Chapter 25: Defenders Sworn to Fight
"Oh, God! What the hell is that stuff?" Jason asked, trying to fight the sickening feeling brewing in the pit of his stomach.
Billy strained for a better look at the translucent rock. Kimberly lay embedded inside, and from the terrified expression frozen on her face, it she clearly wasn't unconscious when the substance poured over her. "It's a sort of amber, I believe. For all intents and purposes, she's been fossilized," he speculated gravely.
"How will we get her out? Will she survive? What about the baby?" Rocky fired off the questions one after the other, each one more panic-ridden that the last.
"I don't know, Rocky. I just don't know. The question is: do we tell Tommy?" Billy could only imagine how he'd take this news.
"We're going to have to, but not yet. We need to find out where Zeltrax is first. Once we've scoped everything out, we'll call Tommy. Right now, this is the only information we have, and it's not much," Jason reasoned. Out of the three of them, he knew Tommy the best. He will go insane when they tell him and probably come charging in here without knowing what he's walking into. If that happens, this whole plan would be for nothing.
"Jason, I weigh the least. Why don't you and Rocky lower me down there and I can take a look around and find something you can use as a ladder? You can't jump. It's too far, and you'd land on Kim."
Billy's idea sounded good to Jason and Rocky, but they were confused when he got down on his stomach and stuck his head through the opening while holding on to the edge. "What are you doing?" Rocky asked, knowing he spoke for both him and Jason.
"I can't go down feet first. I won't be able to see anything coming at me. You guys will have to hang on to my legs and lower me, then I'll grab the edge of the table and flip off," Billy explained. He was an excellent gymnast, so landing in a handstand was no big deal for him. "You might have to pull me up in a hurry if I spot Zeltrax, though."
"Alright," Rocky agreed simply as he and Jason struggled to maneuver into position in the confining space. Each of them knelt on either side of the duct opening while holding one of Billy's legs.
A moment later, he was no longer visible in the duct and his friends were straining to hold on to him in the awkward position without falling face-first through the hole themselves. Billy was just about to call to them to have them let go when suddenly, he found himself hanging by one leg while the other swung free. "Rocky! You pulled my shoe off!"
Rocky blushed red in the dark passage as he realized that there was no foot in the sneaker he was holding. "Oops. Sorry!"
"Don't worry about it. Jason, I've got the table. Let me go," Billy whispered, not wanting to be too loud incase Zeltrax was near. He was braced on his hands on the edge of the table, but he was dying to get down. It wasn't that he couldn't stay in a handstand forever, it was just that this particular position had him almost face to face with Kimberly, and he couldn't stand seeing her frightened expression. Once he felt himself freed, he swung his lower body backwards in a graceful, controlled arc and landed on his feet…minus one shoe.
"OK, throw me my shoe."
Billy caught the Nike and slipped it on before getting down to business. He had to find a way to get the other two down there. Glancing around, he noticed a bunch of old crates piled in a corner. It seemed that he was in a backroom of the warehouse. It was about twelve by twelve feet and empty except for the crates. The wood was rotted and the nails were rusty, but by his quick mental calculations, they should support a 170lb. man. "We'll soon find out…" he mumbled to himself as he got to work.
Fifteen minutes and several splinters later, Billy had engineered a pyramid-like structure out of the crates. The good news was that they held his weight as he climbed up and down while stacking them like stairs. Working like that was useful for keeping his mind and his sight off of Kim, and finally, he was done. "Alright, come down, one at a time."
First Jason, then Rocky descended the makeshift steps. Once everyone was safely on solid ground, they gathered to plan their next move. "Maybe we can just get her into the van and forget Zeltrax. Tommy can take care of him later. Billy, you and Haley should be able to come up with a way to get her out of there, right?" Rocky asked hopefully.
"I don't know, that amber looks pretty dense and heavy. We're strong, but I doubt we can carry her that far. It's going to take all of us plus the Rangers' strength. We haven't even found the ship yet. What if we run into trouble on our way out? We should stick to the original plan and let Tommy destroy Zeltrax, then rescue Kim." Jason had just finished explaining his reasoning when the sound of metallic-shoed footsteps coming their way stopped him short.
