CHAPTER 1
ONE YEAR LATER
Listen carefully, okay? We don't have a lot of time…
It started 3 years ago. The World Internet Federation reported the appearance of an aggressive new computer worm, The Venjix Virus. A year later, it was estimated that Venjix had already infected 37% of the country's computer systems. By then, it was too late. Venjix took control of the country's communication, power, and defense systems. It built armies of advanced robotic soldiers that laid waste to everything in their path. There was no stopping them, and Venjix declared victory.
"I am Venjix. Your world is now my world. And your time is now over!"
But it's not over. Not yet.
If you can hear my voice, please go now to the Domed City of Corinth. It's the only place we can be safe. But you have to make it inside the city walls before the defense shield is activated.
Please, hurry.
A single tree stood silently and motionless in the center of Briarwood Park. A slight breeze picked up, blowing clumps of dead leaves about. A bright light flashed as a figure stepped out of the tree's trunk.
Nick Russell gave a slight shake of his head. "That was weird," he muttered. He was referring to the random route he had taken to get there. He was trying to get to the tree located across from the Rock Porium, but the path there hadn't worked. In fact, he had bounced around several times before finding this one.
He turned around to face the direction of the town and stopped. He knew it was going to be bad, but the sight of a war-torn Briarwood still shocked him. The whole area looked worse than when Imperious used Jenji to make it so that the rangers didn't exist. At least this time there was still color.
A moment later the tree, now the only one left standing in the park, flashed again. Nick took on a defensive position, but relaxed when he saw it was Clare who stepped out and looked around.
"Nick!" she exclaimed, rushing over and grabbing his arm. "There you are-let's go, cousin!" He hadn't even managed a greeting before she all but pulled him into the tree.
There was no abnormal flashing this time, and they travelled straight to Rootcore.
"Well," Clare said cheerfully as they stepped out, right in front of the entrance of the magical tree. "Here we are! Hi!" she suddenly threw her arms around him.
"Hi!" he managed to gasp. He was just as excited to see her, but hadn't anticipated a suffocating hug. "How are you, Clare?"
"I'm good! I mean, kind of good. As good as I could be. Physically, I'm good. Psychologically, a little messed up, but who isn't? How are you?!" she suddenly stepped back and held his shoulders at arms length. "Are you okay?! Was it bad getting here? Did anything give you any trouble?"
"I'm fine," he gave a slight laugh. He had expected nothing less than this concerned franticness from her. "There was a slight nuisance getting through, but I'm fine all the same."
"A slight nuisance?!" she panicked. "What kind of slight nuisance?"
He glanced over to the entrance of Rootcore. "Can I tell you later?" he asked, almost pleadingly.
"Yeah, yeah!" Clare exclaimed. "Of course you can! Silly me, you'll want to see everyone, your parents, Chip and Xander, Madison-"
"Maddie's here?" Nick interrupted. "When did that happen? I thought she was in the human realm?"
"Oh, there was an issue with the safe house in Angel Grove."
"What kind of issue?"
"It wasn't safe anymore."
"That's a good reason," Nick muttered as they made their way inside. "Is everyone okay?"
Clare's face took on a solemn expression. "We lost a few."
"Damn."
"Yeah. But everyone else got out fine." Clare nodded as they entered Rootcore. "Those who didn't stay to help in the human realm are all staying here now, so I'm just warning you it might be a wee bit crowded-"
"NICK!"
Nick suddenly found himself being swarmed by a group of people who were shaking his hand, patting him on the back, or hugging him, saying how glad they were to see him.
"Alright, make way, give him some room." Leanbow gently pushed through the mass of color to stand in front of Nick. "Hello, son."
"Dad," Nick said almost breathlessly, before rushing forward to embrace him.
"Aww!" chorused several of the female rangers.
"Come in, come in!" Leanbow said, realizing they were still crowded in the entrance. "Your mother has been worried; we should probably go find her before anything else. And you can't come with us," he addressed the small crowd behind them.
"Aww," a few of them commented, disappointed this time.
As they were walking across the room towards the staircase on the other side, Nick had the feeling that he was being watched.
You're being ridiculous, Russell. He thought to himself. There are a dozen people in this room looking at you.
