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.
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* Time Force *
She'd been lying on the examining table for almost an hour as Dr. Young conducted his experiments. The infirmary was almost exactly the way she'd remembered it, with a few minor changes. Some of the equipment appeared to be more up to date, and there were more examining tables than she remembered.
'Everything looks exactly the same,' she thought to herself.
After being locked away in a holding cell for years, she had no problem with lying on a table while they ran their tests. She was eager to get back into things, to find out how many other changes had been made to Time Force in her absence. Across from her was a young woman on another examining table, but because the doctor was standing in her way, she wasn't able to determine who it was.
Just then, the doors to the infirmary slid open, and Amanda and Khalil walked in.
"What's the word doc?" she asked.
"I've taken a sample of her DNA and compared it to her last DNA test that was taken a little over four years ago. The samples are identical," he told her.
"You mean she really is who she says she is?" she asked.
"Could she be a clone? Or a robot?" Khalil added.
"A clone would have DNA, but it would be slightly different from the original pattern. I assure you, this really is Sierra Crane," he said.
"But how is that possible? According to KJ, she was assembled to look exactly like her creator, but KJ obviously isn't four years old," Amanda mentioned.
"I can only assume that someone at Chyro Tech was able to carry on in her line of work, and probably thought it would be beneficial to leave her appearance the way it is, considering Sierra's history with Counsel Member Collins," he said.
"They have history?"
"Yes. At one point they were…" he paused. "I'm not really at liberty to discuss it with you," he sighed, hoping neither of them would pry.
"What about KJ? Is she going to be okay?" she asked, changing the subject.
"Yes. Dr. Hamilton merely turned her off. Since then, I've disconnected her off switch so something like that can never happen again," he said.
"Is she fit for duty? Something tells me we're going to need her," Khalil said.
"Yes, of course she is. I still have a few tests I want to run. When they're complete, I'll send her to you," Dr. Young said.
"Thanks doc," Amanda sighed, walking out the room.
*
He stood in the lab, simply staring in complete amazement. There were five long, slender glass tubes along the far wall of the lab. One of them was empty, and the fluid inside had been drained, but the other four had bodies inside. The bodies themselves were floating in a clear, think fluid that seemed to hold them in place. After getting a closer look, he realized that the four bodies looked a lot like…
"Its me," he sighed.
'Dr. Hamilton was telling the truth. There are other clones, I am replaceable,' he thought to himself.
It was all so disconcerting for him. He knew from the beginning he was a clone, that he was created for one specific mission, but that months ago. Although the majority of his thoughts and memories belonged to Adam, there were other memories, memories that he acquired on his own. There were memories that had nothing to do with Adam Park at all. They were all his.
He'd always assumed that once his mission was over, he would be given a promotion, and he'd be able to pursue a career within Chyro Tech. He was convinced he'd been given a new mission, and he could step out of the shadow of Adam Park.
"But I'm just a clone," he sighed to himself.
'I'm not destined for anything big, I'm never going to be anything more than a clone,' he thought. 'When they're done with me, they'll stuff me that in one of those tubes and be done with me,'
"Bothersome, isn't it clone?" he heard a voice ask. He turned around as Univex walked into the room, standing next to him. "The realization that you are no more than a replica, a carbon copy to be used and discarded. Makes the accomplishments and successes in your life seem irreverent," he told him.
"What do you want?" he snapped, ignoring his statement.
"I am here to help you clone, to give your useless existence a purpose," Adam turned to him. "Your superiors have made it clear to me that they either do not intend to give me my payment as we agreed, or are unable. No matter the cause, they must be made to suffer for their betrayal. Assist me, and there will be a place for you at my side, as an immortal," he told him.
"Immortal?"
"I am an inter-dimensional being, able to exist on several different planes of existence at once. I have no beginning, no end, and I am prepared to offer you the same for your assistance. Think of it clone; you would have purpose in the universe, no one would be able to oppose you. You could live forever; unable to be killed, unable to be stopped, and you could make those who have betrayed you pay for their disloyalty," he explained to him.
Adam turned to him. "What do you want me to do?" he asked with a sinister smile on his face.
~~
A group of guards walked down the hall, and Alex did his best to remain out of sight. Even if a Chyro Tech uniform, he was sure he'd be discovered. He waited until the guards were gone, then quickly rushed around the corner, making his way down the hall.
At the end of the hall was the containment room he'd passed earlier. 'Only one guard?' he thought to himself, wondering why such an important room wasn't being guarded any better. His first thought was to simply overpower the guard and go inside, but decided against it. Instead, he chose a more tactful approach.
