Race to Destiny
Chapter 5
Miracles do Happen
As the crew of the ill fated Megaship looked up at the turbulent skies they spotted some burning wreckage of their ship falling through the atmosphere. The feeling of hopelessness they were left with was thick enough to cut with a knife as they saw their only mode of transportation crash and burn.
"We came so far", Tenaya distantly, "And for nothing."
"We'll figure it out", Scott said as he sat next to his wife and put and arm around her.
"So what's the next step?", Summer asked, "We have to find a way off this planet."
"First thing we should do is start walking", Dillon said as he pointed on a direction, "I saw some debris fall in that direction, and maybe there's something over there that we can use."
"DECA", Justin said, "Can you lead us to the debris."
"Affirmative", DECA replied as the computer console opened a panel on each side and extended treads. The computer started rolling towards the direction that Dillon had pointed to earlier.
At Ranger Ops Tommy sat in a dazed stance as he stared at the computer screens. These were people who had put their lives on the line to save the planet, and the thought of them being killed like this was too much to bear. It was true that many rangers had been killed during the Venjix invasion, but this hit closer to home for him than the others did. He didn't even flinch as Kimberly place a blanket on his shoulder and a cup of coffee on the table next to him. She ran her fingers across the dent that his fist had left some time earlier.
"Zordon wouldn't be happy to know that you dented his computer", she said with a small smile hoping to get some reaction from her husband of fourteen years.
Tommy glared right at her and scoffed, "Zordon... Zordon was the first casualty in this never ending war. He was like a father to us, and now I feel like I've lost my own children."
"I know how you feel", she said, "Over the last couple of years we've really formed a close knit bond with all the rangers, but we'll continue on like we always do."
"And what do we do when this Abbadon guy shows up? They were our best hope", he said sadly.
"Maybe so", Kim said, "But they were not our only hope. We'll be ready, and we'll save the world again."
"Not that there's much world to save anymore", Tommy said, "Venjix was our first real failure. He ran the world into the ground for over two years, and we won't even get a chance to rebuild before we're at it again."
"Come on", Kim said tugging him on the arm, "Let Hayley take over here, and come spend the day with your wife and children."
"Yeah", he said as he allowed himself a small smile, "You're right."
Tommy took his wife by the arm and started towards the door. Just as he was about to hit the button to open it, the console started beeping. Ignoring his the pleading look from his wife Tommy walked back over to the computer to investigate. Instantly a gleam appeared in his eye as he looked at his wife.
"Go get Andros", he said, "He'll want to see this."
In his dark room Abbadon sat. He sat dreaming, planning, and waiting. His plans were well on their way to restoring his long lost power and leading him to victory over his greatest defeat... Earth. He reveled in the fact that at one time he was feared across the cosmos until he set his sights on earth. How he was unjustly stripped of his power and imprisoned for eternity. He would still be rotting in that hole if his highest general and closest friend had not come for him. Once he had attained the power of the frozen star he would decimate the planet and reconquer the universe.
After what seemed like days, the rangers came upon a large smoldering hulk from what used to be their ship. After a few minutes it was clear that there wasn't anything usable that had survived the crash.
"At least it's shelter", Dillon said as he entered the hulk, "Looks like what's left of the bridge."
"Cam", Justin said as he inspected the damage, "Do you think you might be able to salvage some if the equipment?"
"Doubtful", Can said, "But we'll never know if we don't try."
Darkness began to fall as Trent and Dillon took up guard positions so the others could get some much needed sleep. Cam and Tenaya went to work stripping everything they could from the scorched consoles and assessing what they were able to salvage.
"I'm surprised", Tenaya said, "A lot of this wiring is in good shape."
"Designed that way", Cam said as he climbed out from under a console, "The consoles are reinforced so that in the event of a fire or other incident on the ship a majority of it's operations could be salvaged on the fly."
"Kind of like inner and outer hulls on a ship", Tenaya responded, "If the outer hull is breached you still have the inner hull to protect you."
"Pretty much", Cam grunted out as he climbed back under the console.
"What do you mean they could be alive?" Doctor K asked incredulously, "If they were I should be able to pick up their signatures in the Biofield."
"I doubt it through all the Trizarian interference", Andros replied, "We did however get confirmation that the ship emergency evacuation protocol was activated moments before the explosion."
"So it's possible that they made it out of the ship", Doctor K confirmed, "I hope I get something soon or we may be in trouble."
"We'll keep you informed of anything we find", Tommy said politely as he closed the communication and turned to Andros, "If they're alive that means they were either stranded or captured. We need to locate them, and we need to do it quickly."
Dillon walked outside once the sun had come up. At some point in time he and Trent had decided that there wasn't enough life on this rock to worry about, so they went inside leaving DECA in charge of guard duty. He spotted Cam and Tenaya wiring up some kind of odd looking contraption to DECA and walked over to them.
"What exactly are you two doing?" he asked.
"We think we've found a way to use DECA to send a distress signal", Cam responded.
