Chapter 2 – I'm Running Out Of Breath
August 9 2001 – The Clock Tower
The last few hours had been extremely frustrating for Wes. After arriving back at the Clock Tower, he quickly turned the main living space into a makeshift hospital ward by moving the beds downstairs. All of his team mates were unconscious so he tried to make them as comfortable as they could be. Next he began the difficult job of trying to diagnose what was wrong with them. Wes wasn't used to the medical equipment the Time Force rangers had for two reasons. Trip was their tech expert so he usually handled the computer side of things. The main problem was that the computers in question were from the year 3000 and Wes had no idea how to use them. Jen was always reluctant to let him use any technology from the future than was necessary to complete his role as the red ranger. She insisted that he was to ensure the safety of the time stream rather than a trust issue with Wes.
Wes got a crash course in the medical scanner from Circuit and began the diagnosis program. The owl was being slightly evasive with Wes and he believed that it knew more than it was telling him. Until the program finished all Wes could do was sit and observe everyone, just in case their condition suddenly worsened.
He pulled up a chair and took up a position at Jen's side. He looked at her sleeping form and tentatively grasped her hand. Wes wasn't sure of the exact moment when he fell for the pink ranger. On the surface the pair appeared to be polar opposites, the relaxed and fun loving Wes compared to the serious and focused Jen. The red ranger felt that he had helped the team leader to loosen up a bit. Certainly she was much more relaxed than a few months ago but she still retained that passion that Wes loved.
It wasn't just Jen who Wes was concerned for though, he had grown close to all of the other rangers. They had become almost like family to him, certainly he felt closer to them than he did to his own father. Sadly for Wes there was an elephant in the room and it was the fact that once Ransik had been captured, his 'family' would return to their own time. It took a lot of effort for Wes to put that to the back of his mind.
Wes was pulled from his thoughts by a buzzing from the medical scanner. He left his seat and checked the scanner, "Nasopharyngitis", he muttered, "extinct virus see archives, what on earth does this mean?"
"It's one of the many names for the common cold", Circuit announced, "it's probably the same strain that you have".
Wes had almost forgotten about his cold but he was confused, "Wait a second, the four of them have a cold", Circuit blink in response, "and they ribbed me about getting sick".
"I don't think you understand how serious this is for them", Circuit began, "the cold was finally eliminated around two hundred years from now. In your time, people gradually build up immunity to basic viruses like the common cold over their lifetime. In the year 3000, there hasn't been a reported case of a cold for nearly eight hundred years".
"So their bodies have never had time to adapt", Wes finished for Circuit, "so how serious is this for them?" Circuit didn't answer immediately which gave Wes cause for concern, "Circuit you need to tell me".
The owl sighed, "Their genetics won't be able to help them fight the virus. As there hasn't been a reported cold or flu outbreak for so long, scientists have stopped offering protection against it".
"Circuit", Wes hissed, "get to the point".
"The honest answer is that I don't know", Circuit replied, "the cold virus itself won't harm them but it could develop quickly into something more serious like pneumonia. They could just need some rest or potentially...", the owls voice tailed off.
"Potentially what?" Wes began, "could they die?" Circuit didn't reply for a few moments but eventually he gave a slow blink. Wes ran his hand through his hair and began to pace, "This is all my fault isn't it, they've caught this virus from me"
"Probably not", Circuit answered, "the incubation period for the virus is around two to three days. It's more than likely that they caught it from the same source that you did".
Wes racked his brain to try and recall if they had come into contact with any showing signs of a cold, "Wait a moment", he began, "that old couple whose house we painted, they both had terrible coughs", he shook his head, "if I had known then I could've kept them away".
"Wes you can't blame yourself", Circuit said, "you couldn't have predicted this. If I'm honest I'm amazed it's taken this long before they contracted anything". Wes looked like he was about to say something but the owl cut in front of his, "Before travelling through time, Officers are usually given temporary boosts to their immune system. As their mission was unauthorised, they didn't get the usual treatments".
"So Time Force could have something to cure them?" Wes asked in hope.
"Possibly but it depends if they've had time to construct a new Time Ship" Circuit replied, "I'll have to brief Captain Logan and see what he suggests". Circuit paused before flapping his wings, "In the meantime, I'm detecting Cyclobot activity in the down town area".
"Twice in one day", Wes sighed, "can't they give us a break". The red ranger glanced at his fallen comrades before heading for the stairs, "Look after them Circuit, I'll try and take care of the robts as quickly as possible". Circuit chirped his acknowledgement and watched the red ranger rush down the stairs.