But some instinct had him looking up toward the balcony above the staircase Leanbow was leading him towards, and he couldn't help but smile. Leaning over the balcony, her elbows resting on the railing as she smiled shyly down at him, was Madison.
Before he could do anything but smile back, he was distracted by someone rushing down the stairs.
"Nick!"
"Xander! How are yo-Oof!"
"Nick! It's so good to see you!" Xander exclaimed, practically tackling his former leader as he bear-hugged him. "How are you doing, mate? You okay?"
"I'm…fine!" Nick stuttered as Xander lifted him off the floor. "Can't breathe!"
"Oh, right," Xander said, releasing him. "Sorry. Just glad you're okay."
"I'm good," Nick whimpered. "I survived out there just to get asphyxiated by my friends when I get back. I am fantastic."
"You'll live," Xander said cheerfully, giving him a thump on the back. "Well, so long as you stay in this realm, anyway."
"Funny," Nick responded dryly as he rolled his shoulders in an effort to realign his spine. Out of the corner of his eye he saw movement at the balcony and was disappointed to see Madison walking away from the railing, and from the staircase they were about to ascend. He was brought back to the conversation by Leanbow, who clasped a hand on his shoulder.
"Let's get you to Udonna. Is she still…?" he asked Xander, who nodded. "Good. We'll see you later, Xander."
"Find me later," Xander said to Nick, before making his way to a small group of people dressed in green.
"Sure thing," Nick replied absently, glancing up at the now vacant balcony before climbing the stairs with Leanbow.
"When Clare found out someone was travelling by tree, we knew it might have been you," Leanbow said after they had gotten to the top and were walking down the hallway. "But even then Udonna couldn't get away long enough to come downstairs to greet you."
"Couldn't get away from what?" Nick asked.
"She's waiting for a call from Jason Scott," Leanbow started to explain, but before he could comment further the door they were approaching flew open and Udonna rushed through, almost running into them.
"Nick," she breathed. "You're back."
"Hi mom," Nick managed to say evenly as her eyes started to tear up.
"Here we go," Leanbow muttered with amusement.
"Shut up, you," Udonna said as she reached out to hug Nick. "I am so glad you got home safe. How are your parents?"
"They're fine, last I saw them," he said as they pulled apart. "Has anything happened in Peru since I left it?"
Udonna shook her head. "We have been checking in, and there has been nothing suspicious. We are waiting for Jason and the rangers in the human realm to call us right now," Udonna said, just as an alarm sounded.
Udonna apologetically patted his arm before returning to the room. Glancing around her, Nick saw a table that a man in black was standing at, and Nick recognized him immediately as Tommy Oliver. He saw Madison was also in the room, sitting in front of a row of smaller screens. Next to her was a man in blue who was listening to something on headphones and fiddling with a dial.
"I've got a clear signal," the man in blue called to the room in general.
"Confirmed," a second man in blue called back from the other side of the room. There was a tense pause before he exclaimed, "It's them!"
"Well, put them on," Udonna said patiently as everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief. A man's face appeared on a big screen that was set up on the wall opposite of the door.
"Hello Mystic Realm!" Jason Lee Scott, original red ranger, exclaimed. "It has been far too long."
"Good to see you, bro," Tommy replied. "How's everything over there?"
"Dull, except for a few minutes ago when our tree alert went bonkers. We got a reading from Briarwood. It was ranger."
Tommy nodded. "That was Nick."
"Nick..." Jason mused. "The Light guy?"
"One and only."
As they were talking, Leanbow gently nudged Nick to the back of the room. "I have to be getting back to the forest," he explained quietly. "I'm sorry I can't stay longer to talk with you..."
"That's okay," Nick said, clearing his throat to cover his hesitation. "What are you doing out there?"
"Just meeting with representatives of the different tribes in this realm," Leanbow replied casually, not wanting to burden Nick with anything. "I should be back later tonight. Do me a favor," he added with a twinkle in his eye. "And tell your mother not to worry about me."
"Yeah, right, 'cause she'll totally believe that," Nick pointed out sarcastically. Leanbow smiled, patted Nick's shoulder one last time, and left the room. When he was gone, Nick turned to look around the room, and his attention was brought to a movement by the side wall. It was Madison.
She was saying something to the guys she was sitting next to, then got up and walked towards Nick as the guy took her seat. She inclined her head, indicating they should go outside the room. When they did and she closed the door behind them, they stood in the hallway for a few awkward moments.