"Hey," he glanced down at the name on his uniform. "Sullivan, the admiral sent me down here to relieve you," he said, walking towards him.
"But my shift isn't over for another two hours," the guard mentioned.
"I don't make the rules buddy, I just follow'em. Take it up with Peterson if you don't like it, but you know hes in a foul mood today," he said.
"Really? Why?"
"That asshole from Time Force and the woman escaped from containment today. The admiral almost shit himself when I gave him the report. You might wanna stay away from him for a few days," he suggested.
"You're right. I'll be back at 2100 hours for the next watch," Sullivan said, nodding slightly and walking away.
After Sullivan left, Alex quickly headed inside, trying to find a way to release the rangers from containment. 'Damn I wish Camille was here,' he thought to himself, trying to make sense of the gibberish on the screen in front of him. It didn't take him long to realize that he wasn't going to make heads or tails of the equipment, and quickly reached for a disrupter.
He aimed and fired at the main control panel….
~~
"Sir, I'm reading a massive power loss on deck 17," one of the officers said.
Admiral Peterson walked over to the controls, getting a look at the readings himself. "That's the containment room. Take a security team down there and find out what the problem is," he told him.
"Yes sir," he said, rushing out the room.
~~
As the systems all powered down, Alex glanced back at the containment modules, but the loss of power didn't seem to have an effect of them. Finally, he aimed the disrupter at the equipment in the middle of the room.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," a voice said. Alex turned around, only to see a Chyro Tech officer standing there with a disrupter aimed at him. Behind him were two more guards. "That generator is the only thing keeping your friends alive. If that thing goes, your friends are history," he pointed out.
"How did you find me?"
The guard simply pointed upwards, directing his attention to a camera on the ceiling. "Did you really think you'd get away with this? Just come quietly and no one has to get hurt," he told him, walking over to the only active panel in the room, hitting a switch.
Alex noticed that the light just above the camera went off, and he made his move. He aimed and fired his disrupter at the two guards standing near the door, taking each of them down with a shot. Finally, he stood face to face with the third officer.
"You had me scared there for a minute," Alex said, walking over to him.
"Peterson knows you're here, and he knows what you're up to. If you're going to initiate plan b, you need to do it now," he told him.
"I sent Sierra back to Time Force. Camille should be ready to set the plan into motion any minute now,"
"Good. What do you want me to do?" he asked him.
"Nothing yet. Right now, Peterson doesn't suspect you, and until we shut this place down I need you on the inside," he said.
"Understood sir,"
"Where is Univex?" he asked.
"I don't know. At last report he was somewhere in the building,"
"Contact Peterson and let him know I'm on my way to the communications deck. He'll no doubt send Univex there to stop me. When he does, I'll be ready for him," Alex said, rushing out the room.
The guard hit the switch again, reactivating the cameras, then opened a channel. "Admiral, this is CaSteel. Our attempts to apprehend the Time Force officer have failed. Two of my men are down, and I believe he is on his way to the communications deck," he said.
'Get your men out of there. I'll contact Univex and have him intercept the escaped prisoner. In the meantime, you return here,' he said.
"Yes sir," he said with a sinister smile on his face, walking out the room.
* Time Force *
'Camille. This is Jen. I'm in the M.A.V. II and I'm ready to begin the upload,' she said.
Camille walked over to the controls, opening a channel. "I'm ready up here too," she said.
'Beginning download… now,'
"So what is all that?" Amanda asked as she watched information race across the screen.
"Its all the data Chyro Tech has accumulated since its creation. They've kept detailed files of the time line, their ability to travel through time or lack or ability in some cases, and a complete database of all their technology. In essence, everything that Chyro Tech knows, we know," she explained.
"Is that really necessary?"
"What do you mean?"
"Isn't it bad enough we're going to shut them down? Why do we have to steal all their technology as well?" she asked.
Camille turned to her. "You have to understand, all the information and technology Chyro Tech has was acquired by questionable means. They've stolen from alien cultures, enslaved parallel worlds, and used their limited knowledge of time travel to advance forward," she told her.
"Okay, I'm with you on the enslaving aliens thing, but other than that, how is what they do different from what we do? We get technology from aliens, and we use time travel to advance as well," she brought up.
"A lot of people question how ethical Time Force truly is, and I've even questioned it myself, but the good we do far outweighs the bad. Granted, we've tampered with the time line for our own benefit, but in doing so, we've saved humanity several times. It is mankind's nature to destroy itself, and our race wouldn't have survived as long as it has without a little help once in a while. Yes, we do have some alien technology, but those races gave it to us. We've never taken anything by force. Chyro Tech alters time for their own personal benefit with no regard to know it will effect the present or the future," Camille explained.
