"We'll be meeting Colonel Scott and the rest of Eagle Squadron at the site. With your help, we can find more information about Ziggy and this...Stella," Lt. Hicks remarked.
Dr. K nodded mutely as she gazed out at the worn-down roads of Omega City.
The jeep lumbered on cautiously. Even though it had been years since Venjix was defeated, Omega City was left largely in ruins. Only criminals would dare seek refuge in a place where Venjix had left many traps. Landmines dotted the place to prevent future incursion by Rangers after they infiltrated Venjix-controlled Omega City.
Suddenly, her tablet computer gave a warning beep. Someone was hacking her.
Dr. K frowned and her fingers deftly raced across her tablet screen, performing a counter-hack.
In moments, the screen revealed a sprawl of numbers. Dr. K drew a sharp breath. She recognized that source code anywhere.
"It's Venjix."
"Venjix? Impossible!" Lt. Hicks exclaimed as he took his eyes off the road to stare at the tablet computer.
"Look out!"
Suddenly a mound of dirt erupted from the ground and flipped the jeep over. Dr. K and Lt. Hicks were thrown out of the jeep. Dr. K fell straight onto the pavement with a bone-crunching sound. She tried to get up. Her leg hung limply. Broken. Lt. Hicks was nowhere to be seen.
A massive robot towered over them. It looked like a giant version of a badly-made Grinder.
It picked up the jeep and crushed it in its fist. It shifted its gaze towards Dr. K. She began scrambling and tried to crawl away from the giant Grinder. A giant hand closed over her
Dr. K squeezed her eyes shut in terror. She waited for the end.
But it did not come.
She opened her eyes and saw that the Grinder had stopped. It had
There was a pneumatic hiss and the Red Ranger climbed out of the cockpit and staggered towards Dr. K.
"Ziggy?" She whispered weakly. Her broken leg made it hard for her to get up.
He dropped a rucksack full of holotapes and collapsed to the ground. There was a flash of light and Ziggy lay spread-eagled on the ground.
Dr. K crawled up to him and checked his vitals. He was unconscious but breathing. Then she noticed another thing. Ziggy looked normal.
The robot slurred.
"MA- MA."
Dr. K shrieked.
The Grinder's eyes glowed crimson. It scooped her up and lumbered off, leaving the unconscious Ziggy behind.
Lt. Hicks crawled out of the hole he was hiding in and pressed his communicator.
"Dr. K has been taken. I repeat. Dr. K has been taken. We need the Eagle Squad. Over."
"Roger that, Gem and Gemma will be on their way. Over."
"Send the MPs. I have Ziggy in custody. Over and out."
Lt. Hicks looked at the rucksack of holotapes that Ziggy was carrying. One holotape looked far older than the rest.
It was an audio recording.
Lt. Hicks hit the play button.
Ziggy: Stella, here are the holotapes that you guys requested. Where are the rest? I thought they were coming?
Unknown woman: The other four -[long pause] Sorry, the others had to... Never mind about that. Have you got more information for us?
Ziggy: Did anything happen to Dr. K while I was gone?
Unknown man: It's bad. The Scorpion Cartel gave Sherrinford the video of Dr. K interacting with Venjix. She doesn't have much time. You know what happens if the whole world knows what she did.
Ziggy: I know that. I've been working with you for the past three months and ... there's too many things to do. I can't find whatever it is you are looking for to exonerate her. I don't even know where to look.
Unknown woman: [tsk] The job is simple, Mr. Grover. All you need to do is to go to the Alphabet Soup bases in Omega City and grab every piece of data and pass them to us... If something can exonerate Dr. K, it will be in there.
Ziggy: You tell me they are making plans to set up a committee to charge and execute her for treason. But why? Wasn't Mason Truman's pardon enough?
Unknown man[to the Unknown woman]: You are from Legal. You explain it to him
Unknown woman: I don't know much about international humanitarian law especially since a handful of lawyers are left after Venjix destroyed the world. But whatever pardon Mason Truman issued would not be able to shield her. Can you imagine the public anger if they knew that the creator of Venjix lives? They would lynch her and tear down your school.
Ziggy: Why won't you do more for her? You went to our school. She was your teacher.
Unknown woman: That is why we got you. No one in the government can be trusted. Especially after we found out that Lt. Hicks was a part of them.
Ziggy: Hicks is a part of Sherrinford? I knew him from my Ranger days! Why would he -
Unknown man: Be a part of Sherrinford? Be a part of a secret cell within the Army? I can give you one reason: Outing Dr. K will lead to the impeachment of President Mason Truman and oust him from power.
Ziggy: What about you guys? Why should I trust you?
Unknown man: Simple, Sherrinford is our enemy. The enemy of my enemy ...
Ziggy: Is my friend. Alright, fine I will keep you posted when I get something. Same time at the next dropsite?"
Unknown woman: Sure
[Sound of Door closing]
Unknown woman: KC, should we even have engaged a civilian to do this job? Shouldn't we have told him what Sherrinford was really after?
Unknown man: You underestimate him. Ziggy has both the capability and the motivation for this mission. He faced down a cartel and was a part of the Rangers. I don't think he lacks the resourcefulness. Also, he obviously has feelings for Dr. K. He feels so inferior to her, with her being the genius and him being the clown who often messes up and needs her to help him out. Of course, he'll seize this chance to do anything for her, even if it means throwing away his life in the process. Moreover...
Unknown woman: I know. I know… Plausible Deniability. If he gets caught. Nothing he does gets tied back to Eurus. We will deny everything that he says. But isn't it cruel to play chess with people's lives? What if Ziggy dies? Can you imagine what it would do to people who care about him? What if we find nothing to exonerate Dr. K?
Unknown man: If it happens, it is a risk we have to take. We already got Scott to keep the morphers under lock and key. But we cannot let those designs fall into Sherrinford's hands. I shudder to think if the designs of the Rang-[sharp inhalation]
[sound of door opening]
Ziggy: Haha! Sorry! My mistake I left my bag behind. I'll be out of your hair soon enough.
Unknown woman: No problem. Just do your best Ziggy.
Lt. Hicks smiled.
He pressed his communicator again.
"This is Hicks. I know something about the group who have been thwarting our plans. They are called Eurus and one of their members is Stella, who is a student from Dr. K's school."
Lt. Hicks dropped the holotape on the ground and crushed it under his foot with a satisfied look on his face.
Dr. K woke up to the sound of machines beeping.
She was in a dim room and she could smell the acrid smell of machine oil.
She looked down and saw that her leg was put in a splint.
"Good morning, Mother."
