Tommy

The entire group that had crammed into our hotel room was now standing in the middle of the spaceship known as the Tavidina. It was Andros' new ship, one he shared with his wife, Ashley, the former yellow space ranger. She met us in the control room of Tavidina when he teleported all of us. I had been here a few times, meeting with the council throughout its creation. Our main center of command was located, and all of our computers use the satellite technology connected to it. To the governments on Earth, it appeared as nothing more than a stagnant meteor that seemed to travel around the planet. It was Billy's idea on how to cloak it. That man will always be the smartest person I know.

"Hi, Tommy." Ashley said, smiling at me as we appeared. She stepped towards me and gave me a friendly hug. Holding me at arm's length, she frowned. "Have you been eating? You seem skinner than the last we saw you."

"I'm fine. It's nice to see you, Ashely. You look well." I eyed the bump under her grey uniform and smirked. "Going for baby number 3 now?" I asked. She nodded, placing her hands over it.

"We figured that Reina and Dana need another sibling to toss around. And you? How are things with Kat?" Behind me, I heard Jason scoff. I shot him a look, not wanting to bring up the subject of my divorce at the moment. We had bigger fish to fry.

"It's a long story. We'll have to catch up after this is over." I replied. She gave me a small smile, patting my on the back.

"If everyone can take a seat, we can get started." Wes announced, walking towards the middle of the room where there was a large rectangular table that could seat 20 people easily with room to spare. It was a silver metallic color, matching chairs around it. On the walls, there were buttons and other controls for the flight of the ship. It seemed to be running in auto pilot at the moment, Andros checking the dials as he headed for his seat at the far-right side of the table. I took the closest seat next to me, Jason sitting on my left and TJ on my other side. Wes stood standing, pressing the only button that was on the table. On the wall directly in front of me, a screen lowered. Billy appeared on it a few moments later, his connection seeming stronger here than back at the hotel.

"Can you see everyone, Billy?" Andros asked. The former blue ranger nodded, adjusting his glasses.

"Affirmative."

"Tommy, I think it might be best if you tell us all the story from the beginning." Wes said, glancing over at me. I nodded, leaning forward in my seat. I started off by telling them about Jason coming to my house, telling me about Kim's disappearance. Billy played the security footage he had fixed as I went through that section of the story. I covered the findings of the dead whales on the same beach where Kim had seen something weird before her disappearance. Finally, I told them about George the guard being killed by Goldar and the video Rita had sent me. Billy played this as well, Kim's message cutting right through me as I turned away from the screen. When I did, I caught Gia's eye. She didn't say anything, but she hesitated to turn away.

"So, I guess we have to find some way to get back to 1994 to find Kimberly before Rita hurts her." I said, putting my hands on the table top. The new members of our group glanced back and forth from each other, not saying anything. I sighed, leaning back in my chair. "Any suggestions?"

"Do you guys even have a way to go back in time?" Rocky asked, speaking for the first time since we had arrived. He had a look of awe on his face, one that he shared with Zack.

"We have limited access to that kind of power." Andros replied, crossing his arms over his chest. "The current rangers would need to assist us so that we would be able to access the morphing grid, but it could be done."

"Great!" Aisha exclaimed, smiling at me in a supportive way. "We can go there, kick Rita's ass and bring Kim home in time for dinner." I felt hope swell in my chest. Was it really going to be that simple? Were we going to be able to save Kim in just a matter of hours?

"Unfortunately, it's not that easy." Andros frowned, standing. His eyes flashed to me for a moment and I felt the small amount of hope start to die.

"Well, why not? You just said you had the power to do it." Zach said, looking confused. "We can teleport to the current team's Command Center and go from there."

"Going back in time could mean changing the current events of our time. Time travel is against the laws of time and space. We've taken an oath to protect the planet, including from ourselves." Wes said, folding his hands in front of him. "We would be break intergalactic laws by using the morphing grid for going back in time to save Kimberly."

"That's horse shit!" Jason yelled, slamming his fist on the table. Gia, who was sitting next to him flinched, scooting her chair slightly away from him. "It's not just a person! It's Kimberly, a former ranger! The first pink ranger at that! You can't just leave here there to die when you have the power to save her."

"We could be putting our universe in danger if we went back in time to save here. Just by changing one thing in the past could make drastic results here in the present. It's not something we can just do without proof it needs to be done." Andros explained. Jason shook his head, swearing under his breath.

"Andros, this is Rita. Even if she just plans on killing Kimberly, she isn't going to stop until she has what she wants. For some reason, she has her eyes set on Tommy again. If my calculations are right, she will just attempt to contact Tommy at a different point in his timeline if he doesn't surrender tonight as she instructed." Billy said, his voice coming from the speakers around the room.

"Exactly!" Jason said. "Rita is time jumping. Why can't we use the power to go back and stop her? She isn't going to stop until she has her hands on him one way or another."

"Jason's right." I said, standing as well. I locked eyes with Andros and then Wes. "I know this is against the laws of the Higher Council, rules made by Zordon's own elders, but Rita is going to stop at nothing until she has exactly what she wants. If you send me back in time, I can stop her before she can put her plan into action."

"You are much too involved to go, Tommy." Andros said, trying to reason with me. "You are the person who Rita wishes to have. You cannot go into the past to face her. It's too risky for the sake of humanity."

"Then, I'll go." Jason said. "Let me go back and I will stop Rita."

"Jason, you no longer have a connection to the morphing grid and we do not have access to any type of power coin to create a link for you." Wes stated. "Only a ranger with powers would be able to travel through time. We will need to enlist one of the current rangers if we choose to do this."

"If?" I asked. "Please. I am begging you. We need to save Kimberly before it is too late. I don't care what laws get broken or what needs to happen for it to get done. I will even sacrifice myself to the council for punishment if it comes down to it." I pleaded. "Kimberly is in danger because of me." My voice cracked as I felt raw emotions in the back of my throat. "She doesn't serve what's happening to her. Please save her."

"The council should vote." TJ spoke, reminding me he was sitting next to me. Andros' eyes travelled from mine over to Ashley who stood in a doorway on the right.

"I think that would be appropriate." He said, looking back at our group. "By a show of hands, which members of the council agree with sending a ranger into the past?" My eyes travelled around the group, seeing that no one was raising their hands except for Billy and me. Even Gia sat still, her eyes reading Andros' face. "I'm sorry, Tommy, but the council has spoken. We will need to find another way to save Kimberly." I shook my head, putting my hands on the table.

"You're making a mistake!" Jason yelled, shoving away from the table. Aisha stood as well, tears welling in her eyes.

"What other ideas do you have?" She asked. "We've tried thinking and have come up with nothing. What do your mighty minds think should happen? That is my best friend with her life on the line and you just decided it wasn't worth shit to you all." Rocky stood, wrapping an arm around his wife's shoulders.

"We will find a way to help you the best we can. I am sorry, but we cannot risk the lives of a billion people for one person, no matter her affiliation with the Power Rangers." Wes stood, walking towards me. "Tommy, I am truly sorry, and I wish we could help. If we turned on the laws set by the council, we would be turning against everything we formed this group for. I still want to help you, anyway I can though."

"Don't bother." I said coolly, glaring at him and then Andros. "We'll find a way to save her ourselves."