The three men froze. "What was that about trouble?" Rocky asked rhetorically as they glanced around for the source of the noise, praying that it was anything but what they knew it was. There was no where to hide and no way out other than the way they came in and the door where the footsteps were coming from that probably lead to the main section of the warehouse.
"Billy, go back up. If at least one of us could escape, we can still contact Tommy," Jason proposed. "You have the best chance of finding a way to free Kim."
"Maybe so, but I'm wearing the transmitter. They can't track you without it. Rocky, you should go," Billy responded. "Take the van and go back to the command center. Hurry!"
Rocky just nodded and then scrambled nimbly back up the crates and through the duct while Jason and Billy braced themselves as they heard what sounded like a key turning a lock. Playing dumb and getting out would be an unlikely option now that they were witnesses to Kim's petrified state. Neither of them remembered whether they were on plan "C", "D", or "Z", but Jason hoped that his and Billy's twenty-five years of friendship and service together as Rangers had connected them on some subconscious level. They needed to work together even though they were flying by the seat of their pants.
At the last second, something under one of the unused crates caught Jason's eye, and he got an idea. He hit the floor and rolled over to grab the empty Jack Daniels bottle. "Act drunk!" he whispered. Billy immediately caught on and slid down the wall to sit in a loose heap in the corner. Both men adopted a zoned-out appearance as the door swung open to reveal one of the ugliest, deadliest-looking creatures either of them had ever seen.
The cyborg Zeltrax had a charcoal-gray armored body with a gruesome, asymmetrical helmet. When faced with any of Rita and Zedd's monsters in the past, while some of them might have been pretty weird and creepy, the fact that they were artificially created from inanimate objects and weren't really alive never left the Rangers with any guilt once they were destroyed. This one was different, though, because at one time, not so long ago, this monster was a young human male, no different than them. Tommy had explained the tragic accident that condemned Terrance Smith to a life inside the life-support suit. He was like a real-life Darth Vader. There was still a person inside there somewhere. To Jason and Rocky, knowing that made his appearance and intentions that much more disturbing.
The last thing Zeltrax expected when he went to the storeroom to retrieve his 'prize' was intruders. Both men could see that he was momentarily taken back, but unfortunately, he regained his composure just as quickly. For ten seconds that seemed more like ten hours, the cyborg stared at his guests. Jason couldn't stand letting him think he had any advantage, so he boldly took charge of the situation. "Hey, Billy! Check it out…it's the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz!" he slurred while waving the empty bottle around carelessly.
"Whoa…it is! That was some really good shit we took. Did you ever get that heart you were looking for?" Billy returned just as drunkenly.
"Who are you?" Zeltrax roared in a distorted, synthesized voice not unlike that of Vader.
"Huh?" Jason replied. "Good question. Billy, any ideas?"
"We're…uh…drunk? No, that's not it." Then pointing to his friend, Billy did his best to act as stupid as possible. "Oh, yeah…that's Jason, I'm Billy. Nice to meet you. I like your rock over there. That's one hell of a sculpture! She's hot!" he added, thinking he'd bring up the subject to convince the cyborg that they were too drunk to realize what the amber actually was.
Zeltrax had clearly run out of patience with these idiots, but then an idea struck him: they might be useful. Adding more innocents to the mix would only serve to have an even greater impact on Tommy Oliver. If they became too much of a nuisance, he would simply eliminate them. With a wave of the sword he carried by his side, four Tyrannodrones rushed through the door and charged Jason and Billy. He had managed to acquire a few of the mutants to do his bidding, although they were the dumbest of the bunch. However, that was why he was easily able to convince them to betray Mesogog and come with him.
Jason and Billy shared a look of agreement once they had both assessed the situation. They would continue the drunken façade and allow themselves to be captured. While the dim-witted Tyrannodrones weren't armed with anything but brute strength, they could still probably pack a powerful punch, especially at four against two. It was better to appear ignorant and helpless so that they could stay close to Kim. Rocky should almost be back to the command center, and after that, it wouldn't be long before Tommy and the Rangers stormed in.
