Rocky pulled into the first gas station he found after leaving base. It was about twenty minutes away from Lightspeed.
"I'm going to get something to drink after I fill up," Rocky said as he parked next to the pump. "That was not a good tuna sandwich—I think the mayo is going bad."
Adam chuckled.
"Well, I'm glad I didn't eat it then," he said. "But I'll be back in a minute. I'm going to grab something to snack on for the rest of the drive. That tiny bag of pretzels was not enough."
"No, and then you stole the water and finished it without sharing," Rocky muttered, climbing out of the car. "Grab me some pretzels while you're in there—and a water!"
Five minutes later both men were climbing back into the car. Before he shut his door, Rocky took a drink of his water and swished it around in his mouth before spitting it out on the ground.
"Getting the taste out of your mouth?" Adam asked as Rocky shut the door.
"I'm trying," Rocky grumbled, opening the bag of pretzels Adam had brought him.
He started back down the road. They'd only made it about another fifteen minutes down the road when Rocky started to realize he was only feeling worse than he had before.
"I think that sandwich was worse than I thought," he muttered, glancing over at Adam. "I don't feel good at all."
Adam had been quiet for a few minutes now. When Rocky glanced at him he could tell in an instant that he wasn't ok either.
"Adam?" he said.
Adam shook his head.
"Something isn't right," he managed to answer. "I'm hot—it's too hot in here."
Rocky frowned, glancing to make sure he had actually turned on the air. He wasn't hot at all. Instinct kicking in, especially after what had happened with Tommy only the night before, Rocky quickly pulled his car over to the side of the road. He threw the car in park and opened his door.
"Adam, you've got to throw up," Rocky said, unbuckling himself. "I don't know how, but I think we've been drugged like Tommy."
He leaned out of the car, trying to make himself throw up. He managed to throw up most of the contents of his lunch. Adam didn't even open his door. He was shaking and his eyes were wide.
"I can't…" he muttered, his gaze darting around. "I—I need to get out."
Adam started to throw himself toward Rocky's open door, but the seatbelt stopped him. Rocky quickly pulled himself back in the car and slammed the door shut, hitting the lock button.
"Adam, no," he said, taking a shaky breath. "You can't leave the car—we have to get to the hospital. I need to drive."
But Adam wasn't listening anymore. He started shouting, screaming at Rocky to let him out and fighting with his seatbelt. Rocky looked around frantically. He had to get them moving, but he couldn't drive with Adam flailing around in the passenger seat freaking out. Spotting a jacket in his backseat, Rocky reached back and grabbed it.
"I'm sorry about this, Adam," he muttered, looping it around his friend's shoulders. "But we need help—quickly."
Getting it around Adam's shoulders, Rocky pulled it tight to pin Adam to the seat and tied it as best he could. Adam continued screaming incoherently at him—his shaking was getting worse. Throwing the car back into drive, Rocky raced down the road toward Angel Grove. He knew it was only a matter of time before he was just as bad.
Fumbling with his phone, Rocky pulled it out and dialed 911.
"911—what's your emergency?"
"It's Rocky," he half-shouted into the phone. "DeSantos. I need help."
Adam was still shouting in the seat next to him.
"Adam and I have been drugged—it's bad."
"Where are you located?" dispatch asked quickly, clearly hearing Adam's shouting.
"We're in my car on our way back into Angel Grove," Rocky said, rattling off the road information. "I'm not stopping until I see the ambulance coming or I can't drive anymore."
"What vehicle are you driving, Rocky?"
Rocky grimaced, shaking his head as he tried to stay focused on the road and answering questions at the same time. It took him a moment, but he managed to pass on his car's description.
"An ambulance is on its way to meet you," dispatch assured him. "Stay on the line."
"Yeah," Rocky said, still driving as quickly as he could.
In the passenger seat a few minutes later, Adam suddenly fell silent. Rocky glanced over in concern—Adam wasn't moving anymore. With his vision starting to get blurry, Rocky couldn't tell if Adam had just passed out or if he had stopped breathing. He slammed on the brakes as he pulled off the road again, brushing up against a guard rail as he came to a stop without actually putting the car in park. He fumbled with his seatbelt for a moment but couldn't get it undone. His hands weren't cooperating.
"Adam," he mumbled, shaking his head as he tried to focus.
He was having trouble breathing now and everything was blurry. Someone was yelling his name from nearby, but he couldn't understand what they were saying. His hands dropped away from the seatbelt. His eyes started to close as he struggled to breathe.
Then someone was banging on his window. He jerked around in surprise—someone was shouting at him outside the window now. With the last little bit of coherent thought he had, he managed to hit the unlock button on his door.
The door opened and someone was still talking to him. They grabbed him, turning him to face them. He didn't recognize the face—it was too blurry.
"Rocky, breathe," they said firmly.
"Adam," Rocky mumbled. "Adam…"
"We've got him," the voice assured him. "Now stay with me, Rocky. I need you to breathe."
Rocky tried to nod his head, but it was too heavy. He heard the voice say something else he didn't understand and then everything finally went dark.
Zach, Jason, Kim, and Jake followed Trini and Billy out of the elevator and down the hall. They were all carrying their lunches and looking around curiously as they went. None of them had expected to be brought up to the Command level for this meeting. Laid out in a similar fashion to the lower three levels, most of the doors on the Command level didn't give any indication of their purpose. And all of the doors were shut. Trini had explained the layout on the way up. The side of the tower they exited the elevator into was offices for Lightspeed and meeting or conference rooms for the rangers. Down all the way to the left on the north side of the tower was the big meeting room they used for formal calls with the UN. The west side was all research and development while the south was more offices for security and the embassy staff. All of the security rooms for things like cameras and alarms were housed in the center column.
"I kind of feel like I'm being taken to the principal's office by Mrs. Applebee," Zach muttered to Kim and Jason.
Jason snorted.
"You took lunch with you to the principal's office?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Ok, so maybe this is a little better," Zach admitted.
Trini and Billy stopped in front of a door and Trini placed her hand on the panel. The door slid open and the pair led the way inside. The room was plain with nothing but a long table and chairs inside.
"I was wrong, this is worse," Zach said, looking around the room. "We're being put in detention!"
Trini rolled her eyes as she glanced back at Zach.
"Jail?" he grinned. "Is this gonna be our last meal?"
Trini shook her head as she set the tray of food she was holding down toward the head of the table. She had been carrying her food and Billy's while he had a computer bag slung over one shoulder and an armful of folders.
"Let's tone down the dramatics a bit, shall we?" she asked drily.
She kicked off her heels under the table as she sat down.
"Get comfy everyone," she said, looking around. "It's going to be a serious talk, but it's not formal."