"Hi," was all Madison could finally manage.
"Hi," was Nick's brilliant reply. "How are you?"
"Fine, fine. And you? Did you get here alright?"
"Yeah, I'm alright. The trees took me kind of out of the way to get here, but other than that..."
Madison nodded knowingly at his unasked question. "Some of the trees got destroyed in the invasion, or in battle. And some they cut down later when they figured out we were using the trees to travel."
"They?" Nick questioned.
"Yeah, they're like our hidiacs, or the original putties," she explained. "I think they're called...grinders! That's it! They're grinders."
Nick managed a small laugh. "Because they grind things?"
Madison also managed a smile. "Yeah...and they're made of gears. And gears grind, so..." she drifted off and the conversation died.
Nick awkwardly leaned against the wall. After a year apart, neither had planned their reunion going this way. Nick worked up the nerve to look at her, only to see her already staring at him.
"What?" he asked playfully so as to hide his self-consciousness.
"Hmm? Nothing!" she stuttered. "Nothing at all. I just...I just..."
Nick had grown up with an older sister; He recognized when tears were oncoming.
"Mads, what's wrong?"
She smiled at his use of her nickname-a nickname only he used-and she could barely contain herself. "Nothing's wrong, I just, well, I mean, everything's wrong, the world is going to hell and people are dying and I just..."
Nick couldn't help himself any longer. He took a few steps forward, and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. "Hey, it's okay," he whispered as she leaned into him.
"You're back," she murmured against his shoulder. "No one else has made it through the trees and I thought..." When her voice trembled he held on tighter.
"I'm fine," he muttered into her hair. But when she tightened her arms around his waist, she felt him wince. She instinctively pulled back, but he wouldn't let her go.
"You're hurt," she protested, and he loosened his hold on her only enough so that she could look up at him.
"I'll live," he repeated Xander's earlier observation, and couldn't resist running his knuckles down her cheek to reassure her. "It's not that bad," he explained lightly, but she still didn't look convinced. "I promise. And I'll go see Clare later, alright? She'll fix me."
"Well, what about now?" she persisted, stepping away. "I can walk with you."
"Ah..." he hesitated, then glanced at the door next to them. "If you don't mind, I'd rather wait...I want to know if they hear anything about Peru, first," he admitted.
She nodded in understanding. "Your adoptive parents are there."
"Yeah, with Andrew and Mack Hartford. I just need to know."
She nodded again. "I get it."
"What about your parents?" Nick asked curiously. "I heard that ranger families were being targeted, too..." he cut off as Madison's expression hardened. "Oh. Are they...?"
When she spoke it was very softly. "We were all together at the safe house-the old command center-in Angel Grove. But then we were compromised and had no other option but to use the trees to come here. Daggeron was in charge of getting us all here...mom and dad didn't make it," she was practically whispering now. "Neither did Xander's parents, or his sisters, but his brother made it through. But...Chip's mom died. And so did-" she abruptly cut off and couldn't meet his eye.
"So did who, Maddie?"
"Daggeron. Daggeron didn't make it."
"God damnit," Nick muttered, and he lightly kicked the wall behind him. "What about my sister? Was she ever with you?"
"Not in Angel Grove," Madison explained. "She was visiting Toby at the Rock Porium the day of The Cape. LeeLee got her out to the Mystic Realm. She's been safe here ever since."
They were silent for a minute while Nick digested this. "That day," he said slowly. "You were at The Cape."
"Yes," she replied, even though he hadn't asked it as a question.
"How did you survive?"
She shook her head as if frustrated. "We still haven't figured that out. Some of the older rangers think we were all teleported out at the last second, but none of us were really paying attention to how we got from one place to the other so quickly. And we didn't all end up at the same place either; Rose, Xander, Billy, the Olivers, and the Rowlings' ended up here at Rootcore. Trini, Vida and I landed in the human realm, just outside of Angel Grove. And some of us got split up; Leo was with Kendrix at the time, but he came here and she's still in the human realm."
"How is Vida?" Nick asked cautiously, noticing that his pink ranger wasn't mentioned when Madison was listing off the fate of the other Mystic rangers' families. "Have you heard from her?"
"Yes, actually, she was going to meet with Matoombo a few days ago."