"But who are we to say that we're the only ones who are allowed to travel through time? How do we know that if we did nothing, that the human race wouldn't find a way to survive on its own?" she asked.
"We don't. Over the years, Time Force has lost sight as to why we were given this technology in the first place. It was our job to prevent organizations like Chyro Tech from altering history, but we've extended that by protecting other worlds as well,"
"What's the point of free will if we're not allowed to screw up and learn from our mistakes? We'll never advance as a species if we've always got someone holding our hands through life," Amanda mentioned.
"You may be right, but weigh that against the worlds we've saved from total destruction, or preventing an apocalypse, or ensuring that the universe isn't overthrown by evil. Yes, the price we pay is too high at times, but allows us to live another day to debate about it," she said.
"That's a good point too,"
'Download complete,' the computer announced.
"Now that we have all the information we need, we can proceed with plan b," she told her.
* Chyro Tech *
Alex kicked in the door to the communications room, giving the guard a sabat kick, then grabbed the other, throwing him through a window. With them out the way, he headed over to the controls, but he stepped in.
"I believe the phrase is your time is up," he snarled.
"I was wondering when you were going to show up Univex," Alex said calmly, sitting down in at a table in the middle of the room.
"Perhaps I overestimated you. Perhaps you are as stupid as you look. I have your friends in containment, and you have no powers. What makes you think you can stop me?"
Alex kicked his feet up, putting them on the table as he leaned back in the chair. "What makes you think I have to? You should know by now that Peterson doesn't intend to hand the rangers over to you. If he did, he would have done it by now. Any minute now he's going to double cross you, and I only wish I had some popcorn to munch on while I watch it all go down," he said calmly.
"Even if they were true, I would snap Peterson's neck like a twig, then claim my bounty," he said.
"If that were true, you would have done it by now. Face facts, you can't get them out of here on your own, not without killing one of them, and we both know dead rangers are no good for your collection," he said.
Univex paused. "If I do not get to collect my bounty, I will have to settle for snapping your neck," he said, walking towards him.
"You've got much bigger problems on your hands," he sat up straight. "In about four minutes, a group of isotropic bombs are going to go off in several different points of this building. All technology will be wiped out in a single stroke, including those containment units. With the units destroyed, the rangers will wake up on their own, and you'll have nothing," Alex told him.
"You're bluffing. All the isotropic bombs were destroyed," he brought up.
Alex turned his head slightly, directing his attention to the control panel. At that moment, a teleportation beam was activated, and an isotropic bomb appeared. "There are about a dozen of them, at least two on each deck. Believe me when I tell you, they'll be nothing left operational in the entire building when its over," he said.
"If I cannot have the rangers, then they will die by my hand," Univex groaned, disappearing into a stream of light.
Alex stood up, about to make his way to the containment room, but he cut him off in the hallway. "Where do you think you're going Collins?" he snapped.
"I don't have time for this clone, out of the way," he said, but he stood his ground.
"Univex told me all I have to do to become immortal is to destroy you. Then, I will live forever, and I'll be able to…" he was cut short.
"You're in idiot, you know that?" Alex asked him. "Univex was going to make you do his dirty work, then destroy you himself. You're just a pawn in all this," he told him.
Adam stood dead in his tracks, his arms at his sides. "Univex lied to me," he sighed.
"He's the bad guy, that's what they do," he paused. "I won't make you any promises, but if you help me get my friends out of here, I'll arrange for you to be absolved of all charges against you. Maybe that way you'll have a chance at a normal life,"
"You'd do that?"
"I'm the good guy, its what I do," he said.
"What do you want me to do?"
~~
Univex stood over the containment unit with his staff in hand, ready to destroy the unit, but he stepped in. "By order of Admiral Peterson, stand down and drop your weapon," he snapped, aiming a disrupter at him.
Univex turned around. "Lt. CaSteel, do you really think that will stop me?"
"It doesn't have to stop you, only distract you for 10 seconds," he told him.
Before Univex realized it, the isotropic bombs went off, sending a shockwave through the entire building. Lt. CaSteel put his hands over his eyes to shield them from the light, but when the light died down, Univex was gone, and the rangers were lying motionless on the ground.
He leaned down, checking on them. 'They still have a pulse, they'll be okay,' he thought to himself.
At that moment, a truck smashed through the wall of the building, and he got out. "Somebody call a taxi?" Alex asked them.
"They're still unconscious, but they're okay. We should get'em in the truck and get out of here before Peterson finds out what we're doing," he said.