Billy set the folders down in front of Trini and started fussing with the computer. The other four grabbed seats and settled in with their lunches as they waited for Trini and Billy. Trini was sorting through the folders and making small piles of papers. Billy was setting up a small projector with his laptop, using the blank wall at the back of the room behind Trini as a screen. Jason, Zach, Kim, and Jake started eating while they waited.
"Alright," Trini said after a few minutes. "So…"
She glanced around at the four of them, hesitating as she tried to decide where to start.
"Jake, I am going to skip a little bit for the sake of time," she said apologetically after a moment. "Kim should be able to fill you in on most of the first few years and you can ask the rest of us as well."
"That's fine," Jake said quickly.
Trini smiled and nodded.
"Anyways," she said. "So, high school happened and you guys know it didn't stop with us. There have been several teams since then—"
"I think you're downplaying that number, Trini," Zach interrupted. "I may have been distant, but I've watched stuff on the news. There are a lot of teams."
Billy chuckled as Trini sighed.
"Yes, there are," she admitted. "And that also means there have been—and are—a lot of concerns regarding identities and their security, legalities, and a whole list of other things. Like how would we handle a situation if a government blamed us for it instead of whatever force started the problem? We wanted to be able to handle that."
"Isn't that what your job is?" Kim asked.
"Sort of," Trini said. "Though, the actual first choice for my position was Jason."
Jason choked on his food and started coughing. Zach clapped him on the back.
"What?" Jason sputtered a few moments later. "You can't be serious."
"Oh, I'm completely serious," Trini said, amused by his reaction. "When Tommy and some of the other reds first sat down to start putting all of this together, you were their first choice to be the political face of the rangers—but you didn't answer your phone."
"Oh…" Jason muttered, taking a drink of his water.
"They called Trini when they could not get an answer from you, Jason," Billy added. "It was not something they could just put aside and come back to later, as this position was going to be one of the building blocks of the ranger network."
"What about me?" Zach protested. "I went to that thing in high school, too!"
Trini sighed.
"You were on the list, Zach," she said drily. "But you were also very involved in the music world at the time so it would have been a little out of nowhere to start with you."
"That's fair," he said sheepishly.
"Moving on," Trini said. "As they discussed this ambassador position, they realized quickly it was going to function better as a partnership. None of them wanted the UN to know their ambassador was actually a ranger, too. Plus, it would be a lot for one person to handle the public front as well as everything behind the scenes with coordinating all of the ranger teams. So, they chose a ranger to be the leader whose face and name would not be known to the public, but who could take charge of the rangers themselves if necessary."
They all nodded.
"I mean, that makes sense," Jason said. "I've been here for an hour and this already seems like a lot…"
"It is," Trini said in amusement. "And, again—you were the first choice to head the rangers, as well."
"Seriously?" Jason exclaimed, looking around the group. "Why?"
"Because you were the first red to lead a team of rangers in this dimension on Earth," Billy said. "Zordon chose you and everyone agreed that you made the most sense if you were willing. It was a unanimous decision."
Jason stared at Billy and Trini in shock.
"I didn't…I mean…" Jason said, shaking his head.
"It's fine, Jason," Trini assured him. "It's not like this is something you could have planned for when Zordon chose you all those years ago. The rangers were never supposed to be your whole life, and no one was going to try and force you back into it."
"Tommy is the head of the rangers, isn't he?" Jake inserted.
Jason, Kim, and Zach all looked at Jake in surprise as Billy and Trini nodded in confirmation.
"He is," Billy said. "Trini is the UN ambassador and the public voice of the rangers. Tommy is our leader and the one who keeps us all together. I am a little surprised that you are the one who made that leap, Jake."
Jake shrugged.
"I mean, it makes sense," he said. "You said Jason was your first choice because he was from your original group and your leader. Well, I know enough that I know Tommy was with you from around then, too. So, based on everything else I've observed over the last couple of months it just makes sense. Though I'd never have thought that as a complete outsider. You guys really are good at covering."
Kim frowned at her husband.
"I can't believe you figured that out and I didn't," she muttered.
"I'm pretty sure it's because you were so focused on what Tommy wouldn't tell you that you didn't notice anything else," Jake said.
Kim scowled at him but didn't argue.
"So does that mean Tommy is in charge of this place?" Zach asked curiously.
Trini and Billy both shook their heads.
"No, the base is Carter's responsibility," Trini said. "Tommy leads the rangers, but there are a few levels under that to make things easier. So, Carter runs this base and all of the logistics associated with having a physical embassy for the rangers—though its location is technically a secret to most of the world. And Andros is the contact for all rangers off planet. They both report to Tommy who leads the rangers as a whole and I do my very best to keep anyone from looking too closely into any of the teams by sharing select information with the UN and other governing bodies as necessary."
"I mean, I've missed a lot," Zach said. "But those all seem like good choices."
"They are," Jason agreed. "I've met Carter and Andros—they're both good guys and I can see why you'd put them in those positions."
He hesitated.
"And I'm glad Tommy stepped up when I wasn't there," he admitted. "He's a good leader."
"He is," Trini said with a smile.
Then she sighed.
"And that's also why this current situation is such a problem," she said. "The rangers rely on Tommy—a lot. And now he's out of commission and we have no idea what's going to happen when he wakes up."
Concerned looks were exchanged.
"So, what happens then?" Jason asked. "Who is in charge while Tommy is—while he can't be?"
"It is complicated," Billy admitted. "But for the interim, I have stepped up to fill at least part of Tommy's position as I am the most experienced ranger behind Tommy. However, it does make things more challenging in the case of a vote."
"Vote?" Kim frowned. "And if you are Tommy's backup, what do you normally do in regard to this whole network thing?"
"I hold the vote for our team," Billy said. "For the first Mighty Morphin' team—since Jason has not been involved. I also assist with projects and other things around the base as needed."
Trini sighed at the confused looks on the other four faces.
"The vote Billy is talking about is referring to a gathering of red rangers," she said. "Without getting too technical, the reds meet a few times a year to discuss and vote on various things regarding the rangers. Ranging anywhere from approving public appearances for certain teams to making decisions to step in and remove alien technology from people or governments who shouldn't have had it in the first place. All sorts of things. But each red casts a vote for their team as a whole to limit the voices since there are so many of us—obviously with chances to speak with their teammates before voting on bigger issues. That means each team has to have a red or suitable replacement to vote for them. Billy is ours because Tommy doesn't have a vote as the head of the rangers. He only votes in the case of a tie."
Jason, Zach, Kim, and Jake nodded, understanding a little more now.