Down Town Silver Hills
When Wes arrived at the coordinates that Circuit transmitted, he noticed someone had beaten him to the scene. The familiar logo on the side of the silver van told its own story, "Great, the Silver Guardians are here", he muttered. If the Silver Guardians were on the scene then their leader probably wasn't too far away.
Sure enough when Wes looked through the sea of Guardians, he could see the red and black suited form of Eric Meyers, the Quantum Ranger. He really didn't want to get into a verbal sparring match with Eric, not today. A small voice in Wes's head was telling to leave before anyone had seen him but he couldn't be sure that Eric would dispose of the Cyclobots. Eric was an excellent fighter but even the best could be beaten.
Despite Eric's challenging personality, Wes didn't hate the Quantum Ranger. Something told him that there was a good person buried underneath all of that bravado. Perhaps a little too deep for some to try and be friends with the man but with four of his team out of commission, he needed Eric on his side more than ever. Not that he would tell him that, the gloating from Eric would be insufferable. Eric dispatched the last Cyclobot without the need for Wes to morph and the red ranger could hear the Quantum Ranger give the orders for the Guardians to secure the area, "Well here goes nothing", Wes said to himself and stepped through the cordon.
It didn't take Eric long to spot his long time rival approaching, "You're too late as usual", he began, "did the others finally let you out by yourself today", he smirked.
"Leave it out Eric I'm not in the mood for our usual round of banter", Wes snapped in response.
"Shame, it's the highlight of my day", Eric began, "as you can see I'm a busy person so if you don't mind, I've got work to do".
Eric strutted past Wes and it took all of the red ranger's self control not to rise to Eric's bait, "I need your help", he called out.
The Quantum Ranger stopped in his tracks, "So they've finally abandoned you then", he turned around and removed his sunglasses, "can't say I'm too surprised. If you need our assistance then I'm sure you'll find the Silver Guardian's rates very reasonable".
"Eric they're sick, possibly seriously", Wes replied, trying to keep his answers as short as possible.
For a few moments Eric didn't reply, leading Wes to think that his fellow ranger didn't have the emotional range to articulate what he was thinking, "How serious?" Eric finally asked.
"Potentially fatal", Wes began, "it's too early to tell".
"That's a shame", Eric replied leaving Wes momentarily surprised, "they were actually competent at their job".
Wes snorted, "For a moment I'd thought you had gone soft on me", he shook his head, "we need to combine our forces together, at least until I know how to help them".
"I've told you before", Eric began, "I work alone, that's my mantra and there's no exception to that".
"Spoken like a true military person", Wes sighed, "stubborn and inflexible. Thanks for nothing Eric, I'll try and find someone with a shred of humanity to help me instead".
He turned away from the Quantum Ranger began to walk away, "Wes", Eric called out, "you're asking the wrong person for help".
"Tell me about it", Wes mumbled to himself but fortunately Eric didn't hear him.
"Your friends have some sort of disease right?" Wes nodded, "aren't you forgetting that your Dad owns BioLab, one of the most successful medical research companies in the world".
"I haven't forgotten, I just don't want my father involved in this", Wes answered.
Eric shook his head and replaced his sunglasses, "Perhaps it's time to put on your big boy pants and try asking him for help". Eric turned around and began barking orders at his men. After a few moments it became clear that he wasn't going to continue his conversation with Wes.
Wes bit his lip and watched the retreating form of the Quantum Ranger. Despite his undiplomatic way of putting it, Eric did make a good point. Maybe the scientists at BioLab could help him come up with a solution. The down side was that his father would probably ask for something in return and Wes was pretty sure that he wasn't going to like the request. Deciding to see if Time Force Command had come up with anything, he called Circuit, "I'm sorry Wes", the owl began, "it will take the Time Force research team some time to come up with a solution".
"Don't they understand the seriousness of the situation?" Wes replied.
"They do but most sicknesses have been eradicated in the future. Time Force lack the skills needed to react to a situation like this", Circuit sighed.
"All right Circuit, thanks for trying", Wes shut off communications. He started to walk back to his motorbike to commence his journey to the Clock Tower. He would monitor his friend's condition closely but if they didn't show any signs of improvement, he would have no choice but to swallow his pride and pay a visit to BioLab.
Unbeknown to the red ranger, someone had been listening to his conversation with Eric, "So the rangers have contracted an infectious illness", Frax chuckled to himself. "This is just the opportunity I needed to finally put Ransik in his place", he paused for a moment and pulled a key out of his chest, "and I know just the mutant to use". He laughed out loud before teleporting himself back to the prison ship.
A/N – Eric is such a dick but that makes him such a fun character to write. I'm not an expert on diseases or biology so I apologise to any Biology students if my science doesn't make any sense.