Beyond the Blue Horizon

"Chapter" 2

Note: Thanks for the reviews. This would have been up sooner, but I have spent the last two days agonizing and tweeking the dad blasted text. Incidentally, the introductory chapter was the shortest chapter I have ever written! Not that you care-- just an interesting factoid. I have much planned, but tiny amounts of time (semester is drawing to a close and I have mucho homework for the next 5 weeks)… so be patient, please. Btw- "I DON'T OWN THE POWER RANGERS!"

Oh and, my dear Dr. Runyon… I have plans for thee! Mwhahahaa- we will see who ends up cursed here!

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Saturday afternoon dawned with the promise of peace, at least for now. Hayley traveled up to her friends home on the edge of Reefside. It was close enough to town to be convenient, but far enough out to be isolated. Isolation was key, given Tommy Oliver's double life.

As Hayley approached the home, she noticed that something was amiss. The flesh on the back of her neck crawled. His jeep was parked in the usual spot, but the outer entrance to Tommy's cellar was open… bringing fears of what other doors might be open. Cautiously, she descended the stairs.

"Tommy?" she called out. There was no answer.

The cellar was dark and the large door that lead to Tommy's lab was shut tight. Gaining access, she entered the chamber, only to find that nothing was out of the ordinary, except for the fact that Tommy was not there.

Worriedly, she climbed the stairs to find her uneasy feeling was justified. As she entered the kitchen, she stepped on a magnet that had once been on the fridge. Papers and pictures once secured to the fridge were scattered thought the kitchen.

It didn't end there, either.

Tommy's home was totally ransacked, chairs were scattered all over the kitchen and into the living room. The sleek glass coffee table had been reduced to shards, the metal arch base bent and scattered. The sheer curtains the landlady insisted stay up were ripped out of the wall. Oddly enough, Celeste's toy stash was scattered from it's usual place in the hall closet. The toys littered the hallway toward Tommy's room. It was there she made the discovery…

*******

Kara finished dressing as she looked at the clock. 2pm. Tommy should be there any second for them to go up to the university's new dino-dig. She knew that Tommy would be thrilled to see it. It hadn't been hard to get the head of UC-Reefside's Paleontology department to agree to allow Tommy access. He and Anton Mercer had worked with Dr. Runyon a few times previously and the older professor had great respect for her young colleague. Matter of fact, getting clearance was the easiest task Kara had accomplished at the university as of late.

In addition to the occasional subbing at both Reefside and Angle Grove High Schools, Kara worked in UC-Reefside's Biology department, where her recent PhD in Zoology came in handy. She also continued to do occasional work for Government research facilities, but nothing like what she had done while working toward her degree. One summer, her first as an government intern, she had been the go-to person for taxonomy and anatomy on a substantial investigation into alien activity and the phenomenon known as the Power Rangers. The investigation didn't yield much information, bu

The slight brunette had just finished tying her hiking boots as a knock at the door jolted her inner musings. Adjusting her army green shorts, she headed for the door.

"So, you actually showed on time!-- What is the point of giving you a key if you're not gonna use it!" she called out as she flung the heavy steel door open.

"You don't love me enough to give me a key and I am always on time!" came the reply from the other side of the door.

"Hayley," Kara exhaled, the color draining from her face, "Come in."

As she opened the door further, she realized that Hayley was not alone. Behind her stood three of Reefside High's students, ones that Kara knew to work closely with Tommy.

Taking notice of the fact the students wore the same colors every time she saw them, she stated quietly, "What's wrong? You don't come down here to make social calls, let alone show up with Power Rangers."

Conner stood in disbelief as "toughest sub in two school districts" just acknowledged that he and his two friends were Rangers. He had heard that she was intuitive… some of the students at Reefside swore she could read minds, but this was beyond insane.

"Hey!" Exclaimed Ethan

"How did you know?" Kira asked.

They all stood just inside her door, on small square of tile that marked the entry way. The room was large and open. Bright modern art decorated the white walls complimenting the bright furniture. Conner noticed that on the glass dining table sat a red toy microscope, several small vials and a notepad with scribbles on it.

"Easy, when you're not with Dr. Oliver, you're with Hayley… and the fact that you wear the exact same color scheme every day is kinda a give away, too. Now, out with it, Hayley… where is Tommy?" she asked, a nervous annoyance leaked from her words.

As she closed the door, Kara motioned them to the couch. One by one, they sunk into the deep, cranberry cushions. As he took his seat at the end of the couch, Conner noticed a framed photo containing Dr. O, a very pregnant, long haired Dr. K, another man who looked a little older than Dr. O and a young girl of about 8. The four stood in front of a Big Bend National Park sign.

