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.
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The M.A.V. pulled into the main hanger, where Camille and Jen were waiting. It powered down, the door opened, and Adam stumbled out, falling to the floor. Jen and Camille hurried over to him, helping him up.
"Oh my God, what happened?" Jen asked him.
"Chyro Tech knew we were coming, it was a set up," he groaned.
"Where are the others?" Camille asked.
"They're all dead," he sighed.
~~
"Run another sensor sweep of Chyro Tech. I refuse to believe they're dead," Jen snapped as she paced back and forth in the science lab.
KJ sat at the controls. "I have run several sensor sweeps of the building, and with the isotropic bombs destroyed, they are functioning at 100% efficiency. The rangers transponder codes are non-existent, and there are no signs of them in the building or any surrounding buildings," she told her.
"Then they were transported out?"
"Negative. There are no traces of transporter signatures," she said.
"Maybe they were sent to another reality,"
"Again, if that were the case, there would be a temporal signature. There is no such signature," she told her.
"Damn it KJ, I refuse to believe they're dead. How can you sit there and act like this doesn't bother you?" she screamed.
"I am an android and incapable of emotion, yet I am… bothered by this. I will continue my work, but I do not think we will find anything," she said.
"You probably won't, that's why I'm going over there," Jen said with a determined look on her face, heading for the door.
~~
"Jen, you're in no condition to go over there. Its too risky," Camille told her as Jen continued to back a bag full of weapons.
"I don't care, I have to save them," she said dryly.
Camille grabbed her. "If all of them were no match for whatever was there, what makes you think you'll have a chance? For God's sake Jen, I miss them too, but running to Chyro Tech with a death wish isn't going to make things better," she said.
"I have to try,"
"What about the baby?" that was enough to catch Jen's attention. "If KJ is right and all of them really are gone, isn't it bad enough your baby will grow up without a father? Do you really want to go over there and risk not only your life, but the babies life? I'm hurt too Jen, and I'm mad, but the last thing Trip or Tommy would want is us running off getting ourselves killed," she explained.
"I have to do something Camille, I have to. I can't do this without him," she cried, falling to her knees.
"I know," she sighed, wrapping her arms around her.
* Chyro Tech *
He opened his eyes slowly, only to discover he was blind folded. Without his vision, he had to rely on his other senses to figure out where he was. His hands were being restrained, but it wasn't by any conventional means, and there was a slight hum in the room. His back was pressed against a wall, and judging by the sound it made when he kicked it, it was metal. He struggled to get free, but it was no use, but there was also no pain, allowing him to rule out that he was in chains. The restraints seemed to contour to his wrists, leading him to believe that it wasn't any type of rope either.
"You can stop struggling, it won't help," a voice said.
The voice sounded distorted, but he was convinced that was he was still groggy. There were sharp pains in his stomach, back and arms, making it reasonable to assume he'd been hit with several disrupter weapons. 'Most of them at point blank range,' he thought, which would also explain why his hearing was slightly impaired.
"Who… who…" even with his hearing impaired, he could hear that his voice was slurred.
"They're electromagnetic force field restraints, you won't be able to break them," the voice told him.
"Why… are…"
"Oh no, I'm not the one who did this to you, if that's what you think. I'm a prisoner here too," the voice told him.
"My friends… where…"
"I overheard the guards talking, your friends have been put in containment. Univex plans to keep them,"
His hearing still wasn't any clearer, but he was able to determine that it was a woman's voice he heard. "Univex…" he sighed. "How long have I…"
"I don't know. I use to count the days, but I lost track over the years. All I can tell you is that you've been here for six rotations," she said.
"Rotations?"
"The guards come in once every day or so hose us down, to keep us clean. Each guard does it on their shift once, and they've come six times since you got here," she said.
'The average shift rotation is once every eight hours, for three shifts a day. If there have been six shift rotations already, I've been here…' he paused. "Two days," he sighed.
"Again, I'm not sure,"
"I have to get out of here," he groaned.
"There is no getting out, they don't even release the restraints during the cleaning. The only time they do come off is during our feedings, and they're very strict. There are armed guards there, watching us," she said.
"When is the next feeding?"
"There will be one more cleaning, then a feeding shortly thereafter. Why?"
"Because I'm getting out of here," Alex sighed.
~~
"Are my containment units ready for transport?" Univex snapped.
Admiral Peterson led him into the containment room, where there were six coffin-like boxes, each of them hooked to a generator. "I'm afraid that they'll be much harder to transport than we anticipated. The units require a lot of power to maintain, and…" he was cut short.
"I have no interest in your excuses Admiral. I have delivered to know what you wanted: the end of Time Force. Your clone will return there and assume control, giving you control over your worst adversary. Now I demand my payment, the rangers themselves," he told him.
"I assure you we are looking for ways to transport them out of here safely. Once the clone has control over the Slipstream device, we will be able to send you and your payment to the world of your choosing. You will be able to rule that world without question," he said.
"I have no interest in ruling, only to collect my bounty and leave this place," he grabbed the admiral by the throat. "Now give me what I came for!" he told him.
* Time Force *
"Still nothing KJ?" Camille asked, walking into the lab.
"I am afraid not. I have also determined that although the isotropic bombs have been destroyed, the radiation levels are still extremely high," she told her.
"Theories?"
"Not at present time. I have been, in-between scanning Chyro-Tech, working on another project," she said.
"Another project? Damn in KJ, our friends could be dead over there and you're worried about another project? This should be your highest priority right now," she snapped.
"I assure you Ms. Summers, it is. I have been running a diagnostic on my memory engrams," she turned around, facing her. "Before Counsel Member Collins and the others embarked on they're mission, Trip and I detected something within the memory engrams. We theorized that someone added data to them after they were removed from my sub processors. I have been attempting to confirm or deny that theory," she explained.
