A/N: Congratulations to everyone who has made it this far with me. You finally get to learn what has actually been going on this whole time. Yes, we've arrived at the explanation chapter, finally, but with a little more confusing fun first.

Enjoy!

Chapter 19: A Different Future

Thirty-three years later, the time jumper appeared again with a crackle of yellow energy.

"Home sweet home, good old 2026," said Z.

Abruptly, the door beside her was pulled open. "About time."

Z was pulled out of the jumper, and was stunned to see who was the one doing the pulling. "What?"

Katie Delgado peered back into the jumper at her namesake. "Thanks for getting her back in time, Agent Walker, though you cut it close."

"What?" Z asked again. The Time Force agent looked equally confused.

"But you do have to clear the landing pad now," the other Delgado went on. "Ames will be here any minute."

The two yellow rangers exchanged a glance, and Katie gave Z a helpless shrug before closing the door and sending herself back to her own time.

"Ames?" Z looked around, spotting Syd watching the two cousins with amusement. "Syd, what's going on?"

"What do you mean? It's girls' night."

"Girls' night?"

"Don't look at me. You three have been doing this since long before I came along."

Z felt her cousin tug her towards the edge of the platform, and looked up to see a small ship approaching. It looked not unlike the cargo ship that the yellow rangers had taken to KO-35, but without the large cargo hold.

The ramp lowered, and Z recognized the woman who emerged. She looked more like her mom than she had when she was little, but her most prominent feature was still the streaked hair she had inherited from her dad.

"Hey, Ames." Separating from Z, Katie jogged forward and hugged Amelia.

"Hey, girls." Amelia parted from Katie and turned to Z. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Uh, nothing." Z returned the hug that Amelia gave her.

"Good to see you again, Syd."

"You too." The decidedly more casual greetings suggested that Amelia and Syd still didn't know each other very well.

Z struggled to figure out what happened. Obviously, she was suddenly in a timeline where she and her cousin and Amelia were all close friends for a long time. But how? Had all of this started at the Animarium?

And what about the person who really had been her close friend for a long time? She looked at Syd. "Hey, what's going on with Jack?"

"What do you mean? Everything seemed fine when he and Ally stopped by yesterday." Syd shrugged. "And you would know better than me if anything were going on, you're the one who's practically his sister."

So that hadn't changed. Good.

"So, what's the plan?" Amelia asked. "I told Uncle Jeff I'd stop by his office, but no rush on that."

Jeffery Hammond? Suddenly Z remembered. He was a programmer for S.P.D.

"Why don't we spar?" Katie suggested, and Z did her best to hide her confusion.

Amelia grinned. "Sounds good to me. Let's see if you S.P.D. rangers are finally up to snuff."

"What?"

Syd pulled Z back beside her. "You're on."

Katie and Amelia stepped several paces away from them, and Z finally noticed the emblem on the back of her cousin's black vest. Then they turned. With matching smiles, they both morphed.

"Astro Red!" Amelia struck a pose.

Katie matched her. "Charging Rhino!"

Z looked at Syd, who smiled. "This will be fun." Then she pulled out her delta morpher.

Z did the same, and adrenaline filled her. This dynamic may have been new to her, but she decided that she really liked it. She had family, both old and new.

There would be time to fill in the blanks later.

"S.P.D. emergency!"

Katie Walker sat there, staring at the panel that now read 3011. What just happened? She had brought Z right back to where she'd picked her up, just minutes later, just like she'd done with Tanya and Trini. Yet she was clearly in a different timeline, one where Z and her cousin were no longer estranged.

There was a knock on the door, and Katie was grateful that it wasn't simply wrenched open again. Opening it, she found Lucas and Trip standing there. "Is everything okay?" Trip asked.

"I hope so," she replied, getting out of the jumper. "Is Jen here?"

"Jen? No, not unless you brought her with you."

"Eric just left in her jumper," Lucas added.