"But wait," Kim frowned. "Tommy would still have a vote, wouldn't he? Because someone has to vote for the second Mighty Morphin group—although I guess Rocky was their red. But Tommy was red for Zeo and Turbo. How does that work?"
Trini chuckled.
"I'm actually kind of surprised you know all that," she admitted. "Since you and Tommy weren't exactly talking in that timeframe."
Kim blushed, ducking her head.
"I still followed what you all were doing," she said quietly. "I know I made a stupid decision, but I still cared…"
"There are no hard feelings any longer," Billy said quickly. "But you are correct that Tommy was the red for both of those teams. However, he still does not vote for them. Rocky does, in fact, hold the vote for the second Mighty Morphin team as he was given Jason's position. Adam votes for Zeo as Tommy's second in command—since Rocky could not hold two votes. And TJ votes for Turbo since Andros holds the vote for the Space rangers as their red."
"It took weeks of arguing to work out a fair voting system," Trini sighed. "And well over a year to establish the basic outline of the network. I practically lived here during that timeframe…"
"So, why couldn't Tommy just tell us all this?" Kim asked. "I mean, he's the head of the rangers so he clearly knows all of the details."
"It's a matter of privacy," Trini said. "Each team has the right to decide who knows their identities—well, the ones who have managed to keep them a secret anyways. So, there had to be a vote before Tommy could reveal anything."
Kim frowned.
"But we're rangers, too—" she started to argue.
"This is my fault, isn't it?" Jake asked, taking Kim's hand and squeezing it gently as he looked at Trini and Billy.
The two exchanged a glance before turning back to the group.
"Yes," Trini said. "At least partially. Kim telling you about herself wasn't an issue. If she trusted you enough with that part of her then she had every right to reveal it. And the rest of her team may have been alright with her telling you about them. But the rest? It wouldn't be fair to the remaining ranger teams to assume they were alright with you knowing about them. There are a lot of rangers whose professions could be hurt if people knew they were rangers—for a variety of reasons that I am not going to get into today."
"I guess that's fair," Kim admitted.
"And I'm assuming that's why you were talking about NDAs earlier," Jake said.
"Yes," Trini confirmed. "You essentially are agreeing that you will never reveal the identities or locations of any ranger or ranger base without permission from the head of the rangers as voted on by a counsel of reds—with a lot more specifications thrown in there—on penalty of essentially having all credibility you ever had stripped away. We have the connections. You'd pretty much end up losing everything in our response—which would all be done out of the public eye, mind you. So, no one would believe you and there is also a potential you could be taken off planet if you were believed to be a big enough danger to the rangers."
Jake, Kim, Zach, and Jason all stared at Trini in shock. She just shrugged.
"The point is," Billy said, "that we take our privacy very seriously and will retaliate appropriately if that trust is breached. All four of you will be given these documents and expected to read through and sign them before you are allowed off base again. Jason, Kim, and Zach, you will also have some other documents to read and sign as rangers since that status gains you some extra protections and expectations."
Trini had stood and was dropping a pile of papers in front of each of them now.
"Like Billy said," she explained. "I don't expect you to just sign them right now without reading. Take these with you and go through them. If you have questions before you sign, you can ask either or us. Or Carter. You could probably ask Rocky or Adam maybe, but they left. But you will be expected to have signed them before you leave again."
She looked seriously between the four of them.
"And, before I go any further," she said seriously. "If you do not want to be a part of this world, I need to know now. Billy or I will escort you back down to the residential level and you can walk away knowing this system is here to support you if you need it in the future. But I will not explain anything else unless I am sure this is what you want."
Kim, Zach, and Jason exchanged glances. Jake was already skimming through the papers he had been given.
"Whatever you want to do, Kim," Jake said quietly. "I've told you many times—I don't need to know. I love you for you, not for who you were in the past."
"I'm staying," Kim said, smiling fondly at Jake.
Zach and Jason both nodded. Trini smiled but paused next to Jason before heading back to her seat.
"Jason, I will say this out loud to make sure we are on the same page," she said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Anything I have said or will say in this room is not to be repeated to your wife."
"Trini—" Jason started to say.
She held up a hand to stop him.
"This has absolutely nothing to do with yesterday or whatever has been going on between you," she said. "I am aware that she knows nothing about your history as a ranger by your choice. However, even if you decide to change that, she has no right to know about the rest of this until the reds have agreed as they did with Jake. Ok?"
"I'm not going to tell her a thing," Jason promised. "This part of my life has always been separate, and I have no plans of changing that."
Trini nodded and headed back to her seat.
"Alright," she said, sitting back down. "Now that you all have your papers and have made a verbal agreement not to share information, we can continue."
"This is a lot of stuff to read, Trini," Zach grumbled, flipping through the pages. "Are there cliff notes for these?"
"No," Trini said, giving him an amused look. "And if you think having to read it is bad, be glad you weren't involved in putting it all together. It was chaos…"
"It was," Billy agreed with a sigh. "Thank the Power for Tommy and his ability to keep everyone on track. I do not know how we would have completed this without him."
Trini nodded in agreement.
"He does have a knack for controlling chaos, doesn't he?" Kim said, shaking her head.
"He does," Trini agreed. "And you haven't even seen him handling his team and some of the others when they get out of control."
Billy chuckled as the others exchanged slightly confused looks.
"Yes, we have," Kim said. "Trini, we were on the same teams. We know how he leads."
"Not them," Trini said, shaking her head. "I told you there were things you didn't know, Kim."
"Wait—you haven't figure it out, Kim?" Zach asked, looking at her in surprise. "Jason, you noticed, right?"
"Noticed what, Zach?" Jason frowned.
"Seriously?" Zach exclaimed. "None of you three noticed?"
Trini looked at Zach for a moment before glancing at Billy. He just shrugged.
"You figured it out?" she asked.
"Well, why else would they come racing to a hospital in the middle of the night?" Zach asked. "It's not because he was their high school teacher like, what? A decade ago? Two of them were catching a plane. Though I still haven't figured out how the billionaire fits it—cause I'm pretty sure he knows something. Was he one of them?"
Trini and Billy both shook their heads.
"Anton was never a ranger," Trini said hesitantly. "But yes, he was involved."
Zach frowned and then his eyes widened. Jason, Kim, and Jake were still trying to catch up to whatever Zach had figured out.
"Was he their villain?" Zach exclaimed.
Trini exchanged another look with Billy who nodded.
"Yes," she admitted.
Jake, who had been taking another bite of his food, choked.
"Excuse me?" he sputtered. "Mercer did what?"
"During a project that Tommy and Anton were working on years back there was an accident," Billy explained. "Though Tommy did not realize it at the time, Anton was possessed by the—"
He hesitated, trying to decide how best to explain Mesagog.
