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, 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!!
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"You sure this is a good idea Jennifer?" he asked her as he walked into the room, sitting down on the bed.
Jen was standing in front of the mirror as she got dressed. She couldn't help but admire the way she looked, standing sideways to get a better look at her stomach. It was hard for her to believe that she was going to be a mother in less than six months. 'My life has changed so much in the last year,' she thought to herself.
She wasn't a ranger anymore, and had taken a job as a professor at the academy. She loved the idea of shaping the future leaders of Time Force, and was having a great time doing it. 'Plus it gives me a chance to spend some time with Amanda,' she thought, cracking a smile.
"I already got it approved by Alex, and yes, I'm sure this is a good idea. Trust me, everything will be fine," she told him.
"But you're talking about taking a bunch of cadets through time. Geez, why couldn't you just take them to the museum like most teachers do on field trips?" he asked.
She walked over to him, kissing him warmly on the lips. "Will you relax? I was traveling through time long before you even knew it was possible," she said.
"Actually, I'd traveled through time twice 1000 years before you were even born," he corrected.
"Whatever Oliver," she sighed. "Listen, the field trip will take about three hours, but from your perspective, I should only be gone a few minutes. You wanna go get something for breakfast when I get back?"
"Sounds good," He stood up, wrapping his arms around her. "Just take of yourself Scotts. The last time you were in the past, you died," he pointed out.
"Well, we can't all live to be 1000 something years old," she backed away from him. "Ya know, it just occurred to me, you're way too old for me," she said.
"I always liked younger women," he laughed.
"I'll see you in a few minutes honey," she said as she kissed him one more time, then headed out the room.
*
"Come on guys, aren't we a little too old to be going on field trips? Where is she taking us anyway, the museum or something?" Khalil asked as he sat down on top of his desk in class, waiting for the professor to arrive.
"Maybe it's the petting zoo. I use to like playing with the lamas," Amanda brought up.
"I think where ever Professor Scotts wants to take us will benefit us. Obviously there's something she wants us to see," Sasha mentioned.
"I still don't see what a field trip has to do with temporal theories. I thought we were suppose to be studying about the space/time continuum and talking about…" he was cut short as Jen walked into the room, setting her books down on her desk.
"Good morning guys," she turned to the chalkboard, writing something. "We have a few minutes before our ship gets here for the field trip, so I wanted to take this time to talk about something with you," she said.
"Time travel?" Sasha asked, reading what Jen had written on the board.
"Exactly,"
"But ma'am, its been proven that time travel is impossible," Khalil pointed out.
KJ, who was sitting next to him, was ready to say something, but Jen motioned for her to stop. She walked over to his desk, staring at him. "It amazes me that you made it through the entrance exams with such a narrow mind. The idea of this class is to discuss all types of temporal theories, time travel is one of them," she said.
"Yes ma'am," she sighed.
"Now," she headed back to her desk. "Who wants to volunteer for an experiment?" she asked.
"I will," Amanda said, raising her hand.
Jen motioned for her to come to the front of the class. "Lets say that Cadet Scotts here fell madly in love with Cadet Taylor over there," the class giggled. "They get together, fall in love and get married. Now, three years later, I traveled back to a point in time before the two of them met and arrange it so they never meet. Would Khalil miss being with her?" she asked him.
It was Sasha who raised her hand. "No, he wouldn't miss her because he would have never met her," she said.
"Correct," Jen said.
"Wait a sec, but you just said the two of us met and fell in love. We got married, why wouldn't she miss me?" he asked.
"Because when I stopped the two of you from meeting, she eventually met someone else and never knew what it was like to be with you," she said.
"So she wouldn't even remember a time when we were together?"
"No, and that's called the ripple effect," Jen said. She motioned for Amanda to sit back down. "Once that one moment was changed, other events were affected as well. If Amanda and Khalil eventually had a child, that child would no longer exist. The things they did wouldn't have happened, and an entirely new reality is created," she explained.
"So you're saying that time travel is possible?" Amanda asked.
"Yes. Not only is it possible, it happens almost everyday,"
"So why don't we ever see when stuff changes?" Khalil asked. "I mean, if someone was going around changing things in the past, wouldn't we be able to see stuff changing right in front of us?"
"No, that's because of the ripple effect. From your perspective, nothing has changed. In our first example, we talked about how Amanda met someone else and never fell in love with Khalil. Later, maybe Khalil falls in love with someone else, but because you never had knowledge of ever being with Amanda, it would appear to you that nothing ever changed," she explained.