"Matoombo? Really?"
"Supposedly, but we haven't spoken to the rangers in the human realm since then, so we still haven't heard how it went. That's one of the things Udonna is going to ask in there," she gestured to the door."
"And the rangers in the human realm...how are they?"
"Most of them are here now," Madison explained, and she sounded relieved. "After the safe house was compromised we've been trying to get everyone here as best we can. There are only sixteen that we know of left in the human realm, and another nine that we haven't been able to locate. Plus your parents. And Carter and Dana's daughters, but we're presuming the four of them are together."
She shrugged as he tilted his head sideways at her. "I have a list," she explained.
"'Course you do," he shook his head knowingly, but looked startled as the ground beneath them suddenly shook. "Whoa...what was that?"
"That's just Fireheart," Madison said, not at all surprised. " Maybe after you see Clare you could go see him," she suggested innocently.
"Why?" he asked suspiciously.
"He misses you. It's kinda cute, if you look past the big, whiny, dragon part."
"Seriously?" Nick asked in amazement. "It's not like he was specifically attached to me to begin with, Clare is his best friend. All he needs are people, really."
"Yeah..." Madison said slowly. "About that..."
"What?"
"Not a whole lot of people go to see him. Chip is busy training the knights, and Xander's actually taken to baby-sitting the kids, believe it or not. It's usually just me because Clare's been busy with protection spells, and tracking spells, and healing spells, and whatever else we need a magical sorceress for."
"Why doesn't anyone else go see him?"
"Not too many of the others want to go visit a dragon."
"Why not?"
"Because he's a dragon."
"So?"
"So he's kind of intimidating," Madison said amusingly. "And this is the first time other rangers have been to the mystical realm. They're not used to all this magic stuff."
"Have you been taking care of him all by yourself?" Nick asked, taking a step closer to her.
"Yes," she said softly, slightly nervous at how close he was getting to her again. "There wasn't that much else for me to do, other than help with the occasional call to the human realm, or to organize where everybody is."
"Maddie?" he interrupted, gently placing a hand on her arm.
"What?" she managed to whisper.
"Thank you," he said softly.
"No problem."
"I mean it. You didn't have to do that. Really, you didn't," he added when she tried to interrupt. "He can take care of himself. He's just a big baby."
Before she could answer, there was a commotion behind the door and Nick stepped away from her.
"Ah, you are still here," Udonna said as she walked out, followed by Tommy, Billy, and Ethan. Udonna didn't waste any time. "Madison, your sister was able to make contact with Matoombo, but it was a trap."
"Is she okay?"
"She's fine," Tommy said, stepping around them. "So are Kai and Kendrix; they made it to The Domed City."
"But…" Madison pressed, seeing that something else was bothering him. Tommy looked at Billy.
"We'll meet in the main room in an hour, where we'll update everyone."
"Where's he off to in a hurry?" Nick asked after Tommy left.
"He has to find Angela," Billy said softly.
"Who's Angela?"
Billy didn't look at Nick as he answered, but instead his gaze lingered with Madison's for a long moment. "She's Zack's widow. Excuse me, I have to find Leo."
"Oh," Nick said after Billy also walked away. "Well."
"But, Kai and Kendrix made it to The Domed City," Udonna also looked at Madison, though she spoke to both of them. "Would you update our lists, please? But don't tell anyone. Tommy will in an hour." Now she turned to Nick. "Also, so far there is no news of anything going on in Peru, but the human realm rangers will keep a look out. They said they are not going to leave the realm until they know everyone is safe. Well," she clapped her hands together, though not entirely cheerfully. "I told Tommy I would help him speak with Angela. Can we have dinner after that? I would like to catch up with you."
"Actually, I'm really tired. I feel like just crashing," Nick lied, hoping Madison wouldn't say anything about his promise to go see Clare about the ache in his side. "Can we talk tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow, then. And do not think you can get out of having a meal and conversation with your mother," she said before he could object.
"Alright, alright. Tomorrow."
"Good. I will see you then."
"You do look positively exhausted," Madison commented dramatically after Udonna left.
"I didn't want her to worry," Nick explained defensively.
"Right," Madison said, though a smile was tugging at her lips. "Come on," she took a step down the hall and indicated he should follow her. "I'll walk you to Clare."