"Spirit?" Trini mused. "Though I guess Mesagog was his own being…"
"The point is," Billy continued. "Anton was possessed by Mesagog and not in control of his own actions for a long time. To most of the world he had actually gone missing."
"In the end, however," Trini added. "He fought off Mesagog's control and actually saved their lives. Though he did spend nearly a year trying to kill them…"
She sighed, looking around at the group.
"Please keep this information to yourselves," she said firmly. "Not all of the rangers are aware of the details of Anton's involvement. Tommy is rather protective of him and doesn't want anyone treating him differently because of things that weren't his choice—Tommy does know how that feels, after all."
Kim, Jason, and Zach nodded in understanding. Jake, however, looked at Kim for clarification. She sighed.
"This is one of those things that I didn't tell you," she said. "But, well…"
She trailed off, hesitating. Trini and Billy nodded.
"You remember what Trini said when we got here?" she asked. "About Tommy and the witch?"
"Wait—she was serious?" Jake said. "I thought it was a cover story for Tommy's involvement."
Kim shook her head.
"No," she said. "I don't know how much you actually know about our team since we don't talk about it much, but when Tommy first came to Angel Grove, he was kidnapped by the space witch, Rita, and forced to become a ranger. She put a spell on him to control him and used him to try and kill us—and he nearly succeeded on several occasions."
"And, unfortunately," Billy added. "Tommy retained the memories of that time when we finally freed him… he fought with us after that, but…"
He shrugged.
"The point is, Tommy will always feel guilt for what he did under Rita's control," Trini said, shaking her head. "And while no one blames him for it, sometimes it would be easier on him if no one knew. He doesn't want Anton dealing with the same thing. So, only the people who absolutely need to know actually know Anton and Mesagog were one and the same for a long time. Most of the rangers believe he was held captive, and we don't correct them."
"So please keep that information to yourselves," Billy repeated firmly.
The four nodded in understanding. Kim whispered to Jake quietly, promising to explain more of their history later in private to bring him up to date.
"So, what team have you been talking about with all of this, then?" Jason asked.
"Dino Thunder," Trini sighed. "Who are somehow one of the strongest teams of rangers we have and at the same time, the most…chaotic? And extremely protective of each other. We're getting a little ahead of ourselves but…"
She shrugged and shook her head.
"Billy?" Trini asked, gesturing at the computer. "We'll have to backtrack, but since we're on the subject and it directly involves Tommy."
Billy nodded and started typing on the computer. A few images flashed across the screen and then he stopped on a slide that said 'Dino Thunder—Reefside, CA' with some dates underneath.
"We were planning on doing basic introductions to each team in order," Trini explained. "But since we're here we'll just skip ahead a little bit and then go back. Now…"
She took a breath before continuing.
"Dino Thunder consists of five rangers and a technical support," Trini said. "So, a smaller team, but don't underestimate them. Together they are dangerous. Zach already guessed two of their members from last night."
Zach nodded.
"And the two who flew in were Kira and Trent—who you saw in Tommy's room earlier," Trini continued. "So, the full team is Conner, Ethan—"
Jake snorted his drink out of his nose, choking again. There was a momentary pause as he got himself cleaned up, the others snickering at his reaction.
"That pain McKnight is a ranger?" he finally sputtered.
Trini and Billy both nodded in amusement as Billy clicked his mouse and a picture of the team at a table in the café came up. Something Hayley had snapped when they weren't paying attention. Conner, Kira, Ethan, and Trent were crowded around a small table, the top of it covered in books and notebooks as they worked on schoolwork. The four of them were laughing about something. Tommy leaned casually on the back of Conner's chair, an amused look on his face as he looked at the four younger rangers.
"Conner is their red," Billy chuckled.
"He leads them?" Jake exclaimed. "And they actually listen?"
He had made the assumption based on context that the reds were typically the team leaders.
"Yes, they do," Trini said with an amused smile. "Though maybe not at first. There were some growing pains with that when the three of them first came together. Just ask Kira and Ethan. Conner had to grow into the role with some support from Tommy and the other two."
"Wait," Zach frowned. "If he's their red—where does Tommy fit in all of this? You said it was his team."
"His as in he takes responsibility for them," Trini clarified. "But he was actually just their mentor when the gems first chose them."
"So, like Zordon?" Jason asked.
Billy nodded.
"In a way," he agreed. "At least until he came in contact with another gem. After that he fought with them as a ranger in addition to mentoring them."
"What color?" Zach asked curiously. "Conner was red, so what was Tommy?"
Trini pointedly ignored the question as she continued.
"Trent was the last to actually join the team," she said. "The white gem had been corrupted and it was in control of him for a long time, forcing him to help Mesagog. Though it was acting on its own desires rather than completely obeying Mesagog's commands. He nearly killed Tommy during that time frame. Unlike Anton's involvement, however, what Trent did is public knowledge amongst the rangers. I still wouldn't hassle him too much about it though. I wasn't kidding about them being protective of each other."
"But what color was Tommy?" Zach asked again. "You've identified red and white. What colors were the rest of the team?"
"Is that important right now, Zach?" Trini sighed.
"Yes!" he insisted.
"Fine," Trini relented. "Kira was yellow, Ethan was blue, and Tommy was… black."
"He stole my color!" Zach protested immediately. "That means he's been like every color except…"
He frowned, counting, and then looked up at Billy.
"Watch out, Billy," he said. "You're next."
"We all hope not," Billy said, shaking his head. "Tommy has already done enough—he does not need to fight another battle for us. But the color was not his choice. The gems chose them, not the other way around."
"How does that work?" Jason asked.
"The gems are—alive—in a fashion," Billy explained. "Not fully, but they do possess some sentience which is why Trent was controlled by his for a while when it was corrupted by Mesagog."
"The gems have the ability to choose their—host?" Trini said hesitantly, looking at Billy for confirmation.
"I would say partner," Billy suggested. "As there is typically no actual possession. The sentience of the gem bonds physically with the DNA of their chosen partner, genetically altering them. Only the right people would have been able to bond with the gems. And, similar to our coins—"
He paused, gesturing to himself, Trini, and the other three.
"Those gems are actually tied directly to their life force," he continued. "In some ways it is actually a stronger bond since they are also tied together on a genetic level."
"Which is why all five of them are extremely protective of their gems," Trini added. "They can't actually be used by anyone else to connect to the grid—but the gems could be used to hurt them. Or possibly kill them if damaged enough. Just ask Tommy."
Billy grimaced, nodding in agreement.
"A story for another day," he said quickly when Kim started to ask.
"So, they can't be passed like the Power attached to our coins?" Kim asked instead.
Trini shook her head, but Billy hesitated.