The 'Drones pulled Jason and Billy off the floor and shoved them harshly out the door. A strange ship appeared before them in the large expanse of the warehouse's main space. It looked like a cross between a scorpion and a caterpillar, with several individual segments along its body that served a purpose the guys had yet to determine. The one thing they knew for sure already, though, was that this ship was heavily armed. There were several gun-ports spaced along both the dorsal and ventral surfaces, and directly beneath the cockpit, two giant missiles were perched at the ready. Billy knew that this had to be some sort of alien technology, as he had never seen anything like it on Earth. They both had to give Zeltrax some credit for acquiring this thing. Maybe he wasn't as stupid as Elise thought.
A boarding ramp was extended on the underside of the ship. Two of the Tyrannodrones dragged Billy and Jason towards it while the other two remained in the back room with Zeltrax. That made the boys nervous, as that meant the three mutants were all alone with Kimberly. Jason was fairly sure they wouldn't destroy the amber rock yet, since it seemed that the point of this whole thing was to lure Tommy in and force him to witness her death. Still, they had wanted to keep close to Kim to give her as much protection as they could offer. Staying together would also make the rescue attempt easier because as the transmitter Billy wore tracked their position, it would also be tracking hers.
Once onboard, they were shoved down a narrow hall into what seemed to be a fair-sized cargo hold. Billy took the opportunity to check the ship out on the way. There wasn't much to it. A forward cockpit at the 'head' of the caterpillar had just enough room for a pilot and not much else other than the vast array of controls. Behind it, the adjoining space where they were being kept was about seven by five feet and completely empty except for them. The small room was very dimly lit only by tiny LED emergency lights. What intrigued Billy the most, though, was a series of airlock hatches evenly spaced along the bulkhead of the hallway outside. Now he understood the segmented design of the ship. It must be able to break apart into several 'fighter' ships, each functioning independently. He wasn't certain whether they were controlled remotely by the main ship or if they had to be piloted, but if it were the latter, they might have a decent chance. The 'Drones could barely walk upright; he couldn't imagine them flying a ship with any skill.
Finally alone, Billy carefully listened for any activity outside their prison's locked door before turning to Jason. "Well, this is an unfortunate turn of events. With us onboard, Tommy and the Rangers can't engage the ship in battle. Zeltrax is smarter than we thought."
"Yeah, but only if he intends to take off with us. If he's just holding us in here and we're not leaving the warehouse, Tommy will direct the fighting away from the ship when they get here. I just wish Kim was here with us…" Jason replied.
He had barely finished the sentence when, as if by magic, the door slid open and the four Tyrannodrones roughly thrust the amber slab containing the fossilized Kimberly Hart into the small space. "I guess wishes do come true," Billy quipped as he winced at their brutal handling. In the faint red lighting, the amber took on a blood-colored tone and the irregular shape indicative of the material having been 'poured' over her body made her appear as a ghostly silhouette from a five-year-old's worst nightmare.
"Come on, let's move her over to the side," Jason suggested. "We need to have the doorway clear."
It turns out the former Blue Ranger had been right about the extreme weight of the amber. Kim's tiny frame barely amounted to one hundred pounds, but the solid substance encasing her must have weighed three times more. They could have never have carried it out to the van safely. Billy forced himself to thoroughly inspect the slab for the first time although the lighting made it difficult to see the details. "She looks well-protected. I'd have to analyze this material further, but it seems as though it might have been a viscous liquid that, when hardened, put Kim in a state of suspended animation."
"So you think she's alive in there?" Jason asked hopefully.
"It's possible. On Aquitar, they have been preserving their people for years in the case of terminal illnesses for which they have no cure. I have seen Aquitians over two hundred of our years old be released from hibernation and go on to live normal lives," Billy explained. "I believe our physiology is similar enough to theirs to cautiously expect the same possibility. Of course, we won't know for sure until she's freed."
