Race Against Time
Chapter 1: Distress Signals
By: Pink-Green-White-4ever
Last Revised: November 21, 2005
Summary: Spoilers for Endings Pt. 2 - 5 yrs. post Endings Pt. 2, and the infamous B Squad Rangers are invited to celebrate Cruger's reassignment to General and head of SPD HQ and Sky's promotion to Commander, but something goes awry, and they have to race against the clock to save one of their friends before it's too late.
Ships: Syd/Sky, Bridge/Z, Jack/Ally, Cruger/Isinia, Kat/Boom
Rating: T, for now
AN: For those of you who don't know or don't remember where M51 comes from, it's used in Seasons 3 and 4 of Power Rangers – It's the home of one of my favorite villains of all time. And this chapter will explain that. -- grins – Enjoy!
AN2: Yes, this will mostly be a Syd and Sky fic, but I am going to try and incorporate more of the other couples in it then I have in previous stories.
--
Shocked. Numb. Hopelessness. All of those described what was Sky was feeling the minute Kat uttered the vile and horrifying name of where the distress signal was coming from.
"What's so bad about the M51 Galaxy?" Z asked, having never heard of it before. Kat, Boom, and Bridge paled considerably at her question.
Jack stepped forward, Ally holding tightly to his hand, as he nodded his head. "Yeah, I don't get what's got you guys so wigged out by it."
It was then that Anubis stepped forward and cleared his throat. "The M51 Galaxy has been a guarded place for a long time," he started, moving around the room, his hands behind his back. "It's the birth place of Master Vile, one of the most heinous of all villains."
"Worse than Gruumm?" Ally managed to squeak in question.
"Yes. He spawned an empire of the likes which you've never seen, as well as being the father of Rita Repulsa and Rito Revolto, and the father in law of Lord Zedd."
Z and Jack's mouths fell open. They knew all about Zedd, Rita and Rito. Kat had schooled them during their days at the academy about past Ranger teams and the villains they'd faced, shortly after they'd met Dino Thunder the first time. The Morphin Rangers, who'd been led by Zordon of Eltar and by Dr. Tommy Oliver, whom they'd met once, had taken out Zedd and his army, as well as had several face to face confrontations with Master Vile. Vile had disappeared during the Countdown to Destruction when the Space Rangers were trying to save Zordon from Dark Spector, and he'd never been heard from again. Rita and Zedd had been turned human, while all their minions had been killed.
"And our Syd is there? How the hell did that happen?" Z demanded to know, anger rising quickly.
"That appears to be the case," Kat muttered, stepping back to the computer console to go over the data the computers had gathered. "I won't know more until I analyze this."
"Then get on it," Sky ordered, and then softened. "Please."
Understanding Sky as well as any in the room, Kat nodded and began her work, Boom and Bridge jumping in with her to help.
"Jack, why don't I have Claudia take you and Ally back to your old quarters, where you can wait until we know something?" Sky suggested.
Jack and Ally shared a look before Jack smiled. "Ally could use the nap, I'll stay and help."
The former Rangers shared a look, one that spoke volumes. Sky was grateful for his former leader's assistance in finding their former Pink Ranger. "Claudia, escort Mrs. Landors to the Red Ranger quarters on level 6 of the dormitory. See to it she has everything she needs."
"Yes Sir!" the Yellow Ranger saluted and then moved to help Ally out of the room.
"What can we do, Sky?" Isinia asked softly, moving to lightly touch his arm. She knew all about why Sky was so upset right now. His feelings ran much deeper than the others could hope to know.
"I need to know everything I can about why Syd would be anywhere near there."
Isinia nodded. "I'll give headquarters a call, and see what I can dig up."
When Cruger's wife moved away, the others ringed together. "What about me?" Z asked Sky, who looked a little lost.
"How about giving me a hug, seeing how I haven't seen you since Jack's wedding," Sky joked, opening his arms to his "little sister". Z moved to him on instinct alone, wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her head on his chest.