"Agreed,"
They grabbed the rangers as quickly as they could, setting them gently in the back of the truck. Just as Alex closed the door, a disrupter beam caught him in the back, sending him to the ground.
"I should have known you were a traitor for the moment I saw you CaSteel. I can't believe you'd help Time Force after what they did to your brother," Admiral Peterson snapped as he walked into the room with a phaser riffle in hand.
Lt. CaSteel took a step forward, but Adam got out the truck, standing in-between them. "Just get Alex and the others out of here, I'll deal with Peterson," he said.
"But…"
"No buts, just go," he said. Lt. CaSteel quickly lifted Alex up, putting him into the truck, and then climbed in himself, pulling away. "Looks like its just me and you now Admiral,"
"Stay out of my way clone, you have no idea what you're getting yourself into," he said, aiming the riffle at him.
"You created me, then used me for your own sick, twisted purpose. You had no intention of allowing me to lead my own life when this was over, you were just going to discard me and be done with it. Your plan failed, and now, your time is up!" he told him, lunging at the admiral with a spin kick.
He was able to knock the riffle out his hand, and then caught him off caught with a second kick, this time to the side of the head. The admiral fell to his knees, Adam picked up the riffle, aiming at his head.
"Do clone, do it!" the admiral snapped at him. "Kill me and it will finally be over,"
He cocked back, hitting the admiral in the side of the head with the riffle, knocking him out. "You're not worth it," he sighed.
With the admiral unconscious, Adam dropped the riffle, simply staring down at him.
"You coming?" he heard a voice ask.
He turned around, only to see Alex standing across from him. He nodded. "Yeah, lets get out of here," he sighed.
* Time Force *
"Jen, there is a vehicle approaching Time Force headquarters at an extremely high velocity," Camille warned, sitting in front of the controls.
"Can you identify it?"
"Yes, it is a Chyro Tech vehicle," she told her.
"How many life signs?"
"There are ten life forms on board, but seven of them are very faint," she paused. "According to them, one of the life forms is Xybrian," she added. "Its Alex, he saved them," Camille said.
"Inform Dr. Young that he has a medical emergency on his hands and prepare for incoming patients," she said.
"Already on top of it,"
"Can you open a channel to the vehicle?"
"Yes, but its audio only,"
"Do it,"
"Channel open,"
"Alex, is that you?" Jen asked.
'It's me Jen. I have the rangers, but they're still unconscious. Have Dr. Young standing by to take a look at them,' he said.
"Already on it,"
'Good. I take it my message was received according to plan?'
"Yeah, we got the message. Your friend is in the infirmary now," she said.
'Excellent work. Tell Camille I owe her one,'"Actually, you owe me about eight, but who's counting?" Camille asked.
'My ETA is three minutes. I'll see you then,'~~ that evening ~~
Alex stood in the doorway of the infirmary, simply watching as Dr. Young continued to run his tests. It was still hard for him to believe that four years had gone by since he'd seen her, and that so much had changed while she was gone. He wondered if there was a way for them to continue their relationship now that she was back, but decided against it.
'The last four years have been hell for her, she's going to need more time before I say anything to her,' he thought to himself. His thoughts were cut short as she walked up behind him, putting her hand on his shoulder.
"Its her, isn't it?" she inquired.
He nodded. "Yes,"
"I remember you telling me about her, but Time Force declared her missing in action a long time ago. I never thought we'd find her," she said.
"Neither did I. I'd almost forgotten about her, then KJ came along and it all came rushing back to me," he said.
"You think the two of you will get back together?" she inquired.
He sighed. "I don't know Jen, too much has changed. I'm not the same person I was four years ago, and I suspect neither is she,"
"After all the pain in your life, after everything I've put you through; first with Wes, now with Tommy, you deserve some happiness in your life. If you still have feelings for this woman, I say you should explore those feelings and see where they take you," she explained.
"You really think so?"
"Yes, I do. You deserve it,"
"Things are going to be a lot different around here now. Our operative in Chyro Tech has been exposed, Sierra is here, and I'm stepping down as member of the counsel," he told her.
"What? Why?"
"I've become my own worst enemy Jen. I remember being in the academy, vowing that I'd never lose sight of where I came from, and what it was like to be out in the field. I promised myself I'd never be one of those pencil pushers who set behind their desk and tried to decide other people's fates. That isn't for me Jen, and I didn't realize it until I saw Sierra again," he explained.
"If that's the way you feel, I'll support you. I always do," she sighed.
"I know you will,"
~~
Preview: ReunionsNext time on Parallels II: Adam finds himself in the hospital, reunited with his first love.
~~