"Well, Tommy knows by now. The guy's probably shitting bricks. Now all we can do is wait. Might as well have a seat," Jason said as he plopped down onto the hard metal floor and rested his back against the wall. Billy did likewise and they let the waiting game begin.
All the way back to the command center, Rocky debated with himself the best way to tell Tommy about Kim's current predicament. It would be easiest to just call him over the communicator on his wrist, but that wouldn't be right. Tommy deserved to be told in person, even if Rocky had to risk becoming the 'killed messenger'. He was not very good with words or emotions, and not for the first time since he left the warehouse, he wondered how he got lucky enough to be elected for this task. This was better suited to Jason, who always knew how to control Tommy's outbursts of anger, guilt, self-doubt, etcetera, etcetera…All Rocky knew he was good at was sticking his foot in his mouth.
The internal dialogue in his head was forced to come to an abrupt halt as Tommy's driveway appeared up ahead. Still undecided as to what to say, he ran inside and down the stairs to find Tommy, Haley, and the other Dino Thunder Rangers practically sitting on the edge of their seats after hearing him come in. Rocky stopped at the bottom of the steps upon seeing the eager anticipation on their faces and then he hung his head and began to slowly walk towards Tommy.
"What is it, Rocky? Why haven't I heard from you guys?" Tommy's tone was frantic. He was excellent at sizing people up, and could read Rocky like a book. Something was seriously wrong.
No use beating around the bush. "Tommy, we found Kim."
Tommy's stare drilled daggers into Rocky's skull as he waited for him to continue.
"She's been encased in some sort of amber substance. Billy says…"
"Amber?" Tommy cut him off.
"Yeah, Billy says she's been fossilized."
"She has," Haley supplied, then proceeded to explain. "Tommy was stuck in it once, too."
"And he's OK…that means Kim will be OK, too, right?" Rocky asked optimistically.
"Well, maybe…" Haley started hesitantly. "Tommy was morphed at the time. Since his Dino Gem is merged with his DNA, it offered some protection from the amber. I don't know what kind of effect it will have on a normal person, or a…pregnant woman," she added slowly, forgetting that the teen Rangers didn't know about the baby yet.
"Pregnant woman? Who?" Conner asked with his usual blank expression.
While Rocky was the only one not familiar with the Red Dino Thunder Ranger's lack of sensibility, this was one of those moments that had all of them shaking their heads. None of them could even conjure up the words to answer him right away, but a glance in her teacher's direction told Kira that Conner's life was in danger if Dr. O were to fail to restrain himself.
"Kim's pregnant, you dolt!" she exclaimed, rolling her eyes. She wasn't exactly in the mood for it, either.
"How'd you know?" Conner shot back, the grave situation momentarily slipping his mind when he thought that Kira had been let in on some juicy news that he hadn't.
"Haley just said so!" the Yellow Ranger shot back.
"Shut up, both of you!" Tommy shouted angrily. He fixed the Rangers with a fierce glare that held no remorse for his outburst.
The kids practically stood at attention like soldiers, all except for Trent. Usually the observer in the background, he was in awe at the intense emotions Kimberly inspired in Dr. O. The past month since she came back into his life, the teens have seen their normally even-keeled teacher go from giddy and floating on a cloud to violently furious. It made the White Ranger want to find Kim even more, especially if it meant that they would be spared from the wrath of the mad paleontologist.
"Sorry, Dr. O," Kira apologized quickly while Conner just looked on sheepishly.
"Alright. Yes, guys, Kim is pregnant. That means we have to be even more careful. We're rescuing two people now. Rocky, what about Jason and Billy?"
"They were probably about to be captured just as I escaped. There was only time for one of us to get out, and I got elected. Jason said he had a plan, and they were hoping to try and stay close to Kim. Trini, where's Billy's tracking signal coming from?"
Trini studied the radar screen, using the various controls to pinpoint his location. "They're still in the warehouse. The signal has only moved a couple hundred feet from where you were before, but it's weaker, like it's being shielded."
"Zeltrax must be keeping them on the ship. The heavy metal alloy would disrupt the frequency, but luckily it didn't dampen it all together," Haley offered.
