Mission 16: Part 2

Early the next morning, Erin Reilly made her way into one of the main gyms located near the heart of Atlantis Base. She had always liked going to that particular gym because of its large glass windows and airy design. In the morning, it gave the people exercising there a nice view of the sun across the eastern waters… provided you could beat the morning rush.

As she walked in, she smoothed out her yellow tank top and tied her brown hair up before taking her place at a treadmill for a run. Martin and Jake were already on their own treadmills jogging at a fast clip while Erik lifted some free weights and Bharata and Ella stretched out with some yoga in another corner of the room.

"Well look who finally decided to grace us with her presence," Erik teased as he did some curls with a light barbell.

"Be grateful Dobermann," Erin chuckled as she flipped her hair and began to jog, "One does not just roll out of bed looking this hot in the morning."

As she continued to run, Erin looked out the windows and across the ocean while the light of the sun glittered on the surface of the waters. Despite the warm sunlight on her face, it was easy to think that it wasn't another chilly morning. She felt bad for the marines standing at outdoor guard posts today as well as combat pilots flying patrols. As she continued to exercise, Erin let her mind wander and she thought about the upcoming winter holidays. It had been a while since she had been home and Bharata's recent return to Indonesia had only stressed that point. While part of her did want to return and be among her fellow Irishmen, she was also a little reluctant about returning to her family in Dublin.

When she left to join the service, no one back home had ever really expected her to make it, much less become a Nova Ranger. They had been shocked and surprised, and while she knew her parents and her older siblings were all proud of her, she still wasn't sure they exactly approved of her constantly risking life and limb in the fight against the planet's alien enemies. That nagging uncertainty continued to pick at her and while she exercised, she continued the internal debate with herself over when and how to return home.

That was when Erin felt that strange feeling come over her again. She felt another headrush and her vision began to blur, but this time it was more severe. Jake glanced over and saw the Yellow Ranger slow her pace and falter. As she began to slide off the treadmill, the Silver Ranger gasped, "Erin? Hey, are you okay?"

She wobbled a moment as her vision spun and she became disoriented. Jake stopped his own machine and turned his head in alarm, "Captain?"

Moments later, Erin swayed and pitched over sideways to the ground. Before she could hit the floor, she was caught by Martin and Jake who rushed over to her side and laid her down gently.

"Erik!" Martin called in alarm.

The Blue Ranger dropped his weights and ran over to try and check Erin's vital signs. She seemed to have passed out but here and there she convulsed and showed signs of minor muscle spasms. While he checked her breathing and pulse, Erik called over to Ella and Bharata in alarm, "Quick call in a medical team! We've got an emergency here!"

As the whole team scrambled into action to try and get help for their friend, they could only hope that Erin would be okay and they wouldn't be too late.

"Erin... Erin... wake up."

The Yellow Ranger groggily shook her head and tried to focus on what was going on around her. Her head was swimming and she felt like she had cotton in her ears muffling her sense of hearing. She wasn't quite sure where she was was because everything was a bit hazy and foggy around her. She could hear her mother's voice calling her but she was still a bit disoriented. One moment she had been in the gym and now she was lying in this odd foggy place.

"Mom?"

Both Mr. and Mrs. Reilly appeared from the mists with crossed arms while disparagingly shaking their heads. Her mother wrung her hands, "Erin. You've lost your way daughter. You should have listened to us. You should have stayed home and took up a job at the university... maybe meet a nice boy and start a family... but you had to be so stubborn."

Her father spoke next, "You think you had to prove something to us by joining the military? By becoming a Ranger? What are you trying to prove? Who are you trying to prove yourself too?"

Her parents disappeared into the mists and Martin startled her from the other side. He wore a stern look and gave a bark, "On your feet Ranger! Who told you that you were allowed to rest? Get up Reilly!"

She scrambled to her feet in confusion, "Martin?"

"That's Captain Sterling to you Lieutenant!" he snapped. He was reminding her of the way that he had been when their squad first formed and he put them through rigorous drill sessions to get them up to scratch. "You think you know me? You think you know everything?"

"What? I... uh... no, sir."

"Really? I'm not so sure about that," Julian chimed in as Martin faded and he appeared from behind walking by while tinkering with a gadget. "If you're trying to not look weak toward your parents or to the Captain, are you trying to prove something to your academic peers? Are you trying to prove that girls can be just as brilliant and capable? Are you trying to be like Dr. Beckett?"

"What? Of course not," Erin sputtered, "I mean... sure I respect Dr. Beckett and think she's brilliant... and I don't want to let Martin and my teammates down either."

Julian fixed her with a questioning look, "Do you think any of us really care about how smart or strong you're trying to be? Do you think I care?"

"What are you talking about?" she said holding her head in confusion.

