Chapter 5 – I Feel Them Closing In
August 12 2001 – The Clock Tower
The sound of gentle snores echoed through the Clock Tower as the sun shone brightly through the windows. The rangers had stayed up into the early hours of the morning studying the contract that Hexagon had drawn up. Lucas and Trip had managed to make it to bed before falling asleep but Katie wasn't so fortunate. The yellow ranger was sprawled out on the sofa with pieces of papers littering the floor around her. At the table Wes had passed out with his head resting on the table. The majority of the contract was spread across the surface and an empty coffee mug was beside him. The red ranger had nodded off around 3am, an achievement considering he hadn't slept much in the previous few days.
A gentle nudge stirred Wes out of his slumber but not enough to fully wake him up. A second stronger push was coupled with a voice whispering, "Wes, it's time to wake up".
The red ranger groaned and slowly lifted his head. A loose piece of paper was stuck to his face, forcing him to peel it off, "Jen", he began, "what time is it? Shouldn't you should be resting".
"It's around 10am and don't worry about me", she smiled and slid a coffee mug across the table, "my parents made me to do chores around the farm regardless of how tired I was and I guess it's stuck with me ever since".
"Never pictured you as a farm girl", Wes chuckled and leaned back in his chair. He rubbed his eyes in an attempt to shake off the last remnants of sleep, "I didn't think farms would be needed in the future", he yawned.
"People still need to eat Wes", the pink ranger replied, "we don't eat magic food pills or everything out of freeze dried packets you know".
Wes took a drink out of his mug, "You've hardly shared a huge amount about the future", he stated, "I don't even know when your birthday is". It was a sore point for the red ranger that he didn't really know that much about his friends. They just kept quoting rules and regulations at him that forbid them from telling him anything.
"Time Force rules dictate the amount of information we're allowed to shared", Jen replied with a neutral expression.
Wes snorted, same old excuse he thought, "Telling me your date of birth isn't going to corrupt the timeline", he countered.
Jen pushed her coffee mug across the table between her hands, thinking about Wes's comments. She was having an eternal debate, the Time Force code was something that had been drilled into her since she joined the academy. Sharing too much information could adversely affect the future. On the other hand Wes was right, sharing things like birthdays and childhood stories wasn't going to affect the timeline that much. She looked across at the red ranger and muttered, "January 4".
"I'm sorry run that past me again", Wes's attention had waivered, partly because he had been asleep a few minutes ago but mostly because he wasn't expecting a response to his question.
"January 4 2979", Jen stated, "that's when I was born", she grabbed her mug and took a quick drink.
Wes gave her a broad smile, "See that wasn't too difficult", he paused for a moment before adding, "hang on, you're only twenty one?"
Jen placed her mug on the table and leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms in front of her chest, "I'm not sure if I should be insulted by your comment or not Wesley Collins", she said with a cool tone in her voice.
"I'm not implying that you look old, the opposite actually", he waited to see if Jen's expression would change but it remained completely neutral. "It's just the way you take charge, it's like you've been doing it for years. We're the same age but I don't think I could lead the guys the way you can".
"Flattery won't get you anywhere", her words were blunt but the small smile on Jen's face told a different story. "I joined the Academy when I was twelve years old. When I was sixteen I moved over to the officer program. Taking the lead is something they drill into you from day one".
Wes nodded in response, "Alright one more question about the future, is policing much different than the twenty first century. You don't have to give me specifics if it'll damage the timeline".
Jen wasn't sure how to respond for a moment, it wasn't a question she was expecting Wes to ask. After thinking about it for a few moments, she inched across the table, "Honestly it's surprisingly similar. We may have advanced to the stage where we can travel in time and cure almost every known disease but there will always be crime. It still astounds me how cruel people can be to each other".
"It's all the same, only the names were changed", Wes chuckled, "it's a line from one of my favourite songs".
"I know, I'm a fan of classical music", she smiled in response.
"Geez, way to make me feel old", the red ranger shook his head. He glanced down towards the table before looking straight into Jen's eyes, "January's only a few months away, trust me you're going to have the best birthday this year".
Jen hesitated for a moment, "That's sounds great", she smiled but it was all an act. She had been keeping track of the mutants they had captured and there were only a few missing. Unless Ransik changed his plan of attack, they would probably have them all back in cryo-prison in a few weeks. After that, she would have to return to the future, "I should probably let you get washed up", she said and quickly stood up from the table, turning away from Wes.
"One last question", Wes called out, "why did you only wake me up? I don't see you rushing around to get the others out of bed and I know that I fell asleep long after they did".
The pink ranger didn't turn around but she did close her eyes. The truth was she liked talking to Wes, he had such an enthusiasm for life that it was almost infectious. He might look the same as her deceased fiancée but they shared nothing in common. She tried to be aloof around Wes, desperately attempting to push him away. But a part of her didn't want that and it was the part of her that loved the red ranger. It broke almost every Time Force rule but she couldn't deny how she felt any longer.