Elise had been sitting silently in the corner, feeling out of place and somewhat responsible for this whole thing, but then she realized that she knew Zeltrax better than anyone. She may be able to help Tommy formulate a plan that exploits the cyborg's many weaknesses. "I doubt he's alone," she said quietly.
The others looked to the beautiful young woman, who up until now they had all but forgotten. She had sat up straighter in her chair, and now seemed to be taking a keen interest in participating in the rescue effort.
"What do you mean, Elise?" Tommy asked with as much patience as he could gather.
Elise stood up and walked to the center of the group. "Zeltrax is a wimp. He would never take you guys on himself. This time, he doesn't have Mesogog to call the shots and provide the backup, but I'll still bet he has a few Tyrannodrones working for him. They aren't exactly hard to convince to do anything."
"Makes sense…" Tommy pondered out loud. "They're not a threat, but I think we can use Zeltrax's cowardice against him."
"Yeah, and hopefully, he still doesn't know Jason and Billy are with us. He'll be seriously out-numbered." Rocky added.
"Good point, Rocko. Alright, we know he's expecting us to show up. That's what he wants, so why not give it to him, plus a little extra? Conner, you take the others and go to the warehouse with Rocky in the van. He'll show you how he got in, and you enter that way. He's targeting me, so I'm not screwing around. I'm just going to go right through the front door once you guys are in and safely hidden. We'll make it sort of an ambush. Trent, while we're occupying Zeltrax and the 'Drones, I want you to sneak around the ship and find Kim and the guys. Take Rocky with you and see if between the four of you, you can move her out to the van. You'll have extra strength from being morphed, but if you can't lift the amber, just wait. I don't want to run the risk of dropping her and damaging the integrity of the seal keeping her in hibernation."
"Got it, Dr. O," Conner confirmed. The others gestured their agreement, too.
"Trini, you and Haley will continue to monitor things from here," Tommy finished.
"I want to go."
All eyes turned to Elise, who had calmly, but definitively made her simple statement with no room for argument in her tone.
"No. No way, Elise. I appreciate everything you've done for me so far, I really do, but I can't let you risk your life by going in there." Tommy replied just as firmly.
"That should be my decision. I'm not without influence where Zeltrax is concerned. I know how he thinks. You need me." She fixed Tommy with an eye to eye stare that only the dumbest would take on.
"Fine…but stay hidden. I don't want to worry about you getting caught in the crossfire. Haley, do you have another communicator for Elise?" Tommy conceded partly because he knew what she could be like when she was determined. He had faced her enough times in her office as Principal Randall to know she wouldn't back down, but he also agreed because there was no more time to argue. The longer Kim was trapped in that amber, the less chance she, and their baby, would survive.
"Everybody clear about their jobs?" Tommy asked one last time. Heads nodded all around, so he took his place in the center of the room. The other Rangers flanked either side of their mentor in the familiar formation. "Ready!" he shouted.
"Ready!" they answered, flicking their wrists in front of their chests to change the bracelets from the gems into morphers.
"Dino Thunder, Power UP!"
Author's Notes: I want to let everyone know that starting right now, I'm taking a short hiatus from "Conflicts of Interest" in order to write a story for Jeanine Trevizo's "Always a Ranger" Anthology project. I don't know how long it will take, but I doubt it will be longer than a week. Unfortunately, my ADD keeps me from being able to bounce back and forth from one storyto the other like so many people do (Shawn, how the hell you have so many stories going at once, I'll never understand).After I am finished with the anthology story, I will pick this back up right away, so expect a delay of only about two or three weeksfor the next chapter. I apologize, but it's a real honor to have been asked toplay aroundin Jeanine's world, and I'm really excited about it. Look for my story, titled 'The Birds and the Bees"(as wellothers by talented PR fic writers including Jeanine, herself) coming soon. I still don't know ifit will be postable to (due to adult content), but if it isn't, I'll let you all know where you can find it, asI have to wait until it's written to make that call. So for now, enjoy this chapter. I'll see you all soon. Thanks for being the best readers in the world!