Julian simply shook his head in frustration and walked off into the fog before a bright glare began to light up the Yellow Ranger's field of vision.

That same bright light filled her senses as Erin Reilly cracked open her bleary eyes and gave a quiet groan. She had remembered being in the gym, but now she felt herself lying in a soft bed with a heart rate monitor beeping in steady intervals. She groaned in disorientation and croaked out, "Where am I?"

"Hey everyone… she's waking up," she heard Julian's voice say from nearby.

She blinked again and waited for her eyes to come back into focus before she realized where she was. Erin found herself lying on a bed within the medical ward of Atlantis Base. She had been propped up on some pillows and she watched in bemusement as a whole host of people gathered around. All of her Ranger friends ringed the bed while Lucy and Julian stood with them as well. She glanced over and even saw General Caldwell walk over slowly with a concerned look on his face, "Lieutenant… how are you feeling?"

Erin frowned and shook her head in mild confusion, "Better now, sir… thank you. Uh… what happened? How did I get here?"

"You don't remember?" Ella asked beside her, "You just passed out in the gym earlier. You gave all of us a mild heart attack."

Erin frowned again, trying to put the fuzzy pieces of her recent memory back together, "I don't understand. How did this happen?"

Lucy wore a serious expression and studied Erin's medical chart before adjusting her glasses slightly, "The doctors here did a few scans on you earlier and they have a working theory. They seem to think it has something to do with your little experiments with the Conduit."

What? What about it?" the Yellow Ranger protested.

Lucy grimaced, "They seem to think that something in the Conduit has caused some adverse effects to your brain functioning."

Erin gasped in fear, "What? Like brain damage?"

Lucy cleared her throat, "I ran some more detailed scans of the helmet and it looks like the electronic emitters might have created a certain energy pattern which could be harmful. Your brainwaves have gone into overdrive and it has begun to cause some breakdowns in some of the synapses and neural pathways."

Erik's jaw tightened in concern, "So what you're saying is that Erin's brain is slowly deteriorating... from getting burned out?"

"This can't be happening…" Erin murmured in horror as she did her best not to break down and cry, both from that revelation and the lingering feelings of that dreadful dream.

Ella put a comforting hand over her teammate's while Martin turned to the engineers with a grim expression, "Lucy? Julian? What do we do? Is there a way to fix this?"

Lucy stood in blank silence trying to figure something out before Julian clenched his fists, "We need to talk to Taldyr. He was the one who gave us the original specs on the Conduit and coached us through its construction."

Martin turned to Caldwell, "General?"

Caldwell wore an equally grim expression, "Get the prisoner. We meet in my briefing room in one hour. Let's go people!"

While the Rangers scrambled into action, Julian gave one last look to the distraught looking Erin, "It's going to be okay. We're going to figure something out... the Rangers always do. I'll come back to visit as soon as I can all right?"

Erin simply nodded and laid back down, fearful of what might possibly happen next.

Later that afternoon, the Rangers, Lucy, and Julian gathered together in the Command Tower's large briefing room as Taldyr was escorted in. His guards led him to the table and then backed off to secure the doorway. Everyone cast silent pointed looks toward the alien soldier and prompted him to glance slowly around the table, "Is there some problem?"

Bharata narrowed his glare, "Yes. There is a problem. Erin is now in the medical ward after collapsing this morning."

"I am sorry to hear that but I do not understand what that has to do with me," Taldyr said.

Caldwell folded his arms, "Think harder. That Conduit device you helped to create? It seems that the helmet has caused harm to Erin. The energy waves emitted by the device have begun causing the breakdown of neurons in her brain."

Taldyr frowned and nodded, "I see."

After a long pause, Julian rose from his seat in agitation, "I see? That's it? That's all you have to say?"

Taldyr pondered the situation for another moment before sighing, "This is unfortunate news. In designing the helmet, there is something I may not have taken into account. The parts of the device used to form direct links with the brain might not have been specifically tailored to human anatomy. It is possible we were using the device in a configuration that was not properly adjusted for your brain patterns."

Julian's eyes went wide, "Hold on, are you saying you should have known then? This whole thing could have been prevented? You basically made me build a device that hurt Erin?"

"She wanted to build the device and use it as well," Taldyr corrected him but the young lab tech surprised everyone by storming over and furiously hauling the alien to his feet. Everyone at the table jumped in shock. In a surprising moment of raw emotion, Julian grabbed Taldyr by the shirt collar and violently slammed him against a nearby wall. Despite the fact that Taldyr was taller and stronger, Julian's ferocity more than made up for his disadvantage in strength and stature, "Damn it, this is all your fault you filthy Xeno! What did you do to her?"

Taldyr tensed and began to try to pry his adversary off of him. "I did not do anything! Let go of me!"

Julian refused to budge and slammed Taldyr back against the wall again, "I don't believe you! This has to be a trick!"