Hayley leaned against the arm of an oversized denim chair. It rocked when she attempted to sit on the arm. Regaining her balance and her dignity, Hayley explained:

"I went to Tommy's about noon. He and I have been working on one of …. On an older project. I wanted to check up on it and I knew that he was supposed to go with you… I wanted to catch him. When I got there, the house was ransacked… Tommy was in his room, beaten and unconscious… I called an ambulance. They took him to the hospital…"

The Rangers and Hayley watched as Kara backed up against her wall, hard enough to disturb a picture collage of a blond haired, blue eyed baby girl. Weakly, she slid down the wall, to the white carpet, and placed her head in her hands. It was a moment before she spoke:

"Hayley, where is Celeste?"

"Tommy said she was at your Dad's."

"No,,No!…," came the panic, "Tommy-- he picked her up early this morning… she called him and said that Chelsea had been mean to her and that she wanted to explore the site with us… She was there, he had her.. I talked to her THERE."

"Kara, I'm sorry… she wasn't there."

"Did you look every where? Are you sure? She HAS to be there, Hayley… She is four years old! She can't just drive off!" she paused, "I can't go through this again!"

"Kara, she wasn't there." a lost look came over Hayley's face. She was unsure how to be of comfort to the helpless, tear-streaked heap on the living room floor.

"Meso- what ever the heck his name is… He took her, then." spat Kara from behind her hands.

Conner sat in a state of shock. Hayley had alerted him earlier that their leader had been beaten and Mesogog was behind it. He hadn't even stopped to change out of his soccer uniform… and now he was sitting on Dr. K's couch wondering just how much she knew about the Rangers, and dying to know why she thought he might have her daughter.

"Would someone mind telling us WHAT is going on?" Conner exclaimed.

Slowly Kara lifted her head to face the three teenagers on her couch. Before she could say anything, Hayley interrupted.

"Kara, we can't be sure that Mesogog took your daughter…"

"But, Hayley, we know he is behind it… Elsa's note.." Kira reminded.

"Note?" came a squeak from Kara, as she grasped at the possibility of answers.

"We didn't understand it." Ethan explained, "It said, 'Friends of the Heir Beware."

"It makes sense now, though, they wanted Celeste." Hayley stated.

"Or their Harry Potter book" joked Conner. His friends rolled their eyes.

"What exactly is Celeste the heir of, Dr. K?" Ethan asked, returning to business.

"Nothing in the sense of inheritance, really. It is more her lineage that would make her enticing to what-ever-his-name-is. The prospects of capturing the offspring of one of the original Power Rangers would definitely appeal to me in the given situation. Add in the fact that her uncle is currently leading the offensive that is hampering your quest for glaxian domination… and wonder why it has taken him this long to go after Celeste."

"You were a Ranger?" Conner asked in disbelief. Surely this woman who placed him in detention nearly every time she subbed, for whatever reason, was not one of his childhood heroes.

"No, her father was." Kara stated matter-of-factly, offering to go no further into the matter.

"And her uncle?" Kira prodded, knowing what answer was to come.

"Tommy, Dr. Oliver. He's my 'half-step' brother." she slightly smiled as she made the comment.

"Your 'half-step' brother?"

"Yeah. Tommy's mom gave him up for adoption when he was a baby, without my dad, who was married to my mom at the time, knowing. He didn't even have a clue that his affair resulted in a son… well, two actually. My dad later found out and tracked Tommy down about the time we graduated from high school. He met Tommy's adopted mom when he met Tommy, fell in love, married her, and bingo! We all get a baby sister. That's all us in the picture you've been ogling, Conner… David, Tommy, Me, and Chelsea. The 'half-step' brother was a joke we came up with the summer I was out here working for a government research agency."

"When you were an intern working on the "Government Survey into the Power Ranger Phenomenon." Ethan asked.

"Uh, yeah… How did you know…"

"Internet- You are the only surviving member of the investigation- the other six members, were part of a doomed NASA mission four years ago, when the project was reopened based on an increase of evil in the galaxy. NASA lost contact the crew not long after they finished their lunar exploration and headed toward deeper space. It was a total loss."

"I just love the Freedom of Information Act." Kara noted sarcastically.

"Why didn't you go, Dr. K?" Kira asked.

"They don't let 9-month pregnant ladies in space" Hayley answered for her. She smiled at Kara slightly.

"I wanted to go, badly. My husband went in my place… he really was the better choice. If anyone could advise the group on anything Ranger related… he could."

"But there wasn't a Ranger named Johansson on the video…" Kira commenting, thinking back to the video Dr. O had left them in his lab.

"You're right. Johansson is my maiden name. I still use it in the science world because I was already well known by Karris, or Kara, Johansson when I got married. My husband, Bill Cranston was the original Blue Ranger.

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