"Well, there is a potential that Conner's gem could be used by his twin," Billy said slowly. "Since they are identical and his DNA would match Conner's. However, we have never wanted to pursue that theory since testing it could seriously hurt or potentially kill Conner should we attempt anything and it fail."
"Twin?" Jake exclaimed. "There's two of him?"
Trini and Billy both laughed at the look of horror on Jake's face.
"Yes," Trini chuckled. "He has a twin named Eric. Eric is aware of the rangers in general and he does actually know the Ninjas."
"Ninjas?" Jason said. "Rocky was talking about ninjas at the dojo a few weeks ago."
"Same ones," Trini said dismissively. "Anyways, Eric does not know Conner is a ranger because Conner has chosen not to share that information with him at this time. He is allowed to learn, however, should Conner change his mind. He just has to bring Eric here to sign the NDAs first. But, given that his brother isn't the brightest, I don't see that happening anytime soon."
Jake was muttering to himself as he shook his head.
"Anyways," Trini said, shaking her head. "We have gotten way off track now. Let's go back to where we were before we got sidetracked by Dino Thunder. We'll come back to them again in a little while for the rest of the details."
Billy nodded and started shuffling screens on his computer again.
"Now," Trini said, glancing around. "What teams do all of you know about? Obviously, you know about us and the team that followed since we passed on our powers to them. Then there was Zeo, Turbo, and Space. You are all aware of them? Except maybe Jake."
They all nodded.
"Don't worry about me, Trini," Jake said, shaking his head. "Catch them up and anything I'm missing I'll ask about later. You don't need to keep us here longer on my account."
She nodded.
"Thank you, Jake," she said. "After the Space rangers—"
"I know this one," Jason said. "It was Lightspeed Rescue. Where we are now. Everyone noticed them when they were fighting. Their giant emergency vehicles weren't exactly subtle."
"Says the man who regularly drove a giant zord in high school," Zach said, elbowing Jason. "Not exactly subtle, either."
Trini sighed as they started bickering.
"Billy, how did we ever accomplish anything in high school?" she asked.
"You and I did productive things while they all talked—or argued—about what to do…" Billy sighed.
"Enough," Trini said, interrupting the bickering. "Jason, you're wrong."
"Wait—what?" he frowned.
"Lost Galaxy followed the Space rangers," Trini said with a smirk. "But you wouldn't know about them because they weren't on Earth."
"If they're lost, then how do we know about them?" Zach grinned.
Trini rolled her eyes. Billy was shaking his head as he shifted slides to show a picture of the team so they had faces to look at.
"Are you going to be like this the whole time?" she asked in exasperation.
"Probably," Zach snickered.
"Moving on," Trini said, pursing her lips. "But yes, Jason, Lightspeed was the next team actually on Earth. Then—"
"Wait, I think I remember," Zach interrupted again. "I know there was something in the news… Police Force? Or something like that."
"Time Force," Trini corrected.
"Right! With the Silver Guardians," Zach said.
"Yes," Trini said. "Though only two of their members remain in this time period. Their red and quantum rangers."
"What color is quantum?" Zach frowned. "Kim?"
She shook her head.
"That's not a color I'm familiar with," she said.
"It isn't a color," Jake inserted. "It's an abstract concept relating to space and time."
"Correct, Jake," Billy said approvingly as the others looked at Jake.
"So, they had him instead of red?" Kim asked.
"No, they had both," Trini said. "You've met them."
"We have?" Zach asked.
"Zach, you met them yesterday," Trini sighed. "I introduced you. Wes and Eric. Remember?"
"Oh, right," Zach said sheepishly. "I forgot…"
"But you figured out Conner and Ethan without help," Trini muttered, shaking her head.
"But which—"
"Nope, we are doing an overview right now," Trini said. "We'll come back to individual teams in a few minutes. Now, after Time Force we had nine teams follow in this dimension and time."
"Has it really been that many?" Jason asked in surprise.
"Yes," Trini said. "Plus, two teams that we know of in other dimensions and technically the team from Aquitar who filled in while Zeo was—having a moment becoming Zeo. But Time Force was followed by Wild Force. Then Ninja Storm, Dino Thunder, Mystic Force, Operation Overdrive, and Jungle Fury. And then Samurai, Megaforce, and, finally, Ninja Steel—our current team. And the last three all had Super evolutions of their powers as well when the villain they were fighting escalated the battle to the extreme and extended their fight. Ninja Steel has been fighting for almost two years now."
They all looked at her in surprise.
"I have a question!" Zach said, putting his hand in the air.
"And I will probably cover it soon," Trini said, raising an eyebrow. "Now that I've managed to make it through a basic overview, I am planning on going into a little more detail on some of the teams. I need to explain some of their roles in the network and special abilities so you know what to expect if or when you encounter each other. And I don't want to jump all over the place so if you can hold questions until we get to the pertinent team. Now…"
She looked over at Billy expectantly. He nodded.
"I'm going to start with our team," Trini said. "But only to break down who belongs where for Jake's sake. I'm not going to spend a lot of time there. I'll get into more details when I get to Lost Galaxy since I'm pretty sure that's where most of you will have completely lost track."
They all nodded.
"Alright, Jake," Trini smiled. "Mighty Morphin' team one…"
"And all of you are very aware of what happened at the end with the Space Rangers," Trini sighed a while later, finishing up with the introduction of the Space rangers. "Since it was broadcasted over the entire world."
"Yep," Jake confirmed. "I actually knew more about that team than Kim's team."
"Anyways," Trini said. "The only special ability to be aware of with them is that Andros does have telekinesis. He tries not to use it when he's here since that's not a normal thing on Earth, but he does use it sometimes. His children have also inherited the ability."
"Which Ashley was not amused about at first," Billy chuckled.
"Not at all," Trini laughed. "But moving on to Lost Galaxy. They have six members, plus a seventh who filled in for a while. Leo is red, Kai is blue, Damon is green, Maya is yellow, Kendrix is pink, and Mike took on the Magna Defender powers after the original Defender's demise. Karone, Andros' sister, held the pink powers for a while after Kendrix was killed."
Billy continued to flip through pictures. It always started with group pictures. First of them without the costumes and then the team in uniform before individual pictures to help the group put faces to the names Trini was saying.
"Wait—killed?" Kim exclaimed.
Billy and Trini nodded grimly.
"She was killed and Karone took her place," Trini said. "Their story is complicated, given that several of them are actually from Earth. They stowed away on a secret mission to establish a space colony Terra Venture on Mirinoi where the Quasar Sabers were discovered. But Kendrix sacrificed herself to save Cassie of the Space Rangers and the power passed to Karone, giving her a chance to redeem herself after her time as Astronema. Eventually, when the fight was over, the rangers returned the sabers to the alter. And this—revived—the inhabitants of Mirinoi along with Kendrix."
