry if I offended you earlier by…" she was cut short.
"You didn't," he sighed.
"So what's going to happen to the Alassamorph now?" Nadira asked.
"It will stand trail for the murder of over 117 rangers from over 28 different worlds. No doubt it will be executed for its crimes," the other Tommy told them.
"You guys ready?" the other Camille asked. They nodded, and she reached for her Morpher. "Camille to Lt. Logan, we're ready," she said.
'Standby sir,' a voice said.
"Lt. Logan? That's weird," Adam brought up.
"Sorry again for the mix up rangers," Jen said. "Oh, and I believe these belong to you," she told them, handing them a set of morphers.
"Not a problem,"
Within seconds, a vortex appeared in the science lab. Camille and Tommy picked up the Alassamorph, heading through the portal. Jen winked at Alex, then headed through as well. Then, as quickly as it appeared, the vortex was gone.
"Well… that certainly was interesting," Camille said.
Trip and Lt. Emery stormed into the lab with their disrupters in hand. "Everyone stand back, that isn't Camille," Emery said.
"Relax James, its me," she sighed.
"Oh sure, and I suppose when I put my phaser down you'll kick me in the head again. No thanks lady!" he snapped.
"Stand down Emery, everything is fine," Tommy told him.
"So you're really you Camille?" Trip asked, taking a step forward.
"How about we go home and you let me prove it to you?" she suggested.
"That's all the proof I need," he said as the two of them walked out the lab.
"I'll get a cleaning crew in here to pick up the mess we made. In the meantime, I need to file a report," Tommy turned to Alex. "So how did it feel?"
Alex cracked a smile. "It was nice to be out in the field again, but I think I'll leave it to you and the rangers. I'm not cut out for it anymore,"
"No, I meant when Jen kissed you," he brought up.
Alex blushed slightly. "Her lips were crusty, and she had bad breath. It was awful," he sighed.
Tommy smiled.
~~
Preview: Kane and AbelNext time on Parallels II: Katie and Adam find themselves on a world dominated by mutorgs.
~~