An Urgent Message From Triforia

Jason was tossing and turning for most of the night. Emily woke to find his forehead drenched in sweat. She shook him, expecting him to be in the thralls of one of his Iraq nightmares, but he didn't wake. He didn't shout out one of his signature cries that told her he was reliving the worst days of his life over and over.

"Jase, honey." She put her hand firmly against his cheek.

He rolled over, still shaking.

"Jason, wake up."

He was still unresponsive.

She stood up and went to the kitchen for a glass of water. When she came back he was sitting upright.

"Trey."

"What, honey?"

"Trey was just in my mind."

Emily handed him the water. "Why? How?"

Jason threw back the covers and went to the window. "I'm sorry, Em."

"Sorry? Jason, what happened?" She wrapped her arms around his waist. He was still shaking from the exertion of of what had just gone racing through his brain. This face was full of confusion.

"Triforia was just attacked. Trey warned me that a threat greater than any we've ever encountered is coming to Earth. I have to warn the others."

"I'm coming with you."

"No," he told her, turning around. "I have to warn the other Rangers alone. I'm not going to put you through what I fear is coming."

"I'm your wife, Jase, I'm coming with you." She stood firmly. "Whatever it is that you have to do I'll do with you."

Jason took her hand. "He was hurt, maybe fatally. He gave me this."

Emily looked down to see a tiny gold crystal in his palm.

"Is that..."

"My Zeo crystal, yes. I can barely feel the power within it." He hadn't seen his Zeo Crystal in what felt like a lifetime. Since he'd returned it to Trey of Triforia, he'd had a hard time regaining what he'd felt like a large piece of himself being ripped out savagely.

"If he gave you the crystal..."

"He never would have if something wasn't seriously wrong. I think Triforia might have been destroyed."

He reached for the phone and dialed Tommy and Kim's number.

Tommy rolled over and grabbed the phone, his other arm still wrapped around Kim.

"Hello?" he asked groggily. "Do you have any idea what time it is?"

"It's Jason, we have a problem."

Tommy sat up and pulled the covers away. "What is it?"

Kimberly climbed over to his side of the bed to listen as Jason told them about the message and his Zeo Crystal.

"Did Trey give us a time frame?" Tommy asked, putting on his bath robe.

"I didn't get a chance to ask him."

"What happened?"

"I woke up to find the crystal in my hand and the link severed, sliced in half like a piece of string."

"Like he was forcibly removed from your mind?"

"Yeah. He was either seriously wounded, or incredibly worried that he was about to die right before I lost the connection." Jason fingered the tiny golden gem in his palm. "I'm worried, Tommy."

Tommy walked into the kitchen and grabbed his keys from the peg near the door. He walked back to the bedroom and pulled a metal box from his closet.

He found what he was looking for inside. It was a small digital address and telephone directory with all the Rangers listed, and a tiny red crystal that was glowing a sickly red.

"I've got everyone's contact info if you think we need to let everyone know."

"I do," Jason replied.

"I'll meet you in half and hour."

"I'm coming too," Kim finalized, reaching for her jeans and a clean blouse.

"I'll meet you guys in a few, just give me a chance to chug some coffee so I can drive."

Jason put down the phone and sat back down on the bed. He clutched his forehead in agony. "What the hell is going on Emily?" he asked her quietly. "I've never felt this way before. It's like the whole fabric of my life has suddenly changed."

A knock on the door twenty minutes later found Jason, Tommy, and Kim sitting in the kitchen talking frantically. Jason was still trying to process what Trey had told him.

"Look, man, I just don't know," he told Tommy for the fourth time as his friend drilled him for details.

Tommy gave up and sat down, realizing he was still in his bathrobe. "Please tell me this is something we can prepare for."

"For all that he told me we could be wiped out tomorrow."

Kimberly shook her head. "I don't think so. If Triforia was attacked it would take a while for any large army to get here. Trey might have bought us some time."

"Maybe she's right. If you would just calm down for a minute," Emily told both men firmly.

"Fine. Let's get a phone and start dialing," Jason said without looking up. He pulled out his cell phone and started punching in numbers.

"You don't think this is a good time to mention Casey?" Kim asked, pulling Tommy away for a moment as he dialed Conner's number.

"I don't know. Hell, for all I know it wasn't even him that I felt by the lake."

"But you seemed so sure."

He brushed away her hand. "Just get a phone, Kim," he ordered.

She turned away and started dialing herself, the first number she saw on the list. "Hey," she whispered. "If you're there pick up." The answering machine was quiet on the other end. "Aisha," she said a little louder. "Come on honey, wake up." After six tries she gave up and moved on to the next name on the list.

"Hey, Trini, I know it's late but pick up, we need to talk." She started drumming her fingers on Jason's marble counter top. "Trini, Richie," she droned on for another minute.

"Damn, doesn't anyone answer the phone at night?"

Emily tried not to smile. "Hey, Tanya?" she sent a thumbs-up in Kim's direction. "Hey, we have a situation and we need you guys to help out. Can you come over?"

Jason hung up with Rocky. "Rocky's on his way."

"All right, thanks," Tommy set his phone down and yawned. "I guess it was too much to ask for a couple of months of marriage bliss before everything went to hell."

"At least we got back from New Zealand before this happened," Kim told him, sitting down. "I don't even want to think about that scenario."

A loud knock on the door sent Jason scurrying to the front of the house. "Billy?"

Billy was standing on the doorstep. His face was plastered in a mortified expression. "Jase," he whispered almost inaudibly. "It's Cestria, she won't wake up."

Tommy and Kim made their way to the door quickly. Kim brushed past Jason to his side. "What happened?"

He couldn't find words for quite some time. "I just woke up to go to the bathroom and she was lying there stiff as a corpse with her eyes open. I've never seen her like that before. It's like she's in a coma."

Billy wouldn't take well to the news.

"I don't think that's the weirdest thing I've heard tonight," Emily chimed. "We have a situation on our hands."

Billy stopped for a moment. "What?"

"Triforia was attacked, Trey sent me a telepathic message. I'm wondering if Cestria is having a similar experience."

Billy started to walk back to the car and he opened the door to his blue Prius anxiously. Cestria was sprawled over the back seat. He got out of the way and let Jason pull her out of the car. As they carried her inside Tommy called more of the contacts hoping in desperation that more of them would respond.

"What is going on?" Billy asked as he pressed a cold washcloth to his wife's head.

"If I knew I'd be telling you," Jason promised. "I'm sorry man, I'm sure she'll be all right."

The former blue ranger glanced with sheer apprehension at the door. His eyes were so full of fear that it was almost possible for his contact lenses to pop out.

"Hey," a masculine voice called from the kitchen door. "Sorry, I let myself in."

Rocky let himself down into the only open chair left in the house, the piano bench. He was tending a bruise on his arm gingerly.

"What happened to you?" Kim asked hoping to hear a perfectly normal answer.

"I was attacked by Tengas on my way over here," he said with a smile. "No, for heaven's sake I hit my arm on the door trying to find my way outside."

"That's so not funny right now," she told him with a grimace.

"Better watch yourself, we might be needing you in top form," Jason told him sternly.

Rocky dropped his arm. "Alright, so what's the situation?"

"Are you sure you want to ask that question?" Billy said with a grimace patting Cestria's head again.

Rocky looked away toward the window, "Do I have a choice?" The headlights of another car were clearly visible heading down Jason and Emily's street.

Kimberly stood up and went to the door anxiously. She barely left enough room for Tanya and Adam to squeeze past her. "Hey, we're here."

The looks on everyone's faces proved that this time everything they had might not be enough.