"Revived?" Zach frowned.
"It is more likely that those thought killed in that time frame ended up trapped in a pocket dimension," Billy said. "And returning the sabers to the alter broke the dimensional barrier and restored them to our dimension. As Trini said, their story is complicated."
"It isn't likely you'll meet them in person," Trini said. "Since they don't leave Mirinoi often. But all of them, except Karone and Kendrix, have elemental abilities in addition to their ranger powers. You should also know that Maya, their yellow, is an empath. She has had clairvoyant dreams and feelings in the past, as well. So, if she says something is going to happen we try to pay attention. She also has the ability to manipulate electricity. As for the rest of the team… Leo controls fire, Kai controls water, and Damon controls wind. Karone has telekinesis like her brother. She is also still able to use the powers she held as Astronema."
Jason, Kim, Zach, and Jake stared at the picture of the Lost Galaxy rangers with some surprise.
"Well, that's new," Zach muttered. "And I thought the ranger powers were a lot. Controlling elements? Wow…"
Trini nodded in amusement.
"You haven't heard anything yet," she said with a smirk. "Let me continue. Lightspeed Rescue followed Lost Galaxy, fighting once again here on Earth. You met Carter earlier in the garage—and you met him during the mission to the moon, Jason."
Jason nodded. Billy switched the pictures to Lightspeed.
"You'll meet the rest of Lightspeed at some point while you are here," Trini continued. "They have six rangers plus an assortment of support staff including Angela and Captain Mitchell. None of them have any special abilities, but they are all highly skilled professionals. Carter is red, Chad is blue, Joel is green, Kelsey is yellow, Dana—who you met last night at the hospital—is pink, and Ryan is titanium."
"And another weird color," Zach muttered.
"Ryan fought against the rest of Lightspeed for a while," Trini continued, ignoring Zach. "He had been kidnapped as a child and brainwashed. Fortunately, Dana and the rest of the team were eventually able to bring her brother back to their side. Though turning on Diabolico almost killed him. Fair warning—that whole subject is still a sensitive spot for the Mitchell family. So, tread lightly."
Trini paused as Billy switched photos again, moving on to the next team.
"Time Force followed Lightspeed," she said. "They have six members in our time, but only five in the future as they do not have a standing quantum ranger. In our time, Wes is red, Jen was pink, Lucas was blue, Katie was yellow, Trip was green, and Eric is quantum. Jen, Lucas, Katie, and Trip returned to their time after the fight was over where they are led in the future by Alex as their red. They occasionally send us warnings—mostly to keep someone from dying unnecessarily."
"I'm pretty sure it's never necessary for someone to die," Zach frowned.
Billy and Trini both sighed.
"If saving someone changes the future significantly, then in the long run it is sometimes better to allow things to play out as they will," Billy said quietly. "Fortunately, losing one of our own has not been a necessary choice. However…"
He trailed off and everyone was silent for a moment. Trini took a deep breath.
"Anyways," she said. "Eric and Wes now run the Silver Guardians in Silver Hills. They are essentially a private police force and a support resource for the rangers. Though we have never had to use them for anything. But it is nice knowing they are there if we need them. The Guardians are handpicked and trained by Wes and Eric so they are very loyal—and very aware of who Wes and Eric are. They don't know about anyone else who isn't public."
There were nods in response. Everyone had finished eating at this point and Jake started piling everyone's trays together as Trini continued.
"Wild Force followed Time Force," she said. "Another six ranger team. Cole is their red, Taylor is yellow, Max is blue, Danny is black, Alyssa is white, and Merrick is Lunar Wolf."
She glared at Zach, silently daring him to comment on Lunar Wolf. He just grinned sheepishly.
"Cole is an empath similar to Maya," Trini said. "Though he is stronger reading animals than people. He can also communicate with animals using his emphatic abilities. And it should also be noted that Merrick is—"
Trini hesitated.
"Older than the rest of us," Billy supplied. "Though we still consider ourselves the first team, in reality we are the first team of modern times. Merrick fought on Earth thousands of years ago before he was imprisoned after being cursed by a mask. He was awoken and eventually helped the Wild Force rangers after they broke the curse. But he is technically over 3000 years old."
The other four stared in shock.
"I—I don't know what to say to that," Zach said after a moment.
"You can't really tell anymore," Trini said. "He's adapted well to our era. But it is an important piece of information to know."
"He also rarely leaves the Animarium anymore," Billy pointed out. "Now that he has gone back. He does not like leaving Shayla unprotected."
Trini nodded.
"I met Cole during the moon mission, didn't I?" Jason asked, frowning.
"You did," Billy confirmed.
"Was he—he was the one who nearly blew himself up," Jason groaned.
Trini and Billy chuckled.
"Yes," Trini said. "And he can still be that impulsive. Just ask Taylor. It's a really good thing they don't all live together at the Animarium anymore."
She paused to let Billy catch up.
"Now, on to the Ninjas," she said with a smile, glancing at Jason.
"Ok, are they really ninjas?" Jason asked, shaking his head. "Rocky—"
"Wasn't kidding," Trini said in amusement. "Ninja Storm followed Wild Force. And five of their six teammates are actual, fully trained ninjas. Their sixth member is a samurai."
"So, they were rangers," Jason muttered, thinking back to the demonstration at the dojo. "I wouldn't have guessed."
Trini nodded.
"Five of them are teachers at two secret ninja academies," she said. "The students are mostly aware of their history as rangers, though they don't necessarily advertise it. Shane is red, Tori is blue, Dustin is yellow, Hunter is crimson—"
"That's just a shade of red!" Zach blurted out.
"I am aware, Zach," Trini sighed. "Moving on. Blake is Navy—"
"And—" Zach started to comment, stopping when Trini glared at him.
"Blake is navy," Trini repeated, still glaring at Zach. "And Cam is green. Several of the Ninjas also have elemental abilities. Shane has an affinity for wind, Tori for water, and Dustin for earth. And Hunter and Blake are often referenced as the Thunder ninjas. They are all able to use these abilities quite skillfully combined with their actual ninja skills."
"So, while they oftentimes appear to just be slacking off," Billy added. "They are highly skilled and not to be trifled with. They are, all six of them, extremely dangerous individuals."
Trini nodded in agreement.
"And this brings us back to Dino Thunder," she said, glancing at the time. "So, let's finish up with them real quick and then we'll take a break to stretch before we move on to Mystic Force and the rest of the teams."
She exchanged a glance with Billy who nodded. He knew why she wanted to take a break first. His phone vibrated on the table and he glanced over but didn't pick it up.