"And what did you come up with?"
"I believe that someone did tamper with the engrams, giving us just enough information to allow the others to walk into a trap," she said.
"Why didn't you tell anyone before they left?"
"I tried, but Trip insisted that it could wait,"
"So what information was added to engrams?" Camille asked.
"The layout for the building appears to be the same as the original blue print and schematic in my backup sub processor, but I believe we were given a map to follow to lead them exactly where they wanted them to go. I also have copies of sub space signals went from Time Force to Chyro Tech within the last twelve hours. I believe there is an operative within Time Force," she said.
"Who is it?"
"Just had to be nosy, didn't you bitch?" they heard a voice say.
Camille turned around, only for Adam to hit her over the head with a metal pole, knocking her out cold. KJ quickly stood up, facing him.
"I am afraid you will find it much more difficult to render me unconscious," she warned him.
"Actually, not really," he said.
At that moment, KJ simply powered down, falling to the floor. Dr. Hamilton stepped from behind her with a devious smile on her face. "I told you all that research would come in handy," he said, sitting down in front of the controls.
"Can you download the information we need for the slipstream?" Adam asked him, kicking Camille aside to get a better look at the monitor.
"I think so, I'll just need to…" he was cut short.
"Computer, initiate security lock out. Authorization Scotts gamma 461," a voice said.
'Authorization accepted. Security lock out initiated,' the computer answered.
The two of them turned around as Jen walked into the lab with a phaser riffle in hand. "Your time is up Adam!" she snapped.
"We've been planning this a long time, do you really think you have what it takes to stop both of us alone?" he asked her, turning his undivided attention to her.
"Who said I was alone?"
Before he had a chance to respond, Amanda and Khalil rushed into the lab, going after Adam. Khalil hit a spin kick, knocking Adam into the controls. He stumbled forward, only for Amanda to give him a sweep, knocking him to the ground. Before he could move, Jen tossed Amanda a pair of handcuffs, and she quickly cuffed his hands behind his back.
During the confusion, Dr. Hamilton tried to make his way to the exit, only to be cut off by Sasha, who had a phaser riffle in hand. "Going somewhere doc?" she asked him.
He sighed, raising his hands as he backed up, tripping over Adam, who was face down on the floor.
"Good job guys," Jen said as Khalil helped her back to her feet.
"You don't think this is over, do you?" Dr. Hamilton asked, pressing a small button on his watch. Before any of them had a chance to respond, he and Adam disappeared into a stream of light.
Jen rushed back over to the computer. "Computer, deactivate security lockout, authorization Scotts gamma 461," she said.
'Security lockout deactivated,' the computer announced.
"What are you doing?" Amanda asked, walking over to her sister.
"Trying to trace their patterns. If I can determine where they went, I can…" she was cut short.
"You can what? Go storming after them? We all know that isn't going to happen," she said.
"Well I have to do something. They've got my husband, my friends," she sighed.
"Have you been able to pick up on their patterns?" Sasha asked, walking over to them.
"Yes, they were transported to Chyro-Tech," she said.
"Then that's where we're going," Khalil said firmly, speaking for the group.
"What do you mean we?"
"You're in no condition to go, so we will. They'll never expect another assault," he brought up.
"No, the three of you are only cadets. I won't endanger any of you by sending you on a suicide mission," Jen told them. "That's the end of it,"
"I think I may have a better idea," Camille said as she slowly got back to her feet. "I'm going," she said.
"I won't let you go in there alone," she said.
"Try and stop me," she said, storming out the lab.
"Sasha, you and Khalil get KJ down to the infirmary and see if Dr. Young knows how to turn her back on. Report back here in one hour," Jen said.
"Yes ma'am," Sasha said as she and Khalil picked KJ up, making their way out the lab.
* Chyro Tech *
In the distance, he could hear the doors opening, and the guards walking by. He'd been blindfolded so long, his other senses seemed to be heightened. He was able to hear the hum of the force field, muffled conversations between the guards, everything. Although he'd lost track of time, he'd had plenty of time to come up with ways to escape.
He paused as he heard a set of footsteps coming his way. Moments later, the force field stopped humming. 'The force field is down. Its time,' he thought to himself.
"Filthy humans," he heard a voice groan.
Not only could he hear the sound of running water, he could smell it. There were muffled screams as well. 'They're probably spraying her down first,' he thought.
Just then, the sound of the water stopped, and he could hear footsteps coming towards him. 'Alright, its now or never,' he sighed inwardly.
As soon as the footsteps stopped, Alex kicked forward, connecting with the guard. He listened as the guard fell to the ground, but quickly got back to his feet. "You'll pay for that human," the guard told him.
Alex listened, waiting for the guard to reach for his weapon. As soon as the guard pulled his disrupted out it's holster and aimed at him, Alex kicked his hand. The disrupter beam hit the restraints, allowing Alex to fall the floor. He quickly removed the blindfold, but his vision was still blurry.
Two more guards rushed in, grabbing Alex by the arms and holding him against the wall. "Reactive the restraints," one of them ordered.
Alex snatched away, giving one of them a sweep and knocking him off his feet. The second guard aimed his disrupter at him and fired, but Alex pulled the first guard in the way. The disrupter beam hit him at point blank range, and as he fell to the ground, Alex connected with a sabat kick to the other guard, taking him down. The last guard charged at him, but Alex sidestepped him, and the guard went head first into the hall, knocking himself out.
With the guards taken care of, Alex glanced around the room. The young woman he'd been talking to was still restrained on the opposite wall. He hurried over to her, removing her blindfold and getting a good look at her.
"Sierra?" he mumbled in disbelief.
~~
Preview: Final hope pt. IINext time on Parallels II: ????
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