"Sky?"
"I miss her," he whispered, pecking a brotherly kiss to the top of Z's head.
"Me too."
Anubis watched the display and felt his heart break. Sydney had been a large, and extremely loud, part of the B Squad. And now she was the reason they were banding back together.
"Anubis?" Jack asked softly.
"We have work to do, Jack, let's get to it."
The former Red Ranger nodded and they all moved toward Kat to ask what they could do to help.
--
Everything was hazy. She couldn't remember even the simplest fact, like her name, her age, or where she was. She hurt in a million different places. Carefully, she managed to crawl out of the mangled wreckage that had been a shuttle of some sort.
"So weak," she muttered, propping herself against a tree. Looking down, she noticed she was wearing a uniform of sorts. It was mostly gray, with the majority of the right side done in pink, and a small strip down her entire left side in the same pink. "Who am I? Where am I?"
Before she could blink, a slew of images assaulted her. Wincing in pain, she vaguely remembered the strong scent of aftershave as she was enveloped in a pair of muscled arms, navy blue and red colored clothes and piercing blue eyes before everything went dark.
--
He couldn't take his eyes off the picture sitting on his desk in his room. It had been taken nearly six years before by General Silverback, who had actually snapped the picture right before they'd come back after their SWAT Training.
Jack was standing in the middle, an arm around the shoulders of each of the girls, the Red Ranger's hands extending to clasp his and Bridge's shoulders, while Bridge was standing on the other side of Z, his head resting against hers. Even back then you could tell there was something between the Green and Yellow Rangers. He was standing on the other side of Syd, his arms wrapped around her waist while she leaned back against him. They looked so tired, and yet, satisfied that they'd accomplished their mission.
It was shortly after that, around the time they had faced Murlock, that Sky knew he had been steadily falling for the Pink Ranger. At first, Sydney had been nothing more than teammate, best friend, irritant little sister and confidant, especially when he initially had a crush on Z after the Yellow Ranger joined their Squad. But as Z and Bridge grew closer, he found himself spending more and more time with the Pink Ranger. It had taken him nearly a year before he'd worked up the courage to tell her, and much to his dismay, she'd disappeared the very day he had planned to ask her out on a date.
It seemed like, to Sky anyways, whenever it came to something involving Sydney, he was doomed not to get what he wanted. And the soft melody playing from the radio wasn't helping.
It was a remake of a very old song, and one that Sydney had absolutely adored. It was called "Right Here Waiting". Sky sighed and slumped down on his bed, his eyes closing as tears welled in their blue depths. There were very few things that made him emotional like this – thinking of his father was the prime candidate, but any thoughts of Syd and how much he missed her came in a damn close second.
His heart ached as he listened to the singer churning out the emotional first verse. It was like the writer had jumped inside Sky's heart and mind and pulled his thoughts and feelings right out of him. Hearing Sydney's voice coming over the distress channel had nearly ripped his heart clear out of his chest. He had thought all hope was lost as far as telling her he loved her, but if she was still alive, he'd be damned if he didn't try to find her and make sure she was home, and safe, and knew how he felt.
The chorus wasn't much better. He felt like he'd waited an eternity to hear something about Syd, and now that he had, it was breaking him apart all over again. The worst part, Sky knew, was the guilt he felt. He'd never told her how he felt, and he had to wonder if he had, would she have left? Of course, Sky knew the answer to that. No, Sydney wouldn't have left, not the way she did, if she'd known how Sky had felt about her. He was absolutely certain about that.
The racket coming from the hallway irritated his already precarious disposition. Growling, Sky pushed up from his bed and stormed into the hallway, intent on yelling at whoever was horsing around outside his door. He still had the same room he'd had when he and Bridge had roomed together, even though he'd been promoted several times since, so there were constantly cadets walking around and laughing in the hallway beyond. What Sky found made him bite his lip.