"As I said earlier, Dino Thunder is a slightly smaller team than the rest," she said. "They have five members instead of the usual six. However, that does not make much of a difference in their case. We talked a little bit about how the gems bonded with them and modified their DNA."
Jason, Kim, Zach, and Jake nodded.
"When you say modified?" Zach asked.
"Well, I mean that literally," Trini said. "It changed portions of their DNA which gave each of them—"
Billy's phone went off again and he sighed.
"I am sorry," he said. "Let me see what Aisha needs and then we can continue. I know we need to cover Dino Thunder in detail since they are here—and will not leave while Tommy is in any danger. And can also be a bit of a handful as a group…"
Trini nodded and Billy picked up his phone to answer the call.
"Greetings, Aisha," he said. "What—"
Billy didn't get any further as Aisha started in on a rant.
"Billy, I'm sorry to bother you," she said, sounding upset. "I know everyone is worried about Tommy—we are, too. But you could please send Rocky and Adam home? They promised they wouldn't be gone all day and now it's dinner time and they still aren't home and they aren't answering when we call them and no one else is picking up their phones. Damien flushed something down the downstairs toilet—again—and now there is water everywhere. Poor Tanya is trying to plunge it because I'm trying to keep Damien from getting into the other bathroom and Liam is crying—I'm pretty sure Damien flushed one of his toys again—all of the kids are just cranky and I'd like to take them home but Rocky took the car so I can't unless we want to walk."
"Aisha," Billy said, trying to get her attention as she ranted. "Aisha… Aisha!"
She finally stopped. Trini and the others were watching with some concern.
"I'm sorry—what?" Aisha sighed.
"Rocky and Adam left hours ago," Billy said slowly.
"Are you sure?" Aisha asked doubtfully. "Because they still aren't home and neither one is answering their phone—Tanya and I have both called."
Billy frowned, looking over at Jason.
"Jason, you saw Adam and Rocky leave, correct?" he asked. "They went up to the garage level?"
"Yes, I did," Jason said. "I used the stairs—remember? It was around two."
"Ah, yes," Billy said, remembering. "Jason saw them leave, Aisha. Around three hours ago."
"Three hours?" she exclaimed, panic creeping into her voice. "Billy, it only takes an hour—maybe an hour and a half—to get back to Angel Grove. If they aren't there, where are they? What if someone took them Billy? I can't do that again. Not this soon."
"I am sure everything is fine," Billy said, trying to calm her down. "Maybe they came back down and we missed them. Let me double check and I will call you back. Try calling them again and if they show up let me know immediately."
He hung up and stood up from the table.
"I need to make sure they are not sleeping in their rooms," Billy said, looking at Trini. "There is a chance they decided to get some rest before leaving and slept longer than they intended."
Trini shook her head.
"Billy, they would have told someone," she said. "Rocky was kidnapped only three months ago. He wouldn't worry Aisha like this on purpose. Something must be wrong."
"I am not going to consider that without checking all other options first," Billy said, shaking his head. "I will check quickly. But I will not worry Aisha more than necessary by making an assumption. Maybe he does not have his phone back. Hayley told me he left it at the dojo last night."
Billy headed out of the room and straight to the elevator as he and Trini continued debating. The others followed, concerned.
"Aisha brought his phone home with her," Jason inserted. "He got it back this morning when we got to Adam's house—well, after we woke up anyways."
"And that wouldn't explain Adam not answering his," Trini pointed out. "Even if they didn't leave, they wouldn't both sleep through multiple phone calls."
The elevator opened on the residential level.
"If they are not in their suite, we will alert Carter and start a search," Billy said. "We have to make sure before we cause a panic."
Once out of the elevator, Billy turned right and headed down the hall. He passed the room the six of them were staying in and stopped at the next door. The Zeo emblem was on these doors, and they opened when Billy put his hand on the sensor.
Leading the way into the room, Billy strode over to one of the doors. He knocked firmly, pausing to wait for an answer. Jason, Kim, Zach, and Jake glanced around the room.
"So, who actually uses these rooms?" Zach asked Trini as Billy opened the door.
"Just Adam, Rocky, Tanya, and Aisha," she answered absently, more focused on what Billy was doing than listening to Zach's question. "So mostly Adam and Rocky when they are here for meetings. Aisha and Tanya don't have a lot of reasons to be here. Billy stays in the Mighty Morphin' suite like me and Tommy stays with Dino Thunder in the Command Suite. Kat is obviously with him."
Billy poked his head in and then quickly moved to knock on the next door and the same thing repeated. He turned around, shaking his head.
"They are not here," he said. "And there is no sign that they were here today."
Trini took a deep breath.
"I hope they are just having car trouble with dead phones," she said.
"Perhaps," Billy said hesitantly. "But something does not feel right."
He paused, shaking his head. Then he headed for the door.
"I need to check something," he said, heading next door to their suite.
They all followed him. Inside the suite, Billy grabbed a tablet off the table and started typing quickly.
"What are you doing?" Kim asked.
"Scanning for their communicators," Billy said, not taking his eyes off the tablet. "As long as they are in this dimension and still functional, I will be able to locate them."
Everyone was silent as Billy ran the program.
"Billy?" Trini said a moment later.
He shook his head and sighed, setting the tablet back down.
"Their communicators are offline," he admitted reluctantly. "I cannot find them."
Jason, Kim, Trini, Zach, and Jake all shared concerned looks.
"Offline or out of range, Billy?" Trini asked. "I thought Hayley fixed it so we could at least tell if they were taken out of dimension."
"Offline," Billy repeated. "Meaning their communicators are no longer functioning."
Trini grimaced.
"But who would know to break their communicators?" Zach asked.
Billy and Trini both shook their heads.
"There's no way to tell," Trini said. "And technically they may not be broken. It could just mean they've been removed from their wrists. But this is now officially a problem."
"We need to inform Carter," Billy said, nodding in agreement. "Between them not answering phones and their communicators being offline, there is a potential for a serious situation."
Billy quickly strode out of the room and back to the elevator with everyone trailing.
"Try and get ahold of them," he said, looking at Jason and the others. "Trini—are you coming?"
They headed to the elevator to go back up to the Command level—the most likely place to find Carter—and left the others on the residential level. Reaching the floor, they headed straight to Carter's office. He looked up when they walked in.
"Carter, we have a problem," Billy said.
"I don't need any more problems," Carter sighed. "I'm still trying to figure out the first one."
He sat back from his computer, looking at them expectantly.
"What's going on?" he frowned, seeing the serious looks on their faces.
"Rocky and Adam are missing," Billy answered.
"Are you sure?" Carter asked doubtfully. "They were just here a few hours ago."
