It was dark in the cell, but Chase used what little light that did come in to get another look at the burn on Cammy's arm. Though it appeared to hurt like hell, the little girl was lucky her injuries weren't worse. She would recover, Chase was sure of that. He knew he just needed to get her home.
He had every intention of getting her back home. When Cammy sniffed both in pain and in fear, he looked to her, a bright smile on his face.
"Kendall's going to fix this up real quick," he told her with nothing but certainty in his voice. He needed Cammy to believe she would go home. He couldn't have her scared or feeling hopeless. "You'll see. She'll fix you up then she'll probably spend a few days yelling at me and the others for letting you get hurt. It'll be a long few days for us, but you'll probably get all the treats and toys you want."
"I want to go home," Cammy told him. Chase nodded his head.
"I know."
"What if they don't..."
"Cam, listen to me," Chase smiled and pulled in her closer, making sure not to brush anything against her arm. "If they want the energems, they know they have to hand you over to Kendall alive. She won't give up the energems for anything less. I know that, she knows that, and those monsters out there, they know it too. Kendall's going to do everything she can to get you back. I promise."
"And you too?"
"That is my hope," Chase nodded his head and suddenly he heard the Get-Bot rolling around. They had been fortunate enough that Poisandra, Fury and Curio were so proud that they had captured Cammy and a Ranger, and that they had a way of getting the remaining two bonded energems, they didn't even notice as the robot rolled out of the transport pod and began its search of the ship for energems. Chase knew it would find them eventually. His headaches were almost completely gone, which meant that his had to be on the ship. "And if we're at all lucky, the rest of the Rangers will get their energems back. I know it doesn't feel like it yet, Cammy, but we're starting to win. You'll see."
-Dino-Charge-
"Kendall, it dangerous!" Koda said as he wrapped his arms around Kendall and tried to hold her back. His headache was growing increasingly worse the longer he was away from his energem, making it harder to keep Kendall from taking off. However, he knew that as soon as he let go, Kendall would run.
He couldn't blame her. They had just broken the news that Fury, Poisandra and Curio had taken Chase and Cammy back to their ship. They expected Kendall to be pissed.
Koda didn't need to hold Kendall for much longer, as eventually she stopped pulling against him and turned around. Suddenly, Koda felt her beating into his chest. Her punches hurt, but he could take it.
"Why did you let them go!" she shouted at Koda and the other Rangers.
"I did overhear Chase," Shelby announced. She didn't think what she would have to say would calm Kendall down, but hoped maybe getting the facts out would get Kendall's mind to focus on a way out of this mess. "He told Poisandra you'd give up the energems to save Cammy. If you were to offer a trade, you can get her back."
"Done," Kendall said without hesitation, but the Prince sat up a little straighter hearing this. He frowned.
"We are down to two," he said. "If we hand them over, we're defenceless. The bad guys win."
"You got a better plan?" Kendall growled.
"The Get-Bot is up on the ship. If we wait for it to get the energems and come back, we'll have more power to storm in there and..."
"Cammy's up on the ship!" Kendall shouted and glared at the Prince, redirecting all her anger at him, allowing Koda time to rest. "The person I love most, just a little, innocent kid is up on Sledge's ship, and you want to wait until we maybe get six energems back before we pull her out."
"We can't trade the graphite and purple energems..."
"Watch me."
"Ms. Morgan, you're letting yourself be controlled by your emotions. Cammy is with Chase. Until we figure something else out, I'm sure he'll keep her safe."
"So you want to leave her up there?"
"We can't," Tyler shook his head. "There's no way we're going to let Chase or Cammy sit up on that ship any longer than they have to..."
"Thank you," Kendall breathed a sigh of relief, but Tyler wasn't done.
"However, Ms. Morgan, the Prince is right. We can't give up two energems."
"We'll give up one," Riley smiled. "One energem, and one fake. With any luck, Sledge will be so excited he's got eight, he won't realize he's been tricked."
"With the remaining energem, someone goes up on the ship, retrieves any energems up there and gets Chase and Cammy out," Tyler finished.
"I will go up on the ship," the Prince offered, but Kendall shook her head.
"If the Get-Bot's up there, it may have some energems. If that's the case, I'll need to unlock it."
"I can bring the Get-Bot down for you."
"I can give Chase his energem," Kendall argued. "If I go, there can be two Rangers. If you go, even with Chase, you're alone."
"Three Rangers," Koda offered himself. "If energems on ship, Koda feel stronger. Help Kendall save friends."
"Four Rangers," Tyler said.
"Six," Ivan and Shelby added, then they both nudged Riley.
"Yeah, yeah, seven," he nodded. "I was just thinking... are we sure we can get the energems while we're up there."
"We're going to have to."
"So I face Sledge alone with a fake energem?" the Prince asked. Kendall looked to him hopefully, wishing he would agree to the plan. While her thoughts were solely on Cammy, she did want to be sure the Prince was comfortable with what he was getting into. She couldn't ask him to risk his life if he felt scared. She could be angry with him, and forever would be, but she wouldn't push him.
"Phillip, please..."
"I'll do it," he nodded. "I just want to be sure I know what I will be doing. And how I will explain your absence to Sledge."
"I can't watch," Kendall shook her head. "It'll be the truth. If we actually had to do the trade... I'd never be able to watch what happened. I've spent over a year trying to find and protect the energems. Handing them over... even for Cammy just doesn't feel right."
"But don't give up the energems right away," Shelby warned the Prince. "We'll need time."
"Not much, though," Kendall said. "If we take the PlesioZord up to the ship, we'll be there in no time. Once we're on, whatever aliens come our way..."
"Destroy," Koda said, smacking his hands together.
"Worse come to worse, I'll take the PteraZord," Ivan said. "If we trigger an alarm, it'll keep some attention on me. This way, should the Prince fail to keep Sledge distracted long enough, they'll have to go through me before they get to the rest of you."
"Ms. Morgan, you can focus on finding Cammy and Chase, if they're still on the ship," Tyler suggested. "The rest of us will find the Get-Bot. That way, if we can't get it back to you in time to morph, we can at least take it back to the PlesioZord and meet you, Chase and Cammy there."
"Sounds like a plan," Kendall nodded her head.
