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KINGS AND VAGABONDS

By Etcetera Kit

Chapter Twenty-Four: Star of Morning IV

Gray morning light filtered through the curtains into the room. Long shadows crossed the floor as the curtains fluttered with the heater. Despite the warmth in the room, Bridge shivered and pulled his blankets closer around him. Cold… wherever Sky was, he was cold. And Z… she was full of euphoria and doubt at the same time. Questions surrounded both of them, trust and mistrust swirled in the air. His best friend… his lover…

He sucked in a deep breath. His throat was raw and achy from crying himself to sleep. His eyes felt puffy and swollen – a weak feeling had settled over his body, like he was getting the beginnings of a cold. He hated crying for that purpose. At one point in time, he had a theory about crying – it made a person sick so that their physical state matched their emotional state. Either that, or it was just a clever ploy to discourage tears.

Glancing at the clock, he groaned. It was four in the morning. After the emotional upheaval of the past forty-eight hours, he hadn't planned on waking so soon after finally being able to fall asleep. Paris' letter had said that his parents would be here later this morning – a time hadn't been mentioned, but he assumed it meant six or seven. He wasn't going to be able to get back to sleep.

Ordinarily, Sky would have been here and woken up to all his tossing and turning. He felt a pang in his chest. He missed Sky, a lot. Sky was the one person that was skeptical about his powers and their accuracy, unlike the rest of SPD who tended to view him as some kind of god who could control minds. Sky would have laughed off his feeling of impending doom, claiming that he played too many video games. Z would just shake her head and tell him that he thought too much.

"I need to do something," he said aloud. He wasn't sure why he was talking to himself, perhaps to prove that he was still alive and hadn't dreamed the past two days.

However, at four in the morning, his options on what to do were slim. The lounge was open at all times, so he could hang out there. Food was available at all times to those that didn't have a lights-out time. Technically, he didn't have a lights-out time, but he did have hours when he couldn't be in the girls' room. That ruled out going to see Z and Syd. He wasn't remotely hungry and the food replicator was probably still on the fritz. So, he wouldn't be going to get food either.

Letting out a frustrated wail, he buried his face in his pillow. He hated being stuck with his own thoughts – he didn't mind being in a room with someone and not talking, but he wasn't crazy about being by himself. He needed to do something. He sat up in bed and picked up his morpher, clipping it to the waistband of his pajama pants. There was an old coffeemaker in the lounge and he could get some coffee if nothing else.

The halls were quiet and eerie as he padded down them. He always hated the academy early in the morning and late at night. No one was around and it was strange. Normally people scurried around and there was so much life.

Just outside the lounge, he felt a mental brush, like someone barely touching his shoulder. What? No one else at the academy had the same powers he did, so no one could enter his mind forcefully. Plus he had been careful to block out distractions. Concentrating his energy, he waved a hand over the area. He glanced at the colors of the psychic residue. Whatever was touching him wasn't harmful – there were no traces of darkness or evil in it.

Perhaps… he carefully lifted some of the walls he had erected around his mind. The feeling flooded into him. Light, warmth… He felt whole again. The feeling felt like something he had been missing his entire life and had grown used to living with, until he didn't feel it anymore. A void he hadn't known he had was filled.

Without thinking, he took off down the hall. He wasn't sure where he was going, but he felt confident that his feet would take him there. What was calling him? Whatever it was, he didn't feel wary of it. He wanted to welcome this feeling. Soon enough, he found himself in the lobby. It was empty except for the night receptionist and a couple. He recognized the night receptionist as the person that was normally on the shift. But the two people…

"I'm sorry," the receptionist was telling them. "But I cannot contact a cadet until after five a.m. It's the academy's policy."

"I understand," the man said softly. "May we wait here until then?" He gestured to the various sofas and armchairs.

"Of course. I'm sorry for the inconvenience."

Bridge let out a long breath. The feeling was radiating from them. Paris had said that his parents would arrive early Saturday morning – what if she meant 'middle of the night' which could be interpreted as 'early morning'? He took in a shaky breath.

The man was tall with a shock of dark brown hair that fell over his forehead. He had brown eyes and held a distinct aura of sadness. However, the woman had an aura of complete despair. She had long brown hair in a single braid and was thin and frail, like she had been ill for a long time. In fact, she still looked ill. The man helped her down into one of the chairs.