Before the scuffle could get any more violent, Martin and Erik rushed in and broke the fight up, pulling the two combatants off each other. Julian continued to flail and thrash violently a few more times, "Let go of me Captain! You're making a big mistake!"

"Not until you cool down," Martin answered as he forcefully restrained the raging technician.

Erik settled Taldyr and stood as an added human screen in case any more violence would erupt. Despite his level tone, the Blue Ranger spoke with equal forcefulness "All right. Let's all just take a deep breath and calm the hell down."

Taldyr relaxed his stance and nodded, "Thank you Lt. Dobermann."

Martin let go of Julian and fixed the alien with a harsh glare, "You're not off the hook yet Taldyr. The life of one of my Rangers is at stake so you'd better have a damn good explanation for all this."

Taldyr met the icy stares of the Rangers and exhaled slowly. A hint of indignance was clear in his expression, "If you think that I purposely intended to harm Erin Reilly, then you are mistaken. What reason would I have to do that? She has only shown me kindness and compassion."

"Traits that you Xenos aren't exactly familiar with," Ella pointed out with an accusatory tone in her own voice, "Who's to say you weren't trying to take advantage of Erin's kindness and then do her in when she least expected it?"

Taldyr frowned, "If I wanted to cause harm, I would have done so already. Besides, it would have been futile. I am a lone prisoner on this floating island. It would not be difficult for any of you to find me or kill me at any time."

Lucy stood up slowly and moved to calm everyone down again, "Everyone… it's not going to do us any good to sit and point fingers right now. What we need to focus on now is how we're going to help Erin. Taldyr? Do you have any insight?"

The alien furrowed his brow and shook his head, "I am afraid not. My skill with more advanced technology is fairly limited."

Caldwell paced the room restlessly before stopping abruptly, "What if we correct the problem with the Conduit?"

Lucy mulled it over for minute before growing more excited, "Wait… General, I think you might be on to something. The energy waves from the current helmet can't really be adjusted too much, only because of the limits in its design. We had used a damaged piece of tech to begin with and cobbled the rest together. But if we had a fully intact Conduit, we might be able to use it to reverse the effects of the brain drain."

"That's all well and good Dr. B. but where on earth are we going to get another Xeno helmet like that?" Erik asked.

"Not on earth… but the moon," Taldyr corrected him.

Everyone stopped and stared in silence as Taldyr hesitantly put forward an idea, "The Xeno base on the other side of your moon has facilities that grow and train new warriors. If you wanted to get one, that is the place to do it."

"Are you out of your mind?" Bharata exclaimed, "You're suggesting that we fly to the moon, waltz right in to the home base of our enemy, and steal a Conduit from right under their noses? That's suicide!"

"But it might be our only other option," Martin grimaced quietly. "We don't have a lot of time or choice if we want to save Erin."

"Please tell me you have a plan Martin," Ella said in concern.

"It's not a great one, but I'm working on it. General? If we can draft a mission plan for this operation…"

Caldwell nodded grimly, "Say no more Captain. You have a go. Do whatever you have to do."

Taldyr stepped forward, "Rangers… with your permission, I want to be part of the raid. I have knowledge of the moon base's layout and operations."

He sighed and added with a more contrite expression, "Consider this as my own gesture of good faith. Erin had reached out to me and I've seen the kindness among you Terrans too. Please, let me risk myself in order to help you."

Martin gave a grudging nod and turned to Jake. The Silver Ranger glared back at Taldyr, "I'll be watching you Xeno. You raise one finger to betray us and I'll shoot you dead."

Taldyr's jaw tightened but he gave a silent nod of understanding.

Julian rose again and chimed in, "If he's going, then I am too."

Lucy turned with a look of shock, "Julian? Absolutely not! This mission is way too dangerous… even for you!"

Julian ignored her and made his case directly to Martin, "Captain… please. Let me come. Erin is my friend too. If you're going to steal a Conduit, then you're going to need someone with engineering skill on this mission. You need someone that's familiar with the designs."

Martin grimaced as he gave a torn look toward Lucy but Julian continued, "Dr. Beckett is far too valuable to risk on this one. We'll need her here to help fix the helmet for Erin when we return."

The Red Ranger chewed his lip and thought it over before giving a reluctant nod, "All right. Once we organize a plan for the raid, get ready to suit up with us."

"You can't be serious!" Lucy exclaimed indignantly.

Caldwell put a calming hand on her shoulder, "Easy, Doctor. Julian may be right about this. We're going to need you here."

"But…"

Martin took her hand and gave a reassuring squeeze, "I know Luce. I don't like it either, but I promise you that I'll look after him."

As she watched the Rangers and their other allies depart the room, she and General Caldwell could only hope that this desperate gambit of theirs would ultimately be worth it.