Timeline: SWAT (part one)
Theme: Helm (challenge 19)
"You're going to Zantor to meet an old friend of mine," Cruger sentenced. As the Rangers looked at each other slightly bewildered, he decided to drop the other shoe. "And Cadet Delgado will be piloting."
If he needed any further proof that the Cadets needed to become a team, it was the burst of outcries from the Rangers.
"But sir,"
"I don't think…"
"Why does…"
"Sir, as you know…."
"How come she…"
"SILENCE!" Cruger shouted. As the Rangers fell silent, he glared at them all, grumbling. "Look at you! You cannot even follow a simple command without bickering like a litter of puppies! Pack your belongings, you will be departing at 0600 tomorrow. I suggest you be ready. Dismissed."
As the Cadets saluted and left the headquarters, he shook his head. Training these Rangers would either drive him crazy or kill him…he just wasn't sure which yet.
Z stood with her back to Syd, trying to tune out the Pink Ranger as they packed an overnight bag. How could Cruger do this to her? He knew she was the worst pilot….she hated being in the lead of anything. But he commanded that she would be leading, so she decided to just bite the bullet and go with it.
"And I just know I'm gonna be airsick. You jostle the craft like it's a toy of some kind, and it just makes me so nauseous. Why couldn't Cruger pick Sky to pilot? After all, he's the best pilot in the academy right now." With a heavy sigh, Z zipped her bag and made her way to Jack's room. If nothing else, it would be quiet.
As she made her way down the hall, she heard Bridge debating packing his toaster or not, and who could be friends with Cruger on a distant planet known as Zantor, and on and on and on. She could still hear them as she knocked on the heavy doors of Jack's room.
"Come in," he called.
With a soft woosh, the doors opened, and he glanced up from the backpack that he was stuffing. Seeing her, he grinned, and motioned towards the bed. "Syd driving you nuts?" he asked.
"Of course. Like I asked Cruger to do this!"
"You didn't? I figured that you had," he replied as he folded his red undershirt.
"Are you nuts? You know I hate flying crafts! It's not fair!" she growled as she flopped back on the bed.
"Maybe he's trying to prove a point?" he asked, setting aside the bag. Grabbing a brush off the nightstand, he waved it at her.
She slid off the bed, resting against the edge as Jack settled on the edge of the mattress. "Maybe, but why not just put you or Sky as pilot? Why me?"
"I dunno. He might be trying to make us realize that we are a team, and should accept his orders without question. He might also be trying to get us to trust one another. Or he may be trying to drive Syd off by using your driving tactics as a weapon," he teased, pulling the brush through her thick black locks.
"But I don't trust me, not piloting…you know how that scares me."
"If nothing else, I trust you. You'll do fine tomorrow, trust me," he whispered, kissing her crown. "Whatever happens tomorrow, I'll trust you."