"I wasn't totally lying, you know," he stubbornly stated, though he did walk after her. "I am tired."
"Yeah, because you got in a fight," Madison pointed out.
"How did you know about that?"
"You mean, how did I guess why you're in pain when I knew there was a possibility you had to fight through an army of robots just to touch a tree to get here?" She turned and looked at him pointedly.
"You know," he said after a moment. "You're too smart for your own good. And really, I'm fine. I can see Clare tomorrow."
But Madison had one more card to play. "Andrea's there."
Nick stopped short at the mention of his sister. "Andrea's where?"
"With Clare. In the hospital wing. But she's fine!" she hastily added. "It's just a broken arm, and she wasn't even in a fight. It was an accident."
Something in the way Madison said it had Nick narrowing his gaze suspiciously as he looked over at her. "What happened to her?"
"She broke her arm," Madison repeated.
"Uh-huh," he folded his arms at her lack of a straight answer. "And, how exactly did she do that?
"Playing Frolf."
"Frolf?" he looked confused while he thought it over, but then he figured it out. "Frolf as in...Frisbee-golf? She broke her arm playing Frisbee-golf?"
Madison nodded solemnly. "You should see the other guy."
If Madison hadn't spent the last few months getting to know Andrea Russell, she would have been surprised by Nick's laughter. Instead, she smiled with him.
"Your sister is quite the interesting character."
"Yeah, Andy's a hoot," Nick snickered as they approached the staircase. He was relieved to see that everyone had cleared out of the entrance of Rootcore. "So what did happen to the other guy?"
"Gash in the head," Madison said casually as they made their way to the corridor that led to their makeshift hospital. "Minor concussion. Andrea wanted to spin the memory loss angle, but she just wanted to pull Spencer's leg on that one."
"Spencer?" Nick questioned. "Overdrive's Spencer?"
"Yeah, Clare's doing healing potions for fevers and pains, but she doesn't actually know how to set bones or anything like that. Spencer was an army medic, did you know that?"
"No I did not," Nick replied. That hadn't come up in conversation in Peru when the Hartfords talked about their butler. Then Nick got an idea. "Do you think maybe you could go in first and see if just Spencer is in there? That way he can look at me and Clare won't have to worry about me, either," he explained when Madison looked over questioningly at him.
"You just don't want a fuss made over you," she pointed out.
"Just, will you do it?" he practically pleaded. "Please? I'll owe you."
"Fine," she pretended to huff as they came to a doorway. "Stay here."
As he waited outside she stepped into the room and did a quick sweep. "Madison!" he heard a familiar voice say, and his breathing unexpectedly caught in his throat.
Andrea.
"Hey, Andrea," Madison replied. "Is Clare here?"
"Nope, but Spencer's in the back room. Is he good enough for you?"
"I heard that!" a muffled British voice called out.
"Yeah, he'll do," Madison replied, and Nick could her that she was smiling. "Hey, before I talk to him, though, I have a surprise for you."
"Ooh, chocolate?"
"Better than that," Madison muttered amusedly as she pulled open the door and gave Nick the all clear.
"Porn?"
"Ah, no..."
"Well the only thing I can think of that's better than chocolate or porn is..." she trailed off as her little brother stepped into the room. "Nicky."
"Hey, Andy," he greeted, and the siblings grinned stupidly at each other before Andrea leaped up from the chair she was sitting on.
"LITTLE BROTHER!" She yelled, and jumped into his arms, just as Operation Overdrive's butler walked into the room.
"What are you doing?" Spencer accused as both Russells winced in pain. "Miss Andrea, back in that chair so I can change your cast. Now."
"Geesh, alright already," Andrea winked at Nick.
"Thank you ever so kindly," Spencer responded sarcastically. "Madison, what can I do for you? Is your head bothering you again?"
"No," Madison said a little too quickly. "I'm fine, it's Nick. He got hurt."
"Nick?" Spencer said idly as he slathered plaster onto Andrea's arm. "The Light guy?"
"Why does everyone keep calling me that?" Nick muttered.
"That's Nick-my-little-brother to you," Andrea said, proudly. "But what's wrong with you, Nicky?"
"Nothing bad," he said, instantly embarrassed to have them making a big deal out of it. "I'm just a little bruised from fighting some evil robots."