"What if someone went in time and stopped Time Force from being created? Wouldn't we realize it was gone?"
"No, because the ripple effect would change the present as we know it. We would have no knowledge of Time Force, thus we wouldn't realize it was missing," Jen said.
KJ raised her hand. "I have always been curious about the concept of the pre-destination paradox. Could you please give us an example?" she inquired.
She paused. "You're getting a little ahead of yourself KJ. Sooner or later we will discuss the theories of pre-destination paradox, but not today," she told her.
"So where is this field trip?" Amanda asked.
"I've talked to Counsel Member Collins, and he has authorized us to take a time ship to the 21st century," she said.
"You're tellin' me Time Force has time ships that can go back in time? Yeah right," Khalil groaned.
"We will visit Bio-Lab, which was instrumental in the formation of Time Force. If not for Bio-Lab and the Silver Guardians, Time Force as we know it wouldn't be here," she said.
"You're actually going to take us back in time?"
"Yes. But before we go, there's something I want to show all of you outside. If you'll come with me," she said, motioning for them to follow.
~~
The group made their way outside the building, standing in front of Time Force academy. "This is the exact spot that Bio-Lab was over 1000 years ago. If I'm correct, about twenty feet to the left is where the Silver Guardians use to do their training exercises," on the side of the building was a shovel, which she handed to Khalil. "I want you to dig right there," she said, pointing to the spot in front of them.
Without question, he began to shovel, pulling up dirt and tossing it to the side in a pile. He got about six inches down when he hit something. He quickly leaned down, pulling a small capsule bigger than a shoebox out the ground. "What is it?"
"Open it," she said.
Khalil opened it, looking inside. "It's a picture," he said. "It's a picture of us with some other people," he said.
Amanda and Sasha got a good look at it. "Looks like training grounds, but I don't remember ever taking this picture," Sasha said.
"That's because you haven't yet," she said.
"What?"
"Read the back,"
He flipped it over. "It says: March 19th, 2007. Bio-Lab," Khalil said. "How is that possible?"
"Who are these people in the blue uniforms?" Sasha asked.
"Those are the Silver Guardians. This is a picture we took on our trip to Bio-Lab," Jen told them.
"But we haven't even gone yet,"
"I know, but the fact is we will. When we do, we'll take that picture," she said.
"I am well versed in the concepts of time travel and alternate realities, but this is the most intriguing example of time travel I have ever seen," KJ mentioned.
"I'm glad you guys liked it, but now its time to get going," Jen said.
~~
The group headed to the launching bay, where Alex was waiting for them.
"Your time ship is prepped and ready for launch," he told her.
"Thanks Alex,"
"The auto-pilot is engaged, so all you have to do is sit back and enjoy the ride. When you get there, you'll have three hours to do what you're going to do. The time ship is on an auto timer, and will return to this point in time with or without you, so make sure you're back on time," he told them.
"Alright guys, pile in," Jen said.
One by one, the cadets boarded the time ship, taking their seats. "I don't believe this. We're going to travel back in time," Sasha said eagerly.
"I'm still not impressed. That picture could have been a fake for all we know, it doesn't prove anything," Khalil said.
"How much more proof do you need? We're inside a time ship. And that picture was almost 1000 years old, there was no way to fake something like that," Amanda said.
"I do not understand why someone who does not believe in the concept of time travel would even consider applying to an academy where the theories of time travel are taught," KJ brought up.
"I joined the academy because I want to be a Time Force officer, I want to make a difference. I didn't sign up so I could travel back and forth through time and screw things up," he said.
"You guys ready?" Jen asked as she stepped onto the ship. The door closed behind her, and she took her seat. "This is going to be a little bumpy, so hold on," she said.
~~
Alex stood outside the ship and watched as it took off, making it's way towards the blue swirling vortex in the sky. It disappeared into the vortex, and moments later, the vortex was gone.
He'd been in Time Force for years, he'd traveled back in time several times, but there was nothing like watching it from the outside. Time was a tricky thing, and even though for him, Jen and the others had only been gone a few seconds, for them, it had been hours. No sooner did the vortex close, another one opened, and the time ship came through again.
It was enough to make him crack a smile as he walked over to the control panel to open a channel to the ship…
… but the ship exploded.
~~
Preview: Field trip pt. IINext time on Parallels II: Univex travels to the past to destroy Jen and the cadets, hoping to destroy Time Force before it's even formed.
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