She spun around ready to confess everything to Wes but she was interrupted by the loud thump from the other end of the room. The pair turned towards the sofa and found Katie lying dazed on the floor, "Damn, must've fallen asleep", she muttered before glancing at the pair, "what time is it?"
"Time for a team meeting", Jen said quickly, "I'll go wake up Lucas and Trip", she almost ran out of the room and up the stairs.
Katie slowly stood and looked at Wes, "Did I interrupt something?"
The red ranger looked at the spot where Jen had just vacated, "I'm not really sure", he replied and got out of his seat. He walked out onto the balcony, leaving a confused Katie alone in the living area.
Half an hour later the rangers gathered in the front room, all of them in various states of preparedness for the meeting. Katie was onto her second coffee, Trip was fiddling with his notes and Lucas leaned his head on his hands, looking ready to go back to sleep at any moment. Wes took his seat but he was still confused about why Jen chose to run out of the room not long after Katie woke up. He would have to ask her other time as the pink ranger started the meeting, "Alright we've all read through this", she dropped the Hexagon contract down on the table, "any thoughts?"
"Lots of words", Lucas yawned, "just like any other legal contract".
Jen groaned, "Anyone with a more useful input".
"Hey I don't have the same background you three have", Lucas replied. Of the three cadets, Lucas was the final one to join Time Force so he had the least experience. He had only been with the organisation for a year and prior to that, he had been a racing driver, "Here's an idea, maybe the contract is designed that way".
The pink ranger raised an eyebrow, "Go on".
"Based on Wes had told us, most of the previous teams have been teenagers and still in High School. Even the older ones don't have a legal background so how would they know what they're signing". Lucas paused for a moment, "If a Time Force Cadet can't understand the contract, very few others are going to".
"He's got a point", Wes began, "my Dad taught me a few things about contracts and even I struggled to get much useful information out of this".
"But you did get something?" Trip asked.
"One you strip away the wordy nonsense, this is essentially an exclusivity contract", Wes answered. "Basically Heaxgon owns our morphers, zords and equipment and can use it however they see fit".
"Not on my watch", Jen snorted, "surely there must be a way out of this".
"Unfortunately a verbal agreement carries the same weight as a written signature", Katie began, "I did find this useful clause though". The yellow ranger turned a piece of paper around so everyone could read it, "Existing government officials and law enforcement officers are exempt from the terms of the contract".
All of the rangers leaned back in their chairs to contemplate this for a moment, "Why would they include that in the contract?" Jen asked the group.
"Maybe there's a separate contract for those people", Trip suggested.
"I dunno", Wes sighed and he tapped the table a few times, "in the future do you learn anything about ranger history?"
"A little bit", Lucas answered, "certain eras more than others, what are you getting at?"
"None of you seem to know anything about Hexagon", Wes answered, "which means that they're not relevant or important in the future. If they were crucial to the future development of the timeline then we wouldn't even be having this debate".
The rangers from the future thought about this for a moment, "Or they're so embedded in our culture that nothing can interfere with their influence". The pink ranger noticed that Wes had visibly deflated so she added, "Wes makes a good point though". She looked up to the rafters and saw their robotic assistant taking a well earned rest, "Hey Circuit we need your help". The owl hovered down to the table and landed in between the rangers, "We need you to run a search on all mentions of Hexagon in the year 2001".
The robot blinked in acknowledgement and began a search through his data banks. After a few minutes, Circuit's eyes flashed open and there was a loud claxon sound, "That doesn't sound", Katie said.
"I'm sorry guys I can't provide you with that information", Circuit began, "all data relating to Hexagon has been Time Locked until the end of the year 2015".
Wes raised an eyebrow, "Time Locked?" he asked.
"It's a Time Force protocol", Jen replied, "it prevents time travelling agents and officers from accessing sensitive information until they've passed that point in time". Jen paused for a moment and turned back to Circuit, "Can you tell us anything about the year 2015?"
"I can tell you that the weather during August in the UK was pretty miserable", Circuit stated, "but other than very basic information like that, everything else has been Time Locked".
"Sounds like 2015 is going to an interesting year", Wes said to everyone, "I'll make sure my calendar is clear. Sadly it doesn't really answer our question about Hexagon".
"It does mean that we get to make our own decision", Trip stated, "if we had to follow one particular course of action then Time Force would've left specific instructions in the database".
"Time travel really hurts my head", Katie joked, "let's never do this again".
Circuit made another buzzing noise, this time a more familiar one, "Guys Venomark is back in the city", he stated, "the Silver Guardians have been scrambled to keep the general public away".
Jen stood up from the table, "This is our chance to put him down for good and to show Ransik that we've fully recovered". The others nodded in agreement and scrambled down the stairs of the Clock Tower. After the last few days, it would be good to get back to relative normality and put another dangerous mutant back on ice.
A/N – I can confirm that Circuit's information was correct, the weather in the UK was awful last month. It was ridiculously cold and damp even by UK standards. Will Wes and Jen ever catch a break? I did leave a couple of Easter Eggs in their conversation so virtually gold stars to anyone who knows why I chose January 4 for Jen's date of birth and what Wes's favourite song is.