"Correct me if I'm wrong", Dillon said, "But wouldn't that bring the bad guys to us?"
"Enemies, allies, it really doesn't matter", Cam said, "The point is that it should bring someone here. We'll deal with who shows up when that happens."
"Besides", Tenaya added, "We have no food or water, and there doesn't seem to be anything useful around. If we don't get someone here soon, we won't survive very long."
"Point taken", Dillon answered.
Justin emerged from the hulk and inspected the work Tenaya and Cam had done, "Good luck", he said jokingly. "First order of business", he said, "Dillon, Summer, and I will do some scouting and see if we can't find any water or something we could eat."
On the bustling bridge of a starship a console started beeping. The lieutenant manning the station looked over the incoming distress signal before contacting his commanding officer who was resting in his quarters. A few moments later the agitated face of the commander of the ship appeared on his screen.
"This had better be good Lieutenant", his commander said sternly.
"We've picked up a distress signal Commander", the officer reported.
"Source", The Commander ordered.
"Lyxien Four", came the response.
"We'll have to let it go. We're too damaged to try and venture back into Troobian space at the moment", the Commander said sadly.
"Yes sir", the Lieutenant answered, "It was just that the signal had a very unique base code."
"Let me see it", the Commander said as a series of numbers appeared on his screen. His ears perked up as he read the code and instantly recognized the sequence, "Set a course for the Lyxien system, maximum speed", he ordered as he grabbed his uniform top and left his quarters.
Doctor K sat at her computer waiting for her scans to reveal anything. Four of her Ranger Operators were trapped out there, and she was going to find a way to help them. Sitting on the diagnostic table Ziggy watched he former boss and now fiance work the controls looking for their friends. The chocolates he had bought her to help comfort her were gone and she a placed the box on the shelf along with her favorite pencil as she struggled to find them.
"I don't get it", she said clearly frustrated.
"What?" Ziggy asked as his attention snapped back to what was going on.
She grunted slightly, "I can't pick up their morpher signals. We know they got out of the ship, but I can't locate them.
"Don't worry", Ziggy said, "You'll find them. In the meantime, I know what you need."
Dr. K squealed in protest as Ziggy picked her up and carried her out of the lab. He sat her on the sofa and pulled out his trusty flashlight for one of his famous shadow puppet shows.
Dillon, Justin, and Summer made their way back to the campsite empty handed as the sun went down. No matter where they went, all they found were dried out creek beds and dead vegitation.
"Nothing, we found absolutely nothing", Summer said as everyone watched them walk up.
"Then we had better hope someone shows up and soon", Cam said, "Otherwise we would have survived that crash for nothing."
As everyone was winding down for the evening they heard a loud sound coming from outside the hulk. They went to investigate and found themselves watching a shuttle land. The shuttle was white and had what looked like a police shield and had the head of a dog in it.
"I wonder what S.P.D. means", Summer whispered to her husband.
"Hopefully it means that they'll get us the hell out of here", He responded cautiously.
The door opened and two soldiers stepped out holding guns as what appeared to be a six and a half foot tall, blue dog emerged.
"Greetings", it said, I am Anubis Cruger, commander of the Space Patrol Delta ship Freedom. We got your distress signal."
"Rescued by a talking dog", Tenaya said silently to herself.
'I'm sure you have many questions", Commander Cruger said lightly, "But they can wait until we get you safely out of Troobian space."
Nodding in unison, the rangers gathered up what little they had and along with DECA followed Curger into the shuttle to once again take off for the stars.
Crystal Oliver was just finishing her shift for the evening as the communication system came up. Tommy, Kim, Jason, and Andros stood straight up and the faces of their rangers filled the main screen.
"This is Justin calling Ranger Operations. Ranger Operations are you receiving us?"
"We're receiving you", Tommy said, "And I've never been so glad to see you. Are you all alright?"
"We're fine Dr. O", Trent said, "And we made some new friends."
Kim gasped as the face of Anubis Cruger appeared on the screen, "Greetings", he said, "I am Commander Cruger of the Space Patrol Delta ship Freedom.
"Space Patrol Delta?" Kim asked.
"It's an intergalactic police force", Cruger said proudly, "We render aid and preserve peace in the galaxy."
"That's great", Tommy said happily, "Thank you for rescuing my people."
"No thanks needed", Cruger said, "You've got quite the group here, and if I may they had quite a story to tell."
"This planet's had a turbulent past couple of years", Tommy said.
"So it would seem", Cruger remarked, "We're on out way back to headquarters to get these fine people a ship to continue their journey on, and I'm personally going to be bringing a ship to Earth to aid in the rebuilding of your planet."
"As much as we appreciate it", Tommy said, "It does beg the question. What are you looking for in return?"
Cruger smirked as he looked into his screen, "Like I said earlier, we render aid. We require no payment, all we ask is that you allow us planetside to assist."
"Agreed", Tommy said, "We await your arrival."
A/N: Hope you enjoyed this latest chapter. Now that the ranger are at it again, what do you think will be their next hurdle? As always, please read and review.