"I'll check you out in a moment, Nick-her-little-brother," Spencer said, still focused on Andrea's arm. "Are you quite sure you don't need anything Miss Madison?"
"Quite," Madison acknowledged, backing out of the room. "Actually, I'm going to get going...Tommy is getting everyone together for a meeting."
"Hey, Maddie," Nick quietly called after her when she was already in the hallway.
She barely had time to turn around and respond with "Yes?" before he had closed the distance between them, took her face in his hands, and kissed her.
"Thank you," he said when they finally took a breath. "Thanks for...I'm sorry," he pulled away when he saw the shocked expression on her face. "Sorry, I just had to...I missed you," he admitted honestly.
"That's okay. It's fine," she stammered. "That's perfectly...perfect..."
He cleared his throat, somewhat awkwardly. "Right." He was going to go back inside, but he had noticed something when he pushed her hair aside.
"What happened to your head?" he pointed to a wide cut just above her eyebrow.
"Huh?" Her hand automatically went to rub the slightly sore spot. "Oh. Um…Frolf."
"Frolf? Again?"
"Uh, yeah," Madison said guiltily. "Remember that 'other guy' I was telling you about? The one with the gash in the head and the minor concussion?"
Nick's mouth dropped open. "My sister cut open your head?" he asked incredulously.
"She didn't do it on purpose," Madison muttered defensively as the sound of voices carried down the corridor. They stood close together for a few more seconds, before Madison said, "Everyone's gathering so Tommy can tell them...I should go."
"Okay," Nick said, and softly brushed his lips against the bruise on her forehead. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"Yeah," she managed to whisper back. "See you tomorrow."
When Nick walked back into the room and closed the door behind him, he turned to see Andrea smirking at him.
"What?" he challenged.
"So," Andrea said conversationally. "You and Maddie, huh?"
Nick spared his big sister an exasperated look before rolling his eyes at her.
"Shut up."
A stunned silence met Tommy's sober announcement.
"Well fuck," Eric spoke up.
"Yeah," Tommy agreed with a sad smile. "Fuck. But we're making progress...Kai and Kendrix made it safely to the Domed City of Corn-"
"Corinth," Billy hissed from his spot next to Tommy.
"Corinth! That's what I said-I said Corinth!" Tommy tried to cover as most in the crowd managed feeble laughs. "Hardy-har-har," he rolled his eyes, secretly a little bit grateful that the group before him could still find reason to laugh. Even if it was at his expense. "Anyway, they're in the Domed City of Corinth to check out a few rumors."
"What kind of rumors?" Joel asked innocently. "Are all of the streets named after different kinds of crops, too?"
"Seriously, you guys are freaking hilarious," Tommy muttered, not too annoyed with his comrades in arms, but still wanting to finish up this meeting. "Anyway," he started again in a tone that indicated they should listen, and the room quieted. "The rumors that led Kai and Kendrix to Corinth were rumors about a new team of rangers."
Murmurs broke out all over the room. "We're waiting for more information to confirm, but for now, we're trusting them to do their job while we do ours. There are still sixtee-" he broke off, then shook his head and corrected himself as he remembered the fate of Zachary Taylor. "Fifteen. There are still fifteen rangers in the human realm that we know of for sure, plus the two who are in Corinth. There are another eleven we still need to locate, soon to be twelve. We all have assignments here, if you don't have anything to do, ask someone in our makeshift control room to give you a job. Understood?"
There was a chorus of agreement, and the sound of people standing to leave.
"Wait!" someone called out. "Hang on!"
Everyone looked over to the back of the room, where Angela Fairweather stood on a chair so she could be seen by Tommy.
"Who's number twelve?" she asked once the noise had dimmed down.
Tommy blinked. "Twelve what?"
"You said there were eleven people who are still missing, but it will soon be twelve," Angela pointed out. "Who's the twelfth person?"
Udonna, who was standing opposite Billy, leaned over and muttered something to Tommy.
"Oh yeah," the greatest ranger ever said. "Sorry, I forgot-"
"Typical," TJ joked, but Tommy ignored him.
"Dana is pregnant."
The reaction was almost explosive. The room erupted with cheers of joy. Once again, Tommy was glad to see that despite their dire situation, happiness could still be found.
"Alright, guys," he called as the noise level returned to normal and everyone stood up to leave. "Let's get to work. I want all of our people here safe."