"It's been so long," she murmured.

"Another half an hour won't make a difference."

"We should have brought Leo and Kendrix… and Jara."

Jara… that was his middle name. Bridge had always wondered about it – if it had some significance or if it had been made up.

"We haven't seen him in fourteen years – he probably doesn't remember us. Besides, he doesn't need to be overwhelmed with family."

"I guess you're right." She paused. "I keep forgetting that he isn't a baby anymore."

Almost in a trance, Bridge walked across the lobby towards them. The night receptionist smiled at him. "Cadet Carson! I was about to page you. You have visitors." The man turned as the receptionist began to talk. He blinked and then a smile of recognition broke over his face as he stood up.

"Bridge?" he whispered.

Bridge turned to the receptionist. "My last name is Corbett." He walked towards his father, no more doubts and no more fear. He had no mental images of the people that he knew were his parents, but he didn't need them. Their presence and auras comforted him like a balm, making him feel complete. They weren't fearful of him like his adopted parents. They were joyful and loved him without question – they had loved him since he had been taken from them.

His father opened his arms and he fell into the embrace. "Bridge," Mike whispered, kissing his forehead. "We've missed you – you have no idea."

"I have an idea," he murmured.

"Bridge…" Maya had pushed herself to her feet. He and his father reached out to her, pulling her into their embrace. "I thought I would die when they took you."

"It's all right," Bridge whispered. "It's going to be all right from now on."

"Good morning, cadets. It's Saturday morning, so that either means you can buckle in for your cartoons and get ready for special training seminars."

Mike Corbett glanced up at the loudspeakers. Whoever let that particular girl do the morning wake-up call needed to re-evaluate things. He remembered the wake-up call when he had been a GSA cadet – it consisted of a loud ringing over the loudspeakers. This wake-up call was too cheerful and perky for his tastes.

"C-Squad cadets have a martial arts intensive with Sensei Omino and all B-Level cadets should report to the shooting range for training on those spiffy new laser guns."

He just shook his head and walked from the food replicator to the sofa where his wife and his son were sitting. A smile floated over his lips as he looked at them. Bridge was leaning against Maya. She was gently stroking his hair, a smile on her face. She looked so content and so happy for the first time since Bridge had been taken from them. It also didn't escape his notice that she ate a full breakfast – already on the road to recovery.

"And D-Squad cadets should seriously think about hitting the practice mats after your abysmal performance on a standard combat simulation."

The lounge was empty. No one in their right mind was up this early. Mike felt the fatigue from being up more than forty-eight hours, but nothing in the world could make him sleep. He handed a bottle of juice to Maya before sitting down on the other side of Bridge. His family was whole again.

"Morning, Bridge!"

Bridge looked up at the girl who just walked into the lounge. She was wearing a light pink sweater with a pair of jeans. Her blonde hair was loose around her shoulders, falling in waves. "Hey, Syd," he replied.

"These your folks?"

His son just nodded. "I'm Syd," the girl introduced herself. "Did you hear that charming wake-up call that Paris gave?"

"That was Paris?"

"Yeah – she's been reinstated into SPD and promoted to forensics, along with being allowed to give the wake-up call each morning."

Mike didn't have to ask anything more on Syd or Paris. He remembered Paris as being one of the twin children belonging to Carter and Dana. Syd was her younger sister – and the B-Squad Pink Ranger from what Bridge had said. It shouldn't have surprised him that Cruger had made his son a ranger and made him hone his powers for weaponry. Bridge was telepathic and psychometric, the combination of which allowed him to read psychic residue. It was an extension of more natural born powers – Mirinites were known for their limited telepathy and intuition.

"That is all!"

The loudspeakers clicked off.

Syd rolled her eyes. "Trust Paris to go slaphappy on us."

Bridge shrugged. "It will pass."

"Well, I'm going to see if I can get a hold of Sky and find out when he plans on coming back here – if he's coming back."

With that, Syd left the lounge. Mike watched his son's expression. It was clear that the four B-Squad rangers were close – the irony being how much the four of them had in common, aside from the kidnapping and their powers. The conversation hadn't rolled around to how he and Maya met – not yet at any rate. Each of the current rangers had parents who understood what it meant to be a ranger and knew the hardships that came with it.