"Eric was here?"

"Yeah, he came to talk to Captain Logan about your assignment. It took him a little while to get back. Trouble with the timeline?"

"Yeah." So she was back in the timeline she had left from. Apparently Z and her cousin having a better relationship wasn't enough to cause major changes. Good.

But one question still remained. Entering the Command Center, she went straight over to the computer. "Bring up the file on Summer Landsdown."

The file appeared. It looked the same as it had when the computer issued the arrest warrant.

"Why did you want me to arrest Summer Landsdown?"

The computer responded verbally. "The order to arrest Summer Landsdown when she was detected in the timeline was programmed into me by my creator, Jeffrey Hammond, at the request of Officer Elizabeth Delgado of Space Patrol Delta."

Katie's eyes widened. Z?

"Did Officer Delgado have any other special requests for your programming?"

"Yes. I was programmed to send cyclobots to the 2011 Italian Grand Prix just as Ronny Robinson crossed the finish line, in time for her to join the fight."

Katie stared. In time for Ronny to join the fight. Just as the arrest warrant had sent Katie back in time to join the fight.

Z knew what she was doing.

So when did the timeline change? Eric was supposed to arrive just after the race, but he hadn't been able to.

"However, I was unable to fulfill that command and send the cyclobots to the designated time."

Katie stiffened, remembering. The cyclobots had appeared before Ronny crossed the finish line, not right as she did. They hadn't been sent by the computer. Not this computer, at least.

Taylor had seen the news article about the cyclobots at the Grand Prix, and then she and Eric had come back in time before he went back to the future. The timeline changed after that, but before the cyclobots arrived. So when?

She couldn't shake the feeling that Taylor was the key. After all, at the time of the fight, Taylor had been in two places at once. That had to have meant a new timeline, or the computer would have noted the anomaly ages ago when they first met Taylor and modified her file.

"Agent Walker, is everything okay?" Katie turned as Captain Logan entered the room, flanked by Lucas and Trip.

Katie looked at him, getting an idea. She turned back to the computer. "Pull up the file on Project Venjix."

It took the computer a moment to process this. "Error: Conflicting records detected."

"Pull up both of them."

"Error: You have insufficient security clearance."

Katie had expected that, and turned to Captain Logan. "Please, Sir, I need to know."

Giving her a sympathetic look, he came up beside her. "This is Captain Logan, security clearance Alpha-1. Pull up both records on Project Venjix."

The computer obeyed. Katie recognized the record that mentioned the battle in Turtle Cove, and turned to the other one.

"Completed on planet KO-35 in 2011. Unexpected effects on segments of the local population. Deactivated and dismantled in 2011, following the related death of Amelia Hammond."

Katie stared, remembering how the little girl had refused to join the evacuation to Mirinoi, determined to help her father.

She must have tried to do just that, help her dad after he was taken over by Venjix.

They hadn't stopped Venjix from taking over humanity. Instead, they had saved the life of a little girl.

Kelsey's words echoed in her ears. "General, when have the Power Rangers ever let you down? We'll get that ship to KO-35." She had known they would because she knew that Taylor was a pilot. And Taylor had introduced herself as a pilot just after Eric went to the future.

That was why they made it to KO-35 in time. That was why they saved Amelia's life. That was when the timeline changed.

"Records involving the death of a child are always classified like that," Captain Logan said quietly. Katie nodded, understanding.

She had one last request. "Pull up the file on Amelia Hammond."

"Error: Conflicting records detected."

"I know. Pull up whichever record is longer."

The computer did so, and Katie stared at the image of a woman who was much older than the little girl she had met, though still with that same streaked hair.

Liquid fell beneath the screen. It took Katie a moment to realize that she was crying.

"Well done, Agent Walker," said Captain Logan, his voice still quiet.

"Don't thank me, Sir." Katie moved the records aside until the file on Summer was visible again. "Thank her."