Claudia was standing in the hallway, laughing as two of her teammates, Jeff and Marie, who were the Blue and Pink Rangers, were teasing each other. Jeff had Marie on his back, giving her a piggyback ride, while the Pink Ranger was teasing him about his technique.
When Alex, the Green Ranger, and Nick, the Red Ranger, joined them, Sky felt himself thrown back the better part of six years, to right after his own team had been formed. These five extremely gifted individuals were so like Sky and the others, that the former Ranger felt at a loss for words.
"Commander on deck!" Nick called as the five stood at attention, waiting for their orders, or dressing down, whichever of the two Sky felt like giving them.
"At ease," Sky spoke, choking back the retort he wanted to make. "Cadets Simpson and Norwood, might I suggest taking the piggyback lesson outside."
Both Jeff and Marie blushed and nodded. "Commander?" Marie asked softly. Sky looked at her and smiled; there was one plus about Marie being the current Pink Ranger – she looked more like Z, with her sassy brown eyes and silky auburn locks, then she did Sydney.
"Yes Cadet?"
"Is there anything we can do to help?" Marie wanted to know, biting her lip as Sky shook his head.
"No. Right now, General Cruger, Mr. Landors, and Lt. Commander Carson and Lt. Carson are in the Command Center with Dr. Manx. All we can do for now is wait."
"Sir, permission to speak freely?" Nick asked. Sky nodded his approval. "When it comes time to rescue Ms. Drew, may we be the ones to do it?"
Sky pursed his lips together; that was still very much up in the air, especially since he knew Cruger, Jack, Bridge and Z would want to go, and so did he. "When the time comes, we'll discuss that with General Cruger. For now, go rest, you may be needed soon."
The five saluted and then walked away, leaving Sky to take a deep breath before heading toward the Command Center. "COMMANDER TATE TO THE COMMAND CENTER!" Kat's voice rang out over the intercom system, causing Sky to break into a dead sprint.
--
She was sore, she was tired, and she was extremely hungry when she woke up. Finding she had more strength and equilibrium then when she'd crawled out of the shuttle, the young blonde found herself rising to her feet and staggering over to recover anything useful.
Inside there was a duffel bag, filled with what looked like prison uniforms, blasters, and little pieces of metal. Picking one up, she was stared in shock when her hand suddenly turned to metal before her very eyes. "What?" she cried out, dropping the tiny piece and watching her hand stay metal. "What happened?"
Flexing her hand, she tapped her knuckles against the metal floor. When the tiny taps rang out, she realized her hand really was metal. "Weird." Ignoring her hand for a moment, she began riffling through the bag again. On the very bottom, in a picture frame that's glass was almost shattered beyond repair, she saw a group of people staring back at her, a group that stirred the sense of familiarity in her chest.
In the middle were two large, blue, dog like creatures - one male, one female by their looks - holding onto one another. On the male's side were three people – a young man dressed in red and gray with a head full of braids, another young man in a pair of gray pants and an orange t-shirt, and a woman in tan and white who had pointed ears and cat green eyes. At the woman's feet was a robotic dog, sitting on its haunches.
On the female's side were four people – two males and two more females. A short young man wearing a green shirt and a pair of gray pants had his arm wrapped around the waist of the dark haired young woman standing next to him, who was dressed in yellow. Then there was a short blonde female dressed in a pink shirt and gray pants standing next to the woman in yellow. And on the end, was a tall young man in a blue shirt and gray pants, his arms around the woman next to him – one across her shoulders and the other around her waist.
They looked happy together, all of them, like a big family, and yet, she felt there was so much more to the picture than meets the eyes – like something was missing, and like she should feel more when gazing at their faces. She recognized the short blonde in pink – it was herself. She knew this cause she'd caught a glimpse of herself from a reflection on one of the doors leading into this particular part of the shuttle when she'd entered. As far as the others, that was anyone's guess. Sighing, she tucked the picture frame back into the bag and began to slowly look around for food, water, or any other kind of supplies she could find.