Bridge closed his eyes, looking content. He was never destined to understand the kind of sixth sense that Bridge and, to a lesser extent, Maya had. But the blue eyes that Bridge had… it had thrown him for a loop when his son had been born. Then the analytical side of his mind caught up – and he realized that his family and Maya's were entirely blue-eyed. Bridge had the eyes that Leo did.

Explanations… too much had happened. So much of his life for the past fourteen years had been spent wishing and hoping – now he felt like he couldn't ever have the time to make up for Bridge's lost childhood. Those blue eyes were haunted. His son had felt pain.

"Hey Bridge. Syd said your parents were here." A girl wearing jeans and a long-sleeved black t-shirt with yellow squares had entered the lounge and was standing near them. Bridge immediately went from his childlike contentment to the adult that it was clear he normally acted like. He stood up.

"Yeah," Bridge replied running a hand through his hair.

"Mike Corbett," he introduced himself, standing up and offering a hand to the girl. "My wife, Maya," he added. Maya smiled at the girl.

"I'm Z… Evans." Her hesitation didn't go unnoticed.

"Z is my girlfriend," Bridge added softly.

Mike smiled as Maya's eyes lit up. She gave Z an appraising look, a note of sadness hidden behind the interest and joy. Lost childhood… he had seen his son's first words and steps, wondering when he would be bringing home girls, when his first school dance would be, if he would choose to walk the path that Maya's people chose or if he would remain with them in Terra Venture… He had wanted to watch Bridge grow up, watch the girls chase him… He glanced up to Z. He remembered her parents from the trials. She showed traces of both of them – Alyssa's hair and eyes with Cole's build and facial features.

"It's great to meet you," Maya said to Z. She was being sincere.

"Thanks." Z turned to Bridge. "I saw Conner in the hall and he said that some friends of his were coming soon. We should be ready when they get here."

Mike didn't understand what Z meant by ready, but it was obvious that Bridge did. "Where are we meeting?" his son asked.

"In here," the girl replied. "Conner said he talked to Sky and he'll be back within the hour with his father and his parents." She paused, a wry smile on her face. It was odd that she referred to Sky having a 'father' and 'parents' when they should have been one and the same. "The billionaires are out to sue."

"Great," Bridge sighed. "Conner wants us in uniform?"

"Yeah." Z paused. "I don't know what's happening, but we all need to be in here with our parents in an hour. I've got to go get dressed." She pressed a kiss on Bridge's cheek and hurried from the lounge.

Bridge turned to them, raking a hand through his hair. "Will you guys be all right with this?"

Mike opened his mouth to reply, but Maya beat him to it. "Of course." She held up the wrist with her morpher.

"You were a ranger?" Bridge whispered.

Maya nodded. "We both were."

"I didn't know – I knew there were rangers before us, but no one told us who—"

"Bridge," his wife interrupted gently. "Go get into your uniform."

Bridge smiled and then hurried from the lounge. Mike glanced at Maya and sank down onto the couch next to his wife. Maya hadn't looked this good in years – since Bridge had been ripped from her arms. There was still so much that needed to happen before life could even remotely resemble what it had fourteen years ago – and it still wouldn't be the same, but that small flame of hope that been rekindled into a blazing bonfire, ready to consume any opposition.

The command center was quiet. Granted, it was Saturday and most of the day-to-day work was done by the patrol officers on duty – so the room was generally peaceful. Today, it was wrought with tension and even the people who normally kept an eye on things in there were finding excuses to run errands and leave the room.

It boiled down to Cruger. When he was upset or on edge, he tended to snap at the cadets and have certain paranoid tendencies. Most people were skittish around him when that happened, but knew that the storm would pass. This time, no one knew what to make of the silence. He hadn't spoken to anyone and hadn't left his quarters which were adjacent to the command center.

He knew – he had to know. The parents had been in and out of the academy all day and it was no different today. None of them had come with their torches and pitchforks for Cruger – not yet. All of them were still too wrapped up in the reunions with their children to have a death plan for Cruger yet. But it would happen and he had to prepare. Whether or not the commander of SPD would stand trial was debatable. He was just as likely to get out of town and disappear, but he would have to do something. This inaction was strange.

