Part Seven

Chapter Two

Making it home after our trip around the galaxy over the New Year's break, we settled in for a quiet week of enjoying the summer holidays. Everyone was a little battered and bruised, so it was nice to spend some time playing cricket in the park, going to the movies, or helping Ernie with his post-Christmas stocktake. Even Billy and Trini, who had university projects they were working on over the summer break, made sure to enjoy the long days and breezy nights.

Of course, Ian thought to himself a week later, packing a bottle of sunscreen into his backpack, he'd lived in Caloundra long enough to realise what a long period of inaction heralded.

Grabbing his hat, the Grey Ranger headed downstairs to find his father enjoying his morning cup of tea.

"Hey," Ian began, "I'm heading out for the day."

"Where are you going?" Mr Thompson asked.

"There's a beach carnival at Dicky Beach," Ian replied. "I'm meeting the guys at the Youth Centre, and we'll head over from there."

"You got a hat and sunscreen?"

"Wearing one. The other's in my backpack."

Mr Thompson smiled. "Of course," he said. "I meant to ask, how was your New Years? Did you spend it with your friends?"

"Yeah! We were on another planet at the time, but I think it counts."

Mr Thompson blinked. "Um, listen, about today," he stuttered. "Be careful, please."

"Why? Is something going on?"

"I'm not sure," his father continued. "I've got an intensive care unit full of fugitives in comas and nobody can figure out why."

"We've had a quiet week," Ian said. "I haven't even talked to Zordon or Alpha since we got back from the impossible boy mission. I could ask?"

"No, it's fine," Mr Thompson interrupted. "I just want you to be safe."

Ian nodded. The look on his father's face when he mentioned Zordon stung more than he liked. "Will do," he said. "I'll see you when I get home," and Ian swung his backpack around his shoulders and left.

The throne room of the lunar palace came into focus as Zedd woke from a light sleep. Somewhere behind him, Rita was screeching at Goldar over some perceived failure, the rant echoing through the rocky hallways. The witch had a voice that could strip paint from a wall, and Zedd wasn't surprised it had interrupted his nap.

Or had it? For a few seconds, it felt like the shadows in the throne room were heavier than they should've been. Even as he looked around, they seemed to flee, skittering away from the edge of his vision. Had there actually been someone else in the room? Impossible. But there was something, just out of sight, ethereal and subtle. Zedd growled to himself.

If there was one thing in the Universe he hated more than Zordon and the Power Rangers? It was subtle.

"Zeddy?" Rita called, as she roared into the room like a hurricane. He certainly hadn't married subtle. "We've been stuck here for days now!" the witch fumed. "Things have been so dull since we got back from Dhalia. Let's do something mean!"

"Whatever you want, my toxic tulip," Zedd replied, gazing out towards the Earth. "Something is happening down there Rita, and I'm not sure what. But an evil plot sounds like a wonderful idea."

With that, Zedd stood to his full height and summoned his Z-staff with a thought. It flew across the room into his hand. "Why don't we kick over the box and see what falls out? Finster! We need a monster, and it had better be a good one!"

Brendan, Teresa, Sarah, Scott and I were waiting in the Youth Centre when Ian arrived. Ernie wished us luck and we headed outside. The sun was high in the sky but a line of dark clouds was just building on the western horizon, threatening another afternoon storm.

Teresa turned to us as we crossed the Youth Centre carpark. "Should we catch a bus or just walk?" she asked.

"Dicky Beach isn't too far," I said. "Let's walk," and I paused as Brendan let out a gulping yawn. "Maybe it'll keep Brendan awake?"

"I haven't been sleeping all week," Brendan said. "Bad dreams."

Sarah turned to Scott, engrossed in a scientific journal he must've borrowed from Billy. "What are you reading?" she asked.

Scott blushed and slid the magazine into his backpack. "Nothing," he replied. "There was just this article about a team of four scientists in South America. They're investigating a legend about an ancient tomb, somewhere in the Atacama Desert."

"Like that'll end well," I said.

"And you just know we'll have to bail them out of a trouble," Sarah added.

Brendan glanced to his best friend to see Ian gazing down the street. "You okay?"

Ian blinked, his concentration broken. "Sorry, yeah, I'm good," he said. "Just a bit freaked out by something dad said to me."

"Does he have a case at the moment?" I asked.

"He said something about criminals winding up in comas," Ian replied. "It sounded like our kind of thing, but when I asked him about it, he changed the subject."

"Is he still weird about the whole Ranger thing?" Brendan asked.

"He doesn't even like me talking about it," Ian said. "I'm on edge all the time around him. I have to constantly watch what I'm saying. I don't get it. I just wish he was on my side, you know?"

"You'll have to get on the same page eventually, though," Teresa said. "We always end up working the same cases."

"You're right," Ian replied. "Obviously," and Teresa laughed. "I just don't want to think about it today. We've had an uneventful week and we're off to do something fun. That's all I want to worry about."

"You know," began Sarah, and we turned to see her staring at the sky. "I really wish we could stop tempting fate like that." We followed her gaze to see what had to be a teleport trail, streaking over our heads towards the horizon. The six of us were instantly all business.

"It looks like it's heading for west Caloundra," I said. "That means…"

"The abandoned warehouse district," Teresa finished.

Just then our communicators beeped. We ran back to the Youth Centre, racing into the empty locker-room hallway.

I held up my wrist. "Zordon, we read you," I said.

"Rangers, we've detected a monster touching down in the city."

"We know," Sarah said. "We saw it come down."

"You six are closer," Zordon continued, then paused. "We think. We're not quite sure where the monster landed. We've been having trouble with the sensors all week." The tone in his voice made Ian instantly think of his father's warning.

"Okay," I began. "Follow the trajectory of the teleport trail and get us as close as you can. Once we're in the air, call Jason and the others. Tell them to be ready to bail us out of trouble if it goes south."

"That's a good idea," Zordon replied. "Good luck Rangers."

"I like it when you get all leader-y like that," Brendan grinned.

Sarah rolled her eyes. "Just say the thing," she said.

I laughed. "You got it," I nodded, and we reached for our back pockets. "It's morphin' time!"

"Iguanodon!"

"Dilophosaurus!"

"Rhamphorynchus!"

"Brontosaurus!"

"Velociraptor!"

"Stegosaurus!"

To be continued.