"As sure as I am able to be," Billy said. "They were supposed to have left the base over three hours ago—did you get notification that they left?"
Carter paused to look at something on his computer and then nodded.
"Yes," he said. "Their departure was logged around three hours ago. I could get the exact time if we need it. How does that mean they are missing?"
"They still haven't made it back to Angel Grove," Trini said. "And neither one is answering their phones."
"There's nowhere else they could be?" Carter asked hopefully.
"We checked, Carter," Trini sighed. "They had no reason to stop anywhere else and if they had car trouble, they would have called their wives. You said yourself they aren't on base anymore."
"And their communicators are offline," Billy added. "I already ran a scan. I cannot locate them anywhere on base or off…"
Carter grimaced.
"So, we know they aren't on base," Trini said. "And they haven't made it home. But we have no idea where they've gone."
"Which means they disappeared somewhere between the gate and Angel Grove," Billy said.
"Alright," Carter said, running a hand over his head. "I'll send out patrols immediately to search for them. Keep trying to get ahold of them. Update me if you hear anything and I'll do the same."
He turned to his phone and started making calls as Trini and Billy excused themselves.
Back down in the residential level, Trini and Billy gathered the other rangers together again. They had been waiting by the elevator, not sure where else to go.
"Carter is sending out search parties," Billy said in answer to their questions. "We will have to wait for the moment to see what they find."
Concerned looks were exchanged all around.
"Isn't there anything we can do to help?" Jason asked. "We can't just sit here."
Billy shook his head.
"There is not much we can do without getting in the way," he said. "Carter has the resources to search for them far more quickly than any of us. They will be able to cover every possible route between here and Angel Grove in hours at most—if we went ourselves, it could take even longer. And the faster we find them, the better."
No one could argue with that. Jason, Zach, Kim, and Jake weren't familiar with the area around the base. So even if they had vehicles, they weren't going to know where to search.
"For now, let's go get something to drink down in the cafeteria," Trini suggested. "We can wait together to hear from Carter. We'll continue with the ranger history lesson later."
"Should we go tell Kat?" Zach asked.
Billy and Trini hesitated and then both shook their heads.
"Kat is already stressed about Tommy," Billy said. "And I am hoping Conner and the others will have convinced her to rest. We will inform her once we have a better idea of what may have happened. I do not wish to add to her stress if it is a misunderstanding."
Trini started herding her friends into the elevator, ignoring their protests. They took it down to the recreation level where the cafeteria was. When the door opened, they all moved out.
"I will join you shortly," Billy said, not getting out with them. "I need to tell Hayley what is going on. I have been away for hours and now this..."
The elevator door shut again as Billy headed back up. The rest of the group slowly made their way into the cafeteria.
"I can't believe this is happening," Kim said anxiously, sitting at one of the tables. "First Tommy and now this… Where can they be?"
"From what I do know about Rocky and Adam, I'm sure they're fine," Jake said soothingly.
He sat next to her, pulling her into a hug. She buried her face in his shoulder.
"But we can't know that," she mumbled into his shirt.
Jake didn't answer because he didn't have an answer.
"I have a question," Zach said, looking at Trini.
"What is it, Zach?" she said, sitting down at the table with the group.
"When was Rocky kidnapped?" Zach asked. "And by who? Does this have anything to do with Draven? Billy mentioned him last night when he told me to get JJ to the hospital. And how on earth did JJ get involved?"
Trini sighed, rubbing her forehead with her fingers.
"That's a long story…"
"We have time," Jason said. "Because none of us are going anywhere without knowing what happened to Rocky and Adam."
Trini nodded but didn't answer right away.
"Let me get something to drink first," she said after a moment. "I already spent the last nearly two hours talking."
No one protested as Trini walked over to the computer to order a drink. She decided to order a few pitchers of water and tea so everyone could have something.
"Trini, what is going on? Are they that freaked out about being read in on the network?"
She jumped a little as she turned to face the speaker. Trent was standing next to the food slots waiting with a tray. He already had several plates on it.
"I mean, I know it's a lot," he continued. "But they were all rangers before except Jake. And most of them for years. It can't be that weird."
"Trent, what are you doing here?" she asked, not immediately answering his question.
"Food run," he said, holding up the tray. "Dinner for the four of us. Conner didn't want to leave Dr. O alone and we finally convinced Kat to actually go to bed—she really hasn't slept at all."
"Have any of you?" Trini asked.
Trent shrugged as one of the slots popped open. He grabbed the plate and added it to his tray.
"We've taken turns," he said. "Conner actually just woke up a little while ago—which is why I'm getting food now. He's hungry but isn't leaving until Dr. O wakes up for real. Convincing him to take a nap was hard enough. You know how he is—someone hurt one of us and we don't know who. He's going to be on edge until we have actual answers."
He glanced back over at the other rangers again. Trini had started punching more orders into the computer.
"Trini… is something wrong?" he asked.
She sighed and looked over at him again.
"We think Adam and Rocky are missing…" she admitted. "They never made it home—and they left base just after 2p. No one has heard from them since Jason said goodbye."
"It's after five," Trent frowned. "It doesn't take more than three hours to get back there. Not even close. And they would never just ignore all of you."
"That's the problem," Trini said, shaking her head. "And what's worse is Billy checked and their communicators have gone offline."
Trent grimaced, shaking his head.
"Is there anything we can do to help?" Trent offered. "I can call the others."
"Carter is already sending out search parties," she said. "So, until we hear back, we just have to sit tight. Please don't wake up Kat if she's still sleeping. I'll tell her as soon as she wakes up."
Trent nodded, grabbing the last plate he had ordered.
"We've got Dr. O covered," Trent said before he walked away. "So, you can focus on finding them."
"Thank you," Trini said, smiling faintly.
Taking the pitchers and cups, Trini made her way back over to the table. Billy walked in as she was crossing the room. He met her partway and she stopped to talk with him.
"Hayley is going to try to track their locations herself," he said. "If they are offline due to interference, there is a chance she can still find them. If not, I am afraid we will only be able to wait for answers. She cannot track just their coins…"
Trini nodded.
"I was going to tell them about Draven," she said. "And why everyone is a little more stressed right now."
"Ah," Billy said. "It will probably be better if they know the story…"
"But how much do we tell them is my problem," Trini sighed. "I don't want to betray Tommy's trust. We know how much it affected him—but do we really need to tell them?"
"I do not think it is necessary to tell them that much," Billy said, shaking his head. "They need to know why we are concerned about rangers disappearing. The rest can come later."
Agreeing with Billy, Trini turned to go sit with the others. They were watching her expectantly as she and Billy sat down.
"Alright," Trini said. "So, about three months ago, rangers started disappearing…"