Kat let out a long breath, staring at the doors to Cruger's quarters. She would do something if she had to. Too much had happened to pretend that it wasn't. The people gathered here were powerful – billionaires who owned the Silver Guardians and Bio-Lab, people whose relatives were in charge of Lightspeed… If the combined forces of the Collins, Captain William Mitchell and the Graysons came down on Space Patrol Delta, the Earth branch would be forced to shut down. All the cadets would be sent home with refunds and apologies. The officers would be dismissed and given two weeks' pay in lieu of notice, along with the rest of the support staff. Within a week, the grounds and building would be empty.

Space Patrol Delta did for Newtech City what the Silver Guardians did for Silver Hills – they were the police in the area. Crime would skyrocket, not just here, but all over. SPD helped people all over the world. It would be disastrous. Oh, Mr. Collins would send the Silver Guardians in to make sure of a peaceful transition, but it wouldn't be enough. Eric Myers, Sky's adopted father, was a detective with the Newtech City Police Department. He would know the impossibility of transitioning back to the police being the main defense.

Well – there was no time like the present.

She pressed the emergency override on the door and stepped into the darkened quarters. The commander's quarters included a bedroom with an efficiency kitchen and large living room. Several bags were packed and sitting by the couch. Doggie was nowhere to be seen. She frowned.

"Doggie?" she called.

The bedroom door opened and the commander stepped out. "Kat," he greeted her with a quick nod, moving into the kitchen with a box.

"You're leaving." It was a question.

Doggie stopped and met her eyes. "I have to."

"They'll want you to stand trial."

"An unofficial trial where I will end up fighting eight former rangers? I think not."

Kat took an unsteady step forward. "And then what? You'll remain in hiding the rest of your life? You'll ask the people you've dedicated your life to capturing to get you a shuttle off the planet?" She shook her head. "It's not in your nature."

"You don't understand."

"I was there when we took those children. We took those children. You didn't commit those crimes alone. I'm willing to stand for what I did."

"I am not you. None of them will understand why I did it."

"They're not unreasonable people. I worked with most of them during those experiments. They are good people, but they will want to know why you ripped their lives apart." Kat shook her head, balling her fists. "Maya Corbett has been in fragile physical and psychological health since Bridge was taken. Carter and Dana Grayson had divorce papers floating around without all the signatures. Alyssa Evans has been on antidepressants at least twice. They will want to know." She emphasized the last sentence.

Doggie was silent.

"Yes, you'll have to leave SPD," she continued. "You've known that since this insane deception began. But won't it be better to come clean than running?"

"The new commander…" Doggie said weakly. "Has anyone contacted him?"

"I contacted Admiral Birdie and he's made the necessary arrangements for the new commander to start in about an hour." Kat paused, taking a deep breath. "How long have you known?"

"Since the Evans' got here yesterday." He gave her a wry smile. "You honestly think that by eliminating their names from the restraining order list I wouldn't find out?"

"That was so that they could get into Newtech unhampered."

"Whose here?"

"All of them and Eric Myers." Doggie winced at the memory of Eric Myers. Kat knew he had been wary of the man since Sky joined SPD. He was afraid that the man would reveal everything before someone could stop him. He hated Eric Myers… "McKnight has them all meeting in the lounge in a few minutes. He and Ford are trying to find out what they can from the parents before their back-up arrives."

"And the new commander?"

"Another hour – maximum. He's going down to the lounge to be briefed by Conner. Birdie wants me down there too."

"You honestly think that they'll let you remain here?"

"I don't know, but I won't run from the past. It needs to be confronted." She gave him a pleading look. "Please. You didn't do the right things years ago, but do it now. You'll be able to keep your dignity."

Doggie let out a long breath. "This is insanity." He paused. Kat could remember a time when she admired Cruger – it seemed so far away. "But I'll do it."

To Be Continued...

Author's Note: I made an Eric/Taylor music video over the weekend! (That's my insane news for the day!) But enough of me talking about the things I manage to do because I avoid homework on the weekends... I am convinced I have some of the best reviewers around. You guys are completely and totally awesome! I love getting reviews because they're great with good comments and observations. Keep up the awesome feedback guys!