--
"Well?" Sky demanded to know when he flew into the Command Center. He wasn't like Doggie, he couldn't turn his emotions off and on as well as the native of Sirius could; this whole situation was making him uneasy.
"It's definitely coming from M51," Kat told him, her voice strong and sure, though her insides were a ball of nerves and fear for her young friend. She turned her head toward Boom briefly and smiled at him when he gently ran his hand up and down her back in hopes of soothing her and showing his support.
"Is that all?"
Shaking her head, Kat motioned for the others to look at the large screen that was descending from the ceiling. "No. We've pinpointed where, with some help from Headquarters."
The screen flashed once then showed what looked like a star chart. "Wow," Bridge muttered as he and Z stood with Jack, Doggie and Isinia.
"This is the M51 Galaxy, something no lower level SPD Officer has ever seen, and with good reason. During the era of the Morphin Rangers, there was a lot of activity going on here, and I don't think even NASA has any clue it's there. But back to my main point. This galaxy was ruled, as you know, by Master Vile. His hold on the region still remains. It's a melting pot of the Universe's worst criminal offenders, and hordes of alien races that are bent on destroying those who fight for peace."
All eyes went to Kat, looking shocked and surprised. "Then why the hell was Syd there?" Z demanded to know.
"That's where the information I was able to dig up comes in handy," Isinia started, marching forward. "Apparently, General Birdie sent her on a recon mission. She wasn't supposed to be gone more than a few weeks at the most. Something went wrong. Birdie said they received a message that she'd been taken captive."
Jack, Z, Bridge, Sky and Doggie suddenly stiffened at the sound of that. "Why weren't we told?" Z demanded, only to back down a bit when Bridge leaned over and kissed her temple.
"Because, they knew your first instincts would be to leave Earth and save her. They weren't willing to risk the lives of everyone on the planet should the remaining members of the Power Rangers go off in search of their missing teammate." Isinia knew that her husband's former cadets were angry, she could tell that just from the looks they were giving her. What was worse, however, was the betrayal she saw on the faces of the five people standing before her, as well as Kat and Boom's faces.
Everyone in the room had sacrificed a large part of their lives in service to SPD, and she could see them rationalizing the repayment SPD had given them – four years without Sydney by their sides, four years of missing a piece of their hearts.
"So what do we do now?" Jack asked, turning to Sky and Doggie, his face an open book to showcase his emotions. Sydney had been like a little sister to him, there was no way in hell he'd let her rot in a place that bad.
"You aren't going with us," Sky started, watching Jack begin to protest. Sky held up a hand to ward off Jack's comments. "I need you to stay here and take care of the base for me. You're needed by your wife, Jack. The same wife who's very pregnant right now with your son."
The former Red Ranger sighed. "Cruger, are you going with them?"
The big blue dog narrowed his eyes. "Yes."
Kat and Boom shared a look with Isinia. "We'll ready a shuttle for you. Hopefully she'll still be there when you get there." That said, the two technical experts rushed from the room, while the others gathered in a circle.
"Now's the time to speak up if you're not up to going," Sky told Bridge and Z.
Z glared at him. "You think we'd miss this?"
Bridge grinned and put his hand out in the middle of the circle they made. "Once a Ranger, always a Ranger."
The former Yellow Ranger smirked and put her hand on top of her husbands, and was followed by Jack, Anubis and Sky. "I've got our morphers locked away. I'll get them. Jack, you're in charge here, I'll instruct the Rangers to follow your every order. Z, Bridge, go get some rest. You're gonna need it."
The group broke apart. Sky and Jack rushing from the room to find the Rangers while Z and Bridge left at a more sedate pace. Anubis turned to face Isinia and sighed. "Dear…"
"Shhh," she whispered, placing her fingertips on his lips. "I can see how much she means to you, just by looking in your eyes. I know how hurt you were when she disappeared. They're already down two without Syd and Jack, you need to go with them. Just come home safely."
"Thank you," Cruger whispered softly, hugging her close in the now deserted Command Center.